Good day young ones!
You'll be pleased to know that there are no songs in this chapter either!
- - Suzuki Yumi '.'
Chapter 3
When we were finished our lunch we all walked outside and stood in a circle talking. I looked around Shino and I saw Sasuke, leaning against a wall.
"Hey Sasuke!" I called, "You never told me about that-" – I cut myself off because he ran away – "mark…" I mumbled after.
"What mark?" Kiba asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," I replied, feeling a little nervous.
"Okay then, now what?" Hinata asked with a smile. I looked up at the sun, shading my eyes. It looked like it was a little after noon. Everyone shrugged and started walking down the street. All of the sudden, Kurenai dropped down in front of us.
"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata said, startled.
"Hinata, Saki, come on, we have a mission," She said. Hinata and I followed her to the Hokage's office. Did I mention that the third died? Well, he did, and Tsunade of the three legendary sannin is our new Hokage. We walked slowly into her office and Sasuke suddenly appeared behind us.
"You will be going to the Hidden Village of Waterfall to investigate some minor robberies in the area," The Hokage explained.
"But we're just genin, shouldn't we be doing D-Rank missions!?" I asked her. Sasuke smirked at me.
"I've never heard of someone who wanted a lower level mission, loser," He mumbled. I glared at him.
"We're running out of ninja and Kurenai informs me that you can take on the job," Tsunade explained. She passed a scroll to Kurenai and we left.
Once outside of the building, we got into a little circle and Kurenai pulled out a little map.
"Robberies huh?" Sasuke asked coolly, "Sounds like this could be interesting." I pointed to a spot on the map that said: "Natural Hot Springs" and gave Hinata a look. She smiled at me knowingly.
"We'll meet at the gate in half an hour," Kurenai said. We all went back to our houses. I jumped down in front of the door to my apartment building and I walked in. I went up to the second floor and walked toward my apartment. Naruto was right beside me (his apartment is next to mine).
"Oh, hi Naruto!" I said cheerfully.
"Hi Saki!" He said with a smile, "I heard you fought Sasuke and you were both in the hospital, you alright?"
"Yes I'm fine, but I heard that Iruka told the class and only Hinata and Kiba remembered me," I said quizzically.
"I wasn't listening, but you bet I would have put up my hand if I was!" He explained. I laughed slightly.
"Okay then," I said, starting to open my door.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Naruto asked, "Normally you're out on missions or in the hospital!"
"Ha ha," I said sarcastically, "Actually, I'm packing for a mission right now!"
"Need some help?" Naruto asked.
"Umm, sure…" I said nervously. Naruto followed me into my room and I pulled out a suitcase, throwing it on the bed. I ran to my dresser and started throwing clothes behind me for Naruto to catch and put in the suitcase.
"It's like ninja training and packing!" Naruto exclaimed. I smiled as I finished with the clothes. I scurried to the bathroom and I grabbed a towel, throwing it and my bag of ninja tools toward Naruto. He shoved them all in the bag and smiled satisfactory. A gave him a thumbs-up and Sasuke appeared at my door.
"Come on loser," He said. How he knew where I lived, I didn't know, and I wasn't about to ask.
"Oh! It's been half-an-hour already!" I said, shocked.
"Well, have fun!" Naruto said with a smile, leaving. As son as he closed the door Sasuke walked towards me.
"What was he here for?" He asked.
"Naruto was helping me pack, why?" I asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Ugh, he's just so annoying," He said.
"Really?" I asked, "I don't find him annoying." Sasuke glared at me like he hated me for it. I frowned.
"You're rather pissy today aren't you?" I asked snottily, "Could it be that it's your time of month?" He glared more.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" I said with a frown, I hate when people are mad at me. I pushed Sasuke's shoulder nervously to break the tension. I beamed up at him (yes, up, he's pretty tall). Sasuke shook his head with a smirk and we left, finding Hinata and Kurenai waiting in the hallway outside my apartment.
"Did I really take that long?" I asked with a smile. They all nodded and I laughed. We (well, I) marched along until we made it to the gate, making sure to get some weird looks from Kakashi and his new team (Kiba was on it!). Kiba smiled and waved goodbye.
"See yah!" I called to him.
"Bye Kiba!" Hinata added. We walked out of the village and into the fast expanse of forest that surrounded it. Wait a minute. I have a question. Why is it called the fire country if the only fire we get comes from Sasuke's mouth?
