Silence

41. Ships And Banana's

Shizukana's P.O.V.

We all turned to face the participant. As soon as I saw who it was, I internally groaned. It was the same guy who insulted us and left his bill at the tea shop. Oh great. Immediately, he and Naruto recognized each other and yelled in surprise. Sasuke was visibly irritated and Sakura was having a hard time believing her eyes.

"You!" Naruto said pointing at the newcomer. "Wait till I get my hands on you." He said walking towards the runner. Without hesitation, I quickly walked and stood in front of Naruto.

"Naruto, I know you've heard this but you can't kill the person we're supposed to protect," I said making him pout at me. I just raised my eyebrow at his dramatics.

"You're just like Kakashi Sensei." He said making me mockingly gasp. Naruto smiled and forgot all about his grudge until the runner started talking.

"Jirocho-San. Who are they?" He asked looking at us with hate. Both of us walked towards Sasuke and Sakura.

"They are the ninja who will be escorting you," Jirocho-San said making the runner widen his eyes. He then turned to us and gave us a nasty glare to which Naruto and Sasuke returned it. "Now, play nicely Idate," Jirocho-San mentioned, making me sigh in defeat. This mission just got so much harder.

Timeskip.

Sasuke and Sakura went into town to do a little perimeter check to see if the village has any vendettas against the Wasabi family. Naruto and Idate were locked in a room to get to know each other and try not to kill on sight. I stayed with Jirocho-San and got to know more details on the mission like the previous races and how things may turn out. I wanted to know just how far will the Wagarashi family go.

I thanked Jirocho-San and stepped out of the room. I needed to find Sakura and Sasuke so I brought my hands together and Hiraishined to their location. I had marked Sasuke with a temporary tag which will fade after a few hours. Sasuke reluctantly accepted it. "I can handle things," Sasuke said, staying silent as he walked off.

I Hiraishined and looked around to find Sasuke beating three men up. I also found Sakura helping an old lady. Probably some goons of the Wagarashi family here to show that they intend on winning the race. "Sasuke," I called out, making the Uchiha pause before looking at me. "I told you to keep a low profile," I said making him just shrug at me before shoving the man towards his colleagues.

"Leave before I crack your skull," Sasuke barked with a fierce glare, making the goons gulp before limping away. I walked towards Sasuke and flicked him in the forehead, annoyed by his actions.

"We have to talk about this thing right now. You can't threaten people like that." I said while he was rubbing his forehead. I smirked before saying, "If you're gonna threaten someone, you need to practice. Petty insults aren't gonna do it." Making Sasuke smirk a bit.

Sakura walked towards us and started telling me about how those goons were from the Wagarashi family and how they trashed that lady's store and threatened to hurt her. I looked at Sasuke and nodded approvingly. If there was no reason to start a fight, then Sasuke would have been wrong. But this was an instance where even I would have reacted in the same way as Sasuke.

"Let's go. It's time for the mission." I reminded. As I noticed people leaving their houses and many of them were having an anxious look on their faces. We can't let the Wagarashi family win. No matter what.

After 10 minutes, we made it to the starting point of the race to find Naruto and Idate standing still. The fact that they were standing next to each other shows that they have gotten to the point where they can bear each other's existence.