Village Hidden in the Star

by MadIronic

this is the 3rd story following the HIDEN VILLAGE series...if u read the first too u'll no that we're getting older as we go

Village Hidden In the Star

Book Three in the Hidden Village Series

L.U.

There was another gap, this time like 3 years. We're all about 22 now. Our clothing has changed ask for profile if you like. Also this time you have to guess whose POV it is. You've been with us since the beginning so you should know who is who. Also it's like winter. The first book was summer. The second book was fall and yea anyway.

Chapter 1

The will nearing Christmas

"Damn!" I yelled. It had snowed over night and I dropped the letter I got from the Wood in it. When I picked it up, it was soaked. The word "Liz" had smudged in the snow. Tundra ruffled her feathers as she rested on my shoulder. I shook the letter off and read it. It was from Will saying his daily check. Nicole was still asleep and I missed the sunrise so I decided to go see Donna. I turned around, got dressed and left the house with a cup of ramen.

"Damn!" I yelled. Stepping outside to get the mail, I put my barefoot into the newly fallen snow. I grabbed the mail and shut the door. "Cold Feet, Cold Feet, Cold Feet!" I yelled prancing over to the fireplace. I plopped my self down and held out my feet in front of the fire. "Ah, warmth." I laid back and held the mail above my face. "Bill, Bill, Bill, Bill, Contest entry winner, Bill, Bi-what's this." It was a giant envelope addressed to Donna Kojima. "Great I probably got jury duty or something." I opened it and pulled out a packet of papers. "Sorry for your loss, blah, blah, blah, Star, blah, blah, adoption papers, blah, blah, will of Drita and Robert Kojima, blah, blah Christmas, blah, blah, part." I threw it aside and laughed. "The hell that is?" I got up and walked up the stairs. "Wait…"

"What!" I herd Donna yell and I ran inside. "Donna?" I called out. She ran down the stairs and picked up a pile of papers on the floor. "What's wrong?" I asked her. She was wide-eyed and her hands, shaking. "I'm adopted. I've go to go see to a secret will and I don't know who Drita and Robert Kojima are. I've never heard of them." I looked over her shoulder and stared at the sheet. "Maybe," I began, "Maybe, since your adopted, their your…parents." She gave me a look. "Oh yea that could be." She said dazedly. "Crap what's with these family problems we keep having." She said referring to the incident at the Wood three years ago, Naruto's missing family, Sasuke's problems and Nicole's cousin Haku. Donna plopped down on the floor with an enormous sigh; I knelt down next to her. "Look, Naruto he never knew his parents either. Maybe you should go to him for comfort." I offered. She looked at the envelope and threw it into the fire. "Uh…" I said. "Yea I know go ahead." She said knowing she still needed the paper. I waved my hand and wind blew out the fire. "Speaking of the Star," I began. "That's where Jiriya went to do 'research." I used air quotes on research and laughed. In disbelief Donna said again, "I'm adopted" and fell over.

Donna passed out! I heard Liz call out. I opened my eyes. "You know I was sleeping." I said sitting up to look at her but her bed was empty. "Liz?" I said getting up and walking toward the kitchen. Hey, where are you? I looked in the bathroom, nope, the living room, nope. At Donna's. I think she either passed out from heat from the fire we're sitting in front of or… she paused. I pulled out a cup of ramen that literally said, my name, Nicole, on it. Well? I asked sitting in front of the microwave. She fainted from shock. She said with a nervous laugh. I took my ramen out of the microwave. From what, your mom? I laughed. Your momma is so fat even Naruto doesn't believe it. She laughed back. Nah I'm just kidding, she just found out she's adopted. She said. I made a face. Ha, ha very funny.

What's this lump in my face? I thought as I opened my eyes. "A foot, a tail and fur." I stated as I lifting the lump off my face. "Hi-ya Tucker." I then felt another lump jump on the bed and sit on my feet. "Hi Flicker. What'duh you guys think we go whip up some breakfast." I looked at the clock and laughed. "Better yet, lunch." I walked into the kitchen, pored dog chow into one bowl, kitty nibbles into another bowl and set them both down next to the water bowl. Flicker ignored the food and went to the other room to find his kitty litter. Tucker, however, dove straight in. I opened the fridge, stood there for a moment and pulled out a few slices of bread. I took out the toaster and stuck them in. Tucker came and sat at my feet after finishing his food hoping for me to drop mine. "Bark." (Drop!) "No. I fed you and, and, aww cute face, cute face, hold on a sec." I fell for his cuteness face again. My toast popped and I threw a piece to Tucker, he gave me the look again. "No more damn it these are mine." I said sitting down and beginning to eat. Just as I put my dish into the sink, the door bell rang and Tuck ran to it barking like a mad man. Or dog anyway, so I followed him to the door. I opened it and there stood Kiba with Akumaru. "I have a surprise for you." He said. "Is it another dog? Cause Flicker wasn't happy the first time I brought a dog home. Tucker's still just as loud but I'll still take him, or her." Kiba just starred. "Are you done?" He asked and I nodded. "Yea pretty much." "bark!" (Tucker!) Akumaru yelled jumping to the ground. "Bark grr Bark, Bark." (Let's go bother Flicker.) Tucker said and they ran off, Akumaru and Tucker barley fitting through my abnormally large doorway. "Ok then." I said turning my attention back to Kiba. "Ok, uh, it's not a puppy. I'm just letting you know that we have a mission tomorrow and I wanted to be the one to tell you." He finished smiling. "Ok then, well wanna come in uh have lunch." He nodded and kissed me. "Hell yea." Then followed me to the kitchen.

"Yea I know she won't stop trying to go to Lee's house. She also won't listen to me. So I had to leave her at home. I locked the doors, windows and … Rojomaru!" I yelled. Rojo, the puppy my mom gave me ran past us and strait for Lee's house. "Don't you think you should go after her?" Lissa told me. Gaara sighed and put out his hand. Sand began to follow the dog. Rojo went around the corner barking 'Lee, Lee!' and the sand followed. A few moments later Rojo was dragged back to me and I picked her up. "Why does she like Lee better than you " Gaara asked as I struggled to keep Rojomaru in my grasp. "I-had to leave her-with Lee-when I first-got her-because-I had to-renovate-the house. –She got-attached." Rojo was giving me such trouble that I sat on her and held the skin on her neck. With my other hand, I reached for my pouch. "Sorry girl but you left me no choice." I said and leashed her. Still struggling, I got up off Rojo and she pulled hard. "Why can't you except that I'm your master, your partner, come on!" I said aggravated. "Look I'll help you bring her home, see you Gaara." Lissa said and helped me bring Rojo home.

It was silent, I was starring at him, and he was starring at me. He wasn't very happy by the look on his face. "Man what a drag, say something or I'm leaving." I said. He sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine, I …need your help." He said with restraint. I choked on absolutely nothing and began to cough hysterically. "Not funny." I said catching my breathe. He just starred with a blank expression. "Oh my god you're serious." "Look Shikamaru, Nicole, you of all people, and Nicole. I need your help." He said. "This is very hard for you isn't it?" I asked. He just sighed and placed his hands in his pockets." Damn your troublesome." He said. "Hey, that's my line."

Chapter 2

Decide who's coming…1, 2, Everyone

"Damn it, wake up!" Nicole yelled Donna shot up and yelled. "Aaaaaaaaaah, what!" She then gave the will on the floor a dirty look. "Your mom, I mean, well y'know." I said. Nicole and Donna looked over at me. "Ok, I found a letter in that envelope and it says to be there as soon as possible. It also says bring all your friends." I finished with a smile. "So that means we're coming." Nicole said excitedly. "Ok fine, I guess I have to go." Donna said. "Yep!" We said. "Oh I'm gonna go tell everyone. When are we leaving?" "Huh?" "Tomorrow for sure. I'm gonna go home and pack." Nicole said and we both left Donna alone.

After taking 2 hours to pack I sat down at the table and waited for Liz to finish. I took out a pad of paper and began to make a list.

Pad O' Paper

Donna – duh

Nicole – me haha

Nero

Moe

Liz – of course

Tundra

Sandy

Kelsey – well yea

Flicker

Tucker

Ino

Shino

Kurenai-

Naruto

Shika

Sasuke – unfortunately

Kiba

Akamaru

Lee

Neji

Ten-Ten

Gai-

Alex

Rojomaru

Lissa

Sakura

Chouji

Kakashi-

Hinata

Baki-

Temari

Kankuro

5

5

5

5

5

5

1

31

"Ok about 30 people are coming." Liz came down stairs and sat across from me. "So?" She asked. "So, go get Donna and Kelsey for me." I said waving her off. "You get'em." She retorted leaning back in her chair. "Liz." I wined. "Fine." She said and left.

