Toshiro - 14

Akito - 13

Satomi - 12

Natsumi - 12

Yuki - 5

Minako - 12

Shuhei - 5

Ken (Lee's Son) - 13

Kumori (Temari/Shikamaru's Son) - 13

Kallen (Temari/Shikamaru's Daughter) - 4

Yuri (Ino/Kiba's Daughter) - 4

Aftershock

Prologue

-Chuunin Exams (Part I)-

Three Years Later…

Three shadows dashed through the trees followed by nine others. Dark jade eyes focused ahead, two pink haired girls on either side of him. "Hey Toshiro," Natsumi jumped ahead, keeping pace with him. "How about a race?" she arched her brow. Her hair was only a little bit longer, because she liked to keep it short and out of the way.

"No way Natsumi, I'm not stupid." He said simply.

She gave him a pout, "Come on. What? You scared?" she snickered, getting a glare in return.

"I am not scared." He said. Satomi rolled her eyes, her siblings were so predictable.

Suddenly they could hear wailing, so the three glanced back to see their five year old sister screaming her lungs off from their mother's back. Sakura looked worn, no doubt from the constant noise going into her ear. Gaara came beside her and took the girl, trying to calm her down, but the blare did not cease.

"Okay." Toshiro said, locking gazes with his sister. "You're on." And with that they took off.

They weren't too far from Konoha now, and with an increased speed Natsumi took the lead and jumped from the treetops, landing gracefully on her feet in front of the gates. "Haha! I win again." About a minute later Toshiro was beside her, glaring slightly.

He dusted off his long black sleeves. He wore a simple black, long sleeved shirt, with black pants. Nothing but a gourd on his back and a kunai holster on his right thigh.

Natsumi scoffed, giving him a skeptical look, "Don't be so angry." She told him, running her fingers through her messed up hair. Her outfit was much different than anything she had worn before. Her ninja shoes were similar to her mother's, almost to her knees. Her shirt only went down to the top of her stomach, exposing her midriff. It was red and similar to what her mother had worn in her genin years. The bottom was a simple matching red skirt with slits all the way up to the top, and underneath she had a pair of black biker shorts for easy movement. The entire outfit was rimmed with thin black.

"I'm not angry. It's just stupid." He said, looking away as to not show the disappointment on his face. Satomi was next to them then, crossing her arms over her chest. Her top looked similar to Tsunade's, only black and red, with matching black capris.

Finally the rest of the group arrived. Gaara and Sakura holding their daughter Yuki, whose green eyes seemed more vibrant than Sakura's from her tears. Temari landed next to her brother, followed by Shikamaru, who was holding their youngest child, Kallen. She was blonde and small, about four years old, nearly a spitting image of her mother.

Kumori, Temari and Shikamaru's oldest son, made his way leisurely towards them, followed by his two teammates. Sora laughed loudly, "Well look there! Finally I get to see Konoha!" the brunette snickered, rubbing his hands together. "I hear there are lots of hotties here."

The sandy brown haired girl beside him smacked the boy over the head, "Pervert." She rolled her eyes and walked past him.

"Hey! Yoii! That hurt!" he yelled after her.

"Whatever."

Ino came beside Sakura, Kiba following closely with their pale blonde four year old girl. "Ah, Konoha. Long time no see." He smiled.

Gaara sighed, he really hated coming to this stupid village. "Alright. Kids," he called getting the attention of his three and the other three Suna genin. Kiba and Ino went in, already knowing where to go. They were off to visit family.

"You behave now Kumori," Temari waved, dragging Shikamaru off to see her in-laws.

The Kazekage cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "You better make Suna proud. These exams are for us to show our prowess and you will show it. Understand?"

They all nodded, "Don't worry dad. We won't lose." Natsumi smirked. Satomi and Toshiro mimicked their sister, crossing their arms with assurance.

"Try not to make a scene…" he told them, taking Sakura's hand and leading her and their youngest towards the hotel they would be staying at. "Behave." He called over his shoulder.

Kumori sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. He looked so much like his father, but harder features from his mother. "What a drag." He looked to his cousins and walked off.

"Wait up Kumori!" Sora jogged after him. Yoii rolled her eyes once more, following despite her displeasure.

