'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!