I followed Donna and Liz to the kitchen and we sat down. "Ok, this is how many people are coming." Nicole said passing me and Donna the pad. We stared at it and Donna said, "Do you know how much train tickets cost?" with a face. We all stared at her and then at the same time said, "What's a train?" Donna dropped her jaw. "What? You don't know what a train is?" We shook our heads. "Ok then, you'll see when we get there. Give me that pad." She said taking it from me. She began to scribble some stuff down at the same time talking to us. "The tickets cost about 3.50. So times that by 31 and we get...$108.50. Then you times that by 2 and get…$217. That's for there and back. Ok well we're here, the star is here. We walk ¾ of the way to the snow, take a train through it and then to the star." She finished. "And this will take us how long?" I asked. "Well if we move quick enough we can make it to the ¾ mark in 2 days and the train will take three." Donna said. "And we should be there for about a month, then the 5 days to get back." I added. "Cool, Nicole, lets go pack our packbags, we'll need more stuff." Liz said. "Wait when can we leave?" Nicole asked. "Well, our train leaves in 3 days I'll send the money Kelsey's going to collect from everyone today. Can I use Tundra? Oh and we should leave tomorrow, just in case it takes longer." "Wait, what?" I said. "Yea, cool!" Liz said. A cat suddenly jumped on the table and began to play with the pad of paper. "Moe no." Nicole yelled and dove for the cat she ran after it and disappeared into the next room. "Ok well I'm off to gather the money." I said. "I'll start packing." Donna said and we all left.

"Look, you like her; you just don't know it yet. That's what happened with Nicole and me. Your with her and fell something you can't explain and you just don't know why your even bothering." I said. "Listen, I doubt that's what's wrong with me. Thanks, but maybe I shouldn't be talking to you." He said. "Damn your troublesome. Psh, whatever." I responded. "One more thing," He said not turning around. "Yea, what is it?" I said. "Don't mention this to anyone. From this point on, our conversation, never happened." He said and walked away. I shrugged, "Whatever."

Chapter 3

The ¾ mark in 2 days

"Road trip!" I yelled. Everyone gave a sweat dropped and Donna moved her way to the front. "Naruto, please, keep your voice DOWN! SOME OF US ARE STILL TIRED!" She yelled. "Aw you're so cute when you're angry." I said smiling. She sighed and hit me on the head. I fell to the ground and yelled, "Ow!" "Alright I'll lead, Kelsey on the left, Nicole on the right and Liz, the back. Now everyone line up behind your senseis and, senseis, line up two front, two back. Uh Shika, Ino, Chouji separate into lines." Donna finished. I got up and stood behind Kakashi. Now that we were all lined up, we began to follow Donna. Wow she's so cute I hope I get to meet her mom. That should bring our relationship farther. Coming out of my train of thoughts I looked around to see where everyone was; Tundra and Nero were overhead and the dogs behind Kelsey. The cats were in front of Nicole. Kakashi led the left column followed by Kurenai and Gai led the left followed by Baki. Team 9 were in the back with Liz. I waved to Liz who was in the back and she waved back. Everyone broke out in conversation so I walked ahead to Donna. "So, we're going on a train?" I've seen a train." "Really, cool, um, call Tundra for me. I need to mail the ticket money." She said kind of distracted like. I called her over and she landed on my shoulder. "Wait, what's the tickets for?" "To ride the train, duh, they won't let you ride unless you've got tickets." She laughed, she then tied an envelope to Tundra's foot and both birds left. We walked on and finally I said, "I got it!" Donna gave me a look. Really I don't. We walked the rest of the day and didn't even make it ½ ways. When everyone was asleep, Donna, Nicole, Kelsey and Liz got together around a fire and began to talk. I sat in between Donna and Liz and leaned on Donna, falling half asleep.

"This is bad. Not even half way yet and we have two days left." Donna said. "Yea well we should be able to make it at least ¾ of the way tomorrow. Then we can get our luggage boarded that night and rest until the next day." Liz said. "Yea if we can sleep first." Nicole said. "Yea lets get sleep; we'll be able to move quicker." I said putting, out the fire. We all laid back and fell asleep.

The next morning we packet up and moved out as quickly as possible. By noon we reached the half way mark. I turned around and faced the group. Continuing my walking I began to speak. "Alright guys, we would make it to the little town within 12 hrs." "What that's midnight!" Ino yelled. "Quit your wining and let her finish!" Liz yelled at her while shaking a fist. "Um, anyways, we'll pick up our tickets and get our luggage boarded, then we'll go check in at a hotel or something. That should take about an hour and a ½ to finish. Then we got to get back up at 3 a.m. because our train leaves at 4 a.m. But don't worry about it you'll have time to sleep on the train." I said. I went to turn around but tripped over a big rock. Everyone stopped and stared. Nicole, Liz and Kelsey were laughing. "Donna, are you ok?" Naruto asked kind of confused. "Yea I'm fine." I laughed. I got up and we continued walking.

I looked up and sighed. "It's midnight, are we there yet?" I yelled. "No Nicole!" Kelsey yelled back. "Wait, now look, there it is!" Donna yelled from the front. "Whoohoo!" I herd Liz and Naruto yelled. The rest of the group sighed in relief. "Ok come on!" Donna said and we all walked over to the town. Passing through the gate, we sat down in front of the train station and sighed in relief. Donna remained standing with the senseis and Nero flew to my shoulder. Tundra flew to Liz and Donna walked off to get the tickets. "Man I'm beat." I sighed. Nero nipped at my ear and I stroked his feathers. "You can fly home buddy and take Moe with you. You've earned a good vacation." I said. He cooed softly so I threw a dead mouse into the air. He flew after it and then flew off toward home, Moe followed. I looked over at Akumaru and Tucker. They were huge compared to Rojo and Sandy who sat next to Aku. Kiba, Kelsey, and Alex were all talking in whispers out of exhaustion. Donna returned just as I was starting to does off. "Ok I'll-give the tickets tomorrow. Um, find 3 people you want to room with and come get a key for your room." She said yawning in between. "Oh, write down on a piece of paper and give it to me. I'll give it to Kakashi." She said before sitting. I handed her mine and looked at the others. Room 308: Chouji Lee Gai Neji, Room 310: Ten-Ten Kurenai Hinata Temari, Room 312: Sakura Ino Lissa Alex, Room 314: Donna Liz Tundra Sandy Nicole Kelsey, Room 309: Sasuke Aku Naruto Kiba, Room 311: Flicker Kankuro Gaara Baki and Room 313: Shino Tucker Kakashi Shika. "Pf Whatever." I said. I got to my room with Liz right in front of me and saw Donna and Kelsey already claiming the two bottom bunks. Liz ran to the top bunk facing the TV and threw her pack bag on it. I sighed, went over to the other one and fell asleep on it. The door opened and I began to here voices. I opened my eyes and sure enough Sakura, Ino, Lissa, Alex, Temari, Ten-Ten and Hinata were all sitting in a circle on our floor. Donna went over to Kelsey's bed already and Liz just joined them. They were circled around Kelsey's bed and all of them were holding flashlights. I sighed again and went to go sit on the end of Kelsey's bed.

"Bark, grr, mmm, bark." (Hey their sweet thing.) Tucker Barked. "Grr, bark, bark, bark." (I don't think so.) Rojo snapped. "Ohroo, bark, bark, grr, bark." (Ooooh you just got told.) Aku laughed. "Rmm." (Men.) Sandy sighed. "Meow." (Dogs.) I said rolling my eyes. "Bark!" (Flicker!) They all yelled at me.

"Liz, where are you going?" Sakura asked just as I opened the door. "Um, a walk." I said pulling my towel closed around me. "Then what's with the towel?" Ten-Ten said and everyone looked up. "I'm, just a bit, cold damn it." I said hurrying out my room. Just before the door shut I herd Kelsey yell, "hurry back we're playing truth or dare." I walked down the quiet hallway and turned into the elevator. I went down to the main floor and snuck into the pool area. The pool was cold and remained cold through out the 50 laps I did. At the edge I hoisted myself up and climbed out. I looked at the clock. "It's 2 already, wow. Time to hit the hot tub." I said, turned on the bubbles and climbed in. Closing my eyes I leaned my head back. "Mind if I join you?" a voice came sticking a pair of legs in the water. I opened my eyes and saw Sasuke sitting on the edge next to me. "Like I have a choice." I mumbled. "Hn." He said. "Hey, uh I-"He began but, starring blankly ahead, I cut him off. "Can I ask you something?" He went to speak but then sighed and nodded. "What…" I paused because of the current splash by Sasuke getting completely in. "What, was that thing, that power source you found to kill Itachi with?" Sasuke gave another sigh and rested his elbows on the edge and leaned back. "Well?" I prompted. "Love." He said looking at me. I blinked confusedly and turned completely red. And I don't know weather I'm with you for the power or for the love. He thought. I just decided to ignore it. "If anything, love, is what gives most people power. A power stronger than any hatred." He said now face to face with me. "That's why I couldn't kill him, because I didn't have many family, friends…you." He said coming even closer. Some how I got lost in his gaze and we were about to –bang-. We both jolted strait up. "Some one in here?" A guy called. "Oh man, an employee." Sasuke groaned. "Damn we're not suppose to be here. Quick hide and don't come out till we leave." I said trying to push him under the water. "But-" "Just do it!" I succeeded and in came the employee. "Hey pools closed. Not even employees allowed to swim. Damn ninjas think they can do whatever they want." He was a rather fat man and his flashlight shown strait in my eyes. "Um, sorry…I'll leave." I said getting out of the pool. I grabbed my towel and ran out. "Any body else with you?" He said. "No, no." And then he shut the door locking it. "So, uh, I'll be see'n you." I began to walk away but was stopped by the guy. "not so fast I need to have a word with your sensei." "What?" "Lead the way." I started walking toward the elevator. I went in but the guy stopped in the door way. "Hey Bog." A maid said passing by. "Hey Muriel. See you tonight?" He said back she winked. "I'll weir our favorite bathing suit." And then he came fully in, the elevator began to move. I looked him up and down and crossed my arms. "I thought even 'ployees can't swim this late." He suddenly looked damned. "Uh, bath, rented room…" he stammered. "Uh, huh." There was a few seconds of silence and then the elevator stopped. "I won't tell if you don't." He said. "Deal." And I exited onto the 3rd floor, while he went back down. "Few." I said and walked down to my room.

