Love For The Loveless
I was walking to Tsunade-san's office where I was told to meet her and Kakashi-sensei. They said it was really important.
After I arrived, I was surprised by the sight of another member of my squad and a few others too.
"SAKURA-CHAN!!" Naruto yelled running to me. He stopped right in front of me and I grabbed him into a tight hug.
"How ya' been Sakura-chan?" He asked after we separated.
"Good. I've been training a lot though so I'm pretty tired." I answered happily.
"We can make this quick then." Kakashi-sensei said popping in.
"No it's ok. I'm fine." I said turning down the offer.
"Alright then everyone, come into my office." Tsunade-san said opening the door to her office. We all walked in and sat down.
There were a lot of us here. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were here. Lee, Tenten, and Neji were here. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were here. Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro were here. Last but not least, Kakashi-sensei, and Tsunade-san were there.
"Alright everyone, listen up. We have a special mission for all of you." Tsunade-san announced.
"What?! A mission?! I just got back!" I yelled irritated.
"Yes, a mission." Kakashi-sensei replied giving me the be-quiet-and-respect-your-elders look.
I growled under my breath and silenced myself.
"The Village Hidden in the Mist is targeting you Sakura and we can't let them catch you. Sakura, you're my apprentice and if they get their grimy hands on you not only would I never be able to forgive myself, but the village would also be in grave danger because they would have whom who knows the shinobi secrets of Konoha. I want you to be on guard at all times. As precaution, we've collected the finest ninja that we believed to be able to do this job to protect you. Your mission is to take into mind your protectors' opinion and to be cautious. You guys are to keep Sakura safe. That is your mission."
"But Tsunade-san, if it's just to keep Sakura safe, why did you need all of us?" Ino asked.
"I knew someone would ask that question. You see, we're going to have all of you go to The Village Hidden in the Mist and keep Sakura safe while you're bringing down their empire." Tsunade said smirking.
"Now that sounds like fun." Temari said smirking also.
"Now, you all are leaving after dinner tonight. I suggest you all get reacquainted with each other." Kakashi-sensei said.
"Dismissed." Tsunade-san stated. We all bowed in respect and left the area.
After we got outside, I got hugs from my friends.
Why are Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro here? Wait, we're destroying a village. They're probably good at that. I thought to myself.
"Forehead's big as ever." Ino said getting in my face.
"Shut up Ino-pig!" I yelled back. She stuck her tongue out at me and I got up and started to chase her.
No one's P.O.V.
"Man, they sure do fight a lot for friends." Tenten stated. Everyone nodded with the exception of a couple of them.
"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!!" Sakura yelled running after Ino.
"Huh! Yeah right! Like I'd actually let you catch me!" Ino shouted back. Sakura got a smirked evilly; that meant trouble.
Sakura started to perform hand signs that they had never seen before.
"Yokusei Jutsu! The art of Body Control!" Sakura yelled facing her hand at Ino.
Ino stopped moving and looked at Sakura with a look of horror on her face. Sakura motioned for her to walk to her and to everyone's surprise, Ino walked to her. Ino couldn't control her body thanks to Sakura.
"Hmm. Not Bad." Temari thought to herself.
When Ino got over to Sakura, Sakura chuckled evilly, scaring almost everyone.
"You actually thought I was kidding?" Sakura asked. She took out a kunai and put it up against Ino's neck.
Ino was scared to death and her facial expression told you that in an instant. All of a sudden, Sakura's evil face faltered and she started laughing so hard, she fell to the ground. The effect on Ino's body went away.
"WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" Ino screamed. Sakura just kept laughing.
"You…..should have….seen the….LOOK ON YOUR FACE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Sakura replied laughing.
Once she calmed down everyone started asking questions.
"Sakura where did you learn that?!" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Tsunade-san." She replied.
"How did you get so powerful?!"
"Lots and LOTS of training."
"When did you get prettier?"
"I-" Sakura stopped and started blushing slightly.
"Yep, he's right! You have gotten prettier, Sakura-chan." Lee said.
Sakura's blush deepened.
"Alright! Step away from the girl!" Tenten said teasingly, stepping in front of Sakura and putting her arms up.
"Awwww! You're no fun, Tenten." Lee groaned. Lee and Naruto stepped away obediently.
Sakura smiled cheerfully at them and they all started walking towards the big apartment that they were all staying at until after dinner.
"So what should we do until dinner?" Kankuro asked trying to get in on the socialization. The fact that he was actually trying lightened up the group a little.
"Good question." Sakura answered. She sat there, zoned out thinking of what to do.
"LET'S GO OUT DANCING!!" Ino exclaimed.
"Are you insane?! I don't dance." Sakura replied.
"W-we could always train for the t-trip." Hinata suggested, nervously.
"Good idea Hinata. I haven't trained with you all in a really long time and I'm dieing to show you my new techniques." Sakura said smirking evilly.
"I guess it's settled. We're training till dinner." Neji said with his You-know-I'm-better-than-you-so-listen-to-me voice.
The group left the apartment for the training grounds.
"Alright, who's brave enough to take me on?!" Sakura yelled getting into her fighting stance.
"I'll take you on Sakura-chan!" Naruto answered stepping forward.
They stood in their fighting stances for a few minutes until Sakura took action. She did the same hand signs as before.
"Yokusei Jutsu! The Art of Body Control!" She yelled. But before her jutsu could take effect, Naruto performed hand signs.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled. A ton of Narutos appeared and with the little amount of chakra used, her jutsu only attacked around three of them. They started running at her to attack when she started doing more hand signs that they haven't seen before.
"Kaze Jutsu! Wind Shield!" A shield of wind shot up around her and threw the Narutos back. All but one vanished and there stood Naruto dumbfounded.
"Wow Sakura-chan! You know Wind Jutsus too?" Naruto asked coming over.
"Yup!" She answered letting down her shield. All of a sudden, Naruto attacked her, attempting to catch her by surprise.
He pinned her against a tree.
"Never let your guard down." He said simply. She smirked and swung him around pinning him face first to the tree with his hands on his back.
"Never underestimate your opponent." She whispered. She let go of his hands and he smiled at her and they shook hands.
Everyone was amazed at how strong Sakura had grown and they all wanted a shot at fighting her but most of them were scared that she would get the best of them.
"Well, don't let me steal the spotlight. Who else wants to show off?" Sakura asked smiling.
"Hey, Lee? You up for a battle?" Shikamaru asked. Lee smirked and nodded. The combatants took their places on the battle field and got in their stances. Lee of course was the first one to act.
"Konoha Hurricane!" He shouted swinging his foot at Shikamaru. Shikamaru dodged it but was hit by the second one that he wasn't expecting. He was sent flying about fifty feet away.
"Get up you lazy bum!" Ino shouted from the side lines. Shikamaru did so and started his jutsu.
"Kagemane no Jutsu! Shadow Manipulation!" He shouted. Lee was caught in Shikamaru's technique. Lee followed Shikamaru's every move.
