Kaito Chapter 57

Kaito Chapter 57

She then turned to Hiashi and added with a playful wink, "And it seems that Hotaru-chan has fallen for my son Kaito." She gestured towards Hotaru, whose face was now adorned with a deep blush as she stole glances at Kaito.

As he observed this interaction between his daughter and Kaito, Hiashi narrowed his eyes and gave Kaito a stern glare. But eventually, he sighed and let go of his anger, knowing that love cannot be controlled or forced.

...

The rays of the bright and warm sun filtered through the lush leaves of the village, casting a golden glow over the bustling streets. In one of the training grounds, two figures could be seen moving with blinding speed, their forms a blur as they clashed against each other. One had fiery red hair that spiked out in all directions, complementing his piercing blue eyes. This was Kaito Uzumaki. The other had sleek black hair, contrasting sharply with his intense crimson eyes that held three tomoe in them. This was Itachi Uchiha.

Their kunai clashed together with a shower of sparks every time they met. But it seemed like neither opponent could gain the upper hand, each counteracting the other's moves. They movement a blur to the naked eye.

As they clashed once again in the center of the training ground, both of them jumped back and simultaneously threw their kunai at each other, canceling out the other's weapon. While still airborne, they both made intricate hand signs with lightning speed.

Kaito formed four seals and ended in a half ram sign and shouted, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The water from the surrounding air gathered around him, forming into a massive water dragon that shot towards Itachi.

Not to be outdone, Itachi responded by making a series of handsigns and shouting, "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" As he brought his right hand towards his mouth and spewed out a massive fireball three times his size and headed straight towards Kaito. As they landed on opposite ends of the field.

The two attacks collided in a spectacular explosion, covering the entire training field in thick steam. But even through this temporary blindness, Kaito and Itachi continued their spar without hesitation.

At the edge of the training ground stood two figures, one short and the other tall silhouetted against the setting sun. The short figure was Hotaru Hyuga, their teammate, and the taller figure was their sensei, Shikaku Nara. They perched atop a tall tree, observing the intense spar happening below.

Hotaru spoke up, her voice barely audible over the grunts and shouts of her teammates. "Shouldn't we stop them, sensei? They're getting carried away again."

Shikaku let out a resigned sigh and rubbed his temples as he watched the fight unfold. "Troublesome," he muttered under his breath before finally calling out to them. "Alright you two, that's enough for today." He gracefully jumped down from the tree and walked towards Kaito and Itachi, with Hotaru following close behind.

The two combatants were just about to clash once more when they heard their sensei's call. As the dust settled from their previous attacks, Shikaku strolled towards them with Hotaru behind her.

He looked at them both with a deadpan expression and asked, "Why do you two always get carried away during your spars?"

Hotaru couldn't help but giggle at their sheepish expressions. Shikaku let out another sigh before dismissively saying, "Whatever. Let's have lunch and then go on a mission." With that, he turned and walked towards a nearby tree, signaling the end of their training session.

Team 11 made their way over to their bags and settled down in a shady spot to eat their lunch. Shikaku, known for his love of napping, leaned against a nearby tree for some rest. As Itachi, Kaito, and Hotaru sat down to eat their lunch.

"Ano, Kaito-kun," she called out, her face flushing with a shy smile and a blush on her cheeks. "I made this for you." Hotaru had prepared Kaito's lunch herself and proudly handed it to him.

Kaito internally sighed at her blushing but accepted the meal with a grateful smile. "Huh, for me? Thank you, Hotaru-chan."

Opening the bento box, Kaito's eyes widened in surprise as he saw his favorite dish: chicken karaage don. "This looks delicious! Did you make this yourself?"

Hotaru nodded with pride in her cooking skills. "Hai, I remembered how much you love chicken karaage so I asked my mother to teach me."

Taking a bite of the crispy chicken, Kaito hummed in delight. Watching him enjoy her cooking brought a smile to Hotaru's face as she eagerly asked, "How does it taste?"

Kaito could only give her a sincere answer. "It's really good, Hotaru.", Meanwhile, Itachi observed the exchange between the two with an amused raised eyebrow.

It had been nearly two weeks since Hotaru Hyuga's attempted kidnapping by the Kumogakure envoy, who had come to Konohagakure for peace negotiations. It had also been two weeks since Kaito had managed to rescue her from their clutches. The aftermath of the Hyuga affair was chaotic, to say the least. The Kumo envoy, still present in the village, had shamelessly tried to shift the blame onto Konoha, despite one of their Jonin being caught red-handed outside the village walls. They had even had the audacity to demand retribution for their injured comrade and the head of the person responsible, who happened to be none other than Kaito Uzumaki.

The Hokage had immediately arrested the entire envoy and sent a letter to the Raikage, demanding an explanation for their reckless actions. However, much to everyone's surprise, the Raikage denied all claims and instead demanded that Kaito's head be handed over to them as punishment for injuring their Jonin commander. Naturally, Hiruzen had refused, citing Kaito's status as the son of the Fourth Hokage and they had evidence that kumo had attempted to kidnap the Hyūga clan's heiress.