Chapter 4

Done be Done or Truth be Told

"'bout time. Hurry it up." I yelled. "Shh!" everyone went then they all laughed as Liz sat next to me. "Ok, ok my turn, um, Donna truth or dare?" Ino asked. "Um, dare." I said. What's the worst that can happen? "You have to go into Naruto's room through the window, crawl on to his bunk and flirt with him." She said. "Huh?" At least it can't get worse. "Oh, wait, weir these." She said holding up red flowery braw and flowery red underwear. I had to think to myself. "You can't be serious!" "I don't know what's scarier…that you guys have dirty dares, you've been doing this for hours and making Donna do this or that she was holding those." Liz snapped. "Come on Donna, you have to do it, you made a ninja pact." Sakura said."Oh…fine." I said snatching the undies. I went, changed and after attaching the camera to my strap, I left through the window. I climbed up and over the roof then climbed down to his window. I crawled in and fell to the floor. No one moved so I checked the beds. Kiba on the top bunk left and Akumaru was below him. Sasuke slept below Naruto on the right. Great, now I've gotta climb a latter. I climbed up carefully and sat on Naruto's stomach. I poked him and he opened his eyes. Propping himself up he said "Donna-kun, what the, you doing here?" Here we go. "I, uh couldn't wait till I saw you tomorrow so I thought I come tonight if that's alright?" I said cutely. He began to drool and his eyes sparkled. "Oh yea baby anytime!" He yelled. Suddenly Kiba and Akumaru sat up and stared. "Oh shit." I said and jumped out of the room with Kiba and Akumaru howling.

We watched on the TV, Donna run over the hotel, then saw her come through our window and stormed into the bathroom to change. We all quietly cheered and clapped. Since Temari smuggled drinks and a machine that produces a fog that's wastes people from Kankuro, heavens knows what he was doing with them, we used them. Donna came back in and said, "Ok Liz since your drunk, I dare you to go give Sasuke, with a genjutsu, the dirtiest dream you can think of." "I swear to drunk I'm not god!" I yelled. "That's all Donna?" Lissa laughed. "No, it has to be about you two." She said. "Great." I said and focused. I sent him the nastiest dream I could think of. I won't tell you I'll just let your so called imagination wonder. "Done." I said and shuttered. "Ok I trust you. "Nicole said. "Um, Lissa, go make fun of Gaara's gourd." I said. "Ok, you think being drunk would give her mind better ideas." She laughed, took the camera from Donna and ran down the hall.

I knocked on the door and waited. Man I feel light, I wonder if it's easier for me to be broken by the Sand Man yawn I'm tired Sandy Man! The door opened, it was Gaara. I smiled. "I was wondering since your gourd, sorry peanut, is curved in the right places, do you use it to practice talking to girls. Or does that potato serve as a sex dummy." I laughed. "Does your potato ever rot, damn it must smell in there, p-u." I continued laughing and Gaara shut the door in my face. "Damn!" I said and ran back to the room. "Ok, Ten-Ten-Ten go run down the hall naked." I said sitting down.

"Fine." I said. I stood at the end of the hall stripped and ran. No one will see me, no one will see me. I ran back to my clothes and dressed on my way back to the room. "You got off easy." Nicole said. "Ok, Nicole, I dare you to go flash Kakashi." I said sitting.

"Alright a challenge, Yes!" And I ran out the door with the camera taped to the inside of my shirt. I knocked on the door and Kakashi answered. He was in, just boxers, with Come, Come Paradise books on it. His mask and headband were off and he was reading Come, Come Paradise's new book. "What is it Nicole, Shikamaru is fast asleep." He said not looking away from his book. "Look." I smiled and lifted my shirt. Since I left the door open to our room I herd the others laughing. Kakashi took one look and fell over in a nosebleed. Tucker shot up and looked at the lump on the floor. I laughed and ran back to our room.

"Since we're on Senseis. Kurenai, I dare you to go ask Gai out." Nicole said. I made a face and walked out. Knocking on the door, I held my stomach for I began to feel sick. Gai answered. "Kurenai, you know it's like 3 in the morning." He said. He was still in spandex but it was purple and he had a cap on. Eww how unhealthy. "I just wanted to ask you out." I said ending with a hiccup. "My God, You Drunk! Your Probably Not Over Asuma's Death Yet!" he said grabbing my shoulders and pushing me back to my room. We reached the door and I threw –up and then passed out.

"Oh wow." Sakura said. "Damn it." Lissa said. "Hinata I dare you to go steal Chouji's last chip. He told me he goes through four bags a day, only because he can't carry any more than that, and on the last bag he saves the last chip for a morning wake up snack. "Ten-Ten said. "What do you want to do, kill Hinata?" Alex yelled. "No I'll go." I said and took the camera with me. I opened the door and Chouji was zonked out on the bottom bunk. Neji was above him and Lee was on the Top bunk on the other side. I snuck to Chouji and stuck my hand in the bag. Byakugan. I saw the chip and crunched it. Now it was nothing but crumbs and I threw it out the window. I herd a toilet flush and wheeled around. Getting rid of the byakugan, I hid behind the door and waited. It was Gai and he made his way back to his bed. I wonder how he pees with that spandex. I snuck out the door and back into the room. "Good Job Hinata." Kelsey said.

"Hey Kelsey, I dare you, in the same outfit Donna wore, to show Kiba your body." Ino said. "EW…Damn." I said and changed. I put my robe on and took the camera with me. I had my robe hang off the left shoulder and put my hand on my hip. I put a 'come get me' face on and knocked. Sasuke opened the door so I picked my robe up and stared. "Uh, Kelsey, I don't think Liz will be happy about this." He said I scrunched my nose and squinted my eyes. "Just get Kiba." I snapped and he left. I fixed my self again and Kiba come to the door, he began to drool as he looked me up and down. "Hey Kiba." I said trying to sound flirtatious, letting my other shoulder show. Kiba's hands began to shake and I took a step back. "I just wanted to…" I opened my robe, dropped it and put my hands on my hips. He made a noise and grabbed me around the waist. He kept me close and stared at me. "Boy, I thought this day would never come." He grinned and the door behind us clicked. "Someone's coming." Kiba said. I broke free and ran back to my room.

"That was weird!" She screamed. "Only because your not use to having people watching." Nicole laughed. Kelsey went and changed and then through the outfit in the waste machine, letting it burn. "Uh Alex. Go grope Lee or something." I suddenly felt sick. "Eww." I said and went to the room. I opened the door and their stood Lee. "Bed Alex." He said. I walked back to my room and closed the door.

"Bye guys." Lissa said and her and Rojo left. "Sakura, belly dance in the lobby and Ino go paint Neji's hair Periwinkle with orange poke-a-dots and green stripes." I said they left and came back a few minutes later. "Temari, go tease Baki. Stand naked out side his door with your fan in front of you." I went to the door and Baki fell over in a nosebleed along with Gaara and Kankuro who were standing behind him. I retreated to my room and looked at the clock. "Damn. Time to get ready." It was 3.

Everyone got together in the lobby at 3:45 and we rushed over to the train station. "Kakashi, Kurenai, Baki and Gai have cabin 23R." Donna yelled. "What's the R stand for?" I asked. "Red, Liz, Red!" She yelled and then continued. "Sorry I skipped two, thanks to Liz. Sakura, Ten-Ten, Ino and Temari have cabin 21R. Sasuke, Kiba, Kankuro, Liz you guys have cabin 22R. Naruto, Shino, Hinata, Donna, oh, uh me, 24R. Neji, Shika, Nicole and Chouji go in 25R. Tucker, Akumaru, Rojo, Flicker and Sandy you guys get your own car to yourselves. And finally Lissa, Kelsey, Gaara, Lee and Alex in 26R." She finished. "How'd you figure that?" I asked. "I didn't, I picked out of a hat." She said. We all boarded the train and waited for it to leave.