"Got ya'." He stated simply. Lee smiled his oh-so-mischievous smile and looked at Skikamaru, Lee started to move and Skikamaru followed.
"What the heck?!" Shikamaru wailed.
"You didn't apply enough charka to subdue me completely. I'm very strong so I could break through. The jutsu is still in effect, but it is I controlling you until you call off the jutsu." Lee explained. Shikamaru had no choice except to let go of his hold.
Lee took his chance and started to attack Shikamaru. He kicked him upward then started kicking him from all sides. He wrapped him up in the wrap on his arms and spun like a twister.
"Forward Lotus!" He yelled sending Shikamaru to the ground. After Shikamaru landed, Lee did also and Shikamaru shakily stood up.
"Whoa, let's not do that again." He said shaking his head.
"I went easy on you with that move. It could have killed you if I wanted it to." Lee explained. They just shook hands and looked to the others.
"DINNER!!" Naruto and Kiba yelled in unison, running toward the house that Kakashi was at.
"Them and their noses." Sakura sighed.
Everyone nodded and sighed also, walking toward the small house.
Once they all got there, Naruto and Kiba were being restrained by Kakashi and Guy. They all walked in and took their seats and the two sensei let go of the boys who rushed to their seats and everyone began to eat.
It took about an hour for everyone to finish eating.
"Alright, kids, all of you need to get up to your rooms and pack your things in preparation for leaving." Guy announced. He was unusually calm, so everyone guessed that he was taking this mission seriously.
Everyone went to the apartment and packed their things. Everyone that ended up training took a quick shower to refresh themselves so they wouldn't get too sweaty and nasty during travel because they were going to be traveling high speed.
"Everyone ready?" Lee asked, energetically. Everyone nodded and they started for the gates of Konoha.
On the way there, some of the ninja were starting to lament leaving the land of their birth for a mission that would last about a year.
"It's going to be a while before we come back to Konoha. I'm going to miss it." Ino said sadly.
"Yeah, but as long as we're all together and alive, we can make it." Tenten said reassuringly, throwing her arms around Sakura and Hinata's shoulders smiling. The two girls smiled and Sakura reeled Ino in. They all laughed a little and walked to the gate with the boys and Temari at their heels.
They got to the gate and met Kakashi and Tsunade.
"Be careful everyone. Move with stealth and strength but also with silence and caution." Kakashi instructed. Everyone nodded once.
"Here. I want you all to follow these instructions." Tsunade said giving a piece of paper to Sakura. She grabbed her into a tight hug.
"Be careful and come back alive." Tsunade said.
"Don't worry Tsunade-san, we'll ensure Sakura's safety." Shino reassured Tsunade.
"Yeah." Kiba agreed. Tsunade smiled.
"Alright. Goodbye." With that, Tsunade and Kakashi disappeared into the black of the night.
"So what does the paper say?" Temari asked.
"Well," Sakura began,"Tsunade-san wrote out a formation for travel. Let's see. Man, this is so complex! Ok, she wants me in the middle with Temari ahead of me, Tenten to be at my left, Ino at my right, and Hinata behind me. To Tenten's Left will be Lee, in front of her is Kankuro, and behind her is Kiba. To Ino's right will be where Shikamaru is, in front of her is Choji, and behind her, Naruto. Behind Hinata, Shino will be at our tail end. Last but not least, Neji and Gaara will be at the peak."
"Wow that is complex." Naruto commented.
"There are also some explanations," Sakura continued,"Neji and Gaara are leading because they are the strongest out of the bunch of you besides Sakura. When they are leading, Gaara's sand should be able to deflect attacks from ahead and Neji's Byakugan technique will prove to be useful to see traps or attacking ninja from a distance.
I'm pretty sure you know why I put Sakura in the middle. If attacking ninja happen to get past any of the ninja around her though, she is perfectly able to handle herself.
I put Lee and Shikamaru at the sides because their strong points are open. Lee is strong at the left, and Shikamaru, the right.
Shino is at the back because he has good reflexes and a quick wit.
One more tip, travel at night and rest during the day.
Good luck. Tsunade."
"Tsunade-san has good advice." Tenten said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Everyone ready?" Lee asked. Everyone nodded again and they got into the formation that Tsunade gave them and began their journey.
Temari's P.O.V.
We've been traveling for about three hours now, jumping from tree to tree. Our formation hasn't faltered once. So far, we haven't had any unwelcome run-ins, but I have a feeling it won't last long. My brother and that Neji dude are getting along, no one's dead yet so it's all good.
"We're being followed!" Shino shouted to alert all of us.
We stopped in our formation and Shino walked up to Neji and my brother. Considering they're the leaders, it's them he has to report to.
"Some of the insects I've been monitoring have felt vibrations in the ground that are following ours." Shino explained. Sounds like village spies to me.
"Do you know what village they're from?" Neji asked. Shino shook his head.
"I only saw shadows. I didn't see their headbands." Shino replied.
"Do you know how many there are?" Gaara asked.
"There were forty-two vibrations so there should be about twenty-one ninja." Shino replied.
"TWENTY-ONE?!" Naruto, Ino, and Kiba yelled. Man, they are loud! Shino just nodded slowly.
"We're outnumbered by seven. It's no big deal." Lee stated nonchalantly.
"I guess you're right. I could use my shadow clone jutsu to get them all." Naruto suggested. Gaara shook his head in disagreement.
"We could come across a larger group of enemy ninja and might need your jutsu later. If that happens, we don't need you exhausted." He explained. He does have a point. Twenty-one isn't that much and Naruto's jutsu could come in handy if we get a bigger number of opponents. Naruto nodded in agreement along with Neji. My brother is a great strategist. It runs in the family if I do say so myself.
"So what do you two want us to do?" I asked.
"Fight." They both replied simply. As if on cue, like Shino said, twenty-one ninja jumped from the trees in front of us, but one member was someone we weren't expecting.
"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered.
"Sasuke?!" Naruto said in disbelief.
There he was. Sasuke. That guy on Naruto and Sakura's team that abandoned them and worked for Orochimaru.
"What are you doing here?!" Naruto said in an angry voice.
"Hmhmhm." He chuckled lightly with a smirk on his face. I remember back in the chunin exams when he went evil and powerful because of some curse or something.
"I'm here for Sakura." He replied. I'm pretty sure Sakura's heart just skipped a beat. She used to have the biggest crush on Sasuke if I'm right.
"Why?" She asked seriously. She's getting good at hiding her emotions.
"To kill you." One of the ninja answered for him. She froze and instead of smirking like we thought that Sasuke was going to do, he frowned, looking on the brink of tears.
The ninja from the sound village surrounded us and prepared for attack.
"Stay in formation!" Neji shouted aggressively. The others followed the orders and got in their stances. I removed my fan off my back and opened it, staring straight into the eyes of my opponent.
"Remember to conserve your energy Naruto!" Gaara yelled.
