Summary: Hinote Uzumaki was banished from the leaf village for 10 years after her hair went on a blazing rampage… you're probably wondering how her hair went on a rampage… yeah, it's alive… and really fiery. When she was banished, she dragged Shikon Inuzuka along with her. Everyone except for Kakashi Hatake, Kiba Inuzuka, and the Hokage that banished her, had forgotten or never spoke of it. She was then a thing of myth and legend… a scary story to keep small children at home at night. But then she returned… and so did Shikon… her only recognizable feature from the Inuzuka clan being the fang tattoos down her face. And the strangest feature of Hinote being the whisker marks similar to that of Naruto, on her face. Now they are turning the leaf village upside down with their disasterous knowledge of the "real world," and everything that is or isn't "real." But will they find out that sometimes, the most unreal things are reality?
Also, I know that this is a really long chapter. Sorry.
Characters:
Hinote Uzumaki: Hinote is… well… scary? Um, not much to be said except run for your life. Her hair is WATCHING YOU! She often has to tell her hair—which is fiery and semi-satanic—to back off of people. She burns people and doesn't know how to swim. Her hair is evil, and according to Kakashi, enjoys "strangling villagers, plundering houses and melting small children." What a way of self entertainment, eh, folks? Yeah, not really… I know… I SAID SEMI-SATANIC! SATAN WORSHIPING HAIR. She's extremely over-infatuated with Gaara, to the point you think "This is frightening… is this really Hinote?" She knows VERY well that Naruto is her brother, and treats him like the little dunce everyone seems to think he is. She's friends with Shikon, in a frenemy type way, regardless of the fact that she dragged Shikon away from her family. Her name means Fire. Her clothes are made of her hair, so they burn people too, but are fireproof. She has the TEN tailed PHEONIX demon sealed inside her. Along with Half of the demon fox's chalkra.
Shikon Inuzuka: Shikon is very much like Kiba. Minus her attitude… she looks like Kiba, but in girl form. She often adds "Because I'm cool like that," or "That's how I roll," to the ends of her sentences, and Choji Akmichi often calls her out or makes fun of her for it. She usually responds with, "You know what? I am talking, so shut your face right now!" after which she kicks him very forcefully. She doesn't seem to mind that Choji's best friend is her love, Shikamaru. It makes her frustrated and angry that occasionally, Shikamaru comes up with spur of the moment strategies that she remains uninformed about, and ends up being "sacrificed," so that the strategy will go through. Occasionally he'll say, "I actually never had a strategy," when he put her in a terrible situation, which makes it hard for her to trust him with her life, although she continues to anyway. She is angry that he's lazy and apathetic and never does anything, and wishes that maybe he would be a bit more spontaneous about things. She's sort of violent and crude, hitting and kicking even her comrades, at times… but mainly Choji. She often uses Hinote as a threat to shut people up. They at first don't listen, doubting that she'll actually go get Hinote, but when she does, they stop. She talks strangely, because of being in the "real world," for so long, saying things such as, "yo," "what up?" "Back the truck up!" "Shut your face," and other things only "real world," people would say. When she gets angry, she sprouts dog ears and a dog tail, and growls and barks, becoming half dog and EXTREMELY powerful. It is later revealed that she has something no one thought to exist… a ELEVEN tailed DOG demon…sealed inside her. She is also thought to be a "separated soul"… meaning different parts of her soul are located in different dimensions, giving her out of the ordinary powers. She has a dog that looks much like Akamaru, but is brown with black spots, named Hinoiri. Her name means Fang, like Kiba means Fang, because they are twins. Her dog Hinoiri's name means Sunset. She has also known to say "I swear to god I will kick you if you do not…" and states what she wants them to do. She's a complex personality, and far out of the ordinary. She's been know to make puppy like sound effects on a regular basis.
Chapter one…
"Third Hokage! Third Hokage!" One of the leaf village's Jonin, Kakashi Hatake, burst into the Hokage's office. "Hinote Uzumaki's hair is going on a wild rampage! No Jonin in the village is powerful enough to stop the onslaught."
"It's HAIR!" the Third Hokage said. "What the hell could it be doing?"
"Uh, strangling villagers, plundering houses, melting small children… there's a whole list I could go through," Kakashi said.
"Don't even—wait… melting small children?" the Third asked doubtfully.
"It could HAPPEN!" Kakashi yelled. "J—just GO!" The Third followed Kakashi out hurriedly. He was greeted by a fiery strand of hair wrapped around… a… small… child… Shikon Inuzuka. He looked at Kakashi.
"See? It is MELTING a small CHILD! HELLO???" Kakashi yelled. The Third Hokage was ignoring him, busy working on a fire banishing jutsu. Tiger… snake… boar… horse…
"Fire banishing jutsu!" he yelled. There was a large flash, and the hair, and girl vanished… along with Shikon Inuzuka… And her twin Kiba Inuzuka… was left alone… and he, the Hokage and Kakashi were the only ones who would ever remember the incident. Shikon was found in the "Real World," and taken to an orphanage, where she was raised as a normal girl. And someone tried to take care of Hinote, but due to being burned, was relatively inattentive to the girl. This made the girl very aggressive, so she could defend herself. Shikon was adopted by a family with no kids, and went to a school filled with strange kids. Most of her friends were boys, and she was sort of mean and violent. She was the only person, next to Hinote, who remembered the incident. She didn't really act like she minded, even though in her heart she was heartbroken about the incident, and wanted revenge on Hinote for doing this to her. She grew up to be a talented musician, but had a very tight bond to her dog Hinoiri, making her want more to be a veterinarian than a musician, because of her strong connection to dogs and other animals. She often wore a hood, because she had two fang tattoos down her cheeks that wouldn't wash away no matter how she tried. If she wore the hood, no one could really see them. It was strange, but she could actually understand Hinoiri when he barked. He rode on her shoulder and went everywhere with her, occasionally riding on her head. Her family even had to have the school let Hinoiri go with her, or she'd flunk out from depression. These girls were barely content with their lives… but little did they know that was about to change completely…
Hinote was only banished for 10 years, so when that 10 was up… it was automatic transfer back to the leaf village… AND for Shikon and Hinoiri, as well. Hinote was fully aware that, on Friday the 13, at 12:13 am, she'd be sent back, meanwhile, Shikon was unaware, and she and Hinoiri were sleeping. Hinote was sitting, staring at the clock. 55 seconds to 12:13… 50… 48… 45… 40… 34… 30… 23… 19… 13… 10… 7… 5 seconds… 4… 3… 2… and there was a bright flashing light in Hinote's living room. Shikon lived in a time zone one minute later, and it was 5… 4… 3… 2… and suddenly a bright light woke her and Hinoiri from their sleep and they too were sent back to "Naruto World." In that world, Shikamaru Nara and his team were standing on a cliff—of all freaking places, a cliff—devising a plan for their upcoming mission. Shikamaru was in mid-sentence when he saw a shadow coming down on him. He looked up and a red blur that looked somewhat of a meteor, fell on him and knocked him off of the cliff and into a river below. Ino looked over the cliff cautiously.
"Shikamaru, I TOLD you it was a bad idea to have a meeting on a cliff!" she yelled. Choji squinted.