Chapter 5

3 Day Train Ride

Day 1: Cabin 21R

I looked at the clock, 3:50. I looked out the window; it could have been pitch black if it weren't for the station's lights. Temari was resting her head on the chair, Sakura and Ino were asleep and I put the table down. Just above the table and under the window were 4 buttons. I clicked the top right one and a bed appeared where the luggage shelf was. Temari's head propped up and she looked at me. "Do that again." She said getting up. I pressed the button below the other and a second bed popped out where the seat once was. Temari closed the curtains on the outside widow and the curtains on the hall windows. I peered out the door and then shut it, along with the curtains on it's window. Just then Sakura and Ino woke up and stood up. I pressed the other two buttons and two more beds on the other wall popped out. Temari laid on her bed and it was then I noticed how tired I was. I climbed on to my bed and flipped the light switch. "Hey guys, look." Ino said, she was pulling a red curtain around her bed. Sakura and Temari did the same and then I did. It began to bother me so I reopened it. I looked at the clock, 3:57. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Cabin 22R

Kiba was playing with buttons he found on the wall, Kankuro was standing in the door way staring at all the people going by and Sasuke, who was as far away from me as possible, was staring out the window. He's probably screwed up about the dream. Hehe, I moved a little closer. I saw his eye dart from the window to me and back. I scooched from one side of the seat to the other and was now right next to him. "What chya look'n at?" I felt him shutter at the thought of his dream. "Nothing, don't sit so close." He said kind of soft like. "Fine." I scooched down a little, turned, laid on my back and rested my head on his lap smiling. "What did I just tell you?" He said. "But I'm not sitting." "Not funny." "Yes it is." "I hate you." He said smiling. We smiled at each other for a bit, then a loud screeching noise and we were thrown onto the floor in front of us. Sasuke was now laying over me so we made a cross. Kiba looked out the window and Kankuro was laughing his head off. "We're moving." Kiba shouted. "How can you tell?"
I asked as Sasuke knelt back and helped me to my knees. "The lights are flashing by." He yelped. His head followed light after light as Kankuro's laughter finally died down. I remained on the floor but Sasuke went and laid on the chare behind me. The lights flashing by ceased to amaze Kiba and then shortly after, they ceased to exist. "So we finally have left the village." Kankuro said. I looked at the clock, 5 it was. "I'll be back, go'en for a walk." I said and got up. "I'll go with you." Sasuke said, following me out the door. We walked down pass the other cabins and into the next car, it was the dinning car. "Wanna eat?" He asked, I nodded and we both sat down. "What can I get you guys?" The man asked. I shrugged. "Ok how about you?" "A burger." Sasuke said. "Oh I'll have the same." I said the man left and we just sat there. Great, we're alone. Well la de fricken da. He's probably itching to make a move or something. "Hey." He said. I looked up and saw Sasuke's face. It looked all worried and was looking down at me. I then looked around me and saw I was on my back on the floor. Sasuke was kneeling behind me and my head was resting on his knees. "What happened?" He helped me sit up as he explained. "You fell over. You seem just fine, maybe you had a clumsy moment." We both stood up and sat back down. Maybe those drinks are starting to take effect. I should eat fast and go back to the cabin. Our plates came and we began to eat. "I had a dream about you last night." He finally said. I coughed as I swallowed my food and gave a little laugh. "Really, tell me more." I turned and faced him. "We were holding hands, walking through a garden on a stary night. I knelt and asked you to marry me." I choked again. "You ok?" He said. I made a face and nodded. "And, uh, I said…" I prompted. "Well, you were about to say something but I got woken up. Kelsey was knocking at our door. When I went back to sleep I had a, uh, different dream." He said we finished our burgers and continued walking. The next car was the bathroom car. A girls and a guy's. We continued walking and were now in the baggage car. "You wanna go out sometime?" He asked me. I blinked confusedly. "Uh…um… I don't know…I guess, sure." He grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek. We started to walk back and I began to feel dizzy.

I looked at the clock, it was 6:30. I looked at Liz, she didn't look so good. Damn, did I make her sick? "You ok?" I asked. "Well, we got drunk at the hotel, and I think I'm starting to feel the after effect." She said. She was looking a little pail. I opened the door to the car and stepped on to the rail. I opened the other door and held onto the handle. Liz was standing in the doorway looking out the side. The sun was nearly up now and we were coming to a big cliff. After the cliff was a giant gorge. Liz swayed a bit and then collapsed. I caught her at the last minute and pulled her into the other car. God that was close. I carried her down the hall and kicked our cabin door. Kankuro opened it and I laid Liz on the chair. "What happened?" "She…" I began but was cut off by the over-announcer. "Attention, we're coming to a cliff. Press the red button next to the door and fastens you selves. It's going to be a wild ride." We looked at each other and then out the window. Kankuro pressed the red button and a rail came out over the seats. Wait, seats, they changed into something that looked like an upside-down roller coaster seats. I strapped Liz in and then sat next to her. I pulled the bar down and put my arm around her. Kiba and Kankuro sat and then we waited.

Cabin 21R

We all sat and waited. All of the sudden Ten-Ten and I were thrown forward and Sakura and Ino were being lifted out of there seats. We all began to cream as we realized the train had turned into a roller coaster. We were being tossed this way and that for another half hour and then the train began to speed strait through the canyon. Ten-Ten looked out the window and pointed out that we were now under the rail instead of riding on it. The announcer went on. "Hope everyone enjoyed the ride. You can get up now but be cautioned, the train is moving faster now so be careful." I sighed and got up to stretch. Sakura and Ino left the cabin and Ten-Ten began to leave too. "Where you guys going?" I asked. "To breakfast, wanna come?" Ten-Ten said. I looked at the clock, it was 8. "Nah, I'll just wait till lunch." They shrugged and left. I walked down to a cabin and found Lissa, Alex, Kelsey, Gaara and Lee sitting and laughing. Except Gaara he never laughs, he just smirked. "I came to check on you guys." I said. "Hey 'Mari." Lissa and Alex said. Kelsey and Lee just smiled and Gaara just glared. "Oh my god, Temari, wasn't that roller coaster ride wicked sick!" Kelsey screamed. I leaned on the door and smirked. "Yea I guess you can say that." I left and began to explore the train. I turned the corner and bumped into some guy. We stared at each other for awhile and he finally spoke. "Hey, uh, ya' wanna go get some lunch?" I blushed. "Shur, I'm Temari." He shook my outstretched hand and said, "I'm Altemire."

Cabin 22R

It was 8:15 when Liz woke up and Sasuke took her to the bathroom. "I wonder if he went in with her." Kiba laughed. "Probably," I said. We sat across from each other and stared. "It's 8:30, lets play the question game." Kiba said. "Can I start?" "Was that you question?" "What are you asking me for?" "Can you stop that?" "Stop what?" "What?" "Why?" "When?" "Where?" "How?" "Who?" "Why not?" I emphasized the last word and smirked. This went on for another hour or two and I looked at the clock. 10:30 and I'm gonna win. "Are you serious?" I asked. "Can I quit now?" Kiba asked. Finally yes I win. "Yes and I won." He began to laugh. "What you….asked, duh." I hit my self in the head and fell back. Kiba laughed, punch my arm and left towards the dining car. I went the other way and into the next car. "Temari?" I yelled and ran into a cabin. "I did not need to see that." I sighed. "See what?" A girl asked. I turned around and saw two girls sitting across from each other. One was from, well I couldn't tell. Both of the head bands were pitch black. "Hey punk my sister asked you something. " The other girl said. I scratched my head smiling. "Oh uh, sorry about that. I found my sister making-out with some strange guy." They got up and looked around the corner. They began to laugh and then sat back down. "Have a seat." The older one said. I sat down slowly, eyeing them. "You have nothing to worry about. She'll be perfectly fine. That's our friend Altemire." She said. Wait, no, I wasn't listening, say it again. Wow there both pretty. Especially the younger one. "So uh what's your names?" I asked. "It's common curtasey to give yours first." The older one said. "Kankuro." "Rebecca." The older one said. "Amanda." The other yelled.

"Bark!" (Kiba) Akumaru yelled. Rojo, Tucker, Sandy and Flicker began to wag their tails along with Aku. I smiled and patted all of them on the head. "'sup guys, and Rojo and Sandy." I said. Rojo growled at me and that made Tucker wag his tail harder. Sandy just shook her head. "Bark grr bark, bark grr yelp bark, bark rrmm bark yelp." (You can still say guys even though we're girls y'know?" Sandy barked. "Purr meow, meow." (What, a girl?") Flicker sighed. "Grr bark." (Excuse me?" Rojo said turning to him. "Meow, meow, mmm mir meow, meow mir." (Oh I forgot you don't speak boy) "Bark, BARK!" (Sexist, Sexist!) She yelled. I backed away slowly. "I'll see you guys later." I said and ran out.

Cabin 21R

I ordered a salad, the same as Ino, and we ate in silence. "Damn train ride is going to take forever. It's only 11:30 in the first day and I'm bored out of my mind." Ino said, I nodded. "I haven't seen that fake-o-ninja in a while…I wonder what happened to him." I said. ""Who, Sai?" Nicole asked popping up from behind Ino in the other booth. "Oh hey Nicole." Ino said smiling. Nicole remained hovering over Ino and staring at me. I sighed. "Sai was the replacement for Sasuke when, well y'know." I, like Naruto, was still uneasy when that subject came up.

I stared at Sakura and she was starring at her salad. I began to eat again and then she finally stood up. "I'm not feeling well. I'm going to the bathroom." And began to walk away. "Wait, I'll go with you, y'know, make shur you'll be alright." She nodded and we both headed for the bathroom. She went into a stall and leaned over the toilet. "Starring at something green for too long while you have a mild hangover, may not be the best choice." I said holding back her hair while she puked. We were in there for an hour and a half. But after the first hour, she stopped and we cleaned ourselves up. We returned to our cabin at 1 and both Temari and Ten-Ten were not there. Sakura went strait to sleep and then, so did I.