The shinobi targeting Kiba decided to make the first move. He ran towards Kiba and launched a grenade looking object at Kiba's feet. Kiba was confused and didn't know what to do.
The 'grenade' exploded and it looked like nothing happened but we were wrong. Seconds later, Kiba and Akamaru were waling and howling while holding their ears. Oh, yeah! That's right! Kiba enhances his senses with his charka! This isn't good; Kiba could be deaf by now!
"Those had to be high frequency sound waves. Kiba, you're going to have to lower your senses!" Lee advised. Kiba was still holding his ears with his eyes squeezed shut but you could feel the amount of charka in his nose and ears drop.
The dude in front of me chuckled and I turned my attention back to him. He looks vaguely familiar. Wait, it's that dude that was at the chunin exams! The one that got his arms broke by Sasuke! How ironic, he's being controlled by his former enemy. His technique is similar to mine, using high speed winds to defeat their opponent. This ought to be fun… (A/N: Enter devious smirk.)
Before my opponent could attack me, I charged at him and did a 360(A/N: Sorry, no degrees mark.) and swung my fan, full force. He used his chakra to control the wind he launched out of the two holes in his hands. Our winds collided and vanished. I smirked, this was going to be more fun then I thought.
No One's P.O.V.
The nine male ninja on the outside of the formation were doing an amazing job of keeping the majority of the sound ninja away from the rest of the formation. Hinata and Temari would get an occasional ninja to fight. Ino, Tenten, and Sakura weren't fighting at all. Neji, Gaara, Kankuro, Choji, Naruto, Kiba, Lee, Shikamaru, and Shino were the ones doing all the work. Naruto took on one, being wary of Gaara's advice, and the rest of the boys took on two a piece.
Sasuke, unfortunately, was cutting through the young ninja like a cleaver; he dodged right past their attacks going for Sakura. When he had got past everyone, one of his ninja appeared by his side and they approached her. Everyone was caught up in fighting and couldn't get to Sakura because the sound ninja would stop them.
"Sakura!" Lee yelled in worry. Sakura just got in her stance ready to fight the two ninja. The two were about five feet away from her when Sasuke sped up his pace and turned around directing a competitive glare at the sound shinobi. We were all confused, including the sound ninja.
"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered in question. He just inclined his head so he still had his eye on the person in front of him but was able to let Sakura see his face, acknowledging that he heard her.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. For everything. I was such a fool. I was blinded by the want for power. And I apologize. To all of you." Sasuke declared.
"Apology accepted…friend." Naruto said walking up and putting his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. Everyone nodded once in agreement. Sasuke smiled at them all. It was amazing that they all accepted him back, even Neji and Gaara. Sasuke got serious again and turned his head back toward the ninja he controlled.
"As of now, I am not your leader anymore. You can choose to continue attacking or leave peacefully. If you attack, I will not hold back." Sasuke said. The ninja put away their weapons and stepped in front of their former leader, bowing slightly.
"It's been a pleasure serving you sir, and we will choose to leave. We have had enough of Orochimaru." One of them said. Sasuke got out of his stance and bowed back and with that, the ninja were gone.
Sasuke turned toward his friends and smiled again catching them off guard a little.
"My friends, I'm so sorry. Tsunade-san is going to have my head. But I do have info about Orochimaru that we could use to take him down." He said. Everyone walked up to him and was listening when all the sudden a smack was placed right across Sasuke's face, leaving a red mark. Everyone looked to Sakura.
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked quietly, touching his now burning cheek. Sakura looked up and had tears trailing down her face and a look of anger and relief in her eyes.
"How dare you just run off like that?! I was worried sick! I don't care why you left but if you ever do that again I'll—" Sakura was cut off by Sasuke wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her to him. She recovered from her shock and hugged him back holding back a sob of happiness that he was back safely.
"Alright guys, we need to get moving again so we can make up for a little of our lost ground before the sun starts to rise. Sasuke, you can run next to Sakura and she'll explain everything. You'll be useful on this mission." Neji commanded. Everyone got back in formation and they started back on track while Sakura told Sasuke everything.
?!?!2 hours later?!?!
The group had almost made up completely for lost time and there were no further attacks so far.
"Alright. We'll make camp here." Gaara said making the group stop.
Gaara and Neji had picked a good spot, deep in the forest and hidden by high trees. Everyone sat down in some what of a circle.
"So what time do you think it is?" Temari asked no one in particular.
"I would guess about 7:00, 7:30 in the morning." Tenten answered.
"Ugh, I'll tell you what time it is, too early." Naruto said, jumping on to a branch of one of the trees and falling asleep.
"I agree." Shikamaru commented, also jumping into one of the trees. Kiba and Choji did the same so they could take a nap.
"You should rest. I can keep watch." Gaara stated simply. Most of them did as told because they have been traveling for around eleven hours and they had the battle with the ninja. Others stayed up and talked about random things. Gaara had hopped in a tree and was scouting out the campsite and occasionally jumped to a different tree to look a different direction. Sasuke and Sakura were talking and catching up. Lee, Neji, Hinata, and Shino were the other ones that were up and Sasuke assisted with them in building a fire and they were now eating.
(A/N: Don't feel like taking more time so I'm going to skip ahead. Enjoy! )
?!?!7:30 p.m.?!?!
"Let's get going. It's getting dark." Neji commented. Everyone obeyed and they got in their formation and started off toward the Village Hidden in the Mist once again.
"Hey guys?" Sakura spoke up timidly but loud enough so the leaders could hear her. Neji and Gaara didn't say anything but they both looked back at her.
"Um, I can hear a stream nearby and I was wondering…"
"Can we take a bath?" Ino finished for her. Neji and Gaara looked at each other and did the whole communication-without-talking thing.
"Which way?" Gaara sighed. All the girls smiled at the two and pointed to the right. Neji and Gaara altered their course and headed the way the girls told them. When they got there, the girls gasped.
"It's better than we thought! It's a hot spring!" Tenten exclaimed.
"We aren't in hurry so you got an hour and a half." Gaara said. All the girls(A/N: Including Temari, she's starting to bond with the other people.) squealed in delight. The boys walked away from the girls so they could bathe and found another small spring.
"I wouldn't mind takin' a bath. And Kiba, you need a bath." Naruto said.
"Yeah I kno--wait! Hey!" Kiba said in mock anger. He started to chase Naruto around and they were both stripping down so they could jump into the water.
"Naruto and Kiba are as immature. As usual." Sasuke said shaking his head.
"Yeah. They may be eighteen on the outside, but on the inside they're only five." Lee commented. Choji, Shikamaru, and Kankuro chuckled a little. The rest of them just smiled or smirked. They looked back over to the spring to see Naruto and Kiba busy trying to drown each other. They shrugged it off and decided to go ahead and wash up too.
Meanwhile, the girls were getting to know Temari better.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Blue."
"What's your favorite number?"
"Sixteen."
"What are you, Gaara, and Kankuro's last name? You never told us."
"Sabaku."
"How is it traveling with both of your brothers?"
