A Hero's Come Back

Chapter 6: Team Ebisu's Mission

I do not own Naruto.

"Naruto." I turned my head to look at Kakashi Sensei as we ran through the treetops. "Yeah?" "Don't you think we should stop? We need to eat and rest. No use wearing ourselves out on the first day," he suggested. I nodded, with a embarrassed smile. I did have the habit of pushing myself too far, and since the others didn't have my stamina, they were probably hungry and exhausted. I held up a hand to signal the others that we were stopping, then dropped down to the forest floor. They all dropped down after me.

Tenten and Hinata instantly fell to the ground. "Good grief!" Tenten complained, panting. "You're even worse than Guy Sensei and Lee!" Hinata just sat there, catching her breath. I smiled again at them. "Sorry about that. I'm used to it, Jiraiya Sensei was a tough taskmaster, ya know." "Wait a second," Sakura said, panting a bit. "You called him Sensei just then, instead of Pervy Sage." I laughed. "Yeah, I just call him that when he's around, cause it irritates him, ya know?" She shook her head, laughing breathlessly. "That's so you, Naruto."

"Lady Hinata," Neji said, walking up to his cousin. "Are you okay?" She smiled up at the other Hyuga. "Yes, thank you. Just a bit winded." I walked over to them and squatted down in front of Hinata. She turned red and backed away from me a bit. I ignored her reaction and handed her my water bottle. "Here, you have to be thirsty." She took it hesitantly. "Th-thank you," she stuttered. I smiled at her. "No problem!" I was just glad she took it.

While she drank, I turned back to the others. "Okay, we'll rest here for a while. You might want to eat now. It'll be a while before we stop again." "Sir, yes sir!" They said cheekily. Now I understand why Jiraiya Sensei got so annoyed when I did that, I thought, irritated. That is really annoying, ya know.

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"Hey, is this it?" Konohamaru asked, staring up at the Compound gate. "Indeed," Ebisu Sensei said, adjusting his glasses for the fiftieth time that day. "It's huge!" Moegi exclaimed. Udon sniffed, trying to get rid of his ever-present booger. "Where do we even start?" Ebisu Sensei looked at the falling down gate and bridge. "I suppose we take a look inside and find out what we need."

They all jumped over the river and onto the other side of the bridge. "Definitely a carpenter," Konohamaru said, looking back at the old broken down bridge. Ebisu Sensei nodded. "Come on, let's look in the houses." They walked inside, forgoing taking their shoes off. Moegi sneezed. "We really need to dust this place too." Ebisu Sensei nodded and pushed up his glasses. "The wood seems stable in here," he noticed, knocking on a wall.

They searched the entire compound. And they eventually came to the realization that it wasn't in too bad a shape. The only problems were the gate and bridge, the ungodly amount of dust and cobwebs, and the overgrown yard. There was one spot where the roof had somewhat caved in, but it was a minor issue. Ebisu Sensei and the Genin stood in the middle of the compound, on top of a large house, and looked out over the compound. "All in all, not bad, hey," Konohamaru said, nodding his head up and down with his arms crossed.

Ebisu Sensei nodded, taking off his dusty glasses and cleaning them. "I'll go immediately and find a carpenter to fix the roof and entry way. You three, go and get cleaning supplies." He put his glasses back on and then jumped away, a black blur. A moment later, Konohamaru and the others were also a blur, running into town.

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They returned almost an hour later, cleaning supplies in hand. "Hey, Ebisu Sensei isn't back yet," Konohamaru noted. Moegi set down her supplies and frowned. "I wonder what Clan this compound belongs to." Udon nodded, his string of snot bouncing up and down. "Yeah, it's strange that the compound is covered in the comradery symbol." Konohamaru spun around, looking at the doors of the compound. "Hey, it is!" Faded blue spirals covered every one of them.