Cabin 22R

I woke up and once again it was dark and quiet. I opened the blinds, still dark. Sasuke was asleep above my bed and Kiba and Kankuro were also asleep in their own beds. I looked at the clock, 11:30. "Whoh I slept for …10 and a half hours. I should go back to sleep." So I laid back in my bed and waited to fall asleep.

Day 2: Cabin 23R

Get the damn picture out of your head Kakashi. Read Come, Come Paradise………………………Hehe…Hehe……alk no don't picture Nicole doing that……few. "Kakashi?" I opened my eye.

Kakashi was lying on the floor with his book in his hand. I repeated, "Kakashi…Are you ok?" He looked up at me. "Oh, haha, yes Kurenai, I'm fine." He got back and sat on the seat. Baki poked his head out from inside his bunk and yawned. "What time is it?" He asked, so I looked at the clock. "It's 10 am." He then looked out the window and made a face at me. "No seriously." I made a face back. "Seriously it is. We're in a tunnel and we're going to pass through this tunnel all day." I said. He smiled, climbed down and sat on the chair, pressing the bunk button. Gai come back in and held out a deck of cards. "I finally found a box. I borrowed it from Liz. Let us play." He said and began to deal. We played a few games and Kakashi won them all except the last one. Quite frankly none of us really cared to play or even of what was going on, but when Gai won that last game, and knocked Baki into the wall, that sent him off the deep end. They started arguing so Kakashi and I slipped out and took a walk. Lately I've been thinking of Asuma. Every fall I'm reminded of his death, every time I'm reminded of the look on Shikamaru's face when he broke the news to me. Again and again winter brings me grief for Christmas. I would always spend it with Asuma, but…now all I have is our child that I have to raise by myself. "Kurenai?" Kakashi asked. I picked my head up and shook it, wiping a tear from my eye. "You know, you shouldn't hold it in." He told me. "I don't know what you're talking about." I lied. "We all miss him. If you talk about it, you could get a load off. You don't have to miss him alone." He said. "Thanks, Dr Phil, I appreciate what you're trying to do but I'm fine." "I was going to be his best man at the wedding." He said and that did it, I collapsed into Kakashi, crying. He looked shocked for a moment and then just stood there and let me cry.

Cabin 24R

"It's noon!" Naruto shouted, sending me and Hinata against the wall. "So?" Shino said. "So, that means we're half way through the second day. That's half way through the train trip and half way through this damn tunnel!" I sighed. "No duh Sherlock." "Funny, he doesn't seem to be getting any smarter." Hinata laughed and that made me laugh. "I think he's made a little improvement over the years." Shino said. "Hey Hinata, lets have a starring contest." I said. "Sure, Donna. IO must warn you, you'll lose." She said and we faced each other. "Well, Hinata has made an improvement in courage and her boldness." Shino said. "Is boldness even a word?" Naruto asked confusedly. "I win." Hinata shouted when my eyes darted to the clock and back. "Damn, I forgot we were playing." I whined and sat back. Hinata smiled and sat back too. I turned and looked out the window. Hinata began to eat her snack and Shino just sat there. Naruto leaned on my shoulder and fell asleep. I began to read my book but fell asleep.

"Donna? What are you doing in here?" "Sorry mommy…who's this, I found her picture next to a guy's picture in that box over there? She looks like me." "Donna, your four, you thought that guy on TV looked like you." "Well who is she?" "………………uh……no one hun, go have your cookies now."

My eyes shot open. Naruto was still asleep on my shoulder and it was now 2:30. "Man, what a dream. Could that woman have been, and that man…"

"What was your dream about cous?" I asked. "Huh, oh nothing Shino." She said and went back to reading, Hinata just shrugged. We pulled the beds down and closed our selves in our own private bunks. It began to become really quiet, too quiet, just the way I like it.

Cabin 23R

It was about 3:30 when Kakashi and Kurenai got back. Kurenai's eyes were a little red and Kakashi's right shoulder had a wet spot on it. "You two ok?" Gai asked. "When we transferred cars, going to the dining car wind blew dust into Kurenai's eyes and I bumped into a tray and it spilled water on me." Kakashi said smiling. I knew he was lying, Gai couldn't tell, but I could. The door slid open and Liz stood in the door. "Can I have my cards back? We wanna play poker." Kakashi picked up the deck and held it out for her to take. "You gonna win?" He asked. She smiled and shook her head. "Yup." Kakashi smiled and let go of the deck. "That's my girl." He said. "I'm not little; don't talk to me like that." She snapped and ran out of the room with the cards. Interesting, very interesting.

Cabin 24R

When I woke up it was about 8:00. I opened the curtains and Donna and Naruto were sleeping. Boy, this must be very tough on Donna. I looked under me. Shino, still wearing his glasses, was asleep…well as far as I can tell. I began to draw in my sketchbook I drew Donna and Naruto sleeping next to each other. Naruto's head on her shoulder and her head on his head. Just the way they were sitting. They stirred a few times and then I finished drawing it. I added the shades and then colored it in. When I was completely done It was 10:00. I put my book away and shut the lights. Finally at 10:30 I fell asleep.

Day 3

Cabin 25R

"Sorry Passengers, the heat will be up and running in no time. Thank you and have a nice day. Kcrrrrrrrr." I slowly opened my eyes. I had a sudden chill and realized how cold I was. I grabbed my winter clothes and looked out the window. We were now riding through a snowy mountain pass. No wonder why it's so cold. I thought and headed for the bathroom car. When I returned I put my clothes away and glanced at the clock. Noon, almost there. Wait, where's Shika and Neji. I checked the other top bunk. Chouji's chips, but no Chouji. I pouted for a second, then headed to the dining car. "Oh so that's where every one went." I said to my self. Sure enough everyone was up, changed and eating. Everyone seemed to be sitting by team, well almost…ok a team member. Ino, Chouji and Sakura were sitting together listening to Kakashi about who knows what. Naruto, Donna, Shino, Kiba and Kelsey were sitting together, Gai, Lee, Neji, Ten-Ten, Alex and some girl were sitting together. Baki was talking with Gaara, Temari, some guy, Kankuro, some girl and Lissa. Hinata and Kurenai were just leaving the room, they were heading towards the animal car. Sasuke was sitting next to Liz, with his arm around the back of her resting on the seat. Liz was playing shogi, I think, against Shikamaru. I walked over to them. "Hey Nicole." Shika said looking up. "Getting cozy guys?" I said to Liz and Sasuke. They both blushed and Liz continued to play while Sasuke took his arm back and began to pout, sulk or whatever you wanna call it. "So anyway, what I miss?" I asked. "Temari got a new boyfriend, his name is Altemire, that's that guy over there." Sasuke said, still making his face. "Kankuro got a new girlfriend, that's her over there, her name is Amanda." Shika said. And we're waiting for Neji to ask out Rebecca, that girl, cause everyone can tell he likes her." Liz said. I saw Neji starring at Liz because he herd her and blushed. Lee, Alex and Ten-Ten giggled a bit and Rebecca just kept on talking to Gai. "They on the same team?" I asked. "Yep, ha beat that." Shika yelled, pointing at the board. He sat back and pulled out a cigarette, looking pleased. Liz then moved a piece and Shikamaru smirked. "Ha I won, again." Shika said laughing. Liz began to laugh and a light went off in my head. What is she up to? "One more game?" She said. "You got nothing left to bet. "Shika groaned. "My packbag. All your money cough ten thousand dollars cough for my packbag." Sasuke sat up and smacked his head. Who does she think she is, Tsunande? He thought. "Damn your such a troublesome women. Fine I'll beat you again." Shika said and they began to play. In no less than five seconds, Shika was left without a move and without cash. What, was that? I yelled. "How did you beat me?" Shika asked. "Talent…" She said. In scamming people and reading their minds. She laughed. Brilliant, but wrong, why didn't I think of that? I wondered. I sat down next to Shika and began to eat.

Cabin 26R

It was 'bout one pm when we all finished eating and met up in our cabins. Lissa, Alex and Kelsey began to play hand games as Gaara and me played war with a deck of cards I found under the booth we were sitting in. A half hour later everyone grew board and just sat there. "Lets play BS!" Kelsey said suddenly shooting up. We agreed and began to play. In order it went Lissa, Gaara, Kelsey, Me then Alex. Having already put the ace down Gaara began. "Three twos." "B-----" Lissa began but seeing his face stopped. "Wait, how are we suppose to tell if Gaara's lying?" Alex asked They all shrugged. "Two threes." "One Four." "Two Fives." "One Six." "Three Sevens." "BS." Lissa screamed at Gaara again. Gaara took the deck. "Haha oh yea, what now!" She yelled. Gaara ended up winning, no surprise. I love you Gaara." Lissa said and went to kiss him. He went to return it but noticed us watching and sealed the two of them behind a wall of sand. "I wonder what they're doing in there." Kelsey pondered. "Nothing I want to know of." Alex commented with a laugh. "All I know is they better not touch my Sake."