"It was YOUR idea, Ino," he said. She ignored him, secretly cursing herself. Shikamaru crashed into the water. The red blur burned him and he threw it aside, and it began spinning rapidly. He stood, but soon another shadow was coming down on him. He looked up and a BROWN blur crashed down on him. It was a girl that looked strangely like Kiba. He caught her and kept her from falling in the water. She was unconscious.
"Anything ELSE?" he yelled, annoyed. A small shadow began narrowing down on him. A small dog landed on his head, knocking him back. "Are you serious?" Just then, up on the cliff, Naruto ran up yelling about a red meteor falling from the sky. He looked down and saw the red blob in the water, along with Shikamaru who was holding up a girl who looked strangely like Kiba, with a grim look on his face, and a dog… on his head… Naruto leaned over the edge, and fell forward, clumsily. Shikamaru let out a groan as Naruto toppled on top of him. "Ok, anyone ELSE want to land on me?" he asked. Choji stepped forward and tripped over a rock, falling off, and landing on Shikamaru. "CHOJI! AAH!" he yelled from underneath his best friend. "I should just… stop… talking," he groaned. Suddenly Naruto screamed.
"THAT METEOR BURNS!" he yelled. Shikamaru pushed Choji off of him, and the Kiba-like girl woke up slowly. She stood. She stared at the blob and at Naruto, a bit angrily.
"It's a girl… a rotten stinking little monster of a girl!" she yelled, starting towards Hinote. Shikamaru struggled to hold her back, with the little strength he had left from having every person in the world land on top of him. "I'll KILL YOU!" Shikon yelled. He threw her backwards. She stood up with water in her mouth, purposely, and spit all over him. He made a face.
"Ok, I'll go get her… Naruto… go get her…" He paused, and bit his lip, thoughtfully. "Okay, so first, a meteor-like girl lands on me, then YOU land on me, then your DOG lands on me, then NARUTO lands on me, then CHOJI lands on me, and then you spit on me… my day is now complete! Anything else?" She ducked into the water again, coming back up with another mouth full of water, and spit on him all over again. "Like I said before… I should just stop talking." She nodded in agreement, but ducked under again, and came up, spitting on him again. His jaw dropped. "What was THAT one for?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said. "This is just so much fun!" He looked at her. "Hey, you!" she yelled at Naruto. "Go get the little monster so I can kill her!" He began swimming, but hit the bottom too quickly. "No, IDIOT! It's too shallow to swim, dorkass!" She whacked him upside the head.
"One smart thing she's done so far," Shikamaru said. He acted totally unsurprised at the amound of water and spit he was pelted with that time. "Again? Really?" She spit on him again. He bit his lip. "5 times! That's five times, people!"
"Okay, I'm going under," Naruto said. Shikon sighed.
"Under WHAT? It's like, three feet deep!" she said.
"It can't be three feet, or she'd be able to stand," he said.
"Naruto, it's really three feet," Shikamaru said, trying to get on Shikon's good side. She spit on him again. "6…"
"I'm sorry, you are just so irritating," she said.
"I'm irritating? YOU'RE irritating," he retorted. He was met by another pelting of spit and water. "I'm not even going to count that time." He looked away, but she spit on him again. "8!" Then, Naruto burst out of the water and clung onto the side of the cliff.
"Aww, did the itty bitty boy get burned by the flaming hair?" Shikon mocked him.
"N—no! THERE'S a girl in there that looks like ME!!!" he yelled. He lost his grip and fell on Shikamaru again. When Shikamaru stood up, she took the opportunity to spit on him again.
"Would you STOP that?" he yelled. She spit on him while he was talking. "Gah! It's in my mouth!" he yelled. He spit it out, but it accidentally hit Shikon. She scoffed and tackled him, knocking him into the water. "Noo! YOU ARE SO NOT LIKE KIBA!"
"Kiba is my twin brother, you IDIOT!" she yelled. "I'm glad he's not dead yet, but I kind of wish YOU were!" She pushed him back underwater.
"Pretty girls are not supposed to be mean and TACKLE and SPIT on people!" he yelled. She sat up thoughtfully.
"Pretty… I think I can use that," she said.
"Why did I have to go and say exactly what I was thinking?" he said to himself.
"You were thinking that?" she asked him.
"I did it again!" he yelled, hitting his forehead. She stood up.
"Get her out, you idiot!" she yelled really loudly. He crossed his arms.
"No, you can't make me," he said. Her eyes flared up.
"What did you just say?" she asked just as loudly.
"I said… um… n—no—okay!" he yelled. "Just stop with the eyes! It burns!" The red blob suddenly sprouted arms and climbed slowly up the side of the cliff, pulling herself up. Everyone climbed out of the water. Once again, Shikamaru had to hold Shikon back while she tried to kill Hinote.
"I'm just glad we're out of the water, so you can't spit on me," he said. She glared for five seconds and… licked him. "Oh!" He let go. She fell back into the water, and pulled him with her. Hinote glared.
"Not that I'm not enjoying the show… but I have better things to do," she said. She walked away, but her hair began to pull back, and it hit Naruto in the face. "No, bad hair." She glowered at Naruto's charred face. "Consider that a compliment. It could've killed you." She began to walk away, but her hair still pulled. "Bad hair. Come NOW." She walked away with her hair in tow. Shikamaru and Shikon climbed up the cliff.
"You LICKED me," he said, pulling himself up. Everyone looked at them.
Shikon ignored Shikamaru's accusation and instead decided to hunt down her brother. It wasn't really an accusation, given the fact that she actually did lick him. It was a fact. But, she didn't care. She had known her brother was alive and well. In fact, she'd been telekinetically talking with him for the past 10 years. She didn't know she'd actually be sent back to her world. In the "real world," people only called it that because the "Naruto world," was make believe there. She was one of the few people who'd been to both worlds. The only other person would have been Hinote, her arch enemy. Shikon had thought about the author Masashi Kishimoto, and how he'd know what happened. She'd come to the conclusion that he was from this world. She knew she'd recognize Kiba, and he'd recognize her, so finding him wasn't that hard. She tried to talk to him, telekinetically.
Hi, I'm back… where are you? His voice rang in her head.
What do you mean, you're back? How did that happen? Here? In this world? His voice was rather frantic.
Uh, I'm back, the banishing spell wore off, yes, here, in this world. But… Hinote… that little flaming ball of evil… is back too, so beware, she could be anywhere right now.
Aah! She's here! JK, he teased her. For a second she'd believed him.
You know, as soon as I find you, I'll kick you, she said.
Don't worry about finding me. I'm over near the Hokage's office. How did you get back? I mean, did you appear, go through a vortex? What?
I fell on Shikamaru, and spit on him 8 times, and then licked him! Oh, and I have Hinoiri with me. She was very proud of what she'd done to Shikamaru.
Okay, good for you… ew… um… even more ew? Yeah, you are half dog, and of the Inuzuka clan. A lick is a kiss, bozo. And Hinoiri will probably love seeing Akamaru again.
Don't call me that. And WHY did you have to go and tell me that? Are you trying to tell me I kissed that irritating little dork?
You did kiss that irritating little dork. Ew… ew… OH EW! It just dawned on me, like, right now. You KISSED Shikamaru! EW!
Stop it. Right now. That's enough. I don't want to think about it. Turn around, dork. He turned violently. His hood almost hit her in the face.
"Kiba!" she yelled, as it grazed her face.