The three looked at one another. Toshiro glanced around a bit surprised, "I wonder where Minako is?"

Suddenly a loud explosion sounded from the area where the Uchiha District was located, a large cloud of smoke rising from it.

They all looked over, "What the heck?" Natsumi blinked.

"Nothing here surprises me anymore." Satomi said simply.

Suddenly Natsumi took off, making both her siblings go wide eyed. "Whoa. What's going on?" Toshiro asked. Without a reply Satomi began to follow, Toshiro soon after. Natsumi was the more psychic one, so she usually knew something was happening and where to be.

It took the pink haired girl no time to arrive at the prefecture. She launched up and dashed across the roofs, landing down in Sasuke and Akito's backyard. The smoke cleared, revealing Akito, Minako, and some other boy with bushy eyebrows. "Akito-kun you idiot!" Minako yelled, hitting him on the arm.

"Hn. How was I supposed to know that would happen? It's not like the scroll had instructions on it." He replied, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I don't know. So the fact that it said 'Do not open or suffer the consequences' wasn't good enough for you?" she asked sarcastically, placing her hands on her hips.

"Now, now team, let's not ruin the joys of youth with this small squabble." The boy said.

"Shut up Ken, before I take away your youth for good." Akito said, brushing off his white shirt. Along with that he wore black pants, his ninja shoes going up to right below his knees. On his arms he wore wrist guards that went all the way up to his elbows. A kunai holster was on his right leg, and another one lower on the outside of his boot.

"Don't be mean to him Akito-kun, it's not his fault you can't read." Minako said, examining her clothes to make sure everything was still in one piece. She wore a skin tight black long sleeved shirt and a loose black skirt with black leggings that went all the way down her legs. On her feet she wore standard ninja shoes.

The other boy ran up to Minako and flung his arms around her. "You are so brilliant Minako-chan! That is why I love you!" he declared, stars in his eyes. Akito grabbed him by the back of his green shirt and pulled him off the frozen girl, lifting him off the ground in the process. "What have I told you about touching people without permission?" Akito asked seriously.

"Fine, fine. But youth waits for no man!" Ken said, pointing a finger in the air.

At this point Akito sensed another presence in his backyard. He turned, dark green eyes widening. He dropped the boy then and stepped forward slightly. "Natsumi?" he asked, not sure if he was seeing things correctly.

She locked eyes with the Uchiha and felt a small blush creep up her cheeks. "Hi Akito."

"Wow, you look…different. In a good way I mean." He said, blushing, running his hand through his hair, which was a bit longer than the last time she had seen him.

"Um thanks," she smiled awkwardly. "That's kinda what happens when people get older. You look nice too by the way…" she mumbled, feeling her blush intensify.

The gate to the backyard opened and Toshiro and Satomi walked in, the difference between the twins was only growing over the years, since Satomi's pink braid came halfway down her back. "Hey Akito." Toshiro gave the boy a smile. "Dang, you got tall!" he laughed.

Natsumi tried not to feel so aggravated by her sibling's arrival. She kept her eyes on Akito for a while, before giving Minako a wave. Minako returned her friend's wave and then turned to face Toshiro. "Hi Shiro-kun." She said softly. She blushed at the way he had changed over the years. She wondered if he would notice how she had changed as well.

Before anything more could be said Ken ran over to Satomi. "Wow! You're so pretty!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand. Then he ran over to Natsumi and grabbed her hand as well. "But you…you're the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life!"

He turned and looked at Minako, running over to her and grabbing her hand, dragging Natsumi with him. "I mean, you're beautiful too Minako-chan don't get me wrong. But it's in a cute, adorable way. She is just exotic!" he declared, looking back at Natsumi.

Akito glared at his teammate, his fist clenching in anger. Natsumi blinked, looking away from the odd guy. "Um…thank you?"

Satomi looked pissed, her hard glare set on the boy dressed in green. How was Natsumi prettier than her? They were identical twins. Her eye twitched angrily.

Toshiro arched a brow, "Who are you?" he said, directing a glare at the boy. He didn't disagree that Minako was extremely cute, but he couldn't understand why he was so bothered by the statement.