Chapter 6

We're Finally There

We're just out side the gates. All standing in the snow, some of us were so cold you could see our lips were blue and our bodies were shaking. "You'll all get use to it." I told them. On the train we decided to do a Secret Santa this year. That just leaves less of a hassle. I got Naruto, which practically covered my boyfriend problem too. Silently we walked through the huge silver gates. ON the gates was golden writing. In some ancient language it said:

Beauty and Tranquility

Lies Beyond these Gates

May it be broken, the city will Crumble

But what will Stand

Tall Among the Rest

Will Be the Faith and Strength

Of those Who hold Pride the Best

The city was huge, covered in snow and the buildings all glittering chrome. I felt the power of the village over come me. It was unbelievably indescribable. I could tell everyone thought the same. The star on our tree rose above the buildings. One tall building caught all of our eyes. "Hey Donna, what's that?" Naruto asked. It's good to be back. "That's a memorial building. You write things on the squares. Come on lets climb to the top and leave our marks." I said excitedly and we all ran up the tall building.

Everyone signed their names in their own ways. I wrote, Liz was here(Unamaka: December age 22) Sasuke walked up next to me and put on a square, Sasuke Uchiha and Liz Unamaka Forever, in a heart. I hugged him. "You stupid Uchiha, copied my idea." Shika said as he walked past. "Kiba!" Kelsey screamed, everyone stared in disgust. I turned around and there Kiba and Akumaru were, leaving their marks on the building. "What? You said leave a mark. Right Akumaru?" He said circling his pee and writing his name above it. "Bark!" (Hell Yea!) I slapped my head and shook it. Donna continued to lead the way to her house…uh, wait, it's a mansion? You should have told me this sooner. Well anyway once we got there Donna showed us our rooms and we met up in the basements living room. "Ok grab a buddy, now that you know where my house is, we can go shopping for presents. Senseis, do what ever the hell you want. I've got my gift and I need to find my…foster parents!" She yelled on that one word and left the room. I tilted my head to the side and blinked. Poor Donna, oh well. Lissa ran up to me and locked her arm around mine. "Hi Lizzy, you, me, Nicole, Alex, and Kelsey are going shopping together." So I was dragged out with them for some shopping. I'll tell you it wasn't at all pleasant. They complained they were cold and they kept going into stores I hate. I also didn't get to bye anything because I'm a loser and hate going to the register. Still locked in Lissa's grasp I followed kind of awkwardly do to the fact I was being dragged along side her.

I walked through the hallway looking for, them. I hate them, I hate them so much I'd wish they'd die. "Mom, Dad, how nice to see you!" I smiled hugging them. "Or should I say Aunt and Uncle." Letting slip a hint of coldness, they looked at me astounded. "It's so nice to see you, too, Drane." Ben said trying to look innocent. "My you've gotten big." Said Sue, trying to conceal guilt and surprise. I just smiled politely. Yea no duh lying bastards. "Um, I'm a ninja now. And I'm called Donna not Drane." You no good, useless punks. "Our apologies." They went on to explain the whole thing unable to keep it at bay any longer. In my mothers and fathers will, they left me their money and a house down in the forest cave. A place I'd visit all the time when I was small. A little jungle inside an inactive volcano. That place is a sanctuary. The top of the volcano is so high, it goes above the clouds so the inside is sunny, hot and not snowing. It's awesome. I walked to the basement and found Liz watching TV and Nicole fast asleep in a big pile of shopping bags. "Well I found out that the reason my parents didn't keep me is because they had to go half way around the world on a mission and were killed on the way home, oh yea did I mention the Christmas party's a formal one." I heaved an enormous sigh and plopped my self on the couch. I looked over at Liz, waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello, Liz, were you listening?" I yelled. She blinked and looked at me. "Hm…sorry did you say something?" I sweatdropped and went off to set up the guest rooms.

Chapter 7

The Party (our dresses are drawn in a book…oh and Kurenai's child is home in the village)

Today was, productive. Everyone got last minute shopping done, and Sasuke and I had some down time together. We sat in the basement's living room on the couch watching TV movies. The lights were out and my head was rested on his shoulder. "Shouldn't we be getting ready for the party now?" He asked. "Hm?" I said aimlessly. I slowly sat up and yawned as Sasuke turned off the TV and turned the lights on. I stood up, kissed him and headed for my room. I put my dress on and met Sasuke in the hall. He was in his tux and ready to go. "You have your present?" I asked. "Yup, Happy Christmas." He said, handing me one of his envelopes. I opened it and inside was a card. It read, I owe you a dinner for two. "Thanks, Happy Christmas." I gave him his present. It was a gift card to Emporium Karin's Weapon Shop, where he buys all his ninjutsu supplies. We walked up stairs to where the party was happening and met some of Donna's so called relatives. "I have to find Neji." I said. "I have to find Kelsey. I'll meet you by the tree. I got her money." Sasuke said kind of bored like. "K, I got him a gift card to a barber to get a hair cut." I laughed so we walked. "OK EVERYONE!" Tsunade's voice rang out. "We will have and opening dance. As followed get on the floor with your partner. Shikamaru and Kim, Gaara and Saeeda, Lee and Nicole, Shino and Donna." "HOLY SHIT I HATE THESE THINGS I DON'T DANCE DAMN IT!" I screamed attracting a little attention. "You also don't wear dressed but look at you now." Nicole laughed as she walked by. I pouted and Followed Sasuke to the dance floor. Going to argue again I opened my mouth but then Tsunade shot me a look and I fell silent. No! We're being assigned? I looked around, Tsundae stood with Jiriya at the tree. "Naruto and Temari, Sasuke and Rebecca." As she pulled Sasuke away I saw the list. Oh crap…I thought. "Chouji and Ino, Kankuro and Lissa, Neji and Hinata, Altemire and Kelsey. Todd and Ten-Ten, Kiba and Alex, Sai and Liz." My heart sank. "What?" He came over with his fake smile and with discus we set ourselves up. The music began and so did we. The music ended right before I was about to barf but the horror wasn't over. "We'll have a closing dance for later." We all separated rather quickly and resumed our gift giving.

I found Sasuke giving Kelsey a gift when we were exchanging gifts. I tapped him and he turned around. "I'm your secret Santa. Happy Christmas. I didn't know what to give you, so I just put money in the card." I said. "Thanks Ten-Ten, Happy Christmas." He replied. "Happy Christmas guys. Ten-Ten, I'm your Santa." Sakura said walking up. She handed me a box with a glass kunai in it with a blue gem in the middle. "Wow thanks Sakura."

"Hi, Altemire, Happy Christmas." I said awkwardly. "Oh, hey Nicole, you too." We were silent for a moment but then we said in unison, "I'm your secret Santa." We exchanged gifts and laughed. We got each other visa gift cars. Temari came up and Altemire handed her a rose. She gave him hair gel and they walked away. Huh funny, Shika got me the same thing. But I gave him a dear plushy. So much better than gel.

I handed a frightened Ino a coupon to a salon and a love struck Lissa a half destroyed rose. "Sorry it wouldn't come out of the ground." I said. "That's fine Gaara-kins." She swooned. Lissa gave me a coupon to 'Good Rest Hotel' where they make you sleep. I sighed, what a pain.

Shaking a bit from the shock of being so close to him, I walked away from Gaara and over to Shino. He was actually not that far considering he was handing Lissa a pet bug. I gave him, a book of 100 hair styles. He just starred at it for a moment and then in a low voice said, "Arigato Ino, Merry Christmas." I made a face then tried to remember to smile.

I walked away from those other losers to go find Kiba. He was giving Kelsey a diamond necklace. She gave him some weird toy and Akumaru some other weird toy. "Here punk. Merry Christmas." I tossed him a bag and Akumaru a bone. Kiba sweatdropped and opened the bag. I gave him a new jacket cause his old one was getting dirty, smelly and ripped. Ironically enough they looked exactly the same.

Kiba gave Amanda a gift certificate to a clothing store and Kankuro gave her a bunch of flowers. Naruto gave Hinata a few flowers and she gave Sakura her present. Temari gave Gaara his own eyeliner and Kankuro face paint. Altemire gave Amanda and Rebecca their presents and Kankuro gave Rebecca his present. Kelsey gave one to Alex and Alex Lee and Chouji her gifts. Lee gave his presents to Kankuro, Alex and Gai. Gai gave Kurenai, Kurenai to Baki, Baki to Kakashi and Kakashi to Gai. Gai also gave presents to Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten. Neji and Becca exchanged gifts and Rebecca gave a gift to me. Neji gave a gift to Donna and Chouji gave a gift to Lee. Amanda gave Shika a gift and Shika gave to Temari. Sasuke finally met up with me at the tree. "Guys come here." Naruto said so we followed.

Donna was standing there with a gift in hand when we approached. Naruto mouthed a 'watch this' and winked. "Happy Christmas Donna. I got you a present, but you first because I know mine is going to make you forget yours." He said closing his eyes and smiling. She just blinked and handed him a card. "Uh Merry Christmas Naruto." His face lit up as he took out a coupon to Ichiraku Ramen Shop from a ramen covered card. He then shook trying to remember to return his gift and then knelt down on one knee. Go for it cousin, I smiled.

