Chapter 24

A kunai zipped past Athena's cheek as she landed on the ground. She sighed and turned to face her chasers. It was her second day on her mission and she had run into some trouble in the form of chunin level ninja. She couldn't tell which village they were from. They had no headband and if they did it was hidden. Their ninja outfit weren't traditional and didn't belong to any of the village. Incognito to the T. Athena did not need to question them to know they were after the scroll she was entrusted with. She had noticed them following her at some point. Picked up on their chakra and determined that she was their objective. She pretended not to notice. She played the naive child. Of course at some point she had to run. Oh, but she was most definitely not running away. Athena would not run. She just ran when they started running.

Well she stopped and was facing them now. She held a neutral expression as she reached for a weapon in her pouch. They were watching her every movement.

"Don't do something you'll regret kid" the head ninja finally spoke as he spun a kunai around his finger. Athena raised an eyebrow as her hand hovered just above her pouch.

"You're just a kid. We don't want to hurt you. All you need to do is hand over that scroll" another said.

Athena knew better. They could care less about her age and experience. They would harm her. They would kill her. No one is to he trusted. No ninja is to be trusted. She must always see through deceptions. Always remain one step ahead. Always plan. Always gather information.

Her hand went into her pouch and the kunai was thrown. She reacted quickly and drew her own kunai, using it to reflect the one thrown at her. She spun her own around her finger as she drew five shuriken. She smiled, very brightly and very innocently.

"Wanna play? "

Her five shuriken were airborne in an instant. The ninja dodged only to find she was not present anymore. They were distracted for a moment. Not even three seconds. Where could she have gone?

There was a grunt as one of their comrades fell to the ground. They were on high alert. They underestimated their opponent. She may be a child but she knew what she was doing. She easily took one of them down without being spotted. Who was this kid? All they were tasked with was locating and retrieving the scroll from her. They thought it would be no trouble. The child was eight.

How wrong they were.

Another grunt and another comrade fell. The remaining three drew their weapons. They needed to locate the child quickly or their mission would be unsuccessful. They would have failed because of a child. That could not happen.

Another ninja dropped and the last two realized standing around was doing them no good but what could they do? Run? If they did they would be abandoning the mission. Maybe they could draw the child deeper into the forest. Distract and attack.

One remained. He knew there was nothing he could do. The child was fast. He didn't even see her when she struck the others.

"And then there was one"

The ninja jumped when he heard a voice behind him. He spun around weapon drawn ready to strike when Athena jabbed him in the gut before he could do much. The kunai fell from his hand and he tumbled to the ground clutching his stomach in pain. He didn't know what the child did but it was painful. He was brought down to Athena's height and she looked him dead in the eye.

"Who sent you? "

He said nothing. He would not talk. It's bad enough he failed the mission if he talked it would only make things worse. It didn't matter that he could die at any moment.

Athena sighed. "Don't make me force it out pal. I'm not one for unnecessary violence "

Still nothing. Athena hummed as she crouched before the man. She had sent some chakra straight through him, disrupting his usual chakra flow. She made sure it hurt to render him useless before her. Perks of being a medical nin. You learn about such things.