"Oh, sorry. It's great to see you, but," he paused. "Why is Shikamaru hiding in a bush over there?" She turned and saw a spiky dark brown ponytail duck under the bush. She sighed.
"I will lick you again—wait, no, I really won't. I will find some way to spit on you," she said.
"Yeah, don't lick him again," Kiba agreed. Shikamaru stepped out of the bush.
"Well, I was wondering where that fire girl went," he said. For some reason, a part of Shikon's mind clicked into jealousy and cross-examination.
"What? Why do you care? What do you want with her?" she asked, rapidly and interrogatively.
"I'm a Chuunin, it's my job, I need to know what she's doing at all times, and where she is, so she doesn't do anything really stupid," he said.
"Yeah, I can't promise you she won't. But the fifth hokage doesn't care, so you're lying," she said.
"How would that be lying?" he asked, confused.
"Because I fell out of the sky in the same fashion as her, I'm half dog, I have an 11 tailed demon sealed inside of me, and all she is is a fireball with a 10 tailed demon inside her, and half the demon fox's chakra! Boom, I win!" she yelled.
"Kiba will keep an eye on you," he said. "I want to make sure that Hinote girl doesn't strangle villagers, plunder houses or melt small children," he replied. She squinted.
"Melt small children?" she asked slowly. "Melt small children! Shikamaru, you get back here!" she yelled as he ran away, afraid of her. She turned to Kiba.
"How can you melt a small child?" Kiba asked. She just stared. Meanwhile, Hinote was at the entrance to the leaf village. She was going to leave the village.
"Hey, where are you going?" Shikamaru called. She turned.
"Far away from that evil water, and that stupid Shikon," she said.
"If you leave, you'll be classified as a missing-nin, a rogue ninja and a convict," he said. "You can't leave, they'll have to send a retrieval team to hunt you down, and if they find you you'll go to jail!"
"Oh, ok. Just go back to dog girl… she likes you, you know," she said. Shikamaru paused. "I'm leaving now."
"No, wait!" But she'd already crossed the gate, and leapt into the trees. He watched the forest ignite behind her. "Oh, shit!" He ran to the hokage's office frenetically. "Hokage, Lady Hokage. Whoa!" he yelled, tripping. Lady Tsunade walked out, wondering what the yelling was about.
"What is it, Shikamaru?" she asked.
"Hinote! The fire lady! She just left the village, and ignited the whole forest!" he yelled. He hadn't noticed Shikon and Kiba standing nearby. Shikon walked up.
"Cool your jets, boy. She LEFT?" she asked.
"Yeah, she just leapt into the trees and lit the whole forest on fire!" he said. He paused. "Cool your jets? What?"
"It means calm down. Just tell me what the hell happened," she ordered. He shook his head, shamed.
"I tried to stop her. She said she wanted away from the fire and Shikon, whoever Shikon is," he said.
"I'm Shikon," she replied. She shrugged. He continued.
"Well, I told her the consequences of leaving the village without the Hokage's permission… missing-nin, rogue-nin, convict… but she left anyway. I'm telling you, this is one hard headed girl. She does whatever she wants, and doesn't even care what people say," he said. "That poses a huge threat."
"Send out the retrieval team used for Sasuke," Lady Tsunade ordered.
"You mean, Choji, Neji, Naruto, Kiba and I?" he asked. She nodded.
"I am so going with you," Shikon said.
"Why? Why do you care what happens to her?" he asked.
"Because… I still haven't gotten my revenge," she said.
"You almost let her drown… isn't that enough revenge?" he asked.
"No… not for ten years of exile!" she yelled. "Besides… she's my enemy and I can track her. I know where she's heading right now," she said. Shikamaru paused.
"Well, where's she heading?" he asked.
"I won't tell you, unless I get to come," she said.
"Fine… but no licking, spitting, tackling or hurting aloud," he said.
"Okay, I won't lick, tackle or hurt you… but I might spit," she said.
"No," he said. She made a face that said she was kidding. "Can we just go? Please?"
"She's headed for the sand village," Shikon said. Hinote, elsewhere, was running straight for the sand village, as Shikon had stated. She didn't mind that she'd lit the forest on fire. She thought it was pretty. She started to run faster but was halted by a sand barrage.
"What?" she yelled, looking for the source. Gaara of the sand was standing in a tree next to her, containing the fire. "Let me go."
"No," he said monotonously. "I want to know what you're doing and how you are setting this forest on fire without a jutsu."
"I have hair that is alive and can burn things, hello?" she said, sarcastically.
"Fine, you can go… but I'm going with you," he said.
"No, you will let me go. Why on earth would you need to come?" she asked him.
"Because you have the leaf village hitai-ate headband, and you are alone. You could set the entire world on fire!" he said.
"Hm… pretty," she said.
"I'm going with you," he said. "On second thought, we can just stay here." She began to run but he stopped her with a wall of sand.
"Let's go," she said. "I will find a way out of this world. EVEN if I have to be banished all over again."
"You were banished? We are definitely not going anywhere," he said.
"Relax, my banishing was up… it's safe… I'm not illegal… well, I am since I left the leaf village…" she trailed off.
"Yeah, we're staying right here," he said.
"We are going… now," she ordered. For some reason, he was afraid to argue with her, so he released the sand wall.
"I'm still going with you," he said.
"Look, we'll just have to tail her in the direct path she went," Shikamaru said.
"No, you aren't thinking about this," Shikon argued. "We can't follow her path. We'll get burned. She ignited the trees, and we can't stop the fire fast enough to catch up. We have to take another route, and if we use the road, we'll head her off in two days." Choji sighed.
"How do we know you aren't leading us on some wild goose chase and taking us further from her," he said. "I haven't even seen her. How do we know she exists?"
"I've seen her, and Shikon certainly has. Naruto has seen her and so have Ino, Hinoiri, Kiba and Akamaru," Shikamaru said. "And you did too see her. You were there!" Shikon argued.
"All I saw was a huge ball of fire land on Shikamaru," Choji fought back.
"None the less, you saw her. Do not argue with me, I CAN hurt you," she said. She kicked him to prove the point. He writhed in pain.
"Be careful, she spits too," Shikamaru joked. He didn't notice that she was holding a bottle of water. She spit on him yet again. "See? She spits… 9…" He then remembered what Hinote had said about Shikon liking him. "Aww, how sweet," he whispered. Shikon looked at him strangely.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Nothing. Why must you be so cruel?" he said. She paused and spit on him again. He, for no apparent reason, smiled.
"What the heck? I spit on you 10 times in one day, and you SMILE!" she yelled. He smiled even more. She looked away with an 'oh my god,' type face. She spit on him to prove a point. "11," he said. She shook her head. "You awful person."
"I'm not an awful person," she said. She wiped her spit off of him with her sleeve. "See? All gone."
"No, you aren't an awful person," he said. "But you'll probably spit on me again, am I right?"
"Maybe I won't… we'll see," she said. "But I will state that we can't stand here and talk all day. She's already 1/4 of the way there. If we don't hurry, she'll burn the sand village down." And with that they hurried out of the village. Elsewhere, Hinote was leaping through the trees with Gaara on her tail, but came to a halt.
"What?" Gaara asked. She looked around.
"If there's one person powerful to get me out of here… it's Orochimaru… we should find him," she said.
"What? No. You know nothing about him… he could kill you like that!" Gaara argued.
