Sorry for the long wait. I've been working on a lot of things. Cosplay props, original stories, drawing, the main fanfiction, but here's one of the many oneshots I've been working on for you guys. :D It's a bit goofy, but I hope it's okay. :) I'll put up more as soon as I can.
This side story is set in the Genin days, post-Zabuza arc, but before any Sasuke and Ami crushing. So, they don't hate each other, but they don't like each other that much yet either.
I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Undercover
The sun shone down on the village of Konoha, and Team Seven had gathered at their usual training grounds. Naruto and Sasuke were practising throwing kunai and shuriken. Ami and Sakura, having just finished a spar with each other, sat under the tree Kakashi was reading in, eating their lunch and having a moan about one person they both disliked; Ino.
"She's just so full of herself, you know?" Sakura complained, cutting a sausage in half with her chopsticks, "She's always so eager to hang off of Sasuke-kun, and he's clearly not interested."
Ami took a swig from her water bottle and nodded. "As you know, I don't care for Sasuke and I think that all you fangirls have something wrong in the head department-"
Sakura glared at the brunette girl, but Ami ignored her look, well-used to it, and continued nonchalantly.
"-but I do agree that she's much worse than you are with her fangirling. You're affectionate, she's just plain indecent."
"I know, right?"
Ami pulled her short hair up into a ponytail, sticking out her small chest and swinging it about, whining in a voice quite similar to Ino's; "'Sasuke-kun, let me hang off your arm like a parasitic leech, I know you love that shit!'"
Sakura snorted with laughter as the boys came over to see what they were doing.
"Are you guys complaining about Ino again?" Naruto asked.
"Of course!" Ami grinned, "She's one of the few people we both love to hate."
"It's actually a decent impression. Voice-wise at least." Kakashi droned from above. "Ami, do you do impressions often?"
"Not really. But I can do a couple of voices." the girl shrugged.
"In that case, up for a challenge? If you succeed, I'll give you a mystery prize."
Ami's eyebrows lifted in curiosity and she smiled at their sensei. "What's the challenge?"
"I need you to do a convincing impression of a male voice. The kind a boy about your age would have. Sakura, you can feel free to try, too."
"I think I'll pass, I'm not good at impressions." the pinkette smiled.
"Umm... I 'll give it a shot, I guess... This may be terrible, though."
"Just do your best."
Ami muttered a little bit to herself, lowering and changing her voice to try and sound more masculine without going too far, before after several seconds, raising her voice to a normal speaking volume. "How is this?" she asked, a male voice passing her lips.
"Oh, that's actually quite good." Kakashi said, eye crinkling as he smiled under his mask.
"Say more stuff!" Naruto demanded, grinning.
"Like what? I can't think of anything." the brunette asked, continuing the impression.
The blond snickered.
"What did I win?" Ami asked, back to her normal voice.
Kakashi closed his book and dropped out of the tree. "A special mission with myself and the boys. We'll be guarding a couple and their daughter. We'll accompany them on their journey from their home to a small village they are visiting relatives in and then back to their home again. It's a C-rank mission."
"That seems simple enough... nothing special at all..." Ami mumbled, feeling slightly disappointed.
"This is a test for you, Ami." the sensei smiled. "You have a second mission along with guarding our clients. Working undercover."
"Undercover?" Ami asked. She then realised something. "Wait, I'm going with you and the guys? What about Sakura?"
"This mission is for men only. The client has requested all-male bodyguards." Kakashi smirked.
"...But I'm going." Ami said, utterly confused.
There were several seconds of silence before it clicked.
Ami's eyes widened.
So did Kakashi's grin.
Sasuke voiced her realisation with a smirk. "That's the undercover part."
Due to the possibility of a transformation's image vanishing when struck and the Chakra it would drain while in use, Kakashi had decided that it would be best to disguise Ami the old-fashioned way. A task the others had been only too happy to take on.
Well, actually, Naruto and Sakura had been the eager ones, Sasuke mostly sat there and watched.
"You're actually not a bad-looking guy." Sakura said, thoroughly amused as she snapped yet another photograph.
"We did a good job." Naruto said proudly.