"Hectic. Done yet?"
"Yeah we're done."
Temari sighed in relief after her encounter with Twenty-questions.
"Oh, and I'm sorry for what happened during the chunin exams, Tenten." Temari said.
"It's alright." She said, smiling.
"Um, I-I just r-realized. What are w-we going to dry off w-with." Hinata asked shyly.
SILENCE………………………………………..
"OH CRAP!!" They all yelled(Except Hinata). "BOYS!!!"
"WHAT?!" Most of them yelled.
"WE JUST REALIZED! WE DON'T HAVE TOWELS!!"
SILENCE………………………………………..
"OH CRAP!!" The Boys yelled.
"IT'S MISTY OVER HERE! AS LONG AS ALL OF YOU ARE GOOD, YOU GUYS CAN COME OVER HERE WITH US SO WE DON'T HAVE TO YELL!" Sakura suggested. It was quiet for a few moments until…
"TURN AROUND!" Was heard. The girls did as they were told and heard the shifting of clothes and the sound of people entering the water.
"Alright, you can turn back around." Shino said. Most of the girls were deep enough to where the water was just below there shoulders and if they weren't, they just used their arms to cover their chest.
"So what do you advise we do?" Ino asked a little timidly, not used to having guys so close when she wasn't dressed.
"Well, I think all we can do is drip dry." Kankuro said leaning back on a rock with his eyes closed.
"I could use my wind jutsus to dry everyone off." Sakura stated quietly, almost completely submerged in the water. The boys looked at her in question.
"I guess that could work somehow." Lee answered. The girls looked a little confused.
"Just finish your bath and we'll figure it out later." Sasuke assured. The girls did just that while the boys rested on the rocks. They had already washed while the girls were busy talking. When they were done everybody gathered in a circle and tried to figure out what to do.
"Alright, I have an idea. When Sakura's drying off the girls, all of us can turn around. When she's drying us off, the girls can turn around and she can close her eyes and one of us can tell her to start, stop, and when the person is in front of her." Naruto said speaking up.
"Wow Naruto! When did you get so smart?!" Sasuke teased. Naruto just huffed while the girls giggled and the guys smirked.
"But that will work." Neji said, all knowingly. They used that system, and it worked nicely. Before they knew it, they were all on the move again.
The mass of ninja were traveling through the forest, high speed, jumping from tree to tree with grace and ease.
"We're about an hour away from The Village Hidden in the Mist!" Neji called alerting the group.
In the middle of the formation, young Sakura was fighting to keep her footing and her eyes threatened to close. (A/N: Remember, she was tired from the beginning and she didn't rest the first rest stop.)
The battle for her want for sleep won and half way to the next tree, she collapsed, falling towards the forest floor.
"Sakura!" Ino yelled. Before she could even finish the last syllable of her name, Sasuke had shot down like a bullet toward Sakura's unconscious form. He caught her, bridal style and softly landed on a tree about three yards under them, and shot himself back up to their teammates. When he got back up there, the group had a look of relief on their faces.
"Her body couldn't take it. She was tired when we met up at Tsunade's remember? And when we stopped yesterday, she stayed up talking to Sasuke. She was just too tired." Tenten explained. Everyone was frowning.
"Why didn't she just tell us?" Kiba said, thinking out loud.
"She was most likely, avoiding showing weakness. She wants to prove her strength to you guys and me because she was called weak so many times in the past. She was trying to keep up." Temari said smartly. All of the boys(A/N: Yes, all of them.) suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
"Sasuke, do think you could run, holding Sakura until we get to the border?" Neji asked.
"Yeah, but it's going to take more of my energy and I'm starting to tire, too." Sasuke replied.
"Carry her till we get to the border. When we get there, we'll rest and attack tomorrow night." Gaara said. Sasuke nodded, obediently.
They got back in formation and started running again.
About thirty minutes later, the group stopped at the border of The Village Hidden in the Mist.
"Alright. We'll stay here." Gaara said. Everyone(accept Gaara) hopped in a tree and went to sleep, knowing they needed their energy for tomorrow.
Sakura's P.O.V.
'Ugh, Am I …dead? I fell from that tree; I couldn't have survived that fall.' I thought
'NOOOOOO! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!' Inner Sakura wailed.
I willed my eyes to open and saw a forest in front of me.
'What? I'm not dead? How is that possible?!' I thought.
'YES! I'M ALIVE!!!!!!!' Inner Sakura yelled, kissing the grounds of my mind. I just rolled my eyes at my split personality's actions.
I felt myself lifting up and down for some unknown reason.
'What the-?! I can't do that with my own breathing!' I thought. I turned my head to the side to saw a leg dangling from the tree I was on. And it wasn't mine.
I turned my body around to see the peaceful sleeping face of Sasuke. I was sitting in between his two legs that were lying limp over the tree branch.
'He's so cute when he's asleep…' I thought to myself. I caressed his sleeping face and smiled gently. He twitched a couple of times and all the sudden he snatched my wrist with his hand.
"Don't do that." He said in an annoyed voice. I frowned because that was the voice he talked to me with when we were genin.
"It tickles." He finished, lazily opening his eyes with a small smile. I smiled back at him and he let my wrist go.
"How am I still here? All I remember is falling from the tree." I asked softly. I didn't want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere. I looked around and saw my friends sleeping in trees and it was still dark out.
"I caught you before you could hit the ground." He replied. I started blushing a little and turned my head away.
"Thanks." I mumbled to him. He laughed lightly and ran his hand through my hair, sending a shiver through my body.
"Your welcome." He said. I turned around all the way and put my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his torso, snuggling up to him. I could tell he was surprised, but shortly after, he wrapped his arms around me and we both went back to sleep.
Gaara's P.O.V.
I was patrolling the area where we're resting when I saw Sakura and Sasuke's little…'conversation'. I frowned watching them.
I'm not jealous. Not at all. Sakura is a…friend. She doesn't treat me like a monster. I don't like her like that. It's just--I wonder what 'love' feels like.
I promised myself I would never love anyone but myself, but I've learned over the years that humans need love. It's somehow essential for survival.
'Love? Yeah, right! No one's going to love you as long as I'm here.' Shukaku said, smugly.
'Shut up, raccoon.' I thought back. He did have a point though. Everyone fears or hates me because of something that I had nothing to do with. My face took on a saddened expression.
'What about your friends, Gaara?' A voice asked.
'Who are you?' I thought.
'I'm your conscience, Gaara. I'm you as everything you want to be in your heart.' My conscience replied. I smiled bitterly.
'My conscience , huh? Haven't heard from you since I was a kid.' I thought.
'Get lost! This is my turf now.' Shukaku said.
'As long as Gaara is in touch with his emotions, I ain't goin' nowhere!' My conscience, let's call him Inner Gaara, said back, standing up to Shukaku.
'Go away!' Shukaku yelled.
'No.' Inner Gaara said, simply.
'Yes!'
'No!'
'Yes!!'
'No!!'
'YES!!'
'NO!!'