"Yeah, he could kill me! Yeah, right," she said. She began running again, and Gaara followed, worried.
"You know, you are a bit too pompous for your own good!" he yelled.
"I'm too hot for my own good, and yours too," she said. Gaara groaned. In a different place, on the road to the sand village, the "Sasuke Retrieval Team" was running along the road.
"How can we head her off faster than this?" Choji asked.
"She has Gaara of the sand with her… and she just changed route," Shikon said. The team stopped and there was a series of gasps.
"What do you mean, she changed routes?" Neji asked.
"She's changed to a route heading for the sound village," she replied.
"Sound village? Why?" Naruto asked. Shikon shut her eyes.
"Let me see if I can tap into our mental connection," she said. Her mind linked with Hinote's inner thoughts. "She's going to find Orochimaru, because she believes he's strong enough to get her out of this world. She's willing to do anything to get out. Gaara tried to stop her. He's with her to try to keep a leash on her. He tried to tell her that Orochimaru'd kill her, but she didn't listen."
"But—oh, this is Sasuke all over again!" Kiba exclaimed. "Except she's flamey and burns things!" Choji said. Shikon kicked him again. "OW!" She was about to speak when she was cut off by a sharp voice.
"Hey, who's the new girl?" Temari asked. Everyone looked to see Temari and Kankuro. Shikon glared.
"Shikon Inuzuka," she said smiling mischievously. Shikamaru sighed.
"Be careful. She likes spitting, licking, tackling, kicking and hurting people," he said. She looked at him, her smile fading to a "you're kidding me," look.
"You know, you practically give me license to spit on you," she said.
"Eleven times!" he said.
"Okay, underwear boy is taking it for that one," she said, kicking Choji. Kankuro and Temari just stared.
"Yeah, where's our brother," Kankuro asked.
"Oh, he ran off with some flamey girl who's trying to get out of this world. They're heading for Orochimaru, and she burns things and ignited the entire forest!" Choji said dramatically.
"So that's the smoky smell," Shikon joked. "They could've figured that one out, stupid." She kicked him.
"Our brother ran off with a girl?" Kankuro asked. He pretty much passed out at that point.
"Orochimaru?" Temari asked.
"Yeah, Orochimaru… You know, that evil guy that likes to kill people with his tongue? Has the assistant who likes to get people on the ground and kick them repetitively?" Shikon said sarcastically.
"Boy, you are just really cynical, aren't you?" Temari asked.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha," she fake laughed. "HA." She prepared to spit on Temari, but Shikamaru slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Don't you even dare," he said.
"What was she going to do?" Temari asked. "Bring it on! I can handle it. She's just a little girl." Shikamaru looked at her doubtfully and let go. Shikon spit all over her. Temari's eyes widened. "EW! You little FREAK!"
"Oh, I'm a freak? Have you met the girl your brother ran off with? And by the way, who has a giant metal fan on their back?" Shikon said.
"Who has a DOG on their head, a tail, and EARS?!" Temari asked, angrily. Shikon reached up to her head, and touched the ears.
"Me," she said. She collapsed as her dog increased in size on her head. Hinoiri was laying on top of her. "Hinoiri, get off of me." Hinoiri stood up, and let Shikon get on his back. "Thanks, buddy." Temari just stared at the giant dog. "Aren't I strange? You know, this actually hasn't ever happened before!" Kiba walked up to the dog.
"Whoa, sis, when'd you take a food pill?" he asked. "Never?"
"I am MAGIC," she joked. Kiba shook his head in shame.
"Yeah, that's it…" He pulled her off of the giant Hinoiri. "You have ears…"
"Oh, I know how to fix it," she said sweetly. Choji hid, knowing that when she spoke sweetly, she was about to kick someone's but. She kicked him, from his spot behind Shikamaru, and put her hands on her hips, smiling proudly, as the ears and tail vanished. "See? I'm afraid that someone'll be mad at me for kicking Choji. The ears and tail only come when I'm HAPPY. Look! Hinoiri shrunk again!"
"You're afraid… yet… you're smiling," Naruto pointed out.
"But I'm smarter than you, demon fox," she said.
"How does that make you smarter, demon dog?" he asked.
"Because I was smart enough to figure out she's your SISTER!" she smiled impishly. Naruto passed out yelling SISTER out. "I am so wonderful!" Temari cut in.
"Look, if you're tailing her, we're coming, too," she said. "Our brother's with her, and Orochimaru could kill him." Shikon glared, disliking being cut off.
"Fine," she said, rudely. "Good day." She began to walk ahead. Temari was about to speak. "I SAID good DAY!" Shikon yelled. As soon as she thought Shikon was out of earshot, Temari's flirtatious side was unleashed as she ran to Shikamaru.
"Oh, hey, Shikamaru, are you a Jonin yet? Or still a Chuunin? What's with this girl, Shikon, anyway?" she said. Unfortunately, Shikon had heard her. She knelt down to Hinoiri.
"Time to take a pit stop, boy," she said. Hinoiri nodded and ran over to Temari… and took that pit stop on her shoe… Temari screamed.
"That dog PISSED on my SHOE!" she yelled. She turned to Shikon. "Control your little monster!"
"I DID control my DOG… and it REALLY paid off," Shikon said. She noticed Shikamaru smirking. She raised her eyebrows at Temari as if to say she'd won.
"Shikamaru, how can you LAUGH at that?" Temari asked.
"I never said I was laughing, but you were asking for it," he said. She scoffed and glared at Shikon, who smiled meanly.
"Well," a voice rang out. "I believe we can stop this little lovefest… and move on." Tayuya…
"Can't we quit this? I mean, all I have to do is kill you, and the girl is ours," Tayuya said. She pulled a strand of her red hair from her face. "What was her name? Hinote, I believe?"
"What do you want with Hinote?" Shikon asked.
"Why do you need to know? You don't know me," Tayuya said.
"But I know who you are, Tayuya," Shikon said. "I ASKED you what you want with Hinote." Tayuya smirked.
"It's not what I want… it's what Orochimaru would want," she said. "We heard that this girl is powerful… and that she's heading for Orochimaru… so… we'll make a proposition."
"What's that? It's not like Orochimaru will be able to touch her. He'll just get burned," Shikon said. Tayuya glared.
"Well, how about this?" she asked. "You have two choices. One… we trade you Sasuke for Hinote… and you go home free… or two… I kill you… and we get Sasuke AND Hinote… Your choice."
"Hm, I'm going to have to go with choice number three… kick your but, and get both," Shikon snapped.
"Oh, so you pick choice number two by default, I suppose," Tayuya said. Shikon turned to Shikamaru.
"Send someone ahead. I need someone to freeze Tayuya, and I'll take the rest. Just send someone ahead to find Hinote, we have no time to lose," she whispered so Tayuya couldn't hear.
"Alright," Shikamaru said, turning to the group. "Neji, take Naruto, Choji, Kankuro and Temari, and go ahead. Shikon, Hinoiri, Kiba, Akamaru and I will take care of Tayuya. Use your Byakugan to locate Hinote and Gaara." Neji nodded and leapt away, with Choji, Temari and Kankuro who was dragging a protesting Naruto. Shikamaru watched as Shikon and Hinoiri changed forms. Shikon sprouted a tail and large wolf ears, and a white shaggy mane on the back of her head, which blended with her hair. Her fangs increased in size, and Hinoiri grew to 15 times his original size. She bounded onto his back.