"Listen here. If you don't talk I will seriously hurt you. I won't kill you, I'm not like that, but I will make you wish you were dead. So you either tell me or you suffer, either way you will be telling me who sent you"

~~~~~~~

Naruto was jumping from tree to tree in an attempt to lose his followers. They suddenly attacked him out of nowhere. He was just minding his business. Setting up a camp when the sun began to set, when suddenly shuriken flew over his head. He immediately froze and stiffly turned to face his attackers. Four ninja. He could tell which village they were from. They didn't dress traditionally. That didn't matter all that much because he was soon being chased. Seriously. He had a pretty good idea why he was being chased. It had to be the scroll. It was supper important. That was obvious. He could not let it fall in The hands of the unknown group of ninja.

"Shadow clone jutsu"

Three clones of himself manifested and directed themselves at his chasers. He soon turned to them as well and sent himself flying towards the nearest ninja.

His fist met his target's face. He grinned with excitement when his opponent stumbled back from the unexpected force of his blow. He recovered soon after and decided to throw his own attack.

"You would hit a little kid? "Naruto asked as he dodged the blow and connects a foot to the stomach. He watched as the man tumbled forward, before swiftly dealing uppercut blow to the chin. Blood left the ninjas mouth as he fell to the ground.

When the man had leaned forward his blood had rushed to his head and since Naruto didn't give him time to regain himself the uppercut had a serious affect.

His clones had easily taken down the other three and he was left standing victorious. He stood over the pained ninja and grippef his collar, pulling him u.

"Who sent you? "

"As if I would tell a snot nosed kid like you"

Naruto glared and almost punched the man but remained calm. His mother taught him to always remain calm in certain situations. Getting angry will make him act rashly and it could make things worse, jeopardize the mission or get one of his comrades hurt. Stay calm.

"Hey, you have to talk. If you don't I'll have to make you talk and I can be pretty creative. I've got a wild imagination, trust me"

The ninja glared at the young boy and said nothing. He would rather die than give in to an eight year old. Nothing could be more embarrassing than being defeated by a child. As slowly and stealthy as he could he moved his hand to his pouch. He should have a paper bomb there.

Naruto sighed. The man refused to talk. What should he do? Question him of course. But how? Painfully, obviously. Such stupid questions he was asking himself.

Naruto raised an eyebrow when a paper bomb was slapped onto his arm.

The ninja thought the child would panic the second the bomb landed on his skin. He didn't even flinch upon seeing the bomb. He only smiled brighter and pulled the ninja closer.

"Activate it" he said. "I dare ya"

Was this kid out of his mind? If he activated the bomb they would both be in danger. Did this kid not care at all?

Naruto grinned and removed the bomb. He tossed it aside and reached into his own pouch to pull out his bombs. He can be very creative.

"You've given me an idea"

He placed a self made bomb right on the ninjas forhead. He smiled proudly when he saw all the blood drain from the man's face.

"I made these bombs myself. Mom taught me how to. They have a lot of firepower, believe me. I accidentally set on off once" Naruto giggled as he remembered back to the day. Jiraiya's face was so black.

"Talk or you go boom"

~~~~~~

Tsunade sighed as she set down her empty sake bottle. How many had she drowned in already? She couldn't remember. Which means it had been a lot. Another sigh as she rested her head on the wooden table beneath her. She was worried about Athena. It had already been two days. She just had one more day remaining. She could handle it. Athena could handle it. She could take care of herself. She was strong. She was smart. She was calm. She could do it. She would not get hurt.

Tsunade knew this and yet the worry would not leave. She knew her daughter could handle the mission. She trained her. She personally saw what her kid could do. She was powerful. She could easily take down a jonin if she was serious. She was worried. Why?

She had gotten used to being around her quirky kid. She had gotten used to always being there. And now she was off on her own. Out in the dangerous world.

That's the problem isn't it? She was still afraid of losing her. She was still afraid that she would disappear again. She knew that wouldn't happen, but she was a mother and she was worried.

"Lady Tsunade you've had enough" Shizune stopped the woman from filling her glace with more liver poison. She put the bottle away and helped her teacher stand. "What is wrong with you? " Tsunade hadn't drank that much in a long time. She had to cut back after Athena started traveling with them. And it wasn't because they had a child around. No. It was because Athena would physically hurt her if she drank more than she had gave her permission to. The child was determined.

"I'm worried"

"About Athena? She could handle herself. You and I both know that"

Tsunade nodded. "Yeah, but I'm still worried"

Shizune sighed. She was aware of Tsunade's fear. It was understandable. The woman was used to losing those she loved. She had gotten Athena back, but if she were to be taken away from her again. Shizune didn't see Tsunade recovering from that.

"I should tell her you went over what you were allowed" Shizune said in hopes of changing the topic.

"She would be furious" Tsunade laughed weakly. "She would hit for doing something like that"

"You broke her rule"

Tsunade sighed. "At least I never promised her. Promises mean a lot to her"

Shizune hummed as the two stumbled into their hotel room. She made sure Tsunade crawled into bed as she went to see what she could wip up in the kitchen.

Tsunade felt something climbing up her body under the sheats and raised them to find TonTon.

"Hey there, we're you home alone? "

The pig snorted somewhat ignorantly making Tsunade laugh. She scratched the back of TonTon's ear affectionately.

"Little pig" Tsunade teased. It was something Athena would always do to annoy the proud TonTon.

The pig snorted angrily and headbutted Tsunade's chin repeatedly.

"Calm down TonTon. I know you don't like to be called a pig and little no less" Tsunade fended off the angered pig. "But you are still a pig"

Bad choice of words. TonTon squeeled furiously and flung herself into the laughing Tsunade. The pig used her little hooves to attack the unaffected Tsunade.

"Okay I'm sorry. Quit it TonTon" Tsunade held the asualting pig away from her.

"Save it for Athena"