"Oh my name is Ken, I'm Rock Lee's son." He said, and then he dismissed the redhead, turning back to Natsumi. "I would really like to take you out to dinner, in fact, why don't you both join me?" he asked perking up.

Akito walked over and placed his hand on Ken's shoulder, squeezing really hard and causing the boy to wince in pain. "Keep touching Natsumi and see what happens." He threatened, a dark look in his eyes.

Ken let go of Natsumi's hand, immediately understanding. "I see." Then he turned to Minako. "Well, it makes sense for me to stay with you Minako-chan, since we live in the same village, and Akito doesn't threaten my life when I touch you."

Natsumi stared after him, a bit flabbergasted. She glanced down then and realized she had attached herself to Akito. Toshiro huffed and walked over to Minako and Ken. "He won't, but I will." He glared, pulling Minako out of his grasp and becoming the barrier between the two.

Minako blushed at his words, stepping forward so that she was barely touching his back. Ken's eyes widened. "Oh so you like Minako-chan as well?" he asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.

"As well?" Toshiro asked, a bit confused. He reached his hand back and took her hand, just so he would know she was there and out of this weirdo's grasp.

"Yeah. You are in love with Minako-chan just as I am." He said, unabashed.

By now everyone was staring at the redhead, whose face matched the color of his hair. "I'm not in love with Minako." He said defensively.

Her breath hitched a bit. His words hurt her for some reason, and she didn't know why. Ken gave Toshiro a confused look. "If you do not love her, then you have no claim over her." He said, trying to reach behind the other boy to take Minako's hand again.

Akito pulled Natsumi to him defensively, in case Ken changed his mind and tried to go for her again. She looked up at him, enjoying his embrace for whatever reason it was he was being so defensive. Toshiro backed away, giving Minako's hand a tight squeeze. "Look, if you don't want to die, you'll stop trying to touch her."

"Ken, stop. We need three members for the exam and if Toshiro kills you, which he will, we won't be able to enter. And if that happens, I will bring you back from the dead to kill you myself." Akito threatened.

"You people do not know how to embrace the power of youth!" he declared, tears coming to his eyes.

"Shut up." Akito said. Then he looked down at Natsumi. "I'm sorry about him, he's always been that way. I hope he didn't freak you out too much." He said, giving her a small smile.

She smiled brightly at him, stealing more of his warmth. "No it's okay, at first it was a bit alarming but at least you're here."

Satomi rolled her eyes and decided to leave now, since she hated most of the people here.

Minako walked in front of Toshiro then, wanting to get a better look at how he had changed. She looked at their joined hands and blushed. "You didn't have to do that Shiro-kun. Ken has always been a bit enthusiastic about life." She said.

"I don't care." He said a bit harshly, looking down at her. "It makes me uncomfortable when he touches you and proclaims his weird love." He finally got a good look at her and she could see his eyes trailing down and then returning. "Wow…you look really good Minako."

Her blush darkened then. "T-thank you Shiro-kun. You don't look too bad either. I even have to tilt my head back farther so I can look into your face." She said with a smile.

He shrugged, "Well you've seen my dad. I have tall genes." He smiled.

Akito laughed then, "Hey if you've got tall genes how come Natsumi is such a squirt?"

The pink haired girl glared up at him, hitting him playfully in the chest. "You're still a meanie," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

He leaned down closer to her and smirked. "And what are you gonna do about it?" he teased, raising a brow.

She couldn't help but blush, "Well…" she smirked then, standing taller so their faces were closer. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually, I would." He said, meeting her challenge by leaning closer so that their noses were almost touching.

"Okay, okay." Toshiro said, pushing the two apart. "How about you two just calm it down a little." He gave Akito a bit of a threatening look, it was his sister after all. Minako let out a deep breath, not wanting to let on that she was glad Toshiro had ceased their actions.

Ken stood there, mouth agape. "So that's why you don't want me to have the exotic beauty!" he exclaimed. "It's because you have already claimed her!"

Before he could say anything else Akito hit him on the head, effectively knocking him out. "Idiot." He muttered, watching as his teammate hit the ground.

Natsumi was beet red now, tugging nervously at her gloves once more. Toshiro crossed his arms and gave his friend a look. "You claimed my sister?"