'SHUT IT!!' I yelled in my head. Making them shut up.
I rubbed my temples in frustration. My conscience had a point too, though. I have friends now. Maybe there's hope for me after all.
?!?!The Next Night?!?!
No One's P.O.V.
It was about 8:30 p.m. when Neji ordered the group of shinobi to stretch and get ready.
"Alright everyone! Were attacking as soon as we get there. Stretch and get your charka ready. It should take us about a half an hour to get there." Neji commanded. Everyone did as they were told and stretched and meditated.
"Let's go." Gaara said. Everyone got in formation and they started toward the village again.
A little later the village came into view.
"Alright get ready to attac-" Neji started but was cut off by the need to dodge a kunai.
"We're being attacked! Stay alert!" Neji commanded.
Just then, two ninja jumped from the trees, in front of them. They were kunoichi.
"Who are you and what are you doing at The Village Hidden in the Mist?" One of them asked calmly. She had short, wild brown hair, slit, black eyes, and a magenta shark fin on each cheek. She was wearing a pair of black caprice and a jacket with the hood down. The knuckles on her right hand were wrapped up along with her left leg. Her head band was tied to her right thigh, and she had a strange looking bag tied to the upper part of her left arm to finish it off.
The girl next to her looked a little like Gaara. She had back-length red hair that was loose, icy blue eyes with the black circles around them but they had a short, black spike at the corner of each eye. She was wearing black cargo pants that ended at the middle of her shin and a red top that ended half way down her stomach, the rest was fish net. From her shoulders to her wrists was fishnet also. The knuckles on her right hand were also wrapped up. From where her pants ended up, both her legs were wrapped up. Her head band was secured tightly to her left thigh. A mysterious looking steel, canteen was latched onto her other thigh. And of course both girls had the ninja sandals on.
"We're ninja from Konoha and Suna and we have come to stop your senseless assassinations of our villages," Neji said, sternly.
"Assassinations? What are you talking about?!" The same girl said, getting angry. The other just narrowed her eyes.
"Don't play dumb! We've lost dozens of ninja thanks to you and we're going to stop you all!" Naruto yelled.
"Yeah!" Lee agreed.
"Not if you can't get past me." The other girl said, walking in front of her companion and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Hmph, easy." Lee said racing towards the girl. Neji and Gaara made no action to stop him.
Before Lee could get to her, a wall of water shot up in front of him. He hit it and was sent to the ground.
"What the-?!" Sakura started. The water that shot up traveled over to the girl that was now smirking and hovered around her. Everyone was shocked; she uses the water like Gaara uses sand.
"You don't need to know this because you won't be living much longer, but oh well! Now, my name is Inu no Kiri. Her name is Sabishii Neko. Neko, if you would demonstrate what's going to happen to them in the next couple of minutes?" Kiri said. Neko smirked and the water around her slithered to a near by tree, wrapped around it, and snapped it in half.
Lee gulped from fear. It wasn't often that he got scared but this reminded him of his fight with Gaara a while ago, when they were enemies.
Neko's smirk widened and her water rushed toward Lee. Lee quickly took out a kunai and sliced the water in front of him just so it could come back to strike him. Yep, this was definitely like his battle with Gaara in the chunin exams.
Tenten and Neji came to the aid of their teammate and started to attack the water. Their efforts were in vain. It kept attacking.
"Hold on! Move it! I have an idea!" Sasuke yelled, getting in front of the three. He performed the hand signs of one of his infamous jutsus.
"Ki Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!" He yelled, blowing fire on the water, the water over powered it easily.
"It didn't work! Try something stronger!" Kankuro yelled. Sasuke started to do more hand signs.
"Ki Jutsu! Dragon's Fire!" Sasuke yelled, and then breathed flames onto the water. The water evaporated into the air. Neko's smirk was replaced by a look of irritation and Sasuke smirked at his victory.
"It's going to take me a few minutes to convert the air back into water." Neko told Kiri. Kiri nodded and started her own hand signs that looked familiar to Team 7.
"Mizu Style! Hidden Mist Jutsu!" She shouted and seconds later, the battle field was shrouded in mist.
"Sasuke, Naruto, be careful! This like that time we fought Zabuza and Haku!" Sakura yelled.
'Zabuza and Haku?! Weren't they high ranked assassins?!' Temari thought to herself.
Most of everyone else was thinking the same thing.
Temari all the sudden slapped her head in annoyance.
"Duh! Just a minute, I'll have it gone in a sec'!" She shouted and swung her fan a few times, getting rid of the mist. The two girls were standing in front of them, not surprised. Neko started to do the some weird hand signs.
"Mizu Style! Kori Muchi Jutsu!" Neko said and a whip of ice formed in her hand. She cracked the whip dangerously and smirked.
Kiri started to do some familiar hand signs.
"Shikyaku No Jutsu! Down on all Fours Technique!" Kiri yelled taking a stance similar to Kiba's.
"You take dog boy; I'll wait for someone to attack me." Neko said to Kiri.
"With pleasure." Kiri said, smirking. She wasn't going to say anything, but she thought the 'dog boy' was HOOOOOTT!
"Alright Kiba. It looks like Kiri is coming after you. Don't kill her; we need to interrogate them both. Gaara, I'm pretty sure you could handle Neko considering you have similar abilities." Neji said. The two he was talking to nodded and leaped into action. Kiba went after Kiri, and Gaara, Neko.
Kiri's P.O.V.
Right after I started on my way over to the hot kid with spikes on his face, one of their leaders started talking to him and then he made a movement and suddenly he was in front of me. I was surprised but didn't show it. He was probably as fast as I was.
"Shikyaku No Jutsu! Down on all Fours Technique!" He yelled. For a split second my face held utter shock but I recovered and snarled angrily. This is going to be hard since we are both using the same jutsu.
We ran at each other to attack and as I suspected, we were evenly matched. He looked shocked this time because I was able to keep up with him. This is going to be harder than I thought…
Neko's P.O.V.
I watched Kiri run at the dude with the dog and when I saw how fast he was, I almost gasped. Almost…
Before I could assist her the red-headed hottie that I saw over next to the group appeared in front of me. My eyes widened a bit but then narrowed.
He had a blank look on his face and he crossed his arms over his chest and suddenly a blanket of sand came at me from the ground. (A/N: In this story, Gaara doesn't need his gourd because he is powerful enough to use any ground or sand.)
I used my water to stop it and my face resembled the look on Kiri's face a minute ago but vanished just as quick. He could use sand like the way I used water but he was stronger than me at controlling his element. I had a fixed amount and he could use any ground or sand around him.
I narrowed my eyes at him and he did the same. I would have to find another way to get to him. I looked to the side to see his half of his group of comrades close by ready to jump in if he needed help. Among them was the one that destroyed my water. Considering ice is weaker against fire then even water was, I couldn't use my whip or he would use his fire jutsu on it. What do I do? Wait! I got it!
I put my whip in my mouth and started to do a lot of hand signs. It was his turn to look amazed for a moment.