"I don't know what jutsus I have yet, so I'll try to stick to Taijutsu… but there is ONE jutsu I know of," she said. She watched as Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu reached Tayuya, and Tayuya struggled to get free. She pulled out a spear from her backpack. She stood and leapt off of Hinoiri's back, spinning in the air. "Shi-kon Ni-ju-u Jutsu!" she said. She went down on Tayuya, and split the spear over her head, stepping on one of her shoulders, flipping and spinning so she was behind Tayuya, and piercing it through Tayuya. She looked down at an almost unconscious Tayuya. She flew back onto Hinoiri's back, and Kiba and Akamaru jumped up.
"Fang over Fang!" Kiba yelled. Akamaru transformed into a Kiba clone, and the two spun rapidly in the air. They barraged Tayuya over and over, until she was knocked unconscious, and the three stepped over her and started to catch up to Neji and the others. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Hinote and Gaara were too far ahead. They were 3/4 of the way to Orochimaru, and Neji's group was not far behind, but Shikamaru's group was having trouble catching up to either. Neji was close to Hinote, but not after they'd heard a man's voice.
"So, you don't mind fighting me and my brother before continuing on… do you?" It was Sakon… and Ukon.
"Sakon!" Kiba shouted. Shikon looked at him oddly.
"You know him?" she asked her brother.
"Them… Sakon and Ukon… he's like a two headed circus freak… his brother can join himself to his body. This jerk almost killed me once," he said.
"Well, allow me to avenge you, brother," she said.
"How about we both avenge," he said. "Shikamaru, take everyone else and let me and sis take this creep."
"Okay, Kiba. Just be careful. Promise you'll both catch up," Shikamaru said.
"You got it," the twins said in unison. "Lets do this thing!" They got into a fighting stance back to back with each other, dogs in ready.
"You ready for that new jutsu, bro?" she asked him.
"You bet," he said.
"Double Fang over Fang Combination Jutsu!" they yelled. And like that it was over… Goodbye, Sakon and Ukon. They couldn't believe they were defeating them so quickly. These guys were NOT on their game today. Meanwhile, elsewhere, Hinote and Gaara were making LETHAL headway. By lethal headway, I mean they were ALREADY there. They stood before Orochimaru's hideout. A tongue emerged from the shadows.
"Weird," Hinote said. He stepped from the shadows, laughing evily.
"Hinote… Uzumaki… could you be… the vessel I choose over Sasuke? Or, maybe I should hold you prisoner for 3 years, until I need you," he said.
"Yeah, okay, snake tongue," she said. "I don't have a giant tongue. Where the hell do you keep that thing?"
"I don't have to answer to you. Just be respectful, or I'll KILL you," he said.
"Uh, respectful is NOT in my vocabulary, and if you point out that I just said it—" she began. He cut her off.
"What'll you do? You DID just say it," he said. She glared.
"Hair, attack!" she ordered. Weirdest command ever. It made him laugh. He sure wasn't laughing when he was being strangled and burned… It was then that Shikamaru, Shikon, Kiba and the others FINALLY caught up. They all stared… well, actually… Naruto fell out of the tree… but, none the less… they all stared. Hinote looked at him. "You are NOT taking me back."
"Why not? The leaf village isn't THAT bad," he said.
"It's by WATER!" she said. Shikon leapt down.
"So? It appears you've made friends with sand head here, so go live in the sand village! There's no water there!" she said. Hinote turned slowly to face Gaara.
"That was the worst nickname, EVER," Naruto said.
"Okay, Dirt head," Shikon said. "Is THAT better, Demon Fox?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," he mumbled. "Oh, yeah! You're my sister!" he yelled and passed out screaming SISTER again. Kiba joined Shikon.
"It wouldn't kill to try to live in the sand village, you could always," Kiba began.
"Try it and then come to the leaf village, again!" Shikon finished for him.
"And there are no trees," Kiba said.
"So you can't light anything on fire."
"Unless you go in a building."
"You can have a sand house?" Gaara offered. Hinote turned to him slowly.
"It's better than living near the twin dogs who finish each other's sentences and read each other's thoughts!" she said. Then Orochimaru stuck his tongue out to strangle Hinote, but her hair pushed it back in his mouth and… down his throat.
"So THAT'S where he keeps it!" Naruto said.
The group, including Gaara and the sand siblings, had just arrived at the leaf village. Tsunade met them at the gate.
"Well, this happens to be a reason for celebration," she said. "We got her back safe, and she's not classified as a convict, missing-nin OR rogue-nin. She almost rid us of Orochimaru!"
"The reason she spared Orochimaru, was her hair was getting bored," Naruto said.
"Her hair?" Tsunade asked.
"It's a long story. But we should celebrate this!" Kiba said.
"We can celebrate! I have an iPod!" Shikon said.
"What's an iPod?" Shikamaru asked.
"It is an electric appliance that plays music. I have solar panels to power the speakers, and it's all in my backpack!" she said.
"W—wait, how do you have a backpack, if you were asleep when you fell?" he asked.
"I always wear my backpack in case of emergency such as this!" she said. A tiny flame burst from the zipper. She reached back and nervously hit the bag. Kiba stared. "It's nothing… I'll explain later. Let's go. I'll change. Hinote… go change… NOW!" She ran off, dragging a protesting Hinote with her.
"Hey, sis!" Kiba called after. She stopped and tossed him the iPod. "Thanks." He waved her off. He began messing with the playlists.
"How do you know how to work that thing?" Naruto asked.
"Because I do. I have a sister, dork," he said. "Don't touch." Kiba put the earphones in, and Akamaru hit play.
"W-wait… the DOG knows how to work the iPod?" Naruto asked.
"Mhm, my sister's dressed. I got to go," Kiba said.
"Wait, how do you know? She's not even here!" Naruto said.
"We're twins. I just know," Kiba said. Naruto paused.
"Wait, you're twins?" he asked. Kiba shrugged and walked away.
"Yeah, just like you and Hinote are twins!" he called over his shoulder. Naruto gaped.
"Twins??? I couldn't even believe I was related to the freak, and now all of a sudden we're TWINS?" he asked. Kiba was out of earshot. Gaara and Shikamaru followed a distance behind. After they'd changed they were outside with the solar panels, the speakers, the iPod ready to play Kiba's playlist, and… a disco ball? The girl had a freaking DISCO BALL in her BACKPACK? She looked over at Kiba kneeling and digging through her backpack.
"You have EVERYTHING in EXISTANCE in here," he said, with his face sort of in the bag. "Where does it end?" A jet of fire shot past his face. He turned to her. "You have a DRAGON in your backpack?" She reached in and closed a small steel box.
"Sorry, it, uh, wasn't supposed to do that," she said.
"A DRAGON?" he asked again.
"Hinote is just as vicious," she rejoindered.
"Yeah, times you are weird," he said. "Speaking of Hinote, where'd she go?" He said that just as she walked in the door. He gaped. "That's hot!" he said. Shikon glared.
"If you hit on her, I'll kill you," she said. He shut his mouth. They noticed that her hair was pulled up. She glared.
"What? What are you looking at?" she asked.