"Don't listen to him, he's crazy." Akito said, crossing his arms defensively. "Besides, he thinks you're in love with Minako. Are you saying that's true?" Akito asked, raising a brow.

"Hey, I just…no, I mean love is just…" he stopped, becoming tongue tied. Crap, he thought angrily.

The pink haired girl crossed her arms and looked over at Akito. "So…you're saying there's nothing between us?"

Minako mimicked her friend and glared at Toshiro. "And you're saying that you don't care about me?"

"No, Minako! That's not what I was saying!" the redhead waved his hands in front of his face, trying to dismiss the accusation. "You are very important to me and you're very, very pretty!" he gulped, hoping this would suffice.

Natsumi kept her glare on Akito, tapping her foot impatiently. "Uh…" he said dumbly, not really sure what kind of an answer she was looking for. "No, of course there's something between us Natsumi. I mean, we're friends…and stuff…and you're pretty too!" he said, stealing the last part from Toshiro, knowing that Natsumi liked to be complimented.

Her eye twitched and she looked over at Minako. "You want to go get something to eat Minako?" she asked setting her hands on her hips in a very Sakura-like fashion.

"Yes, the present company is getting on my nerves." She replied, sending Toshiro a small glare. Then she turned and leapt off into the trees bordering Akito's backyard.

Natsumi followed, leaving the two idiots to themselves. Toshiro scratched his head, wondering what they had done wrong. "I think we were just dumped." He said, looking over to his best friend.

Akito held up a finger. "No, getting dumped would require us actually being with them. Last time I checked, we were just in some kind of weird friendship."

"Then how come it still feels like that?" he arched a brow.

"I'm not sure." The Uchiha sighed. Then he turned to his friend. "Want to spar? We don't have to be at the meeting place for the first test until tomorrow." He said. He would rather focus on something tangible like training, than girls and their weird emotions.

Toshiro shrugged, "Sure. Let's go find a training field." And the two left, looking for an empty training field to destroy, completely forgetting about the unconscious Ken.


Minako took her seat in the large room, looking around curiously. She didn't even know this room existed at the Academy before. She was seated next to someone she didn't know, Akito having been put two rows in front of her and Ken somewhere in the back.

She found Natsumi, who was seated next to Akito, and glared, slightly jealous. Why did she always get to be close to the boy she liked?! Satomi was over by the window, and she couldn't see Toshiro, which only meant that he was seated somewhere behind her, so she wouldn't even get the pleasure of staring at him. Life was so unfair sometimes.

A man walked in then, a large scar across his face and a bandana covering the rest of his head. When he stopped in front of the room everyone became silent. "Hello, my name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be your instructor for the first part of the exam." He began, and then he looked around, assessing everyone.

"You will each be handed a piece of paper with nine questions on it. Answer them to the best of your abilities. Each question is worth one point. You need at least twenty-five in order to continue to the next round. The tenth question will be given to you in an hour's time." He explained. "Any questions?"

When nobody answered he continued. "As the Chuunin you see around the room hand out the papers, I will explain the rules. Absolutely no cheating. If you are caught cheating your entire team is disqualified, and you will have to wait for the next Chuunin Exam." He said, glaring at them. When he saw that everyone had their papers, he nodded his head. "Begin."

Minako looked at her paper and went wide-eyed. Sure, she could answer some of these questions, but most of them were things only a Chuunin or a Jounin would know. It was then she realized that she would have to cheat. Luckily for her she had the byakugan.

She formed the proper hand sign and activated her kekkei genkai. Without needing to look up, she began to copy down the other ninja's answers. She only hoped that the rest of her team caught on to what was really going on. She knew Akito would, but she wasn't too sure about Ken. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Akito looked at his paper and let out a silent sigh. He was right, cheating was a must. Otherwise there wouldn't have been that much emphasis on it. He activated his sharingan and began to watch the person's hand in front of him, copying their hand movements without looking at his paper.