"Mizu Jutsu! Giant Water Prison!" I yelled. My water became a giant shield blocking off his friends but giving us enough room to battle. I got in my stance and cracked my whip in his direction. His sand went to block my attack, but what was left from my water stopped it and my whip struck him across the arm.
"Ahh!" He yelled in pain. He held his arm which was now bleeding freely. It HURTS getting struck with a whip made of ice. Ask Kiri, we spar all the time.
I watched the crimson liquid run down his pale arm.
'Blood…' I thought.
'Go kill him, you know you want to, but let's toy with him first. He's a cutie!' A female voice said in my head. I gripped my head and clutched at it. The boy in front of me and the others were confused.
'Shizaku…not you again.'
'Hmhmhm. Yes little one, it's me again. This time, I won't lose.' I dropped to my knees and yelled out in pain still clutching my head. She's back…
Kiri's P.O.V.
Me and the hottie were battling and almost ever move we made was evenly matched. He growled in annoyance and swallowed something all too familiar. I military ration pellet…
"Akamaru! It's time to go wild!" He yelled. A dog that was with his companions ran at him and barked. He through one of the pellets into the dog's mouth and the dog's fur turned red.
"Woof, woof! (The Art of Human Mimicry!)" He barked.
"The Art of Beast Mimicry!" The boy yelled.
"Jujin Bunshin! Man Beast Doppelgangers!" They yelled after transforming. Oh great! I knew I should have brought Akikuji! They both came at me from different directions and attacked me.
Suddenly I heard a small but certain yell of pain from the person that went after Neko. I smirked, if she's doing well and I'm not, she'll never shut up about it.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Shadow Doppelgangers!" I yelled. I only made two but that means my copy has a nice amount of strength. I knew who the real one was and I went after him while my copy took on the dog. I tackled him to the ground and pinned his hands above his head. We were both fighting to keep a blush from creeping onto our face. He suddenly used his legs to push me forward and twist to switch our position but I am a girl and though I knew he was doing it for defense, I slapped him across the face for the seemingly perverted gesture. He stopped what he was doing and stared at me.
"Did you just sla-" The boy was cut off by the painful yell of my teammate. My head shot sideways and I stared at Neko. She was on her knees with her eyes squeezed shut and was either screaming 'No!' or just plain screaming. I tried to get up but the boy slammed me back on the ground.
"If you want you and your companions to live, you'll let me go to her." I said hissed. He looked back at Neko then to his friends and to me and nodded. He got off me, I bolted up, and rushed for Neko.
No One's P.O.V.
Kiri raced to her friend, reaching her hand into the strange bag she had on her left arm, and took out what looked like a medical needle. The needle had a lavender colored liquid in it. She put it back and pulled another one out; this one had a light green colored liquid in it.
When Kiri neared Neko, she grabbed Neko by the arm and injected her with the strange liquid.
'Curse you Kiri!' Shizaku said inside Neko's head. Neko calmed down and looked up at her teammate.
"Thank you." She said with a small smile. Kiri nodded. Kiri's face turned serious and faced the ninja from Suna and Konoha.
"This took a turn for the worst. I have a proposition for you. Would you like to hear it?" Kiri asked. The group came closer and everyone looked to Gaara and Neji who exchanged looks. Soon after, they both nodded.
"Alright. If you stop our fight, we will take you to see the Mizukage." Kiri stopped to see the reactions of the group. They were waiting for her to go on.
"But there is a condition. You all are skilled in taijutsu right?" She asked. They all nodded in reply.
"We need you to allow us to drain your chakra as a safety precaution to the Mizukage. If you are attacked by us or any other mist ninja, you can use taijutsu. Do you except?" Kiri finished. Neji and Gaara exchanged more looks and nodded again.
"Good. Neko, if you wouldn't mind?" Kiri asked. Neko nodded and stepped toward the group.
"Who's going first?" She asked. Tenten hesitantly stepped forward. Neko made some hand signs and put her right index and middle finger on Tenten's forehead. Tenten started to glow an electric blue and Neko's hand glowed red. Slowly the glow around Tenten was sucked away into Neko's hand. When she was done, Tenten was drained of almost all of her chakra. Neko did this to everyone (A/N: Except Lee cause he has no chakra.) and they started traveling toward The Village Hidden in the Mist.
On their way, they saw people cowering in fear of Neko and Kiri. They seemed not to pay much attention. Eventually, they got to the Mizukage's tower and entered.
They were stopped by a pair of anbu guards that drew their swords in front of them.
"They're all right. Their chakra is drained." Kiri said with a nod. The two guards put their swords away and let the group of shinobi pass by.
Neko knocked on the office door of the Mizukage's study.
"Come in." Came a man's voice from the other side of the door.
The two girls opened the door and walked in followed by the group of foreign ninja.
"Kiri, Neko, you've returned from your shift early. And you brought guests?" The Mizukage stated with a raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, these ninja are from Konoha and Suna. They have come to, believe it or not, assassinate the village for revenge and safety of the other villages." Kiri said.
"Oh?" The Mizukage asked confused and interested.
"Yes. Would you like to explain?" Kiri asked, turning toward Neji and Gaara. The obvious leaders of the group. The two boys nodded and stepped forward.
"Lord Mizukage-" Neji started, but was interrupted by the Mizukage.
"Please, my name is Koharu." Then Mizukage, or Koharu, said.
"Koharu-sama, we have come from our villages on an S-ranked mission to destroy this village because it's ninja has killed many of our citizens and has lately been targeting Sakura, our Lady Hokage's apprentice." Neji explained.
"Also, closely after Suna signed the peace treaty with Kirikagure under the first week of my rule, mist-nin attacked our village; therefore, we are still slowly recovering and practically defenseless without my skills." Gaara added. Koharu contemplated the situation.
"I can tell you that I had nothing to do with your conflict but maybe I can help." Koharu said motioning for one of his anbu captains to come forth. He whispered something in his ear. The anbu captain bowed and left immediately.
"So, why don't you introduce yourselves why we're waiting." Koharu suggested, smiling. The group of young ninja may not trust him because of political reasons, but the man was just too friendly to hate.
"I am Hyuga Neji of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Neji said, bowing respectively.
"I am Sabaku no Gaara and Fifth Kazekage of Sunakagure." Gaara nodded instead of bowing since he is of similar power to Koharu.
"I'm Haruno Sakura from Konohagakure. It's a pleasure my lord." Sakura said bowing and smiling.
"The name's Uzumaki Naruto! I'm from Konoha and I'm going to be Hokage some day! Believe it! Nice to meet cha'!" Naruto said in his usually hyper way.
"My name is Aburame Shino. I'm from Konoha as well." Shino said bowing.
"My name is Sabaku no Temari and I'm from Suna." Temari said, nodding and smiling friendlily. You'd never know she was just taking pleasure in the fact that she was going to destroy your country a minute ago.