This back-and-forth between Konoha and Kumo had caused tension to rise between the two villages. However, Konoha held the upper hand due to Kaito's capture of the Kumo's jonin commander alive and obtaining a confession from him regarding his involvement in Hotaru's kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Shikaku had been busy dealing with the issue with Kumo for the past two weeks. As a result, their team had not been allowed to go on any missions as their sensei was occupied with this pressing matter.

And as expected, Hiruzen had swept aside any mention of the Root ANBU and dismissed them as "spies disguised as ANBU." The only reason Kaito knew all this information was because he had been directly involved in the whole ordeal

But what weighed even more heavily on Kaito's mind was his mother's constant teasing over Hotaru, His mother would jokingly wipe away fake tears and refer to hotaru as her future daughter-in-law, much to his embarrassment. Kaito deadpanned at her, reminding her that he was only seven years old. But even that didn't stop her from teasing him,

To make matters worse, even little Naruto - who was only 2 years old - had started copying Kushina in teasing Kaito about Hotaru. but Kaito couldn't deny that his mother was right about Hotaru having a crush on him. But he chose to act oblivious to her feelings and treat her the same way he had been treating her all this time. After all, they were only seven and kaito already had bigger things to consider right now like the 4th shinobi war.

As they sat eating their lunch, Shikaku suddenly looked up at the sky and narrowed his eyes at a hawk flying overhead. He muttered under his breath, "Troublesome." Then he turned to his genin team and said sternly, "Alright you three, we have been summoned by the Hokage. Finish your lunch quickly." They hastily finished their food and followed Shikaku towards the Hokage's office

...

As they arrived at the Hokage's office, the secretary hastily ushered them inside. Shikaku, the team leader, asked his team to wait outside as he followed the secretary to Hiruzen's office.

Kaito turned to his friends and asked eagerly, "So what mission do you think we will get?" Hotaru hummed in thought before replying, "I'm not sure... hopefully it's outside the village. It's been a while since we've been on a mission outside." Itachi nodded in agreement, adding, "The last mission we did outside the village was nearly a month ago."

Their chatter continued as they waited for Shikaku to return. Meanwhile, inside the office, Shikaku addressed the Third Hokage. "You called for me, Lord Third?"

Hiruzen looked up from his work with a serious expression. "Yes, Shikaku. I have a mission for you and your genin squad." He then pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Shikaku. "We have received information and reason to believe that this man is a spy from the Hidden Stone." Letting out a puff of smoke from his pipe, he continued grimly, "He left Konoha this morning and you are to neutralize him before he leaks any sensitive information."

Shikaku narrowed his eyes as he peered through the scroll, his brow furrowed with concern. "Troublesome," he muttered to himself before turning to the Hokage with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure, Hokage-sama? Isn't this a job for the ANBU?"

Hiruzen released another puff of smoke from his pipe and gave a nod. "As you already know, Shikaku, the ANBU are stretched thin at the moment. And with tensions between villages at an all-time high, we can't afford to send them after him."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Shikaku replied, "I am aware of that, Lord Third. But they are only kids. Surely there are more experienced shinobi who can handle this mission." He knew it was a futile argument to make with the Hokage.

Hiruzen hummed in thought before speaking again. "Yes, there are others I could send on this mission. However, I believe it would be a valuable experience for your team. With the threat of war looming over us, our village needs as many skilled shinobi as possible. And all members of Team 11 show great promise. It's better to nurture their skills now rather than wait until it's too late."

Shikaku let out another sigh, knowing that what the Hokage said was true. "Hai, we will leave immediately." With a bow, he left the office to prepare for their mission.

As Shikaku exited the Hokage's office, he made his way over to his team with a scroll in hand. He handed it off to Itachi, saying, "That's our target."

Itachi unfurled the scroll, both Kaito and Hotaru leaning in to get a closer look. seeing The image of the man and the detailed infomation on him, Kaito raised an eyebrow at Shikaku's words, asking, "An assassination mission?"

Both Itachi and Hotaru turned to Shikaku, mirroring Kaito's expression with a questioning look in their eyes. Shikaku nodded and replied, "Yes. Our target left the village early this morning and we have reason to believe he hasn't gone too far. If we act quickly, we can complete this mission before the day is over." They all nodded in understanding and followed Shikaku towards the village exit, their mission clear in their minds.

This wasn't the first time Shikaku and his team had taken a life. They had been on previous bandit elimination missions, but this one felt different. It was unusual for regular ninja to receive an assassination mission of an enemy nation's spy. These types of missions were typically carried out by the ANBU, not fresh genins who had just graduated this year.

Shikaku had initially refused the mission, knowing the detrimental effects it could have on his team's mental state. At barely 8 years old, they were still children. And Shikaku had never agreed with the Hokage's decision to allow them to graduate early from the academy, despite their exceptional abilities.

Leaving the village, they followed the track of the merchants who had departed earlier that morning. After some questioning, they discovered that their target had left them, claiming to have something urgent to attend to. Using her Byakugan, Hotaru managed to track him down a distance away from the village.

As they approached their target, Shikaku asked for his team's input on how to proceed. This was a mission for Team 11 to gain experience, after all. Itachi suggested setting up a trap, which ended up going smoothly with Shikaku landing the final blow and killing the spy.

After securing the body of their target, they returned back to the village, mission accomplished. Though it was a learning experience for Team 11, Shikaku couldn't shake off the feeling that this type of mission should not be given to such young ninja.

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