"Nothing," Kiba said, digging through the bag again. Shikon just stared at him. "Hey, sis, hit play. It's on Freeze. You know that's, like, my favorite song. Plus, time to put those moves you showed me into practice." She hit play and he began to sing to it. Gosh, he loved this song. She laughed. He was actually a pretty good dancer for a first timer. Everyone else walked in and saw him dancing. Kankuro walked up to Shikon.
"Nice iPod… Gaara explained," he said. She nodded.
"Any requests?" she said. He scoffed.
"Yeah, like I actually know any songs from your world… maybe… one?" he said.
"How?" she asked.
"I, um… I have a friend who's been there… who… lives there?" he said. "Gaara asked me to sing Fire Burning, for Hinote, but in return… he has to sing Navigate Me…"
"Oh, oh," Shikon laughed. "Yeah, I gots both of those!" Freeze ended… and on came Fire Burning automatically. Kankuro started facing Hinote and singing to it. Gaara smirked in a corner. Everyone looked down at the floor, stifling laughter. Afterwards, Gaara backed in the corner and began singing to Navigate Me monotonously. Beforehand he said "I hate you Kankuro…" Afterwards, Hinote's eyes were wide.
"Ooh, I made up a song!" Naruto yelled. "It's about a snake!" He began singing before anyone could stop him… surprisingly he wasn't tone deaf… but it was a really dumb song.
"Shikamaru, I'm MAKING you sing," Shikon said. He shook his head. "If I do, will you?" she asked.
"Fine, but I won't like it," he said. "And you have to not suck." She looked away and began singing to Masquerade. She DID sound good, so in Shikamaru's face. Naruto turned to Hinote.
"I DARE you to sing," he said. She scoffed.
"Uh… but, I… o—okay…" she trailed off, not wanting to protest. Shikon finished and stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru. He began to sing to If Today Was Your Last Day. He was really not tone deaf, but his voice sounded different. After he finished, people cheered and Hinote began to sing Bullseye, and she sounded at equals to Shikon. No one saw it coming. Afterwards, Kakashi was dared to sing a made up song by Naruto, so he did.
My father commited suicide My best friend died I got his left eye I'm an emotional wreckEveryone laughed hysterically. No one was surprised when a strand of Hinote's hair came down and whacked him in the face. He walked away. Kankuro had forced Temari to sing. She began to sing It's All About Me. And afterwards, Ino sang Fabulous. Wow, didn't see that one coming. Did you? Haha, yeah. Then Sakura sang Stranger and that was the last one.
"Haha, we're all IDIOTS!" Shikon laughed. She pulled a hat over her face. Oh, did I mention she was laying on the floor? Yeah, they all were. Well, Gaara was standing in a corner and Hinote was standing because she'd ignite the floor. Temari rolled on her side on her metal fan.
"Stupid fan… this hurts," she said. "By the way… you can have Shikamaru. He's not my type," she whispered to Shikon.
"I'm going to name my song the Snake Song!" Naruto yelled out. Everyone groaned.
After the Hinote Retrieval Arc, Hinote was down at the river, leaning over the edge slightly, to feel what the water felt like. She was doing fine, until she heard a loud scream. Out of nowhere, a GUY fell out of the sky. Just as Shikon walked up behind her, she fell in, screaming. Shikon just gaped.
"I'm telling you, this happens EVERY DAY," she said to no one in particular. In Hinote's desperate attempt to get out of the water, her hair tangled itself around her. Shikon simply reached in and pulled the orange clump out of the water, grimacing. "Ow, ow, it burns," she said calmly. The guy popped up and saw the girls on the dock. He spit the water from his mouth and it hit Shikon. She stared at the sky. "What? Is this just revenge for all the times I spit on Shikamaru? It was only 11 times! Hair, untangle, NOW." The hair obeyed and Hinote stood up. "Good god, my life is so warped."
"Oh, cold," Hinote said.
"How is that cold?" Shikon said. Hinote sighed.
"I'm fire, you tell me," she said. The guy climbed out of the water and shook himself dry… all over Shikon. She scoffed.
"Are you KIDDING me?" she yelled. He walked past her.
"What? What do you want?" he said. He walked towards the leaf village.
"Wait, you can't go there! I don't know you! Hey! You have to listen to me," she said, turning. "Hey, you. My boyfriend is a Chuunin!" He looked at her for about five seconds and kept walking. Hinote began walking towards the village to dry off.
"Yeah, so much for the boyfriend card, Shikon," she said.
"Well, it's true!" Shikon said. Hinote sighed.
"Yeah, but I bet it'd help if that boyfriend KNEW he was your boyfriend," she said.
"He does," Shikon replied.
"No he doesn't. And if you don't tell him, I WILL," Hinote threatened. Shikon just stared, shocked, with one eyebrow raised. "Everyone knows except Shikamaru." Back in the village, Kiba was arguing with Shikamaru about… something. I have no idea. It was, like, how fast would Kiba become a Chuunin?
"Really, I will!" Kiba said. "Really fast."
"Yeah? Don't argue with ME!" Shikamaru said.
"Why not? What alibi do you have?" Kiba asked.
"Your sister is my girlfriend," he said.
"Yeah, but it'd probably help if she KNEW that," Kiba said.
"She does!" he said. Kiba smirked.
"Please, tell her before I do!" he ordered. Just then, a guy barged through their conversation. He was soaking wet. Shikamaru and Kiba looked down at their now damp clothes. Shortly after, Hinote and Shikon walked up. Both were wet.
"Why are you wet?" Kiba asked. Shikon pointed at the guy.
"He fell out the sky," she said. She was about to speak again but there was a loud crying. Shikamaru broke the fall of a small baby.
"Why does everything always land on ME?" he asked no one.
"Well, that guy didn't land on you," Hinote said.
"Just take the baby," he hissed. Shikon took the baby off of him.
"Yeah, Shikon, take the baby off of your BOYFRIEND," Hinote said, loudly. Shikon kicked her. "Ow!" She handed the baby to Kiba.
"Take it to the hokage's office. I'll be there in a minute," she said. Shikon helped Shikamaru stand up by pulling on his hand.
"Okay, I am going to my storage house. I need to dry off. I'll be back," she said. "Tell him," she hissed to Shikon, quietly. She glared. When Hinote got to the house, the door was open, and the guy was inside. "Get OUT of my HOUSE!" she ordered. He stood up and walked towards the door. "Ah, without getting me wet!"
"I'm not leaving," he said. She glared.
"If you DON'T, my hair will strangle you," she said.
"Sure, what will you do? I'm not going to hold still while you tie it in a slipknot around me," he said. Her hair reached around and enveloped him. "Okay, okay! Bye!" she didn't let him go. "Why aren't you letting me go?" he asked.
"My best friend told you not to go near this village. You didn't listen. I am enforcing that right now," she said. "Go back where you came from."
"You mean the sky?" he asked, confused.
"No, idiot. The real world… I'm NOT stupid," she said. "So, you can stay here… you WILL stay here… because I'm not letting you go wreak havoc on this village." She cut part of her hair off, and it quickly re-grew. It formed a cage around him. "I advise you not to touch the edges, it'll burn." Naruto walked in.
"Hey, sis, you got a guy in a hair cage," he pointed out. She stared.
"Yes, I do… go home, Naruto. This guy is a threat," she said.
"Yeah, anyway. I heard you call Shikon your best friend. Does she know that? Because I don't think so," he said. She groaned.