Natsumi looked down and studied the questions for a moment. She smirked deviously, Easy. First she started with the ones she knew. Since Suna Genin started the academy much earlier than Konoha did, she was already one step ahead of the game. Not to mention her father was the Kazekage and she and her siblings were held on a higher level despite their youth. By the time she couldn't answer anymore of the questions she only had three left. Toshiro and Satomi probably had the other answers she didn't, so she placed two fingers on her left eye and concentrated. Her sand swirled together, forming a small eye that then dispersed and crawled over to her brother. She had been right, he had one of the answers she needed. She copied it down quickly and then moved to Satomi.

Meanwhile Toshiro was doing the same. Natsumi was the smartest of the three, and he knew she would have most of the answers so he started with her. Satomi would just have to wait until one of them was done so they could copy the answers onto her paper.

The test had been going on for a while now and Natsumi had flipped her test over so no one could see her answers. She looked around, noticing only a few other people done. Slowly she let her sand cover his sister's hand in a similar manner as her sand armor and began writing the answers for her. This was just too easy.

Akito smirked when he realized what Natsumi was doing. He had always thought she was smart, and was glad that it was true. He flipped his paper over so that no one else would see it and sat back in his seat, crossing his arms and getting comfortable.

After about thirty minutes, Ibiki halted everyone. By now about a third of the people were gone, having been caught cheating. Ibiki counted the numbers in his head and sighed. This next question should get rid of half of them at least.

"Now for the tenth and final question. Before I give it to you however, I will make one thing clear. Should you answer this question wrong, not only is your entire team disqualified, but you will all be unable to take the Chuunin Exams ever again, forever remaining a Genin. If anyone wants to leave the room right now and come back next time, we will not blame you." He said, looking around and watching everyone's faces.

A few people got up, sending apologetic looks to their teams. Now there were even less, but still a substantial amount. "Will you just ask the stupid question already?" Satomi glared. She was impatient, just like her dad, and the guy beside her was starting to freak her out.

Ibiki ignored her. "I will ask one last time. Are you sure you want me to continue? If you fail, your team will go down with you. Do you want that on your conscience?" he asked, raising a brow.

Satomi's eye twitched and her pencil snapped easily in her hands. Now she was really pissed. She wasn't afraid of this brute. Natsumi paled, her sister was probably going to murder their exam director. No one else got up, so the elder twin decided to speak up once more. "Get on with it," she glared threateningly.

Ibiki glared back, daring her to say another word. "Look, I am not intimidated by you little girl. I don't care if your daddy is the Kazekage and your mother is Tsunade's student. Be quiet and let me finish!" he demanded and then turned back to the class. "Now…for those of you who have risked your futures and those of your teammates…congratulations. You pass, there is no tenth question." The room was silent then.

"What?!" Sora slammed his hands on the desk with a huff. "That's so stupid! What was the point of that?!"

Ibiki just laughed, crossing his arms. "I just like to mess with you punks. Alright, you are dismissed. The next exam is in two days. You will each receive instructions on where to go later." He waved his hand and then left the room. Everyone started moving then, Satomi punched the desk angrily and then got up, leaving without even bothering to wait for her brother and sister.

Natsumi stood and looked up at Akito, who was twirling a kunai around in his hand. "Hey Akito…I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go get something to eat." She asked, swallowing as she tried to wet her dry throat. He looked down at her and smiled, but before he could say anything Minako was by his side.

"Hey guys! What's up?" she asked, letting her eyes shift from her teammate to her friend.

Natsumi suppressed a growl. She really hated Minako's awful timing. "Well I was just asking Akito here if he wanted to go get something to eat. Since I'm starving," she said simply, returning her gaze to the boy between them.

"Oh! I'm starving too! Why don't we all go?" she smiled, setting her hand on Akito's shoulder.

The pink haired girl did everything in her power to stop herself from strangling her friend. Why did she always do this? Get all touchy feely with Akito whenever she wanted to do something with him. Catching a flash of red with her peripherals, she reached behind her and latched onto her brother's shirt. She dragged him to her side and plastered on a smile. "How about you go get something with Toshiro?" she said, pointing at her brother for emphasis. He obviously had no idea what was going on.

"Um. Okay?" Toshiro looked over at Minako. "I'm hungry, you want something?" he asked getting the dark haired girl's attention.

"Yeah, I'd like that Shiro-kun." she giggled, temporarily distracted.