"I'd say it's an improvement." Sasuke grunted, smirking at the disguise they had put together.
Ami frowned at her appearance in the mirror.
Her short, brown hair had been tied back in a small ponytail and her chest had been bound more tightly than usual to flatten it more. Her own black T-shirt had been replaced with a slightly larger shirt that hid what little curves she had and a pair of baggy, navy blue combat pants covered her legs entirely. A blue scarf hid her lack of an adams apple, and her forehead protector still sat on her brow.
"This is pretty convincing..." Ami muttered, very impressed, but slightly annoyed as she slipped her water canteen over her shoulder.
"One more thing!" Sakura said, running into the bathroom and coming back out with a small can, promptly spraying the Konno with it.
"What was that for?!" the brunette demanded, running out of the aerosol cloud.
"Guy deodorant!" the pinkette grinned, "You can't go around smelling like a girl!"
"Oh... that's actually a good point. But warn me next time!"
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined. "Don't use up all my deodorant! That's my last can!"
"That's what you get for letting them do this at your house, dobe." Sasuke shrugged.
"Operation MAD (Make Ami a Dude) is a success!" Naruto grinned, high-fiving Sakura, then going to high-five Sasuke.
"I'm not doing that stupid thing, dobe." the raven sighed, ignoring the boy's indignant squawk.
"Thanks for helping me out, guys." Ami said, still admiring the disguise in the mirror. "There's no way I could have pulled this off by myself."
"You still need an alias." Sakura said, "How about... Aoi?"
"Yeah, yeah, Aoi!" Naruto grinned.
"That's really close to 'Ami'." the brunette noted.
"Of course!" Sakura said knowingly, "You wouldn't want a name too different to your own, otherwise you might forget to answer to it."
"Now we just need to remember to use it. Got that, Naruto?" Sasuke said.
"Of course I've got it!" he pouted.
"We should probably practice a few days in advance." Ami said. "I'll keep the gear on and use the voice as well. It's not hard to do, so it won't hurt my throat or anything."
"Got it, Ami!" the Uzumaki smiled, saluting.
The brunette facepalmed.
"You clearly don't if you're calling him 'Ami'." Sasuke sighed.
"Oh, pronouns too! You're right, Sasuke-kun." Sakura beamed.
"You'll get the hang of it, Naruto." Ami said, switching to her male voice once more.
A few days later, Ami and the boys stood at the bridge, waiting for their sensei.
"He's late again..." Naruto scowled, sulking on the ground.
"Just because it's a C-rank mission doesn't mean he'll make any extra effort." the brunette said, taking a seat in the dirt next to him.
"...That voice is really creepy, Ami." he cringed.
The girl smiled innocently. "Who's Ami?"
"Get it right, dobe." Sasuke frowned. "It's been four days since we took on this mission, and you still aren't using the right name. If you screw up on the mission, we all fail."
"I know that!" the blond yelled indignantly, "But we haven't even started the mission yet!"
"It's called practice."
"Seriously, Naruto." Ami frowned, "You need to start. Now."
"Yeah, yeah... Aoi."
"Thank you."
"...I'm still bored, though." the whiskered boy pouted.
The water-user hopped to her feet and formed several hand seals. "Suiton, Mizu Buyou no jutsu!" She placed a hand on the canteen at her side, transferring Chakra through the bottle to the liquid, then pulled the aqua out in a long, thin cord before wrapping one end around a tree and holding the other in her hand. "Want to play jump rope?"
"...That's for girls." Naruto frowned.
"I'm a boy and I can do it." the water-user shrugged.
"You're- wait. Are you trying to trick me or something?"
"What are you talking about?" the brunette asked, raising a brow as she started to swing the water rope. "If you think it's too hard for you though..."
Naruto's eyes ignited with sudden determination and he quickly stood up. "I can handle a little girl's game!"
"Prove it, then." She kept spinning the cord.
The boy slowly walked over to the string of water and stared at it for several seconds, clearly trying to judge when to enter.
Ami continued to swing as she and Sasuke watched the stymied blond.
"That small brain of yours already forgotten what you're trying to do, dobe?" the Uchiha mocked.