"Yeah, that's because no one ever knows ANYTHING around here!" she said.
Shikon dragged Shikamaru to the Hokage's office.
"Oh, come on. It's just a baby! Why do we have to go all the way down there?" he asked, trying to escape.
"Oh, you're so lazy. Why can't you walk that far?" she asked.
"Because it's too far!" he said.
"How are you so lazy, but still in shape… I mean, just barely, but still! And what kind of chuunin can't walk to the Hokage's office?" she asked.
"Me… I don't want to walk that far. Let me go back!" he said.
"No, if you go back, then you'll have walked the exact same distance and ended up NOWHERE!" she said.
"Well, everywhere is SOMEWHRE," he said. "Nowhere doesn't really exist."
"Do NOT use your freaky mind games and logic on me," she ordered.
"Aww, why not?" he whined. She glared. "And it IS the TRUTH!"
"I don't care. Like I said, you'll have walked the same distance, and ended up… SOMEWHERE… you do not need to BE… thus I call it NOWHERE… when you could walk to the Hokage's office in HALF the time it took you to ARGUE with me," she said.
"Don't use YOUR freaky mind games and logic on ME," he said.
"Don't use my words for your comebacks. Reverse Psychology is no option here," she said.
"Who said that was reverse psychology?" he asked.
"Okay, well, excuse me for not being as smart as you are," she said.
"I never said that!" he said. They were finally at the hokage's office, and she pushed him in rather violently. He stumbled through the doors, and she walked in after, just staring. Lady Tsunade was holding the baby, and Kiba was sitting on the floor.
"Why are you on the floor?" Shikon asked him.
"Because I got tired of standing and waiting for you guys," he said. Shikon glared at Shikamaru.
"Well, we know whose fault THAT is, now, don't we, Shikamaru?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"Well, we don't know what to do… I mean, it's a baby… that fell out of the sky," Kiba said just as Naruto ran in.
"Grandma Tsunade," he said. "Hinote sent me. She has some guy that apparently fell into the river out of the sky and made her get wet. She trapped him in a hair cage…"
"So, THAT'S where the guy went… her house? That dude just walked into someone's house and she trapped him in a hair cage?" Shikon asked.
"And why do people keep falling out of the sky?" Kiba asked.
"Because… they do… and I THINK I know who he is," Shikon said, recalling something Kankuro had said.
"I, um… I have a friend who's been there… who… lives there?"That's what he had said. He had explained the friend when Gaara was singing, and this guy fit that description to a tee. Shikon looked around. Shikamaru had left.
"Yeah, and he doesn't want to walk, so he walks ALL the way BACK to where he was," she mumbled. She walked out and saw him standing doing nothing. He looked up suddenly as a shadow narrowed in on him. Out of nowhere, a GIRL landed on him. Shikon's jaw dropped. He fell to the ground under the impact. The girl stood, looked around and screamed loudly. She ran quickly to the forest and leapt into the trees. Shikon looked around confused and scared. Shikamaru sat up.
"Why do people keep falling on ME?" he asked. "That didn't even look like a person! It looked like a tree!"
"Well, then it was a really fast tree," she said. Naruto walked out.
"Tree, running?" he asked. She looked at him.
"No, you idiot… it was a girl who ran so fast she LOOKED like a tree—oh, I won't even try to explain it to you," she said.
"Okay, since ANOTHER girl fell from the sky… onto ME… AGAIN… we have to go find her… AGAIN… although, this time she won't set the forest on fire," Shikamaru said, standing. Shikon wasn't paying attention. She had the same scared and confused look on her face as she looked at the random patches of flowers and grass leading up to where she'd run… in the shapes of footprints. Shikon's jaw dropped… again…
"Oh, this is so much FREAKING DÉJÀ VU!" she yelled. "Minus the plant part…"
"This is such a drag," Shikamaru muttered. "So troublesome…" He looked down at where he had landed… there was a plant bed… with a human shape imprint missing from the center. "Got anything in that backpack slash arsenal slash department store we can use for this?" he asked, turning to Shikon. She dug through her backpack.
"I have WEED killer," she said, pulling out a can. He just stared, strangely. "And if you say this is a drag one more time, I'll spray you in the eye." Hinote walked up behind her, and stepped between them.
"That would hurt," she said. "What kind of girlfriend does that?" She said it loud enough for Shikamaru to hear her. Naruto faced Hinote.
"What kind of best friend exposes her best friend's secret?" he asked.
"What kind of what?" Shikamaru asked.
"Hinote?" Shikon asked. Kiba leapt from the roof of the Hokage's office, and in front of Shikamaru.
"Hey, how's your boyfriend, Sis?" he asked Shikon. She scoffed.
"How's what?" Shikamaru asked.
"I am SO confused, right now," Shikon said. Kiba cleared his throat.
"Okay, so, let me break it down for you. You're Shikamaru's girlfriend, he's your boyfriend. You're also Hinote's best friend, but she wouldn't admit it. You didn't know Shikamaru said you were his girlfriend, and vice versa," he said. "Why don't you go give your boyfriend a kiss?" He smiled mischievously. She hit him over the head.
"You idiot!" she yelled. Naruto scratched his head thoughtfully.
"Wait… I saw a running tree," he said. Hinote turned and whacked him.
"Stupid! Don't say stupid things," she said. Kiba and Shikon were fighting on the ground… Shikon was winning… until she stood up and he spun her violently, and pushed her into Shikamaru, and they both toppled over. Hinote's eyes widened…
"I have to go. The guy in the hair cage just escaped. My hair is chasing him right now. I have to go," She said. Kiba looked at her, having not been there when Naruto explained, confused.
"Hair cage?" he asked. Shikon shook her head, and stood up.
"It's a long story…" She paused. "I'll tell you after I kill you!" She lunged for him, and they both fell and were once again fighting. Shikamaru stood up.
"This is—" he started to say that it was a drag, but Shikon cut him off.
"Don't you say it!" she yelled at him. She stood up, and left Kiba in minor pain. "Just go find the girl…" She walked off. She walked to her house… and sat on a stage which was located in her room for NO apparent reason. She sat on the edge, and pulled a mancala board out of her "department store," backpack. She started tossing the rocks from bowl to bowl endlessly.
"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked. Shikamaru walked in.
"Uh, it's mancala… I was bored… I'm just playing with the rocks," she said. "It's an excellent strategy game if you have someone to play against you. Except, no one ever beats me… they all suck at playing." He took a seat on the stage opposite her.
"I'll play with you. We're at equals on strategy, so I might be a fair match for you," he said. She set the board back up and took her turn.
"Well, I figured I should do something other than kill Kiba," she said. He eyed the five rocks she'd obtained from her turn and took his.
"I don't know why you'd kill Kiba. I mean, he actually told me something I wanted to know." He'd gotten five rocks as well.
"Really… why did you want to know that?" she asked. She took her turn. Three rocks. She had 7 now.
"Because… I was kind of hoping you were wondering the same thing," he said. 3… he had 7 as well.
"Well, I was… but, it's rather weird that Hinote considers me her best friend, and treats me like crap at the same time," she said, dropping the last of 7 more rocks into her mancala.
"She's Hinote… she's terrible at expressing anything but, 'i'm mad at you,' and 'I hate you,'" he said. He dropped one rock into his mancala. He had 7 more. They both had 14. She eyed both mancalas.
