Child of the sea (Neji X OC story)

Chapter Five ~ Land of Waves

~Umiko~

As my clone was following team seven along whatever lame chore they had at the time i was training with Neji, while fighting him i noticed something and jumped back "Are you calling it?"he asked, i nodded "Just for now though my clone's info just came back we're leaving on a D-rank mission, that and i noticed your gentle fist is a little stiff, anyway i'm off"i smiled before leaving.

~Neji~

I thought about what Umiko told me before she left i looked at my hand "A little stiff huh?"i muttered to myself and did a few strikes at nothing, now that she pointed it out i can tell gentle fist isn't the most flexible style, i wonder, i did a strike more loosely and noticed a world of difference, Umiko thank you with this i can take down the head family.

~Umiko~

After packing i arrived at the gates and waited for the rest of my team to show up "You're that brat with the weird hair"the drunk standing there said, this was our client, we were to escort him back to his home but something about it just wasn't right to me, why would a bridge builder need an escort?

Anyway i nodded to the man ignoring his comment about the weird hair, i liked my hair, Kakashi soon appeared for once on time, Sasuke and Naruto arrived not much later, the idiot blond was grinning like the idiot he is "What's got you so happy?"i asked "This is the first time i ever left the village"he said still grinning.

"Hey am i supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke"Tazuna, the bridge builder, said "He's with me and i'm a jounin so you don't need to worry"Kakashi said, i sweatdropped a bit, doesn't change the fact that Naruto is a total moron, i sighed a bit walking up and grabbing Naruto by the collar "Come on, the sooner we get there the sooner we're rid of this drunk geezer"i said dragging him along as we walked on ahead.

"Hey! Let go i can walk on my own!"Naruto yelled struggling in my hold "Okay"i said letting him go and he fell down, i snickered a bit at him and Naruto quickly got up before facing me "Hey! Why are you so mean to me?!"he asked "You're annoying"i simply said and walked on ahead joining Kakashi at the front with Tazuna.

~skip~

After a while of walking i spotted a puddle but it hadn't rained in weeks. today had been totally clear too i shared a look with Kakashi and he subtly nodded, then he was wrapped in chains and torn apart, i acted quickly going after the one attacking Naruto and pushing him back.

Sasuke threw a shuriken and pinned the chain but the enemies detached the chain, one of them went after Naruto again and the other after Tazuna, i went after the one targeting Naruto kicking them away from him and knocking out the enemy as Kakashi came and took care of the other one.

"Nice work Sasuke, you too Umiko, Naruto i didn't think you'd freeze up like that you're lucky Umiko was quick and protected you"Kakashi said, "Hey"Sasuke called to the fuming Naruto "You're not hurt are ya? scardy cat"he said a smug smirk on his face, i rolled my eyes a bit and helped Naruto up.

Naruto was still shaking in anger though taking a kunai he stabbed his hand "Why am i always? Why am i so different?!"he growled in frustration "I worked so hard to get here pushing myself until it hurt, training alone for hours anything to get stronger to reach my dream, i will never back down again and let someone else rescue me, i will never run away, i will not lose to Sasuke or Umiko, upon this wound i make this pledge, believe it, bridge builder i will protect you with this kunai knife, a real ninja never gives up and neither will i"Naruto said.

"That's great and all but you're gonna bleed out with a wound like that"Kakashi said, Naruto panicked and began flailing around "Calm down you're only gonna die faster flailing around like that"i said grabbing his hand, it was already healing though, so that's the nine tails power, i wrapped up his hand regardless.

Kakashi had tied the two who attacked us to a tree, now it was questioning time "How did you know of our attack?"one of them asked "Come on a puddle on a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks, you're more idiotic then the masochistic blond over there"i said pointing over to Naruto "HEY!!!"he yelled in protest.

"Well anyway these two are chunin from the hidden mist known for their relentless attacks"Kakashi said "In that case why'd you leave it to the genin to do the fighting?"Tazuna asked "I could of taken them out quickly but i had to make sure who was the target and what they were after"Kakashi said "What are you getting at?"Tazuna asked "This, i wanted to know if they were after us or if they were after you"Kakashi said.

"Which leaves the question, why ninja are after a bridge builder?"i asked "Normally this sort of mission would be B-rank or higher but when you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men, apparently you have your reasons for lying to us but this is beyond our scope"Kakashi said.

"Come on Kakashi-sensei, we can't back down now, i don't care what his reasons are i wanna see this mission through!"Naruto yelled, Kakashi looked at Sasuke and i "What do you think?"he asked, i shrugged "I'm with Naruto, i'd rather see this through then to go back and do lame chores"i said "Naruto's an idiot but he has a point"Sasuke said.

Kakashi sighed a bit, i guess he'd rather not argue with us since with that we continued walking towards the land of waves with Tazuna, arriving we took a boat across the river, on the boat Tazuna told us that a business man named Gato controls his village and with the bridge that he's building they could finally be free, Kakashi was convinced to continue the mission and soon enough we arrived at the shore of the land of waves.