I noticed her eyes light up and she smiled. "Donna," he began. I clutched the band in my pocket and listened intently. "Um I love you and will you merry me?" I was suddenly taken aback by this even though I knew somewhere that this was coming. I felt a lump in my stomach waiting for her answer. But I wasn't the only one. It seemed the whole room went silent. Liz's eyes were glistening and she had one hand over her mouth. "Um…huh? Oh, uh, yes. Yes of course Naruto I love you too." She said. For a moment there Naruto looked worried then, as the room did, he stopped holding his breathe. Donna kissed him and the whole room awed and cheered. They blushed and the party continued as normal. I sat on the couch talking with Naruto and an old lady. "I'm tellen you, he looked just like you when he was your age. Excuse me I have to pee." She said and got up and left. We sighed in relief. "Hey boys, I bet you would like to get away from this boring party huh? Go on, go to the attic, that's for you kids." Donna's Aunt said. "Thanks lady." Naruto shouted and I rolled my eyes. "I don't know what Donna was complaining about. Her Aunt's nice." He pondered. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen anyone else. Let's go." I said and we headed up. We got to the attic and everyone was setting up chairs in the middle of the floor in a circle. "Sasuke, this is Kim, Jenny, Lauren, Frank, Todd, Saeeda, Sakka and Sai. Guys this is Sasuke." I shortly waved and sat down next to Liz. Kiba went to the center and placed a beer bottle on its side. "Ok, here are the rules. No, guy on guy, girl on girl, family members and no 'can I roll again' you get what you get. Since I'm here, I'll spin the bottle first." He must have spun it three times, each a boy. He spun it round and round and it finally stopped, on Liz. I clutched the band again. Kelsey looked mad and Liz and Kiba were beat red. Kiba kissed her for a few seconds and sat down. "Shika's turn." So he got up. Nicole on the first try and he had no problem with that. Next was Kankuro's turn. He got Lissa. With a nervous glance at Gaara, he kissed her as quickly as possible and we moved on. Shino spun Saeeda and Altemire spun Hinata. Lee got Ino and Chouji got Rebecca. Gaara got Sakura and Naruto got Donna. Neji spun Kelsey and Frank spun Ten-Ten. Todd spun Kim and Sakka spun Temari. Then it was my turn. It almost landed on Liz but then it landed on Alex. At least it could be worse. I kissed her quickly and sat back down pouting. Sai kissed Jenny and now it was the girls turn.

I had to go first I pun and it landed on Sakka. I could tell how mad Sasuke was every time I went so I made it as quick as possible. Kelsey got Gaara, Ten-Ten got Kiba and Ino got Altemire. Becca spun Neji, Donna spun Naruto and Kim spun Lee. Lissa got Todd, Amanda spun Altemire, Temari got Sasuke and Hinata spun Chouji. Kankuro was Lauren's, Shino was Saeeda's, Alex had Shika, Jenny had Frank, Sai was Sakura's and Nicole had Todd. That ended round one and Kankuro got up to shut the lights off. "Round two." He whispered kind of creepy like.

Lauren and Jenny decided to leave. Boys started again. Sai got Ten-Ten, Frank got Kim, Shika got Donna and Shino got Liz. Kankuro spun Saeeda and Chouji spun Ino. All of us swore their kiss lasted a little long but they both denied it. Sasuke Rebecca, Todd Alex, Lee Temari, Naruto Donna again and Neji Lissa. Altemire Sakura, Kiba Hinata and Gaara got me. Shika turned red and Lissa got a little jealous. I made it quick and then Sakka went, he got Ten-Ten. Now the girls were gonna go.

I went first. I got Kankuro. Temari then spun Frank, Kim went next and got Neji. Ten-Ten followed with Chouji and Kelsey got Shino in result to her spin. Donna got Sai and Sakura got Altemire. Becca went and got Todd, Ino went and landed Naruto, Hinata landed Gaara and Saeeda ended up with Sasuke. I laughed at Liz's face and so did a few others. Lissa then got Lee, I sent a glare at her and gritted my teeth. Liz laughed back at me although she was still a little red. Nicole got Shika, lucky and Liz got Kiba. Kelsey got really pissed and let a noise escape her mouth because it was the second time. Finally that ended round two.

Time for round three. "Frank you start." I think Kiba said. Why am I playing with these people I hardly know 'em. I got up and spun, Ino. The kid with peanut got Kelsey. Afro dude got Sakura. I think the dudes name was Altemire got Kim. The fat kid got Kelsey, the blonde got Temari. Todd got Liz, Sai got Hinata and Sakka got Lissa. That lazy ass got Rebecca. That kid with the dog got Saeeda. The guy I think Kankuro, got Alex. White eyes got Nicole, Emo got Ino and bushy brows got Alex. So ended the boys turn. Now the ladies. I hope I get spun a lot.

I was really hoping to spin Altemire, but I got that Sakka kid. Nicole went next and spun Chouji. Ten-Ten got Neji, Saeeda Kiba, Donna Altemire, figures someone else got him and Ino Kankuro. Rebecca Sasuke, Sakura Sakka, Hinata Shika and Kelsey, looking terrified got Gaara. Lissa reluctantly got Sai, Kim got Lee and Liz spun Frank and Alex Shino. That ended round three.

The lights suddenly went on and we all spun around. "Hello everyone." A voice rang out. "Aah, Pervy Sage what are you doing here?" Naruto yelled. Yes indeed it was Jiriya. "Just to inform you I'm going to have a special chapter in my new book dedicated to you guys. But in other news, come on the last dance is about to start." He said. My jaw dropped. "AGAIN?" I screamed. Tsunade began pairing us up once more. "Its' the closing dance. After this we can all go to sleep." She said. Kiba, Naruto, Kankuro, Chouji, Altemire and Todd snickered. Pares were rearranged in the order of the boys. Shika Sakura, Gaara Temari, Lee Hinata, Naruto Ten-Ten, Sasuke Lissa, Chouji Kelsey, Kankuro Rebecca, Neji Donna, Altemire Kim, Todd Alex, Kiba Nicole and Sai Saeeda. My heart skipped a beat when I heard my partner was Shino. He hates me because I killed so many of his friends. When we stopped the dance the boys that snickered dropped to the floor to pretend to sleep. Everyone went to bed moments later.

Chapter 8

A night to Remember

We all decided to have a sleepover in the living room. Well the girls anyway. 11:50 p.m. "Guys 10 minutes before Santa!" I warned, but no, they were to busy with their pillow fight. I heaved a sigh and headed for the roof. It was snowing and people were leaving the house. I wonder if Santa can bring back the dead for a present. Probably not. "Wanna know what I wonder?" A voice came. I turned around and saw Liz sitting next to me. "Weather or not mankind will ever fly." She said slowly waving a hand in front of her then glancing at me. "Yea…hey you read my mind!" She just smiled . So wanna talk about it." She said, I sighed. My parents are dead, my life is a lie and I feel lost. "Oh…you've got us Donna." She said hugging me. Someone placed a blanket over the both of us and sat next to me, it was Sasuke. "You two looked cold." Naruto sat on the other side of him and sakura on the other side of Liz. "Don't go homicidal on me Donna." Naruto said. "Aw, thanks guys." "Ok now share the blanket." Sasuke said we spread the blanket around us and we stared at the city. "Let's head in." Sakura said standing up. She slipped on ice and began to slide down the roof top. Liz dove after her and Sasuke dove after Liz. Naruto and I stood up but he slipped and we both went sliding down. "Look out for the edge!" I yelled. Fwoosh, we flew off the edge and into a sled. I looked around, we were flying. "OMG SANTA!" I yelled. The dude flying the sleigh was Jolly Saint Nick himself. "Told you he was real!" Naruto yelled. Sakura was stunned, Sasuke was dumbfounded and Liz was laughing. "Hello Donna, Liz, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura." He said. "Happy Christmas Santa." Liz and I yelled. "Merry Christmas. Now how did you get on my sled?" He asked. "We fell off Donna's roof sir." Sakura said. "Oh is that so? Well, I'll just fly you around a couple of time for you and then I'll put you inside. Hm…how's that sound?" He chuckled and flew faster. "Santa? Do you think I could have a go at driving?" Liz asked. He looked confused for a moment then looked from the reigns to Liz and laughed. "Of course child." He said handing it to her. Her face lit up and I knew immediately what to do. "Guys sit down and hold on tight." I said and that's what they did. "Ready boys?" She yelled at the reindeer. "Kia!" She yelled and whipped the reins. We zoomed directly up and spun and flipped and dived. Liz hit a chimney once or twice and nearly dropped us into a tree. But in spite of that, we where yelling and laughing and having a great time. She finally landed us on my roof after landing on three different houses. Laughing, we hopped off the sleigh. "Thanks Santy Clause." Naruto yelled. "Yea that was great." Sakura said. Santa threw a little rubber bouncy ball down my chimney and laughed. "You're welcome. Now, I have special presents for you five. We'll start with Sakura." He said turning to a sudden quiet Sakura. "The gift of insight. There is more to people than what meets the eye." He said as he placed a sparkly blue dust on her head. He then turned to Naruto. "You've matured Naruto. I'm going to give you the gift of sincerity and respect. Learn to understand someone before jumping ahead." He said doing the same with the dust. "Sasuke…gift, of love." He put dust on Sasuke and winked. I laughed as Santa turned to Liz. "Your mind and spirit soars high above Liz, the gift of flight to join them in the air." He put dust on a smiling Liz. Then, Santa turned to me. "You've been through stuff lately. I have a extra special gift for you." He said. "Oh, um ok." I said. "No fair." Naruto said and Santa gave him a look. "Sincerity and respect, Naruto." He smiled and took out a tape. "What's that a video of?" Liz asked. "Only Donna can answer you…but only if she wants." He said. "Thank you." We all said. He hugged us all and sat down in his sleigh. Looking at us he said, "Merry Christmas." In a soft voice and flew off. "I'm gonna try and fly!" Liz yelled. "Ah a 'When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' Type thing?" Sakura asked, she shook her head. "It's 'When life gives you lemons, make apple juice and let the world wonder how you did it.' But yea pretty much." She said. "I thought it was 'When life gives you lemons, use them to squirt into the eyes of your enemies." I said. "No 'When life gives you lemons, smile politely and throw them away when life isn't looking." Sakura said. "No, 'When life gives you lemons, throw them right back and yell what the fuck." Sasuke said. "What the hell are you guys talking about?" Naruto yelled. Liz jumped into the air and fell back down. She almost slid right off the roof but Sasuke and I grabbed her, using chakura this time. "Great, I knew it." She said. I laughed and we all headed inside. Around the tree were presents and around the presents were sleeping girls. "Oh awesome!" Liz and I screamed. We then flipped the lights on and began opening our presents. The rest of the girls and the guys joined us after a few minutes. We were finally done at 4:15 and went to the guest rooms to go to sleep.