"This is getting nowhere," she said. "And shouldn't we be trying to find that plant girl?"
"Yes, but Kiba and the others are on that… they're trailing the flower patches," he said. "I didn't want to go. So troublesome… what a drag." She laughed and leaned forward.
"You are so lazy… how do you manage it?" she asked.
"It's what I do… I'm the number one at running away," he said. "Something you're not proud of, I hope," she said. She dropped 6 into her mancala.
"I'm not. I do not pride myself on being the number one coward," he said. 6… they both had 20 now. There were 8 rocks left on the board. Suddenly, Naruto walked in.
"I'm bored," he announced. She reached into her backpack and threw a book at him. "What's this?" he asked, studying it.
"It's a BOOK," she said. "Read it… it'll help pass the time… if you know how to read." He groaned and walked out. She began her turn, ignoring his cries of pain from being hit with the book… he was screaming at someone about some foreign object hitting him in the head.
"It's an ELF! GREEN LADY IS AN ELF!" he yelled. She dropped the last stone, and looked at the door. Shikamaru started his turn. She figured it best not to question Naruto OR his stupidity.
"That boy has problems," she said.
"Yeah, but you have to think about it. He grew up without a family and was shunned by the entire village, viewed as an idiot and a demon, but he still managed to get as far as he has," Shikamaru said.
"Okay, I give him props… but he thinks she's an ELF," she said. The last rock dropped into his mancala, and they both had 24.
"Tie," he said. "No one has ever beat me at ANYTHING."
"I just tied with you," she said. "I guess you aren't the best at some things, but you could probably beat me at Shogi or Go."
"Of course I could," he said. "If you haven't played them before. I play them all the time… so I am bound to be good at it. You seem to be a lot more active than I am."
"Maybe I am… but I'm also smart… And I think if I put the effort I put into my fighting with my effort in my strategies, I'd be pretty close to beating you," she said. They heard Naruto scream. Shikon stood up and ran outside, Shikamaru following. They saw Naruto laying on the ground, moaning, with a chopstick protruding from his left arm. They saw green girl standing over him. She ran as quickly as she'd come. Shikon had had it… she was PISSED. This girl was coming and going on HER turf, and messing with her friends, and she'd HAD it. Hinote ran up. "Get. That. GIRL!" Shikon yelled. Hinote sprinted off, mouthing to Kiba as he ran up, 'she's pissed off.' Shikon walked after Hinote, angrily. Kiba and Shikamaru dragged Naruto after her. They found the girl in one of Hinote's hair cages. Shikon normally would have asked what happened, but she was too mad. Shikamaru and Kiba walked towards the cage, and Hinote made an opening so they could grab green girl. Before they could, she pushed Kiba against the side of the cage, and kicked Shikamaru. Shikon scoffed. Green girl began running, but Shikon grabbed her by the shoulders as she was running past her. Green girl just stared. Shikon was really pissed… she was damn unpredictable now. She was in mission mode, and she'd do anything at this point. She glared at Green girl. "What's your name, girl?" she asked, madly. She didn't respond. "What's your name? I'm asking YOU!" Green girl whimpered.
"Hayashi… Hayashi Tsuki!" she muttered.
"Why are you here?" Shikon asked.
"I—I just want out!" she yelled. Shikon glared. She looked at everyone, and then back to Hayashi.
"That's enough," she said. She punched Hayashi straight across the face. Everyone just looked at her. No one said anything. "It's okay… she'll only be out for a few days. I only punched her hard enough to give her a slight concussion… nothing serious." She walked off.
Four days later, she finally woke up. She was called into the Hokage's office, but would NOT talk to Tsunade.
"Okay, that's it. I know you won't like this but you leave me no choice," Tsunade said. "Bring in Shikon. I know this girl won't risk making her angry… again." She looked at the chair that Hayashi was sitting in. "Why are PLANTS growing on that chair? Exterminate those plants!" Hayashi screamed. Just as she did so, Shikon walked through the door. Shikon stared angrily at the floor. She sighed, and tried to calm down to avoid punching Hayashi again. She walked around to face Hayashi, and grabbed both arms of the chair, and violently pushed it against the wall. She glared meanly and raised one eyebrow, determined to get what she wanted, and that was information. Hayashi did NOT fancy being hit again, so she blurted it all out. Shikon stepped back.
"Okay, I wasn't going to hit you again, but thanks for telling me all that!" she said, calmly. She didn't smile. It wasn't likely that she would smile, having had all of that yelled in her face… Elsewhere, Kiba and Shikamaru were on the cliff where they'd all fallen in, and they were arguing.
"No one else will ever fall out of the sky," Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, that's what you said last time, and someone fell out of the sky," Kiba said.
"But that was not supposed to happen," Shikamaru sighed.
"So, neither was my sister and Hinote falling out of the sky, but THAT happened. Speaking of my sister… she's still afraid of my mom," Kiba said, totally off topic. Shikamaru squinted.
"Stay on topic, here. I bet you 20 bucks, I could go in that river again, and NO ONE would fall on me," he said. Secretly, he was doubting that no one would fall.
"And I bet you 20 bucks that someone WILL fall on you," Kiba said. "You have to stay there for 10 whole minutes. It's 3:50 right now. You can come out at 4:00." Shikamaru nodded and looked over the cliff's edge, contemplating the way down that would take the least effort on his part. Kiba shrugged. "Get down there!" he yelled, and with that, he pushed Shikamaru off the edge. He landed in the water with a splash. Yes, a splash. That happens to be the sound water makes when you land in it. 9 minutes passed, and Shikamaru was counting the seconds until 4:00. 30… 31… 32… 33… 34… 35… 36… 37… 38… 39… 40… 41… 42… 43… 44… 45… 46… 47… 48… 49… 50… 51… 52… 53… 54… 55… 56… 57… 58… 59… SPLASH! Something person-like fell on Shikamaru. Kiba just stared at his watch and looked at the sky curiously. "Wow, is this thing jinxed? But, I STILL WIN!" he yelled. "Haha, Shikamaru, you owe me 20 bucks!" he yelled over the cliff's edge. Shikamaru threw the silver mass off of him. It hit the wall and… started climbing… the wall…
"What a—" Shikamaru began. Another mass landed on him. A black mass. He threw it off. The mass stood up. It was a girl, a little shorter than him, with short black hair that flared out at the sides. She had sea blue eyes. She didn't move, but just stared at the cliff.
"Wow," she said. "I would climb that, but it would require moving… so much work."
"What a—" Shikamaru began. She looked at him.
"Drag, drag. What a drag, what a drag, we get it," she said. "I have heard it five thousand times, I've seen the show."
"How—" he began, thinking he could throw her off.
"Troublesome, troublesome, how troublesome, how troublesome, I know THAT one, too. I've seen the Japanese version with subtitles," she said.
"Such a—" He attempted to throw her off again.
"Bother, bother, such a bother, such a bother, I've heard them all," she said. "So much—"
"Work, work, so much work, so much work… yeah, I heard that one five minutes ago," he said.
"Don't you mock me… I can't chase you, that would require—" she began.
"Moving, moving, that would require moving, that would require moving," he said. "Heard THAT one 5 minutes ago, too." Up on the cliff, Kiba put his arm up as a shield, to the silver haired girl as she walked past him.