'Faith of the Heart' Chapter 9 Preview #1

Here's a quick preview of one of the scenes from the rough draft of Chapter 9 of Faith of the Heart:

“Back in a minute, I’ve got to answer the call of nature, if you know what I mean,” a blond-headed boy called out as he emerged from behind the rocks and hurried pass the two girls. Zetsu recognized him immediately as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Naruto Uzumaki. The pink-haired girl yelled back, “Don’t announce it, Baka!” Naruto was headed in the direction of the tree Zetsu was hiding within.

Zetsu went silent and started to suppress his chakra as much as possible while still sending chakra to his projection in the cave for the extraction jutsu. There was a slight chance that the teen might be able to hear him or sense his chakra if he got close enough. Better safe than sorry. His caution turned out to be justified, as Naruto walked straight up to the tree, made sure the bush next to the tree provided some privacy from the others’ view, and then reached for his pants zipper. Both of Zetsu’s halves rolled their eyes.

Unable to resist his natural prankster instincts, Naruto stopped and looked right at the portion of the tree he’d been told Zetsu was peeking out from. “Hey, Akatsuki-teme, how about some privacy here?”

Startled, Zetsu finally noticed the radio earpiece in the teen’s ear. When he stole a quick glance at the other Konoha shinobi. The dark-haired girl stood and turned to face him while touching the throat-microphone of her own radio. The bulging veins and distinctive eye color marked her as a member of the Hyuuga clan. The wrinkled old woman, who Zetsu now recognized as the one of the Suna elders, stepped out from behind the rocks with a big toothy grin on her face and her bony middle finger extended skyward. Zetsu turned back to the teen below, too stunned that he’d been detected to even react.

‘How can she see us?’

‘Even the Hyuuga in the first group did not notice our presence,’ his other half agreed.

Naruto grinned. He still couldn’t see Zetsu but trusted Hinata’s voice in his ear when she told him the Akatsuki member wasn’t reacting and appeared confused. “I’ve got a message for you and your buddies: we’re going to get Gaara back and kick all your asses! Bunshin Daibakuha!”

KA-BOOM!

'Shinobi Odyssey' Chapter 3 Preview Scene #1

Kakashi, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were crouching in the tall reeds lining the bank of a lake that straddled the Fire/Rain border. In the distance, the towers of Hinanjo were barely visible through the heavy rainfall. It had been nearly two days since they departed Konoha. Kakashi had been true to his word; he had run the two chuunin into the ground trying to catch up to Jiraiya. Unfortunately, their efforts had been in vain. The Toad Sannin had too great of a head start for the three ninjas to catch up. And now, they’d also lost his trail at the edge of the lake.

Kiba turned to the masked jonin with a haggard expression on his face. “So now what?”

Kakashi looked out over the lake the rain poured down the only signs of life was a lone duck floating on the surface of the water. “We cross the border. We’ve come this far, seems a shame to turn back now.”

The three shinobi and one ninja dog started to make their way down to the water. However, before they reached the water’s edge, the duck vanished in a splash. The back and head of a twenty-foot long crocodile surfaced and started to swim away, only to disappear in a thunderous explosion when the large reptile brushed against an underwater mine. Searchlights mounted atop a camouflaged lookout tower located on a small island midway between the shore and the city switched on and began sweeping the surface of the water. A boat could be seen in the distance leaving one of the city’s docks, most likely headed for the shore to investigate the site of the blast.

“Perhaps it would be advisable to cross the border at a different location,” Shino wryly suggested as bits of smoking crocodile meat rained down upon the group.

“Now why would we want to do that?” Kakashi asked while eying the boat headed their way with his uncovered Sharingan. “Especially when they’re kind enough to send a nice, big boat for us to use.”