"I'm Tenten. Just Tenten. And I'm from Konoha." Tenten said, giving Koharu the peace sign and winking.
"I am Rock Lee of Konoha! It's a pleasure sir!" Lee said, saluting.
"I'm Yamanaka Ino. The hottest blond in Konoha! Nice to meet you!" Ino said doing her signature hair flip.
"Nara Shikamaru. Sharpest mind in Konoha." Shikamaru stated lazily.
"I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I'm also from Konoha." Sasuke said with his old 'whatever' demeanor.
"I-I'm H-Hyuga Hinata. I come from Konoha too." Hinata said, twiddling her fingers like she usually does.
"I'm Inuzuka Kiba! And this is Akamaru! We're from Konoha and we kick everyone's butt!" Kiba said with a smirk. Akamaru barked in agreement.
"I'm Sabaku no Kankuro, best puppet master in Suna." Kankuro said with a smirk of his own.
"And I'm Akimichi Choji. I'm from Konoha." Choji said although his speech was a little muffled because of all the chips in his mouth.
"It's such an honor. I have so many protégés from honorable houses and the Kazekage in my presence. Then there's the godaime's apprentice. The pleasure is all mine in meeting you all." Koharu said to them, bowing.
The crowd of young ninja bowed back.
Right then, the anbu captain from a minute ago came back into the office and discarded a large amount of manila folders onto Koharu's desk. They looked to be files of some sort. Koharu picked up the folders and gave them all a glance. He split them in two piles and held them out for Neji and Gaara.
"Look at their faces and tell me if these are the ninja." Koharu explained. The two boys took the folders and started looking through them.
"These are all the ninja that attacked our village." Neji said in one of his I'm-thinking-so-I-accidentally-say-everything-I'm-thinking-voice.
"Same here." Gaara said in practically the same voice. The other ninja started looking over their shoulders and they were right, all the listed shinobi were the ones that had attacked them.
"Those are ninja that betrayed the village and ran off to the sound village to seek power and false guidance from Orochimaru. We have had several attacks from them also and they were still wearing the mist headband." Koharu explained, petting his bearded chin in contemplation.
"So you're saying the shinobi that attacked us were originally from Kiri but were technically missing-nin?" Shikamaru asked, for once getting interested in the topic.
"That's what I'm saying." Koharu replied nodding.
"So what do we do about them? We can't just let a bunch of rogue ninja terrorize the hidden villages." Sakura asked.
"That's true. Kazekage-" This time Koharu was cut off and by Gaara.
"Gaara. Kazekage-sama makes me feel old." He said not rudely but emotionlessly.
"Gaara, now that you know the truth, are you willing to redo that treaty?" Koharu asked.
"Maybe, why do you ask?" Gaara asked, arching a non-existent eyebrow.
"Well, I was thinking that if you resign the treaty, I could send some of my troops with you and you could look for the missing ninja that had attacked you, plus, you would have another ally…again." Koharu explained.
Gaara furrowed his brow in concentration. Koharu had a point. When Suna called off the treaty, they lost a powerful ally and it would be easier to search out all the run-a-ways with help. The thing is that he didn't fully trust the older kage and his village yet.
"Can I offer you a deal?" Gaara asked.
"Of course." Koharu replied.
"I mean no offense, but I do not fully trust you yet so if you give all of us our chakra back, I can stay here and watch your village for a while." Gaara suggested. Koharu smiled kindly nodded.
"Of course, I understand. Instead of staying at an inn though, why don't you stay with Neko and Kiri and they can guide you around the village." Koharu said, gesturing toward the girls.
The two kunoichi looked a little shocked at first but recovered and nodded obediently.
"Do you want them to accompany us for the rest of our day on patrol?" Kiri asked.
"That won't be necessary; you both have the rest of the day off." Koharu replied with a warm smile.
The two girls smiled really big and …squealed.
"YES! YES! YES! YES!" They chanted while jumping with each other in a circle.
The foreign shinobi looked at them with puzzled looks on their faces.
"Where did the cocky and emotionless warriors go?" They all thought.
Once the two mist nin calmed down, they smiled at the Mizukage who smiled back, and turned back to the other ninja with their normal faces on, their normal faces being: Neko-Emotionless, Kiri-Smirking confidently.
"You ready?" Neko asked, not really caring, because she started walking anyway.
All the ninja walked silently behind the two girls. Instead of walking outside to a house, the girls turned the corner in the tower hall way, walking toward a door.
"Why do you think they live in the Mizukage's tower?" Sakura whispered to no one in particular.
"Might be family." Naruto said in thought.
"Speaking of which, Neko does control water, maybe she's Koharu's daughter." Tenten said.
They all pondered the thought on the way to the door.
When they got there, Kiri opened the door and walked in. The other ninja looked inside and gasped, even if only a little.
Inside the room, there was a giant game/living room. It had the biggest plasma flat screen they had ever seen. Hooked to the ginormous T.V. was an X-Box and a PS2. In the far right corner were two DDR machines hooked into the wall. On the wall directly across from them, there was a huge stereo that was sitting on a shelf on the wall with two really big speakers sitting on its sides and four surround sound speakers in the corners of the room. In front of the T.V. was a big, black leather sofa bean bag chairs were scattered near the DDR machines. The room was painted white with dark blue trim.
"Holy…whoa…" Kiba breathed. The girls giggled at the faces on the ninja they were housing for the next couple of—well, they didn't know how long they were staying.
"You like it?" Kiri asked.
"HECK YEAH!!!!!!" Lee, Naruto, and Kiba creamed.
"It's nice. Although, it's a little bright…" Gaara commented.
"You can stay with me then. I think it's too bright too." Neko said, glancing at Kiri who just stuck her tongue out at her. Neko sighed and chuckled.
"Alright, let's see where you will be sleeping." Neko said walking away. The ninja followed her into the house, looking around in amazement.
"We have a limited amount of space so some of you will be sharing a room." Kiri said with a smirk when she saw some faces heat up.
"This is the first guest room. It can only fit two." Neko said opening a door. Inside, it had a king-sized bed and a bathroom to the left. There was also a desk on the right and a wardrobe close by. But there was one problem.
It only has one bed.
"So, who wants it?" Kiri asked with another smirk. Naruto and Kiba smirked at each other and nodded. Suddenly, the two shoved Sasuke and Sakura up towards the front.
"Alright then, you two shall have this room." Neko stated, smirking inwardly. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and blushed.
"Better go ahead and get settled." Kiri joked, and pushed the couple into the room and shutting the door.
"Next." Kiri said, walking down the hall, trying to keep her maniacal laughter to a minimum.
When the two she devils were done, the roommates went like this:
Room 1-Sasuke and Sakura (lots of blushing), Room 2-Neji and Tenten (lots of blushing), Room 3-Naruto and Ino (Ino almost screamed), Room 4-Hinata and Shino (A little disappointment from Hinata), Room 5-Temari and Shikamaru (Temari and Shika looked in opposite directions, blushing), and Room 6-Kankuro, Lee, and Choji (Nothing…).