"Shut up! I know what I'm doing!"
"Then enter it already."
"I'm thinking!"
A few more seconds passed, then the blond ran for the swinging rope with a loud cry.
The cord tangled around his middle on the way in.
Naruto frowned at his failure.
Sasuke grunted.
"Shut up!"
"Relax, Naruto." Ami said, "It's not like he could do any better."
The raven glowered at her.
"Care to prove me wrong?" the girl shrugged. "Why don't you try, Sasuke?"
"I'm not playing that stupid game."
"Are you chicken?" Naruto goaded, bending his arms and beginning to cluck. "I'm Sasuke! I'm such a big chicken that I have two chicken butts! The ugliest one is on the back of my head!"
Ami snorted with laughter.
The Uchiha glared at them both.
After several seconds, he stood up.
"Whatever. Not like I have anything better to do, I suppose." he muttered, frowning at the spinning rope.
The rope swung once, twice, three times, and he jumped in, instantly setting about hopping with ease.
Naruto gaped at how effortlessly the boy had entered the swinging rope.
"You made it look much harder than it is, usuratonkachi." he said smugly.
The blond gritted his teeth, a vein throbbing in his temple.
"Don't be mean, Sasuke." Ami frowned, "Get out and give him a turn."
The black-haired boy silently stepped out of the game, standing back to watch Naruto's second attempt.
"Try to time your entry so that the rope is just leaving when you jump in." Ami advised.
The whiskered boy watched the rope carefully, trying to judge when he should go.
He swiftly dashed into the game, but the cord tapped his feet again when he forgot to jump.
"Nice, you got in!" Ami beamed. "Try it again, but remember to jump this time."
Naruto grinned. "Got it!"
It took a few attempts, but eventually Naruto got the hang of the game.
The blond laughed as he bounced with the rope.
"Sasuke, why don't you get in too?" Ami asked, taking a few steps back to lengthen the jump rope.
The raven watched a moment, then shrugged slightly before stepping back in beside Naruto.
"Speed it up!" the blond demanded, obviously getting competitive.
"If you say so." She slightly increased the pace of the game.
Naruto stumbled momentarily, but quickly recovered himself.
Sasuke sneered at the blond's minor trip.
Naruto retaliated by clipping the Uchiha around the ear.
The raven quickly responded in kind.
Ami continued to swirl the water as she watched a full-on bitch-fight develop within the game, both boys continuing to skip as they swung at each other, torn between stopping the duo and cheering them on.
Eventually, she decided to just enjoy the show.
Three hours later, their sensei strolled over with some lame excuse about losing his glasses.
Ami leaned back against a tree, dozing. Naruto sat in the dirt beside her, jumping up from doodling with a stick to yell at Kakashi. Sasuke was the only one who had spent the entire wait on his feet and scowled silently at their teacher, thoroughly unimpressed.
Once Naruto had finished moaning, the group quickly set off on their way to the Land of Birds where they would be picking up their clients.
A day and a half later, they arrived at the gates of a small village.
A guard stopped them as they approached the entrance.
"Please identify yourselves and state your business." he ordered.
"We are shinobi from Konohagakure here to answer a mission request by the Kawasaka family." Kakashi said calmly, holding out the request form as proof.
"I see." The man glanced over the paper, then stepped back, returning the document to Kakashi. "Proceed."
The shinobi continued past the sentry into the small village.
A family of three stood near the entrance, staring at the leaf ninja.
Kakashi eyed them a moment, then walked over to the small group, Genin in tow.
"Excuse me, but are you the people who requested an all-male guard for your travel through the forest?" the silver-haired man asked.
"Ah, yes." the father nodded, "You're the shinobi who accepted?"
"We are."
"Thank you for coming." he said, bowing to the ninja, his wife and daughter mimicking his actions.
"Not at all."
Kakashi and the Genin bowed back.
The Genin glanced up, eying their clients.
The father was a man with long, dark blue hair tied back in a ponytail and stubble. The mother was a small, blonde lady with a gentle face. Their daughter was about the same age as the Genin, with long, navy hair like her father and sharp green eyes.
