The Hope of the Senju Clan

Chapter 23: A Senju's Wrath

-Hattori Mai-

After her defeat at the hands of Naruto, Mai walked up the catwalk and headed for her team who were waiting for her.

"Care to explain yourself Mai?" asked the team leader and sensei Kandachi.

"Naruto-kun was much stronger than I anticipated" Mai answered simply.

"Naruto-kun?" repeated one of Mai's team-mates.

"Is there a problem?" asked Mai, as she turned to her team-mate and frowned.

"Your orders were to kill Senju not to make out with him and then propose to him" said the Ame Genin.

"Agreed, your Grandfather will not be pleased when he hears of your defeat Mai" stated Kandachi.

"You saw how skilled Naruto-kun was" stated Mai.

"Which makes your defeat and your actions after the fight all the more serious" responded Kandachi.

"My Grandfather will understand, he knows our Clan laws better than anyone and he cannot deny that Naruto-kun and I would be a fitting match."

"If you ask me, you're trying to cover yourself" stated the other member of Mai's team.

"What did you just say?" asked Mai as she turned to her team-mate and narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"You heard me", sneered the Ame Genin. "You dropped that ball and failed your mission and now you're trying to cover up your mistake by jumping Senju bones. Clearly you're not as strong as you think you are. Maybe should just step aside and leave this mission to someone competent and who can actually do the job?"

But as soon as the Ame Genin said this and before he could do anything, he suddenly found a Kunai pointed at his neck and facing a very angry Mai.

"I suggest that you watch your mouth...even on my worse day, I could kill trash like you with a simple flick of my wrist."

"That's enough both of you!" rounded Kandachi, glared at both Genin, "We'll talk about this again later."

Mai scoffed at this and then removed the Kunai from the Ame Genin's neck, who started to rub his neck and look at the Kunocihi nervously, as she glared coldly at him. Before she turned away and stared at the other end of the arena.

Seeing this Kandachi glared at the foolish Genin, as he knew how strong Mai was and she certainly didn't drop the ball. Naruto simply proved to be much more skilled than they expected him to be, which of course made things all the worse. Since if he was this skilled already, there was no doubt that he would become a formidable foe in the future.

As he turned to Mai, he saw the young girl staring at Naruto at the opposite end of the arena, who was being treated for his injuries by his mother.

"This could complicate matters" thought Kandachi.

-With the Suna Team-

As Mai was conversing with her team a certain red haired jinchūriki was staring at Naruto with a cold bloodthirsty look in his eyes.

Seeing this, Gaara's sensei and siblings began to worry, as they saw who he was staring at.

"Yes, mother I hear you, you want his blood and I will give it to you soon, very soon, I promise" thought the crazed jinchūriki.

"I was afraid of this" thought a worried Temari. "The preliminaries have barely even started, but because of the intensity of Senju's and that girl's battle. Gaara is already on the verge of losing control and going berserk."