"So what about us?" Kiba asked, confused.
"You will be staying with me and Gaara-sama will be staying with Neko." Kiri explained with a smirk.
"O-oh." Kiba said, gulping at the look she was giving him.
"Come on. I'm dying to show you my room." Kiri said in a flirtatious voice. Neko sighed and looked over at Gaara who was looking in the direction that his comrade was dragged off to with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't sweat it," Neko began, catching his attention," She's always looking for a guy to harass." She finished, motioning for Gaara to follow her. He did so and she led him down the hallway, to a door that caught his interest. It was painted red with the kanji for hate painted in black on it.
Neko opened the elaborately painted door and walked inside with Gaara on her heals. Gaara was a bit surprised by her taste.
The room was painted black but there were five different windows in her room with white drapes and the windows were wide open so the afternoon sunshine shone through. There was a king-sized bed with a red and black comforter with black sheets under it, black pillows and a red canopy.
"Do you like it?" Neko asked with a slight, sad smile, staring at her room, then looking at Gaara.
He absentmindedly nodded to her question.
"Um, there's only one bed so either one of us sleeps on the floor or we can both sleep on my bed." Neko said with a pink tint to her cheeks.
'She's cute when she blushes…' I thought, looking at her pink face.
'Got that right! She's HOT!!' Shukaku wailed in glee.
'She is very beautiful…Gaara! You're falling in love!' Inner Gaara(I.G.) said with a victorious smile.
'No I'm not. I don't even know her. She means nothing to me.' Gaara thought in denial.
'Come on kid, we all know that's not true and I even like her! That has to count for something!' Shukaku said. Gaara decided to block out his inner selves.
"-aara? Gaara!" Neko's voice broke Gaara out of his thoughts.
"What's your problem? I ask you where you want to sleep and suddenly you're glaring at me." Neko said, and instead of cowering in fear from his glares like almost everybody does, she returned the glare with one just as strong. Gaara involuntarily flinched under the rebellious girl's stare.
"AAAAAAWWWWWW!!!" An adoring voice ripped through the house. Gaara raised an eyebrow and Neko muttered something along the lines of 'Great, they found Akikuji…'.
They rushed to the living room to find the five foreign ninja girls surrounding a black puppy.
"She's so cute!" Ino gushed. The puppy wagged its tail and barked happily.
Suddenly Akamaru stormed through the room to see the other dog that jumped out of Tenten's arms.
The two barked playfully and started to wrestle with each other.
Kiba and Kiri came into the room and Kiba looked a little surprised to see another dog. Kiri whistled with her index finger and thumb and the puppy reluctantly left Akamaru and jumped into Kiri's arms.
"This is Akikuji. Say 'Hi.' Aki!" Kiri introduced. The dog barked and left her master to play with the other dog some more.
All the sudden, three loud grumbling noises broke the silence. Everyone looked to Choji, Kiba, and Naruto.
"What? We haven't eaten in like two or three days." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head while the other two smiled sheepishly.
"Speaking of which, I'm hungry too." Temari commented, subconsciously rubbing her empty stomach.
"Alright, let's go get something to eat." Kiri laughed.
"Does your village have an Ichiraku stand?!" Naruto asked, jumping up and down in anticipation.
"Actually, yes. We go to it all the time." Neko answered.
"YESSS!!!!!!!!" Naruto screamed, punching the air excitedly.
The two mist Nin lead the sand and leaf Nin outside to go get ramen.
"Kiri-onesan!!" A young, voice squealed. The group turned around to see a little girl running towards them. She looked about 3' 4" and she had shoulder length brown hair. Her eyes were a brilliant green. When she reached them, she jumped into Kiri's arms.
"Well, hello to you too, Kina." Kiri giggled. She hugged the girl and then put her down.
"So what are you up to, Squirt?" Neko asked, ruffling Kina's hair. Kina frowned a little at being called a squirt and getting her hair messed up, but then smiled, jumping onto Neko.
"Neko-nii-san!" She yelled griping the teen's waist. Neko ruffled her hair again and gave her a squeeze.
"You never answered my question." Neko reminded. Kina put on an elfish grin.
"I know that look anywhere. You're making trouble again aren't you?" Kiri asked with her arms crossed. The brunette nodded furiously with a smile plastered on her face.
"That's my girl." Neko said, patting her on the head, smirking.
"So who's the kid?" Kiba asked curiously. The little girl turned her head and when she caught sight of the dog-tamer, her eyes dilated and she blushed a light pink.
"This is Takoshi Kina. She's an orphan that took a liking to us." Neko replied.
"Hi Kina-chan, my name is Sakura." Sakura said with a smile, sticking out her hand.
"H-hi Sakura-chan." Kina said shyly, changing her personality. She stuck her little hand out and let the older girl shake it.
"I'm Ino; it's nice to meet such a cutie!" Ino said also shaking her hand.
"I'm Tenten. You're so adorable!" Tenten squealed with a smile on her face.
"I'm Temari." Temari said getting on eye-level with Kina and smiling, earning a shy smile in return.
"I'm Hinata. Nice to meet you." Hinata said quietly, shaking the girl's hand gently.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said, putting a hand on the girl's head, friendlily, and then removing it.
"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke said, shaking her hand.
"Rock Lee and it is such a pleasure to meet such a brilliant example of youth!" Lee said, striking the nice guy pose.
"Kankuro." Kankuro said, ruffling her hair.
"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara said with a soft look in his eyes and a kind nod. He had a soft spot for kids. Kina nodded back respectfully. She knew who Sabaku no Gaara was.
"Aburame Shino." Shino said, shaking Kina's hand.
"Hyuga Neji." Neji said in a friendly tone of voice. He, like Gaara, had a soft spot for kids.
"Nara Shikamaru." Shikamaru said in a lazy voice, but had a smile on his face.
"Akimichi Choji." Choji said, still munching on chips.
"And I'm Inuzuka Kiba. This is my partner, Akamaru." Kiba said with a fanged grin. He stuck his hand out and with a little hesitation and the other hand up to her chest; Kina took his hand, shook it a couple times, and then ran behind Kiri. Kiba and the others just smiled.
"Why don't you go back to class Kina? Your teacher is probably looking for you, you troublemaker." Kiri said with a smile. Kina smiled and turned around to leave. She looked back and blushed at seeing Kiba then she took off toward the mist academy.
"AAAAWWWWW! That's so cute! She has a crush on Kiba!" Temari, Ino, Tenten, and Sakura chorused. Kiba just smiled sheepishly and the others snickered.
"Come on. Let's get to the Ichiraku stand." Neko laughed. The group complied and the girls gathered at the front, chatting comfortably, while the guys stayed a few feet behind them.
"She has a nice backside…' Shukaku thought, referring to Neko.
"Shut up, would you?" Gaara thought, annoyed.
"You know, the raccoon has a point…" Inner Gaara-aka: I.G.-said.
"Ugh. Not you too." Gaara thought grimly.
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