'She doesn't look very impressed with us...' Ami thought, gazing at the daughter.
The blue-haired girl had already decided to ignore Naruto and herself, locking her eyes on Sasuke, who was already looking annoyed.
Names were exchanged as the ninja and clients introduced themselves to one another.
The father, mother and daughter were called Ryouta, Kanae and Kaya respectively.
"Anyway, I'm sure it has been a long journey for all of you." Kanae said softly, "Please, come to our home for dinner. I hope that beef stew is okay with all of you."
"That would be lovely." Kakashi said, eye crinkling.
"Thank you." Ami smiled, adjusting her scarf slightly.
Naruto grinned widely, his mouth watering at the thought of the meaty dish.
Sasuke said nothing, following silently as they were lead to the Kawasaka house.
"So, Sasuke-kun, what kind of fighting techniques do you use?" Kaya asked, leaning across the dinner table towards the Uchiha, who wrinkled his nose at the question, continuing to eat without answering her.
Kaya frowned, looking disappointed.
"Sasuke uses fire techniques, but he's pretty good with other ninja basics, like hand-to-hand combat, kunai knives, et cetera." Ami offered, trying to lift the girl's spirit. "Sorry, this guy's often like that."
"I didn't ask you." Kaya spat.
Ami's eyebrows lifted in surprise at Kaya's sudden rudeness. She glanced at Naruto, who pulled a face and shrugged.
"Kaya! Don't be so unpleasant! These people have come to help us." Ryouta scolded.
"I don't care." the girl sniffed, "They're being paid to help us. They don't really care about us." She pointed at Naruto and 'Aoi'. "Besides, can we be sure that those two are even real ninja?"
Ami bit the inside of her cheek, frowning at the daughter.
"Hey!" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet, "I'm really strong, got it? I'm going to be Hokage some day!"
"And I'll be a purple moose." Kaya muttered, rolling her eyes.
"If you were a guy, I'd hit you for that!"
"No you wouldn't." Ami frowned, tugging the fuming blond back down into his chair. "You might try, but we would stop you."
Kakashi laughed nervously, trying to soothe the children. "Look, Kaya-chan, I can assure you that you're all very safe with us. Aoi and Naruto are both perfectly capable young ninja."
The blue-haired girl went to open her mouth again, but a hand slapped the table in front of her, and she looked up to see a very intimidating look on her mother's face.
The petrified daughter stayed silent for the rest of the meal and the monstrous matriarch once again became a demure little lady.
Once they had eaten, the group left the village and headed back out into the forest.
After several miles of woodland, the group came to a mountainside overlooking a steep drop of about a hundred metres, a river running along the bottom of the eminence.
"For the next hour or so, we'll be traveling along a mountain trail, so please be careful." Kakashi warned, "If you were to go too close to the edge, it could be quite dangerous. Sasuke, come lead with me. We'll travel in a single file line."
The silent raven stepped over to the masked man.
"Naruto, Aoi, you two bring up the rear."
"Okay..."
"Understood."
The parents walked before Kaya, who sulked near the back at how far away she was from Sasuke.
For a while, the girl was quiet, but before long, she turned back to speak to the duo behind her.
"So, Aoi, right? What can you do?" she asked, frowning at the brunette.
"You should watch where you're going, Kaya-san." she warned.
"Don't call me Kaya. We aren't friends." the girl growled, "It's Kawasaka-san."
"Kaya! Don't cause trouble!" Ryouta frowned.
The blue-haired girl rolled her eyes, turning back to face the direction they were walking.
"Well, Kawasaka-san, I specialise in water-based techniques." Ami said quietly. "My basics are also satisfactory."
"That's nice, does Sasuke have a girlfriend?"
'She's still on about Sasuke?' the Konno thought in disbelief, 'Poor guy gets this from every girl on every mission we go on. No wonder he just ignores them at this stage. What can I tell her that won't piss him off?' "Umm..."
"Don't you know? He is your teammate." The girl turned on her heel, hissing in Ami's face. "Tell me already!" Kaya stomped her foot to emphasize the demand, but she slipped on the side of the trail, and fell from the path with a scream, her parents and Naruto crying out in horror.