Natsumi sighed with relief, glad she had gotten what she wanted until, "Hey why don't we all go? We can all hang out." Toshiro said wisely.

"No!" Natsumi yelled, before she could control her reaction. The other three stared at her and she tried to play it off. She laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I mean, come on…we don't want a crowd and…you guys haven't seen each other in a long time. I don't want to ruin that."

"I don't mind," Toshiro shrugged, looking over at Minako. "What about you?"

She shook her head, watching Natsumi and then Akito carefully. "No I think it's a great idea."

This time Natsumi couldn't stop the small groan that escaped her lips. "Whatever." She looked off, crossing her arms then.

They went to a local restaurant that served various foods. Akito walked over to their table and pulled a chair out. "Here you go Natsumi." He said, ever the gentlemen.

She smiled at him, sending a look Minako's way. "Thanks Akito." She said, sitting down. Then he sat next to her.

Toshiro, not wanting to be shown up by his friend, did the same for Minako. She sat down gracefully, glaring at the raven haired boy across from her. Why did he always do nice things for Natsumi and not her?!

The waiter came by then and took their orders. Not one for silence, Minako spoke up. "So Shiro-kun, do I get to meet Yuki this trip?" she asked, having never met the youngest of the Sabaku siblings.

"Yeah I suppose. Although I'm not sure why you'd want to. She isn't very nice for a little girl." The redhead stated, giving Minako a skeptical look.

"But I love kids! Shuhei is just so cute, all the time!" Minako exclaimed, smiling fondly at the thought of her little brother. She just adored him.

Shortly after this their food arrived and they began to eat. Swallowing her noodles, Minako looked across the table at Akito. "So Akito-kun, when do you want to spar tomorrow?"

"Well actually," Natsumi began, looking at the Uchiha beside her and smiling. "I was hoping you and I could hang out tomorrow Akito. I mean, it's been three years since I last saw you."

He looked between his two friends, torn. On one hand, he did want to see Natsumi. But on the other hand, he wanted to practice a bit before the second test, and Minako was his favorite sparring partner whenever Toshiro wasn't there.

"Uh…well actually Toshiro wanted to practice with me a bit tomorrow. Right Toshiro?" he asked, looking to his friend.

The redhead looked up, slurping his noodles slowly. "Huh? Oh yeah. Sure, why not." He shrugged, taking a sip of his water then.

Natsumi glared hatefully at her brother, sometimes he was just so ignorant. "Fine." Natsumi leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms stubbornly.

Minako stabbed at her noodles with her chopsticks. Things just never went her way. Then a devilish smirk came across her face as she got an idea. "I guess I'll just have to see if Ken is free tomorrow. He's wanted to train with me one on one for a while now anyways. He said he had some things he wanted to teach me." She said nonchalantly, taking another bite of noodles.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." Akito said with a shrug. He really didn't care, as long as he was out of the hot seat, things were just fine.

Toshiro had been slurping up another mouthful of noodles as she said this, and they went down a bit too fast from his shock. He choked and began coughing, causing Minako to gasp and start hitting his back to try and help. Natsumi stood, leaning over the table to make sure her brother was alright. When she slammed her hand on the table her glass toppled over and spilled. She yelled, blushing a light pink as she tried to clean it up with her napkin.

Akito picked up his now wet hand and started to dry it. "Oh Akito! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." She bit down on her lip, feeling like a total idiot.

Once Toshiro was finally alright the only thing that came from his mouth between pants was, "You're going to be alone with that freak?!"

Minako crossed her arms and raised a brow. "Well I would like to get in some training too before the next test. And it only makes sense to do it with a teammate. Since you and Akito-kun will be training tomorrow, I am only left with Ken to train with."

"I forbid it!" he glared, then stopped and felt a bit foolish for being so protective. "How about I train with you? Then you can get some experience fighting against someone with a completely different fighting style."

Well, it wasn't really the reaction she had wanted, but she supposed it would have to do. It had been a while since she had seen him, and if they were sparring, they would be close. Sort of. She smiled at him, not disappointed anymore in not getting to spend time with Akito. "Okay Shiro-kun! If you insist." Then she resumed eating her noodles.

