Htaed: YAAAAYYY!! CHAPTER TWO IS UP AT LAST!! So exciting…
edelric13: Don't you think you might be overreacting a little?
Htaed: No. My computer has MENTAL ISSUEZ OF DOOM, remember? So I'm excited that I can get anything up!
edelric13: Whatever. DISCLAIMER! Htaed does NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT, own anything to do with Naruto.
Htaed: Except my posters and DVDs and everything. BASICALLY, I own all except the actual storyline of Naruto.
edelric13: And your soul.
Htaed: Oh ya. Sephiroth owns my soul. –cackles maniacally-
edelric13: -sighs- Moving on, just read the story, it'll save you so much trouble…
LLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNE"Okay, so you're a neko youkai of some sort, correct?"
Koharu looked at her hands, and her ears twitched. She was currently talking to the Leader of Akatsuki, and he was scary!
"Um….H-hai…"
"Do you have any particular abilities as a nekoyoukai?"
Koharu frowned, and searched her memory.
"Ano…I don't know, but if you have somewhere where it doesn't matter if I break things, I can experiment…"
Leader-san (ache Pein) raised his eyebrows curiously. Well, Koharu couldn't actually see him doing it, but you could practically hear it!
"How could you not know?"
"……….I seem to have mild amnesia." –nervous cough-
"Sou ka. Well, I will get someone to take you to a training ground, then"
"H-hai."
"Oh, and Koharu?"
"Eh?"
"You don't have to be afraid of me. It's not like I'm going to eat you, or anything. I'm not really a strict leader. As long as they don't kill or permanently maim each other, and do their missions without complaining, I pretty much let them do what they want. So long as they follow some ground rules."
He smiled. (Or appeared to, as his eyes disappeared into an imitation of Hatake Kakashi's infamous eye-smile.)
"If anything, I'm a prankster and an impromptu matchmaker, along with my partner."
"…Impromptu matchmaker?"
"Of course! Why else would they be in teams of two?"
"Sou ka. So, um…Training ground?"
"Oh, yeah."
Leader-san pushed a button on the desk. ((THAT'S IT!! I'm calling him Pein, because it's easier to type!! END OF DISCUSSION!!))
"DEIDARA!! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!! I CALLED YOU 15 MINUTES AGO!! DON'T MAKE ME SEND KONAN TO COME GET YOU!!"
Koharu winced at the loudness, her ears flattening against her head. Pein gave her an apologetic look.
"Alright, I'm coming, just DON'T send Konan, hm!!"
Koharu giggled at the person on the other end's panicked tone.
five minutes later
A blonde man with an uncanny resemblance to Yamanaka Ino stumbled in.
"I'm here, I'm here, don't kill me, hm!!" –huff huff huff-
Koharu giggled at his petrified appearance, and Pein chuckled. 'I guess he's not Leader for nothing…'
"It's okay. I need you to take Koharu-chan here to the training ground so we can see if she has any special abilities. She's a nekoyoukai, by the way."
"Hai. Okay, Koharu-san, follow me, hm."
--to Yachiru--
"Ano…I think it would be better to just ask around…"
Gai put down the rock, er, boulder, that he was looking under.
"THAT IS A BRILLIANT IDEA, KUROSAKI-SAN!! LET US GO ASK PEOPLE IF THEY HAVE SEEN NARUTO-KUN!!"
"Ano…I also think that I'll be okay by myself now…You probably have training to do, right?"
"YOSH!! I MUST TRAIN MYSELF TO BEAT MY ETERNAL RIVAL, HATAKE KAKASHI!"
"…Right. You do that. Ja ne."
--…and we're back with Koharu--
-BOOM-
"Sugoi! Deidara-kun, that was so cool!! I have a new respect for art!"
Deidara grinned at the praise of his clay explosions.
"Well, it's not that hard, Haru-chan…"
"For you, maybe. I can only draw a little…"
"You're an artist, too, hm?!"
Koharu rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Well…a little. I draw, but I'm more of a musician."
Deidara smiled, patting her shoulder.
"I think music is art too. It's just as fleeting as an explosion, hm!"
"?"
"In my opinion, art isn't meant to last forever. It's supposed to be here one instant, gone the next, hm. Unfortunately, my partner, Sasori-dana, doesn't think the same way. He thinks art should last forever, hm! Tch, not possible, hm." Deidara explained.
"Sou…ka…I guess…A-ano, Dei-kun…"
"Hm?"
"Uh…Is it just me, or am I getting taller?"
Deidara did a double take.
"Koharu, you're not getting taller, you're floating, hm!! How're you doing it?! Is it genjutsu, hm? Or maybe it's some obscure ninjutsu…"
Koharu shook her head wildly, and Deidara noticed that she seemed to be terrified, as her ears were flat against her head, and her tail fur was puffed out.
"I don't know how I'm doing it!!" she cried hysterically, flinging her arms out.
Both of their jaws hit the floor when what appeared to be white blades of wind materialized, and flew in all directions. Koharu slowly floated down to the floor, having calmed down a little.
