Bounty Thief

Chapter 3

I woke up on the day of the mission, bubbling with excitement. I was ready to show what I have learned since my time in konoha. I looked around Naruto's house only to find it empty. 'Where could he have gone to...he knows today is important...' I shrugged and packed my things and met Sakura where we were suppose to gather before heading out.

"Wheres Naruto?" She asked, slipping her gloves on.

"No idea, I woke up and he was missing...usually he cant go a second without making some kinda noise.." guess I underestimated his sneaking skills.

We didn't have to worry long though cause here came yamato and Naruto walking from the training grounds. The usually peppy boy was bruised and looked exhausted already.

"Idiot! What are you thinking!? We are about to fight akatsuki, and here you are already beating yourself up!" Our relationship has become something of a brother/sister thing, and I hated seeing him push himself so hard.

"Heh..." he rubbed the back of his head as he walked up, "sorry saeko, I figured my new jutsu would be handy...I needed to master it."

I sighed and waved him off "at least you're here, lets go!" I had taken on a part of his personality. Being with Naruto has reminded me so much of who I use to be, to have someone I considered family again must be how he feels about Sasuke.

The fight we were suppose to interject wasn't very far from the village. It made me worry how bold the Akatsuki was getting. Soon they would be knocking on our front gates. As we ran at neck breaking speeds through the trees, the only thing I could think about was 'what if its my bounty?...how will I get him away from my friends long enough to claim payment, and would they understand?' I shook my head, focusing on the plan.

I had a pair of specially crafted cuffs that I had brought with me from my hometown. It was the only thing I had taken with me when I fled for my life. They made it impossible to preform jutsu, and sealed off chakra. It made dangerous targets harmless kittens. At least that's what I hoped, I've never used it on someone with the power of an S-ranked criminal. I placed my hand on the pouch they were in, and stared ahead at Naruto's back. 'Perhaps I'm okay now...maybe I don't need bounties anymore'

"There! Up ahead!" Sakura pointed to a clearing, large dead trees jetted out of sandy soil. Up a head we could make out three figures. I took a guess that those were our guys.

Opposite of them was a hulking man, well I would hardly call it a man. More of a large beast with spindly threads slithering out of his body. On his back were three masks, and more threads. Two of the masks opened their mouths , "lets go! Hurry!" I shouted, and we rushed forward just as flames shot from its mouth.

Naruto and Yamato ran forward ahead of us "hurricane vortex jutsu!" They combined their power and ripped through the flames. As the steam cleared team 7 and I stood between the man, and our friends.

"Sorry we're late.." Naruto muttered to kakashi, "but better late than never" I added and glared at the man ahead of us. My eyes widened in shock, his face...sure it was covered partially in the drawing but I remembered back to the wanted poster. The likeness was striking, and the eyes were dead on. I gritted my teeth, and looked between him and Naruto. I had to choose now, either grab my chance to save my father and finally live free, or stay here with my new family.

The bounty on this mans head would be enough to not only pay back my fathers debt and save him, but we could finally live a comfortable life. My mind reeled at all the possibilities, but I was ripped from my thoughts as threads shot up from the ground and wrapped around my ankle.

"Hm..you're stupid to be distracted in the middle of battle.."

I was lifted from the ground by my ankle and twirled around in the air like a toy. "Ahhhhh!" I acted quickly and focused chakra up my arm and through my finger tips. I formed a blade and slashed through the wires before he could toss me. I followed up the attack by tossing three small balls at his feet which released a gas, and landed less gracfully on my butt by Ino. She couldn't help but snicker at my performance "what was that suppose to be?" I rolled my eyes at her comment and stood up to watch the gas billow out.