Akito had just finished drying the table from where Natsumi spilled her drink. Seeing that she didn't have one anymore, he slid his over to her wordlessly. She blinked and looked at it and then over at him. She obviously didn't really comprehend the gesture.

"You can have mine." He said simply, twirling his noodles onto his chopsticks.

"I couldn't," she shook her head. "It's yours. I can just get another one."

"Are you a germ-o-phobe or something? It's no problem, I don't mind sharing." He said, looking at her. Then he smirked. "Unless you think I have cooties."

She huffed and took the drink, sipping it through the straw. "I don't think you have cooties and I'm not afraid of germs." She said to him, taking another sip and smiling happily. "At least not yours anyways."

"Good." He said, taking the drink from her and sipping from it. He froze then and sat the drink down on the table slowly. Sharing a drink with Natsumi and using the same straw was almost the same as kissing her, since technically they were exchanging saliva. He shook his head and continued to eat. That was just stupid, and he knew that she didn't think of it that way. He decided to just pretend it was Minako he was sharing his drink with, since they had done that a few times over the years.

"Youth!" a loud yell erupted from the door. Natsumi looked over, seeming to be the only one who actually acknowledged Ken's presence. Akito took another bite of his food and Toshiro looked like he was trying to explain sand surfing to Minako.

She looked back towards Ken only to find his face in hers. She yelped and scooted back a bit, bumping into Akito. The odd boy pulled up a chair right next to her, leaning over. "Hello beautiful Natsumi, I see you were attracted to my entrance. I couldn't help but notice you're bright gaze." He smiled, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips.

Akito snatched her hand from his before his lips could make contact. "Touch her again and I'll kill you." He threatened, sharingan activating.

Ken blinked, seeming very confused. "I simply do not understand. If you do not claim her, then why is no one but you allowed to touch her?"

Toshiro was just staring intently at the younger version of Lee. "You're such a freak…" he said softly, making sure Minako was safely behind him.

Akito deactivated his sharingan, realizing that Ken was right. "Well…because she doesn't want anyone but me to touch her." He said, smirking in triumph.

The redhead slammed his hands on the table and glared at Akito. "Whoa! What?! You've been touching my sister?!" he yelled, the sand from his gourd already spilling out and swarming around the restaurant.

Natsumi went a dark red, "Not like that you idiot!"

"Why would you even think such a thing? I would never do that." Akito said, giving his friend a horrified look.

The pink haired girl looked at him then, offended. "Oh really?" she glared standing up then and tossing her napkin on the table. She faced the odd boy and steeled her nerves. "Fine Ken, I'll go get ice cream with you or whatever."

He cheered, thrusting his fist in the air. He grabbed her hand, causing her face to contort into a look of displeasure. He quickly dragged his 'exotic beauty' out the door before Akito could stop him. Toshiro stared after them and then looked back at Akito. "Ouch," he laughed, picking up his glass and taking a long sip. "You just lost your special friend to a freak."

"Not for long I didn't." Akito said, throwing his napkin down and disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Minako looked around the restaurant and then back at the table. "Did we just get stuck with the bill?" she asked, looking at Toshiro, confused.

The redhead sighed in defeat, "Well I'm sure we could always play the whole 'Kazekage's son' and 'Hokage's daughter' card." He shrugged and then smiled at her, "So you want to go spar? I think it'll be fun. I promise I won't try to hurt you."

She smiled at his idea. "Okay, but don't hold back too much. I'm not as delicate as I look, I promise." She said, standing up.

"Oh I'm sure you're not." He laughed, getting up with her and waving over a waiter. Their plan worked flawlessly, and then they were off to the training fields.


"And this, my beautiful and precious Natsumi, is my favorite pond. It's so peaceful and full of youth!" Ken smiled excitedly. "See!" he pointed towards a grouping of small baby frogs. "So much youth!"

She inched away from him slowly, looking at the frogs. "Yes, how nice. Very youthful." She nodded. This had been an awful idea. He was way weirder than she thought he would be.

She was thrown over a shoulder suddenly, and from what she could tell, was moving at an incredible speed. Then she was set down in a familiar backyard, Akito standing a foot away from her, sharingan activated and checking the perimeter. He looked back at her and deactivated it. "I think we're safe." He said seriously.