Ami instantly formed several seals and pulled the water from her hip flask, the liquid still charged with Chakra from that morning's jump rope game. She grabbed Kaya around the waist in midair with a liquid cord and carefully lifted the quaking girl back up onto the path, setting her down gently.
"Kaya?! Kaya, are you okay?" Ryouta asked, helping the girl to sit down, as her knees were shaking too much for her to stand.
The brunette returned the aqua to her canteen and got down on one knee to speak gently to Kaya.
"Are you alright?"
The blue-haired girl's eyes welled up and her lip quivered.
'What the-? She's crying after that?' Ami thought, astonished at the girl's reaction. 'And she's shaking like a leaf... I guess she acts rude and tough, but she's actually really fragile. She's probably one of those awkward kids who doesn't know how to act with people, and because of that, pushes them away whenever they do come near. ...This girl probably doesn't know how to make friends.'
Sasuke rolled his eyes as Ryouta and Kanae fussed over their sniveling daughter.
Ami sighed to herself. 'She's a pain in the ass, but I guess she can't really help it. We should be nice to her.'
"I almost died..." Kaya sobbed, "You're supposed to be protecting us... That's why we asked for men... to make sure we got strong people... I almost died!"
"Hey, hey." Ami said softly, cupping the girl's face with a hand. "Listen to me. You didn't almost die. You were never in any danger, because while we're here, there's no way we'll let anything bad happen to you, or your family. Understand? I'll protect you, Kawasaka-san. No matter what."
The blue-haired girl stopped shaking, staring at Ami with wide, wet eyes.
"Aoi is right." Kakashi said, "Although I'll argue that women are just as capable shinobi as men, we'll be sure to keep all of you safe. There's nothing to worry about."
Ami gently wiped the tears from Kaya's eyes, and the blue-haired girl stopped crying.
"I... I'm sorry I was so rude earlier." she mumbled, sniffling slightly.
Ami straightened up and held out her hand to the blue-haired girl. "Apology accepted."
Smiling shyly, Kaya took Ami's hand and allowed the Konno to help her up.
"You're probably thirsty now, huh?" Ami passed the girl a bottle of water, which was gratefully accepted.
"Let's continue." the sensei said, "We should reach the lake on the other side in about three hours, and then we can set up camp for the night."
From that point onwards, Kaya's attitude improved immensely towards the shinobi, especially 'Aoi', who she seemed to have warmed up to quite a bit, eagerly sitting beside him around the campfire, watching him catch fish for the dinner at the river and generally shadowing the water-user.
As they cleaned up after dinner, Naruto took the job of gathering all the leftover fish.
He turned to his brunette teammate, who was washing the dishes in the river, Kaya drying beside her and without thinking, he called out to her.
"Hey, Ami-iiiah oh my! Ah-me-oh-my, however shall I carry all these fish by myself?!" Naruto said, starting calmly before raising his voice to a frantic shriek.
Sasuke, Ami, Kakashi and the clients stared at the boy, who was desperately and somehow successfully covering up his accidental usage of his teammate's real name.
Kaya giggled. "Your friend is weird."
"Yeah, but you get used to him." the brunette shrugged, thankful that she hadn't accidentally answered to the name.
A night's sleep and about half a day later, they arrived at the house of the Kawasaka family's relatives; Kaya's aunt and uncle from her mother's side.
The relatives and ninja all ate dinner together around two small tables, one for the adults, the other for the children.
Kaya's cousins were two noisy eight year-old twin boys, Atsuo and Tetsuo, with bright green hair. The boys were indistinguishable from one another aside from a small scar underneath Atsuo's left eye, which he eagerly told the story behind without the shinobi's asking.
Ami found it somewhat difficult to listen to the boy, only catching something about barbed wire and a rabbit, due to Kaya's constant questions about her hobbies, personal life and so on.
'She's so clingy...' the brunette thought, trying her hardest to give polite answers without seeming too eager to talk, hoping to deter the blue-haired girl from further inquiry. She didn't seem to be having much success. 'It's kind of annoying...'