The next morning at breakfast everyone was quiet and sleepy. I looked around when Kankuro and Kiba sat on either side of me. "We need to talk." Kankuro said. "Have you seen Nicole, Shika, Donna or Naruto?" I asked. "No." Kiba said. The three of us got up and went to search the rooms. We noticed how every room's doors were open except one. We pushed the door open and peeked in. "Big deal someone is sleeping in." Kiba whispered. "Hate to break it to you but that's like two people." Kankuro said. I sweatdropped. "Ew." I said. "Bet you it's Naruto and Donna getting their pre-wedding-" "Thank you Kankuro!" I interrupted him. "Watcha doing." Someone said. We jumped around and saw Naruto standing there. I blinked and sweatdropped. "If that's Naruto, who are they?" Kankuro said. "Liz go check." Kiba said poking me. "Me? Why? Never mind." I said sneaking into the room. I lifted the covers back just enough to see the faces and saw Nicole and Shika sound asleep together. From what I could see Nicole had a tang top on and Shika was in his boxers. From the shock I yelled, "Holly Sh-" But was stopped by Kankuro covering my mouth from behind. Kiba, Naruto and Kankuro started laughing quietly. Shika's eyes fluttered open and filled with terror. He started motioning us to leave as he hugged Nicole more tightly with his other arm. I stood there awestruck, as the boys continued to laugh, with Kankuro's hand on my mouth still. Nicole woke up and had the same look on her face as Shika did. "Holly Shit, get the fuck out!" She yelled. "After last night, don't you think you should give it a fucking rest." Kiba laughed. "Get out!" She screamed. We ran out of the room. "Naruto where were you anyway?" I asked finally free of Kankuro's hand. "Bathroom. Donna's watching a tape and should be right down." "Anyway, we have to talk about MadIronic." Kiba said. "Huh?"

I started to cry a little as I watched the tape. My parents, all about them, from when they met till when they had to leave me. It absolutely killed them. When the tape finished I hugged it tightly. "Thank you Santa." I chocked as I wiped the tears away and headed for breakfast.

Chapter 9

Time to head home

Right before we left I visited the sanctuary I inherited. I loved it, but left all my feeling there, including the tape. Liz, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura came with me, oh and Kakashi…basically my team. Now we're on the train. Lee proposed to Alex and Kiba to Kelsey right before boarding the train. This time we ere in the blue cars. In 21B was Kim, Rebecca, Saeeda, Alex and Temari. Oh yea Saeeda, Todd, Amanda, Rebecca and Altemire are coming back with us. But Altemire is coming a little later. 22B had Gaara, Naruto, Amanda, Lissa and TenTen. The sensei's share cabin 23B. 24B had Chouji, Shino, Liz, Kelsey and Kankuro. Liz and Kankuro were basically never in their cabin for they were with Kiba working on their band "MadIronic". Eventually Kelsey joined them so Cabin 24B was pretty vacant. 25B was Lee, Neji, Kiba, Sasuke and Me. And last 26B, Nicole, Ino, Hinata, Shika, Todd and Sakura. When we got back Kurenai couldn't be happier to see her kid. I had a few days rest and then started planning my wedding. One bye one people started proposing, Shika and Nicole, Gaara to Lissa, Kankuro and Amanda, Neji to Rebecca, Todd and Sakura, Altemire to Temari and finally, two years after my wedding, Sasuke proposed to Liz. He did it with a headband. Instead of the silver plate it was gold and had the Uchiha symbol on it. I had my wedding the summer after we got back from the star.

It was so beautiful, seeing the Star in the summer. We were back in the sanctuary and Donna was coming down the isle with her uncle. I was the maid of honor, Kakashi was performing the wedding and Sasuke was the best man. Naruto looked so happy. Standing next to me was Nicole, Liz, Lissa, Alex then Kim as the brides maids. On the other side behind Sasuke were my Kiba-kins, Shika and then Lee for the groomsmen. The after party was on a beach and the whole thing was at night. Naruto and Donna's first dance was shooting star. It was adorable I almost cried. Their cake was vanilla with vanilla. Who knows where they went for their honeymoon. But when it was over I rushed strait to the Mist with Kiba.

Everyone went to the Mist a month later for Kiba and Kelsey's wedding. Her dad walked her down the Isle and Kurenai performed the ceremony. It was during spring and in a flower field in the morning. Hinata was the maid of honor and in order the brides maids Nicole, Donna, Liz, me and Lissa. The best man was Shino followed by Naruto, Kankuro and Neji. Their first dance was You and ME, and their cake was vanilla ice cream with chocolate crunchies. Then Lee and I headed back to the leaf for our wedding.

The maid of honor was Lissa and Alex's dad walked her down the isle. Tsunade preformed the wedding and the Best man was Gaara. The bride's maids were TenTen, Liz, me, Kelsey and Donna. The groom's men were Gai, Neji, Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba. The cake was delicious, ice-cream, and their dance was Waiting on the World to Change. The whole thing was at a country club during winter.

We visited the Waterfall during the winter solstice for Nicole's and Shikamaru's wedding. Nicole's brother Leon performed the wedding and her other brother Logan walked her down the Isle. Her maid of honor was Liz and the best man was Chouji. Her bride's maids were Temari, Donna, Me, Kelsey and Alex. The Groom's men were Naruto, Gaara-kun and Kiba. Her first dance that night was Right Here and the cake, my favorite part, was marbles vanilla icing three feet high.

Neji and I boarded the ship and sailed to the middle of the ocean for Lissa and Gaara's wedding that spring. It was night when Baki began to perform the ritual and, with much effort of restraint, we all watched as Kisame walked her down the Isle. Nicole was the maid of honor and Liz, Donna, me and Amanda were the bride's maids. Kankuro was the best man and Naruto, Lee and a guy from the Sand named Justin were the groom's men. Their first dance, later on that night, was Here Comes the Sun and the cake was vanilla fancy.

Winter that same year Kakashi married Rebecca and Neji. It was so romantic at sunset. Hinata's father walked Becca down the isle while Hinata her self was the maid of honor. I was the first bride's maid followed by Temari and Becca's cat Bella. The best man was Lee and following him were Naruto and Sasuke. They agreed not to have a first dance and no one seems to remember if they had a cake either. My wedding was the following spring. I convinced Kankuro to have it at the lake in Konoha. Kakashi walked me down the Isle, Temari on my left and Gaara behind Kankuro on my right. Becca, Lissa, Kelsey, Alex and Liz followed Temari and Kiba, Shika, Chouji, Baki and Naruto followed Gaara. Later on that day we danced to Stolen and ate our Chocolate, white frosted, blue flowered cake.

Everyone was set up, Jiriya was going to marry us and Cloud was going to walk me down the Isle. My cake, cake-mix ice-cream with cookie doe topping, two layers. We were at the Wood on the summer solstice in the leaves of the Wazikage tree. I walked down the Isle and glanced at my maid of honor, Nicole. Donna, Kelsey, Lissa, Alex, and Anko stood next to her. Will, Naruto and Kakashi stood on the right. Sasuke, smiling, waited for me at the front. "Hey." He whispered I smiled. "Promise to not freak or leave?" He gave me a confused look but then nodded. "Look up." I whispered back. He looked up and the smile faded. "Why?" "Thought you would want your family as well." "You shouldn't have." My smile faded as well. "But…thank you." I smiled. After at our party we danced to the Greatest Fan and in the dark, nodded off to the man in the tree. That man meant a lot to Sasuke…he was indeed his older brother after all.

THE END