"Safe from what?" she arched her brow, crossing her arms and glaring at him. She was still kind of mad at him for what he said. What? Was she that unattractive?

"Safe from Ken." He said simply, not understanding why she was upset.

"And I was in danger how?" she asked, still in a very defensive stance. She wouldn't admit that her stomach was doing flips from the fact he had swooped her away from that freak.

"He was going to start touching you soon, and I will not allow it." He said, crossing his arms.

She looked a bit taken back, but decided to try and change her approach. "And who designated you as the person who says who can and cannot touch me?" she unfolded her arms and set them on her hips, challenging him.

"I did. Somebody has to protect you from weirdoes like Ken, so why not me? Unless you wanted him to touch you…then I guess I could take you back…" he said, looking away from her then. Even if she said she wanted to go back he would refuse. He would even resort to physical restraint if he had to.

She just watched him, he was talking about protecting her from weirdoes, yet he was being pretty weird himself. She let a smile form on her face then, she knew what he was at least attempting to say. At least she hoped she knew. "Alright." she gave in, shrugging. "As long as you promise to never let anyone else ever touch me I designate you myself." She winked at him with a devious smirk.

He stared at her in surprise. Then he let a small smile creep over his face. "Fine." Then he walked over and picked up some kunai. "So, you wanna show me how good you've gotten?" he asked, tossing one to her. She caught it expertly, twirling it around her finger and then holding it up by the tip.

"Why not?" she tossed it up once more and then threw it straight at a target, nailing the bull's-eye. She smirked, "And why don't we make this interesting? Winner gets a kiss from the loser."

"You're on." He said tossing his kunai at the target without looking, causing hers to fall off. "Get your lips ready, this will be over quickly." He said with a smirk.

She tried to hide the surprise that covered her face. She huffed, feeling the light pink tint cover her cheeks. "You wish." she growled, walking over to him and stopping unnecessarily close, so that they were practically pressed against one another. She stared up into his deep green eyes and smiled. Skillfully, she opened his kunai holster and pulled out a few. "Thanks," she said, pulling away from him then. She took three of the kunai and threw them, all but one hitting the center perfectly. The third was only a bit off, but a clear miss compared to the others.

Akito took the remaining three from his holster and threw them, each one hitting dead center. She was good, he had to admit, but he had been practicing since he was young. And his father had even asked Tenten to train him a bit. Her loss was declared the moment she challenged him.

She went a bit wide eyed and huffed, "No fair." she crossed her arms in a pout, refusing to look at him now. She was positive she would have gotten a perfect score.

"Looks like I win." He said, walking over to the post and removing the kunai. He placed them back in his holster and walked over to her. He raised a brow and crossed his arms, looking down at her. "So? Aren't you going to kiss me? Or have you changed your mind?" he asked, smirking.

"Hey now, I'm not a liar." She said with a huff and got up on her tip toes. Slowly she held his face with her hands and parted her lips. She closed her eyes and just before her lips touched his, she turned his head and kissed his cheek sweetly. She settled back down and snickered, staring up at him. "You never specified where." Natsumi wagged a finger in his face. "If you want my first kiss…well you're just going to have to earn it the hard way."

"As long as I'm the one who earns it." He said, looking away in a huff. Then he realized what he said and turned back to her. "I mean…uh…" there really wasn't anything he could say to cover up what he had just said.

She blinked and stared at him for a while. She almost couldn't believe the words he had uttered from his mouth. Slowly she smiled and touched his cheek with her hand. "I can't imagine anyone else winning it, so you're in luck." She stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. "But don't worry," she leaned closer, letting her breath tickle his ear. "I've been saving it for you, so I'm sure you'll get it eventually."

His face turned crimson then, and he stood there frozen. What was he supposed to say to that? "Do you want to go get some ice cream?" he asked suddenly, needing something to cool off his face.

She pulled away from him and laughed, "Sure." Without a second thought she took his hand and led him out the gate. "I bet you're just dying for something cold." She teased, glancing back at him. But he could see the dark blush on her own face.

"Shut up." He said, looking away from her then. After getting their ice cream they walked around the village, content to just talk to one another.