"You'll all be staying the night, of course." Kaya's aunt said with a smile.
"We have a tent that we can use." Kakashi said, but the woman waved him off.
"Oh, we couldn't have that! You've all done such a good job minding my precious little sister and her family! I insist that you take the spare room."
"Will four people fit in that room?" Kanae asked, raising a brow at her elder sister, who seemed to reconsider after she thought it over.
"Actually, now that you mention it, it might be a bit cramped..."
"Aoi-kun could share with me!" Kaya suggested hopefully.
Ami's eyes widened with shock, and she shook her head furiously, as did the other two boys.
"That's really not appropriate!" the brunette protested. 'What if she found out I'm a girl? Also, I just really don't want to be near her!'
"Aoi-kun is right, Kaya." Ryouta said. "Don't be silly. The boys will sleep in a separate room."
The navy-haired girl frowned, but didn't protest.
"Oh, I know!" Kaya's aunt exclaimed, "Kakashi-san, the couch folds out into a bed. You can take the living room, we can put your students in the spare room, Kaya can sleep with Kanae and Ryouta in Auntie and Uncle's room, and I'll sleep with my husband and the twins in the twins' room. Does that sound okay?"
"That would be wonderful." Kakashi smiled, "Sorry for the trouble."
"Not at all." she smiled, "Please, make yourselves at home."
Naruto, Sasuke and Ami all made their way up to the spare room with their bags.
"Oh, it is small." Ami mumbled, dropping her backpack in a corner before pulling open a cupboard and tugging out three futons.
"If you don't like it, you can always go sleep with Kaya." Naruto teased.
Ami pulled a face. "No thanks. What's with that girl, anyway? Why does she keep following me?" she asked, genuinely confused.
The boys stared at her.
"...You're not serious." Sasuke said, folding his arms while Naruto continued to gawk.
Ami tilted her head, creasing her brow. "...Am I missing something?"
"Kaya has a crush on you, Aoi."
The brunette's eyes widened with shock and her mouth fell open.
"God, you're dense."
"But- but I'm-!"
"Watch your mouth." the raven hissed. "And keep your voice down."
"I know." she spat. "But seriously? I mean... I kind of wondered, but I didn't take the idea seriously..."
"Looks like operation MAD went better than we thought." the Uchiha smirked, "I think I'll enjoy watching someone else on our team get mercilessly stalked by a girl. God knows it would never happen to Naruto."
"Hey! Shut your face TEME!" the blond barked.
"I suppose you can't help being a ladies' man, but in any case, she's your problem now." the raven shrugged, ignoring the blond.
"Womanizer." Naruto grinned at the water-user, who scowled.
"How the hell am I a womanizer?"
"The way you held her and comforted her after she nearly fell off the cliff!" the whiskered boy beamed, "That would win any woman over!"
"I just did with her what I would do with Aiko..." the water-user muttered.
"And look where it got you."
Naruto made a single shadow clone, then transformed himself into 'Aoi' as his clone changed into Kaya.
Sasuke and Ami watched as 'Aoi' leaned towards 'Kaya' and took her in his hands, dipping the girl low.
"I'll protect you, no matter what."
"Ahn~ Aoi-kun!"
"That's not even close to what happened." Ami growled, ignoring Sasuke's smirk and Naruto's laughter.
Naruto laid his clone down on the floor, no longer able to hold it up due to sniggering too hard. He released both the transformations and the shadow clone.
"Urgh... Screw you guys." the girl muttered, climbing into her futon. "Let's just go to sleep."
"Yeah, alright..." Naruto said, still snickering to himself as he snuggled under his own blanket.
The following morning at breakfast, Kaya's aunt informed them that a gang of thieves had been attacking people in the woods surrounding the village as of recent, and to be careful on their way back.
"We appreciate the warning." Kakashi said. "We'll be careful."
"Those thieves would have to be pretty stupid to mess with us!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning widely.
The ninja and Kawasaka trio pulled on their backpacks and shoes, exiting the house.
"Have a safe journey!" Atsuo called, waving goodbye with the rest of his family as the group left.
"See you next year!" Tetsuo added.