"D-Dei-kun?"
"Hai…?"
"I-I think I just figured out what I can do, ne?"
"Hai…?"
"I think we should go tell Leader-san…"
"Hai…?"
--in the Bat Cave!…dundundun…nah, we're back with Yachiru--
Yachiru lifted up the flap of cloth, and entered Ichiraku Ramen.
"Hello?" she called.
"Just a moment!" called a voice in answer from somewhere behind the counter. A young girl came to the front.
"What can I get for you?" she asked with a sunny smile.
Yachiru rubbed the back of her neck.
"Ano…Actually, I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto. Something told me that this was a good place to look."
"Oh, yes, Naruto comes by almost every day, unless he has missions. In fact, he'll probably be here soon. If you want to wait a bit, you should catch him."
"Arigato. I'll wait. I'm Yachiru, by the way."
"Ayame. Would you like something to eat while you wait?"
"I would love to, but……I have no money."
"Hmm…" Ayame tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what. It'll be on the house, if you tell me what you are. Something tells me those ears are real."
Yachiru grinned happily. 'Yay! Free ramen!'
"Sure! I'm a kitsune youkai. I'm looking for Naruto-kun because Tsunade-san said I should talk to him."
"Sou ka…Well, anyway, here's your ramen."
"Arigato! Mmmm…Looks good…Itadakimasu!"
"AYAME-CHAN!! MY USUAL!!"
Yachiru winced at the loudness of the new voice. Ayame gave her a sympathetic look, before mouthing, 'Naruto.'
"Coming up, Naruto-kun! Oh, and there's someone here to see you."
An orange-and-black clad boy ran into Ichiraku's, sitting down at the counter beside Yachiru. She turned to face him.
"Uzumaki Naruto-san?"
"That's me! You can just call me Naruto, though."
"I'm Kurosaki Yachiru. Tsunade-san told me to talk to you, because we might be able to relate to each other a little."
"How?"
Yachiru rolled her eyes. Kami, this kid was dense.
"Have you even taken a good look at me, Naruto?"
Said boy turned, and did double take when he saw her ears and tail. His eyes widened.
"Sugoi! I bet you're a kitsune, right? Right?!"
"Uh…hai."
Naruto looked around furtively (not really), before grabbing her Yachiru's arm, and dragging her out of the restaurant.
"Come with me. I have to tell you something."
"Is it about Kyuubi?"
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.
"How do you know about that?"
Yachiru smiled knowingly.
"Tsunade-san told me about it. That's why I wanted to see you." 'Not counting the fact that I already knew…GASP! That reminds me! I'm missing Shippuuden!!'
She smiled knowingly, ignoring her wailing inner voice, and tapped her nose.
"Plus, there's the added fact that you don't smell human. You smell like a kitsune. If I hadn't been told, I would've figured it out within minutes."
"Ah."
Yachiru suddenly frowned.
"Hmmm…I just realized that I have nowhere to stay. Could I stay at your house?"
"Sure! Hey, you have a hitai-ate! You're a ninja?!"
"Yep. Me and my…friend…"
Yachiru suddenly looked simultaneously sad, worried and confused.
"Yachiru? Daijobu desu ka?"
"Hm? Oh, gomen. I was thinking about my friend. We came here together, but we seem to have been separated. I was just wondering how she was…Ah, she's probably fine. She's probably terrorizing some nukenin somewhere. 'Hm…If I'm in Konoha, then Jae's probably in Suna, with Akatsuki, or…Ugh, I pity her if she's in Oto! Those are all the major groups, so she'll be with one of them, I guess…'
"Yachiru? Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Somehow, I think I'd know if she was in trouble…Hey! I just realized, but I probably have some kind of powers as a kitsune! Let's go to the training ground to experiment!"
"Experiment?" asked Naruto warily.
"Yesss…experiment…fufufufufu…"
--at the training ground--
-BOOM-
"WHOOHOO!! THIS IS SO COOL!!"
Yachiru looked at her hands excitedly. She and Naruto had discovered that she could control flames…and make explosions with them.
"Sugoi! Hey, we should see if you can make Sasuke-teme's fire jutsus not work!"
Yachiru tapped her chin in thought.
"Hmmm…As fun as that sounds, I think it should wait until tomorrow…or maybe really early later…hmmm…idea….fufufufufu…Okay, let's go back to your house, Naru-chan."
"Ara? Nande?"
"To PLOT!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNEEEHtaed: hahaha…I'm so evil, I made a cliffhanger! So what does everyone Yachiru might be planning?
edelric13: when are the pairings gonna come in? –whines-
Htaed: All in good time, all in good time…
edelric13: -wailing- Htaed-chan! Write your pairings!!
Htaed: You need to learn to be patient. You could do yaga or something to acquire this skill-
edelric13: That you are distinctly lacking?
Htaed: Quiet, pest. I'm not done with my wisdom yet.
edelric13: You're mean. I'm leaving. Maybe someone else updated.
Htaed: Ja ne!