The Girl Behind The Mask

Chapter 12

     "You shouldn't have rushed into battle like that" Midnight scolded, Chiyo flinched at the wolf's tone a hand hovering over the bruise that had formed on her neck.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly, she slipped off her mask a frown visible on her face. Midnight sighed,

"I'm just glad you aren't injured any more than just a bruise. It should be gone soon" she spoke. Chiyo raised her head,

"Midnight I was wondering something" she said. The animal sat next to her giving her silent conformation to ask whatever question was on her mind.

"When we met that tracker ninja back there, you seemed suspicious" she mentioned.

"Yes, something about him didn't seem right" she explained. Chiyo cocked her head to the side curiously,

"I don't think he was a real tracker ninja" Midnight explained. The black haired girl looked at her companion her crimson eyes wide.

"Do you think he was working with Zabuza" she said. The idea had been something Chiyo had been thinking about since the groups first encounter with the rouge ninja.

"I'm not sure, but it is a possiblity" Midnight confirmed. Chiyo frowned,

"this mission is going to be a lot more difficult than I imagined" she said quietly. Chiyo was suddenly snapped out of her thoughts ny a knock on the door.

"Chiyo-chan, Kakashi sensei is awake" Sakura could be heard on the other side. Midnight disappeared as the female slipped on her mask and opened the door.

  "That's good to hear" she smiled following her teammate to another room. Inside Kakashi was sitting up, he was awake but seemed weak.

"Good to see you're ok" she said,

"Chiyo-chan, what happened?"Sakura asked pointing to the bruise. Chiyo rubbed the back of her neck.

"Ah, don't worry, it's nothing serious" she tried to brush off the fact that she was injured. The pink haired girl looked at her with concern in her eyes. soon, the conversation had switched to the battle the team had been through.

"Zabuza's still alive" Chiyo said shocking the rest of team seven.

"She's right" Kakashi said,

"how do you know" Naruto asked. Kakashi explained that the needles that had "killed" Zabuza didn't actually do that, they had only made it seem like he was dead.

"So, does that mean that tracker ninja was really working with him" Naruto questioned. Chiyo nodded as did Kakashi, the team's teacher stood up still using crutches.

"You all are going to be doing some training" he said.

  "Are you sure you should be walking around right now" the black haired girl asked. He waved off her concern,

"I'll be fine" he said instructing them to follow him. They did so until they came across a clearing large trees surrounding the area.

"Whay kind of training are we doing?" Sakura asked,

"you'll be climbing trees" he told them.

"Huuuh?" Naruto looked at him confused.

"Without your hands" he continued, the group looked even more confused.

"So, he's helping us with our chakara control" Chiyo said.

  "I've been training you with chakara control, you shouldn't have too much trouble" Midnight said. She was shaken from her train of thought when a kunai was thrown at her feet.

"Use these to mark how far you get" Kakashi said hanging upside down from a tree branch. Chiyo grabbed the Kunai picking out a large tree. She looked over to see Sakura standing next to her, she watched as the female started going up the tree making it up pretty high.

    "Good job Sakura-chan" Chiyo praised.

"Thanks Chiyo" the pink haired girl waved. She then looked forward taking a deep breath,

"Remember, if you use too much or too little chakara you won't make it. You need to focus" Midnight told her. Chiyo started to run up the tree keeping her focus steady. Soon her feet were firmly planted on a branch. She looked around to see that she had reached the same height as Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke looked up at her with amazement in their eyes.

"Aren't you going to try?" she asked, Naruto was the first of the two to try, he got a little ways up the tree before loosing his balance and falling back to the ground. Chiyo gave him a sympathetic look,

    "Has he ever trained to control his chakara" Midnight said. The female jumped down from the branch landing in front of her blond friend. He looked up at her a frustrated frown on his face.

  "Naruto-kun, you need to focus better. Otherwise you won't be able to control your chakara" she told him. He looked over at Sasuke a determined look on his face.

  "This is going to take a while" Midnight  said.

"Yeah....." Chiyo said rubbing the bruise on her neck.
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The next day Chiyo and Sakura were sitting on a bench as workers passed them by carrying wood and various other materials with them.

"Shouldn't you two be training" Tazuna's voice broke the silence. The girls looked up at him Sakura being the one to answer his question.

"We already completed our training" she said. Chiyo simply nodded going along with the conversation. Just then one of the workers approached Tazuna with a worried look in his eyes.

  "Tazuna, I want to quit" he said. The bridge builder looked at him surprised.

"What, you can't just quit" he tried pleading with the worker. He shook his head standing his ground about his decision. Chiyo watched him walk away, she couldn't blame him for being so worried. She took a deep breath, it seemed that everyone in the village was hurting, she hoped that making sure the bridge was complete would help.