"Hey, Aoi-kun, should we be worried about those thieves they talked about?" Kaya asked.
"No, it will be fine." Ami said quickly, nervously glancing away from the blue-haired girl. 'After what Naruto and Sasuke said last night, I don't want to look her in the eye...'
After about half an hour of walking, Sasuke suddenly piped up.
"Kakashi."
"Yeah, I know." the silver-haired man sighed.
They stopped walking.
"Whoever is there, show yourselves." the sensei ordered.
After several seconds, a group of men came out from behind the trees. They were scary-looking people; heavily muscled, covered with tattoos and armed to the teeth.
Kaya flinched, grabbing onto Ami's arm.
"Let go." the water-user said calmly, not looking at the blue-haired girl, "I may need to fight."
Kaya reluctantly obeyed.
"So, you noticed us." the largest said, smirking evilly. He looked to be the leader.
"We've known you were following us for quite some time." the masked man replied, his voice light.
"You're one man protecting two farmers and four children." the thief said smugly, drawing his sword, as did three others. "There are six of us. Hand over the valuables and we won't give you any trouble."
"Hey! Us three are ninja as well!" Naruto shouted, pointing to himself, Sasuke and Ami. "We don't need to be protected! We'll beat the crap out of you!"
"Don't underestimate us just because we have children." Kakashi said, glaring at the thugs.
Kakashi and the boys all drew kunai. Ami placed her hands together in a seal.
"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way." the leader grinned.
"Boys, guard the Kawasaka family. Be careful. The one with tattoos can use ninja techniques. I can sense it in his Chakra."
The leader of the pack ran at the ninja, bringing his sword down at them.
Kakashi interrupted the thug's attack mid-swing, kicking him in the chest and knocking him back into two of his accomplices.
The other three snarled, rushing at the group, one with a pair of swords, one with spiked knuckle-dusters, the other, the tattooed man, forming seals.
Naruto created several Kage Bunshin and fought with the swordsman while Sasuke took on the large thug with brass knuckles, Kakashi fighting the other three men all at once.
"Katon, Hono no Tebukuro no jutsu!" The fists of the tattooed thief ignited with flames as he rushed at Ami.
The brunette clapped her hands together in several seals and spat a strong jet of water straight at the man, slamming him back into a tree, putting out the flames on his hands and soaking his long hair, which then fell over his eyes in a soggy curtain.
'He uses fire. That's handy for me, I guess." the girl thought with a smirk.
She was already forming more seals as the water on her opponent's body started to rise off his heating flesh as steam, raging eyes bulging from behind quickly drying hair.
"Suiton, Mizu Buyou no jutsu!"
Kaya cowered behind the kunoichi, held tightly by her mother as Ami pulled the water out from within her pouch.
"Katon, Hono no Yoroi no jutsu!" the furious man yelled, forming several seals before his body cloaked itself with flames.
The grass under his feet singed and burned as fire licked his skin.
The fire ninja punched the air in Ami's direction, and a fireball shot from his fist, setting light to the dry grass. Ami speedily extinguished the flame with a swift surge of water, then blocked further blasts of fire shot from the man's fists, then his feet.
Kaya cried out in fright, gripping her mother and father.
The man swung at the brunette's face with a blazing hand and Ami ducked, grabbing the man around the ankle with a water rope and pulling his leg from under him. As he fell, she struck him in the side of the face with a swift kick, knocking him unconscious, but wincing at the heat of the man's flaming skin against her foot. Doing her best to ignore the pain, the kunoichi turned and swung a water whip at the man Naruto was fighting, knocking one of the katana from his hand.
Naruto took advantage of the distraction and dealt the swordsman a hard blow to the face, jarring several of his teeth and knocking the man out.
Both Sasuke and Kakashi defeated their enemies before either one of the duo could even try to help.
Kakashi, Naruto and Ami went about tying up the band of thieves while Sasuke went back to the village to get a local official to take the men into custody,
"Aoi-kun, you're burned!" Kaya cried, suddenly noticing the red flesh on the brunette's foot.
"Oh, it's only small. No big deal."
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Not much. It's fine." the water-user grinned, "I'm tough! Relax!"
