A/N : Please re-read the last bit of the previous chapter once again if you've read it before the changes I made based on feedback from yesterday. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for the feedback!
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With impeccable control over his expressions, Tachibana maintained a soft smile throughout his journey.
"I'll protect you well Tachibana-kun! So don't be afraid!!!" Naruto declared while walking by his side.
Tachibana smiled and nodded, he was afraid that if he opened his mouth he'd end up spouting his true thoughts.
Team Seven's eavesdropping on his conversation with Maruboshi had brought them a little closer and had reopened avenues for conversation. But Tachibana felt suffocated.
'I don't want to be here.'
Tachibana glanced at Maruboshi and then thought about what he'd said.
'Peace huh?'
'I don't mind fighting for it.'
'But die for it? I don't mind even this as long as I was doing it to protect someone close to me.'
'But for the peace people like Hiruzen and Danzo protect? I think not.'
'As for changing the fate of all those who're about to die? I haven't forgotten the first rule of a seer, be respectful to fate.'
'I'm not going to try and change something I can't bear myself. Who knows what price it'll try to extract from me? What if I end up dying instead of them?'
'The worst part is, I can't even leave the team without becoming a traitor.'
'If they wouldn't die, I'm half sure Maruboshi would accept me back into the team and 'train' me well so that this doesn't happen the next time. But the problem is they'll die. And if they do, I'm not sure what Hiruzen'll do with me.'
'The best outcome would be that I'm left alone. The worst would be joining root or being forced to kill myself like Sakumo.'
"Tachibana-kun, what's your favourite Taijutsu stance?" Naruto asked randomly with a smile, "Mine's the fox stance! It resonates with me!!"
"Mine's the cat stance. I like it because it allows me to react the fastest."
Tachibana kept his impeccable smile outwardly as he conversed with Naruto while inside his mind he continued to plan his eventual escape from imminent demise.
'If I want to leave from here on good terms.'
'I need to make Kakashi or Maruboshi send me back to the village on a mission before they're killed.'
Tachibana continued to activate his spirit vision to look for any enemies following or surrounding them but didn't find any.
'What did Maruboshi do in the village?'
'Did he not bring back any shinobi to help with the added difficulty of the mission?'
'The shinobi from Kumogakure are no longer around us.'
'But that could also be because they've already learned all that they wanted to learn about us.'
'But how am I going to get them to send me away?'
'Be annoying on purpose? No, if they aren't sending Naruto away, they probably wouldn't send me away.'
'If I direct them to a point where they're caught in a trap and only I'm safe enough to return to the village?'
Suddenly Naruto spoke, "Tachibana-kun, can you divine something for me?"
"Oh? What do you want me to divine for you?"
"That…will…pspspsppsps."
"Huh? What?"
Naruto leaned closer before whispering in Tachibana's ear while making sure no one else was hearing him, "Can you divine how many kids me and Sakura will have?"
Kakashi and Maruboshi stumbled but regained their balance soon after.
"..." Tachibana was a little dumbfounded, but he spoke quickly, "Are you sure you want to know about that Naruto? Shouldn't you ask Haruno-san about it first?"
"Yes I want to know-"
"Besides, I can't divine about anything that I don't have a concrete trail about." Tachibana explained, "I could divine if Haruno-san likes you, but you can see how she's even disgusted by the thought."
Naruto looked at Sakura who was looking back at him in disgust before she moved closer to Sasuke who gave her a short glance before ignoring her.
Tachibana just shook his head and continued to walk behind Tazuna along with a depressed Naruto.
As they walked Tachibana almost suddenly froze in his spot when he activated spirit vision.
'Two teams of shinobi are rushing this way!'
'And they're quite fast.'
'Body flicker jutsu?'
Tachibana casually put his hand on Naruto's shoulder before ignoring his blaring instinct and cheering him up, "Naruto-kun, why don't you think of this, instead of Haruno-san who doesn't like you, if you marry someone who truly loves you, you'll be happier right?"
"I-"
But as Naruto spoke, his eyes suddenly narrowed and he pulled out a kunai that he tossed into the trees.
*CLINK*
All the genin heard the sound of the deflected Kunai and turned around to pay attention to the trees while Kakashi spoke softly, "Triangle formation."
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke jumped into action by standing around Tazuna who looked worried.
Not even seconds later, from both sides of the pathway appeared shinobi wearing Kumogakure's forehead protector as they peered down from the branches they were standing on.
The shinobi had a dark skin colour, characteristic of the people from the Land of Lightning. They were well-built and all had a tanto attached to their waist.
Tachibana left alone, pulled out two kunai and held the cat stance.
Kakashi and Maruboshi though were completely relaxed as if they didn't even view the Kumo shinobi as a threat.
"Give us Tazuna and there will be no trouble." One of the team leaders said calmly with his hands folded.
"Oh? Seriously? I'm scared." Kakashi calmly stated while looking at the team leader. He then explained, "I'm sure you recognise me, don't you?"
The team leader frowned but said, "Yes, you're Kakashi the copy ninja. But don't think just your name's going to make us fear you. We were arranged specifically to take you out."
"Oh? I'm really scared now. A nameless shinobi was prepared to 'take me out'." Kakashi said sarcastically with a happy smile, causing the shinobi to frown.
"Fine then. Have it your way." The two team leaders looked at each other before they flickered away from their places.
Tachibana's eyes widened slightly because the next thing he saw was three kunai blaring towards his head and piercing it like a fruit.
'Fuck!'
The vision shattered and Tachibana ducked before he heard a loud *clang* from both Kakashi and Maruboshi who had pulled out their kunai and clashed with the team leaders.
Tachibana's eyes momentarily glanced at the branches where the team members were standing but he didn't find anyone there. Instead, the six team members had encircled him and Team Seven along with Tazuna.
Almost immediately Kakashi taunted the team leaders further, "I thought you were here to take me out? Where are we going for the date? Your home? Or my home?"
"....Oh we'll go alright. But you'll be in a body bag."
*CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG*
All the Konoha genin were forced to focus on their own enemies as the three shinobi from Kumo took on each team.
"Hold on Tachibana-kun! I'll save you!!" Naruto shouted seeing Tachibana surrounded by three genin, but Tachibana responded back casually.
"Don't worry, I don't need your help to fight three cowards who want to team tag a single freshly graduated genin!"
The three Kumo genin instantly frowned but they did their best not to let Tachibana's taunts get to them.
The three Kumo genin communicated with signs before they flickered from their positions to Tachibana.
One stabbed directly at his heart, another at his head, and the last one at his guts.
Surprising all of them, Tachibana used the body flicker jutsu himself to put some distance between them but not before he kicked dust into their eyes.
'Got you.'