In Naruto with the Flame-Flame Fruit

The three of them gave chase, hot on Kiyosuke's heels. With a sudden dive, Kiyosuke plunged into the water.

Terumī Mei leapt in right after him, followed closely by Hōzuki Genzuki and Kaguya Taketori. But not long after, all three of them came bursting back out.

Splash!

A massive snake suddenly surged out of the water, its jaws wide open, ready to swallow them whole. Mei quickly formed hand seals.

"Lava Style: Lava Monster Jutsu!"

With a flick of her red lips, she spewed a stream of sticky, highly corrosive acid that instantly melted through the snake's gaping maw. The beast collapsed on the riverbank, blood spilling out and dyeing the water crimson.

"That scared the hell out of me! Why the hell was there a snake that huge in the water?" Genzuki gasped, patting his chest.

"Must've been a summoning jutsu," Mei answered.

The river wasn't deep—there was no way a snake that big could've been hiding in there without being noticed.

It could only be a summoning.

Taketori asked, "Did that guy get away?"

"I'll check," said Genzuki, diving underwater. But after a moment, he came back up, empty-handed.

"No sign of him."

Mei frowned. "Orders from the top were to bring that guy back alive. Let's split up and search. The moment anyone finds him, fire a signal flare. Got it?"

"Yes!"

The three split off, heading in different directions to continue the search.

...

Over ten minutes later, the snake's corpse—already cold and stiff—suddenly twitched.

A blade pierced through its belly, slicing it open. Kiyosuke crawled out, covered in sticky remnants from the beast's innards.

Samehada was gone—it had already been summoned back by the Mist. But Kiyosuke, anticipating this, had made Samehada siphon the chakra from the snake's stomach to refill his own depleted reserves.

He felt great now—sharp, alert, fully recovered.

Looking down at the snake's corpse, he grinned smugly.

"Good thing I had the foresight to hide in this guy's gut."

The moment he hit the water, he summoned the snake and dove straight into its belly. So when Mei and the others saw the snake open its jaws, it wasn't trying to eat them—it had just swallowed him.

Dead or alive, the snake would've allowed him to escape unnoticed.

If they didn't kill it, it could just slither away without raising suspicion. If they did kill it, they'd focus on finding him elsewhere, never guessing he'd been inside it the whole time.

"Genius," Kiyosuke muttered, grinning.

Just as he was basking in his brilliance, a rustle in the grass caught his ear.

Terumī Mei had doubled back and was now standing just a few paces away. Their eyes met, and the air froze in awkward silence.

Kiyosuke: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ

Mei: ∑(O_O;)

"…Why'd you come back?" he asked.

Mei answered reflexively, "Just had a feeling you couldn't have gotten that far. Thought I'd check."

I'll admit it was a gamble... but I guess I got lucky!

"..." Kiyosuke blinked.

What the hell? Did I just lose to a wild hunch?

"You've got insane luck," he muttered.

Then he took a deep breath and said sincerely, "You're going to be a great kunoichi one day. So… goodbye."

With that, he stepped back and bolted across the river's surface.

Mei reacted quickly, firing a signal flare into the sky before chasing after him.

Kiyosuke picked up speed—there was no time to think about fighting back. His opponent was Terumī Mei, the future Fifth Mizukage, someone with two kekkei genkai and serious talent. Even at her age, she wasn't someone to take lightly.

"Hey! A girl shouldn't chase a guy this hard! People might get the wrong idea, you know!"

He dodged a Water Style jutsu, then fired back with a burst of flame bullets.

Sparks rained down in a wide spray, forcing Mei to duck behind a tree.

"I'm just following orders," she said coolly. "You're a mission target—nothing personal."

"Is that so? Still, with a face like yours, it's easy to start imagining things."

"Face like mine…" Mei's cheeks flushed slightly. "That kind of stuff…"

"You're really shy, huh? Haha! Shame, though—you're so pretty, but destined to be single for life. What a waste." Kiyosuke shook his head in mock pity. He remembered clearly—Terumī Mei would grow up to be a drop-dead gorgeous bombshell... and yet remain single forever.

Mei: (▼皿▼#)

"I'm gonna kill you."

She stepped out with a sweet smile—one laced with murderous intent.

"Kill you."

"..." Kiyosuke swallowed hard.

Whoa, that struck a nerve.

She's what—barely a teen? Already this touchy about that stuff?

"Sorry," he said quickly. "Let's pretend I never said that. It's getting dark—I should really be heading home for dinner. See ya! Bye-bye then!"

He turned tail and ran like hell.

"Stop right there! Water Style: Water Wave Palm!"

She thrust out her hand, sending a surge of water crashing into him and knocking him through the air.

"OW—!"

His whole body screamed in pain, but there was no time to complain. He scrambled to his feet just as Mei arrived, kunai in hand, the blade glowing with a thin film of water.

Clang!

Kiyosuke drew his own kunai and met her head-on. The two of them clashed fiercely, neither able to gain the upper hand.

"Damn, she's good!"

Her taijutsu was tight—no openings he could exploit.

As expected of the future Mizukage...

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

A few snakes shot toward her, startling Mei into retreat. She sliced through their heads with a kunai, putting some distance between them.

"Looks like you're one of the strongest from Konoha's new generation," she said.

"Probably."

Aside from Kakashi, no one else had given him much trouble.

"Strong guys are kind of appealing. Your name?"

"Asakawa Kiyosuke."

"I'm Terumī Mei. You probably already knew that, but... I'll say it anyway."

"Oh yeah? In that case—round two!"

"Flame Bullet!"

Mei started forming hand seals, but Kiyosuke's attack didn't need them—it came too fast. She was forced to duck behind a tree again.

"That's enough chasing, alright? If this keeps up, I'll start thinking you're into me."

Instead of getting mad, Mei actually sounded... wistful.

"You're not bad," she said. "Too bad we're not from the same village."

"What, if we were, you'd date me?"

Kiyosuke perked up, laughing.

This girl was kinda fun.

"No. You'd just be in the consideration pool," Mei said casually. "But yeah, you're pretty handsome."

She was a sucker for looks—and Kiyosuke wasn't bad on the eyes.

"Please, everyone in Konoha knows how good-looking I am. Anyway, I'm done chatting. If I keep this up, I really won't get away. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He created a clone, which immediately charged at Mei.

BOOM!

...

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Pls Drop some Power Stones

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