Fᴏʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ Tʜᴇ Rᴏsᴇs✿

4

Once Akemi cut Naruto loose, the blond landed swiftly on his feet. He grinned happily at his brother. "Now le—!" another rope snapped around the blond's ankle and cried out from frustration. Akemi was equally surprised there was another trap set up. He stared with wide eyes. "Y-You okay, up there, Aniki?" the redhead questioned, concerned. Naruto wiggled for a minute before stilling. He folded his arms over his chest and hummed in thought. "You tired, Otōto?" Naruto asked calmly. Akemi blinked, "Ma-Maybe a li-little," he said in a small voice. The blond nodded and looked overhead. From his vantage point he could see the entire training ground; he saw the stumps Kakashi-sensei mentioned and then he saw a black marble statue. The statue had a triangular like shape that rest on a round pedestal of the same stone. The blond saw three bento, innocently sitting on the marble slab. Naruto grinned wickedly. "Want me to get you down, Aniki?" Akemi asked. Naruto shook his head. "Keep a look out and make sure Kakashi-sensei is not around," said Naruto while he pulled the last rope off his ankle.

Naruto sped off in the direction of the stone monument. Akemi followed and raised a brow at his brother's behaviour. "Did you see Sakura or Sasuke run by?" Akemi questioned the blond. Naruto came to a stop and jumped on the marble statue, leaving just enough space to not disturb the bento. "Nope," Naruto grinned happily, "But I did see these, he, he." The blond rubbed his palms together and had a fox-like grin on his face, his whiskered cheeks wrinkled. Akemi's eyes widened – they have been doing that a lot lately – he hurriedly pulled Naruto away from the boxes. "A-Aniki! You can't do that! Sensei is gonna be so mad!" Akemi yelled. Naruto pouted and rested his fists in his knees, "What's the point of getting a bell?!" the blond whined. "The bento was just sitting there, all, alone," Naruto drooled. Akemi cleared his throat, it seemed to have woken the blond from his stupor. The redhead nodded and did a hand sign, a clone appeared next to the redhead. "Make sure he doesn't eat it," he told the clone. Akemi-Clone smiled and nodded and plopped his butt down next to the sulking blond. "I'm gonna look for, Sasuke and Sakura and bring them here so we can come up with a plan." Naruto muttered somethings under his breath and reluctantly nodded.

Uzumaki Akemi ran through the forest in search for the rest of his teammates. "They'll c-come with me r-right?" he wondered out loud.

"Nope," a voice said blandly.

Akemi shrieked. "Sensei!" the boy gasped. Kakashi smiled under the mask. "Yo." Akemi readied his kunai. "W-What do you mean, 'they won't,' s-sensei?" the boy questioned with a stutter. "Just listen," Kakashi said simply. A loud scream raked through the forest. Sakura?! Thought Akemi. Not long after, another scream travelled through the forest. S-Sasuke?! The redhead narrowed his gaze at the Jōnin. "Now, what to do with you," Kakashi said with the same crescent eye smile. Akemi visibly shuddered. "I-If it's c-come to this, I'll fight you to get t-the bells," the redhead gulped.

Akemi brought the kunai up and his gaze narrowed on his teacher. His left hand was in a tight fist next to his face. Kakashi flipped a page of his book. Akemi rushed forward and swiped left with the kunai. Kakashi leaned back, the blade was a couple of inches from his face. Akemi grit his teeth. The redhead noticed the shift of the elder man's arm, Akemi jumped back just as the man tried to grab his wrist. Akemi made quick work of summoning two clones. The trio of Akemi rushed forward. One went for hammer kick from above, the other threw a right hook and the third swiped at the waist close to the bells. Kakashi used quick movements to grab hold of the redhead's ankle then threw him to the side. The clone popped and disappeared. The Jōnin then kicked one clone that was close to the bells in the stomach, it popped out of existence. Kakashi pulled the last clone and threw him against a tree. The clone popped and a log landed with a thud. Impressive, Kakashi thought.

Akemi breathed heavily when he came to a stop in front of Sakura and Sasuke. "I—!" The red head could not finish when he heard the ringing noise. The redhead kissed his teeth. "What do you want?" Sasuke growled and walked up next to the redhead. Sakura hurried after, "Sasuke-kun." Akemi regained his breath. "I-It doesn't m-matter n-now, S-Sasuke," Akemi stuttered and gripped the front of his overalls and walked ahead of the pair.