Chibi: And I've returned for part 4 of 6! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS OF NARUTO! I DO, HOWEVER, OWN NANASHI, KOUKATSU, ANKOKU, REIKO, NORIKO, RYOU, AND THE PLOT.
LOST
Rain poured throughout the forest as Nanashi scanned for a place to sleep for the night. A quick flash of lightning revealed nothing but trees to the girl and she groaned in desperation. Her long black hair was matted to her body, adding to the discomfort she felt, weighing her down a little.
Nanashi and her teammates had been walking through the forest on their way back to Konoha from a mission when the storm hit. In her surprise, Nanashi's foot had caught on a tree root and she was thrown unceremoniously to the ground. Unfazed by their teammate's clumsiness, the other two girls kept on, more focused on finding shelter. When Nanashi had finally gotten to her feet, they were long gone.
The black haired girl jumped up into a tree in order to get out of the mud and tried to scan the forest a little better, but to no avail. Nothing. Not a single sign of life. She pressed a hand to her growling stomach in an attempt to quiet it as she leaned back against the tree trunk.
A chill ran up her spine as she felt something run across her hand. When she looked down, a large black spider sat, staring up at the startled girl. She released the breath she had been holding, reaching out to pick up the spider that was almost as big as her hand. "You scared me, big guy! I thought you were a bug or something!"
"What the hell are you doing?" A voice called out from below, causing the girl to scream and the spider to run off in fright. She barely avoided falling out of the tree, and when she was stable, she looked down to see her new companion.
"Gaara?" She called, peering down at the redhead. He was using his sand as an umbrella, not a drop of rain had touched him. "Gah! Where were you an hour ago when I was still dry?!" The frazzled girl jumped down to the forest floor, stumbling into the stony Kazekage.
"Temari and Kankuro thought we should all split up to find food. God, you're still a little klutz." Gaara replied, pushing Nanashi back onto her feet. "You're lost again?" He smirked at the light blush of embarrassment on her face.
"Shush. Just help me defrost, please?" The only response she got was the sand expanding to reach over her head. "Thank you," she whispered, smiling up at him as she attempted to get some of her hair out of her face. "Hey, could you help get me to civilization?"
Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow. "What? Am I not enough company for you?" He smirked when she blushed again. "If you don't want me around, fine. I'll just leave."
"No no no, please don't leave me out here alone," Nanashi stammered, hugging him around his waist in fear of him actually leaving. "I'm just really cold and hungry-you said you were trying to find food, right? D-Did you find some?" She looked up at him, her amethyst eyes shining with hope.
"...No, instead I found you. I need to find a place to stay for the night," Gaara muttered, not even bothering to push the girl away. "Come on, you're freezing, let's get you somewhere safe."
"Hey Gaara? Are you lost, too?" Nanashi questioned innocently, staying as close to him as she possibly could, seeking warmth.
"Of course not. I'm the Kazekage, I never get lost," the redhead grumbled defensively. He avoided looking at her face for a few minutes, ignoring the grin he just knew she spouted.
"Hurry up, then. I wanna see Mari!" Nanashi took his hand suddenly, marching off in the direction they were headed.
After a little while of walking, Gaara stopped short. "Ugh…" Nanashi gave him a questioning look. "I found them. They're with your friends."
"You really don't like them, do ya?" Nanashi questioned with amusement. She rolled her eyes, dragging him along as she followed their chakra trail.
"It isn't my fault your friends are weird. Would you slow down? You'll collapse at this rate." As they entered the cave that his siblings had discovered, they were greeted by the other four. "There you are, Temari. Kankuro," Gaara said quietly, "I was afraid I'd be stuck wandering out there with her all night."
Temari smirked knowingly and Kankuro snorted, "Yeah. 'Stuck'. Sure." Gaara glared at his older brother, but Nanashi ignored the exchange, rushing over to the fire where Noriko and Reiko bombarded her with questions. "What? We all know the truth," the puppet master said teasingly.
"Shut up." Gaara grumbled. He shot a dangerous stare at Nanashi's teammates as they attempted to pry for more information. Sitting down by Nanashi, he remembered something. "Did anyone manage to get any food?"
Kankuro and Temari glanced at each other nervously, "We, uh… We thought you would…" At Gaara's piercing glare, they both started stammering, "We'll just, ah, go do that now."
As the two darted off, Reiko spoke up across the fire. "So, it looks like it was a good thing you two got lost, huh?"
"I did not get lost!"
END
Chibi: Note that this series is set in a Non-Massacre AU, so Sasuke's not as stick-up-the-ass as he usually is, but he's still a jerk to most people, so Nanashi doesn't like him. At all. Reiko is just a teammate of Nanashi, but their other teammate is Noriko Uzumaki, Naruto's twin sister.