"Aoi-kun, or any ninja for that matter, won't be bothered by such a small injury." Kakashi droned.
"...I'm sorry." Kaya mumbled.
"What for?" Ami asked, confused.
"You got hurt protecting us..."
Ami patted the girl's head with a grin. "And I'd do it again. You're safe, so I'm happy. Don't worry about it."
Kaya blushed and Ami quickly retracted her hand, suddenly unsure of herself.
Naruto grinning at the kunoichi over Kaya's shoulder wasn't helping.
The brunette scratched her cheek nervously.
The following day, the group arrived back at the village of the Kawasaka family.
Ryouta and Kanae handed over their payment for the mission and gave their thanks to the shinobi before heading back to their house, but Kaya decided to hang around an extra moment to talk with 'Aoi' for a bit.
She was fidgeting a lot.
"Umm, Aoi-kun?"
"Yes?"
"Before you go, I want to thank you for protecting me on this mission. I... I felt very safe with you."
The water-user blushed slightly, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, well... you're very welcome, Kawasaka-san." 'The others were there too, though...'
With a small smile, the girl gently said; "Please, call me Kaya."
'First names?' Ami thought, surprised at the request, '...I thought this girl was all about formality?' "Umm, okay."
The brunette watched curiously as the blue-haired girl slowly reached inside her dress and held out a small envelope.
Kakashi and Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as Naruto's jaw dropped and the blond covered his mouth with his hands to hide his grin.
Ami blinked, astonished. "Th-this is for me?"
Kaya nodded shyly, "Please accept my feelings."
Ami's mouth flapped open and closed for a moment before she managed to gather herself enough to tell a convincing lie. "Kaya-san, I... I'm very flattered, but... I'm afraid I have to refuse. There's... already someone I like."
The blue-haired girl's face fell and she nervously returned the letter to within her dress. "Oh... I-I see..."
"Sorry..."
"Oh, no! Don't be!" the girl said, furiously shaking her hands and head at the Genin. "You're a great guy, Aoi-kun! I'm sure that whoever you like, they must be a wonderful person!"
Ami chuckled, running a hand through her hair, a slight blush colouring her cheeks. "Well, thank you! And yeah, I guess he's kind of cool."
Her eyes widened the instant she realised what she had just said.
Naruto made a small 'glurk' sound in his throat.
Kaya blinked slowly."...'he'?"
Ami clapped her hands over her mouth.
There were several seconds of silence.
Ami stared at Kaya, and Kaya stared back, the boys and Kakashi watching them both tensely.
Pursing her lips, the blue-haired girl stepped forward and pulled the Konno's hands away from her face, clasping them in her own. She gazed long and hard into Ami's eyes, her expression unreadable.
"...I understand." Kaya said eventually.
The brunette blinked in confusion.
"It can't be helped, right?" She smiled sadly. "If you like men, then I guess that there's not really much that I can do."
Too stunned to speak, Ami nodded silently.
"I wish all of you the best." Kaya said bowing to the group, who bowed back.
And with that, the daughter turned and entered the small village, leaving the Genin and their sensei behind with a small wave over her shoulder.
About a mile away from the village, a beetroot-coloured Ami let loose a small whine and buried her face in her hands.
"What the hell was that?" she squeaked, using her real voice for the first time in a week.
"Whoa, that's weird." Naruto said with a snicker, "I got used to the other voice."
"It's been a week and a half." Sasuke noted.
Kakashi gave a heavy sigh. "Well, it was close near the end, but you got through it. Well done, all of you."
The Konno was barely listening as she continued to talk to herself. "I'm not even a boy, why should I have to deal with this...?"
The masked man blinked. "Ami?"
"Rejecting someone is hard!" the girl cried, raising her head, "I feel like a terrible person! Sasuke, how do you do this so often without getting depressed?"
"Sakura-chan's going to bust a gut laughing when we tell her what happened." Naruto grinned.
So, there you have it.
Another thing you may or may not care about; I've decided to come out about the Friend fanfiction on deviantart, so I'll be putting up any fanfic-related materials on my main account from now on. You can find the link on my profile here if you're curious. :)