And it would burn all the trees! Oh! The poor trees!
We kept jumping along and I remembered what was on the map. I frowned. I could tell it would be a long wait.
"Are you guys going to talk or something?" I asked.
"We need to be on our guard if someone attacks us," Sasuke said. I furrowed my brow. It was going to be an even longer wait if no one was going to talk. We jumped along in silence for like half a freakin' day!
"Okay," Kurenai started (finally someone was talking!), "The Hidden Village of Waterfall is in one of the neutral countries above the Fire Country, so we should be there by tomorrow if we sleep and sunset and wake at dawn." I nodded understandingly.
We kept jumping along, silently, as always. I don't like interacting with people much but I don't like silence either. Once I saw that the sun was about to set I told them and we set up camp in a small clearing. Hinata, Sasuke and I had to share a tent and Kurenai got her own.
"Not fair," I mumbled, "I don't want to be around that grumpy-puss all night." Hinata giggled and turned to me, raising her eyebrow, I viewed the towel that was in her hand and I got my own.
"We're going to heck out the surrounding area," I said.
"You mean you're looking for the hot springs?" Sasuke asked. I smiled approvingly and we left. Hinata and I wandered around until we found a beautiful waterfall. I dipped my tow in the water around it, it was hot.
"A hot waterfall?" I mumbled quizzically, attempting to see the top of it. Hinata looked around and then slowly took off her clothes, slipping the towel on. I did the same. We found good places in the rocks and we sat in the warm water, talking.
"So Hinata, I hear you have a thing for Naruto," I said with a smile. She blushed like crazy.
"Well, yes, sort of," She said embarrassingly.
"So, what do you like about him?" I asked her, leaning my arm on the side of the rock.
"He's… I don't know. He's so confident and-" She started, but I cut her off.
"Have you ever wondered what those things on his face are!?" I exclaimed.
"Yes!" She half-screamed. Wow. I wouldn't have expected a scream from her.
"I mean, are they whiskers, or does he put on make-up like Kiba does?" I asked. Hinata laughed. I shook my head.
"I just don't get it…" I started.
"So…" Hinata asked, blushing, "Do you like anyone?"
"Well, I didn't have very many friends until we got our new teams so I don't know them enough," I started, "My choices are basically Naruto, Kiba, or Sasuke."
"Naruto's yours, and… it's hopeless with Sasuke, so, Kiba it is!" I said with a smile.
"Saki, you're so fun to be around," Hinata said.
"Thanks," I said, preoccupied. I looked at the side of the waterfall and I saw foot and hand holds. I smirked.
"I'm going to go jump of the waterfall," I exclaimed. Hinata shook her head.
"That's not very sa-" She started, but by then I was already starting to climb. I slowly slid my foot into each of the holes and my hands above me. I held on to my towel, praying that it wouldn't blow away. I decided to pull myself up with one arm and hold my towel with the other. By the time I reached the top I was full of adrenaline. I stood a little ways back from the waterfall and I ran full-speed, jumping off the edge. I felt wind whipping at my face and water was thrown all around me. When I reached the bottom, I plunged into the warm water, my face burning. The water swirled around me and I felt like I was about to die but I finally hit the surface.
Two horrible things happened next, so, here they are.
1. I lost my towel
2. Sasuke was there and my whole "upper body" was exposed
Sasuke raised his finger and pointed, his mouth wide open. I grabbed my towel – which had just floated to the surface – and I covered myself with it, jumping out. I grabbed my clothes while I was at it. I ran down the conveniently placed dirt road to the conveniently placed small clearing with a conveniently placed large rock in the middle, and I sat on it and pouted.
I wasn't that fazed that he saw me, but the fact that I was, well, "under-developed" in the chest area for my age embarrassed me (yes, a guy sees my breasts and all I care about is the fact that they're too small). Also, he didn't even have the decency to look away or something, I'm so telling Kurenai. I quickly looked around to see that no one was there, and I changed back in to my old clothes. I threw the towel into the trees, too many bad memories.
I looked up to see Sasuke leaning against a tree on the edge of the clearing. Crap. No running now, he's at my only exit. Sasuke looked upwards, away from me.
"To be honest, I didn't know that you'd be in there, I thought you were just checking it out," Sasuke protested, his lip sticking out a little. He looked like a small child.
"Anything else?" I asked. If he doesn't have anything to say, why doesn't he just leave?
"Sorry," He said defiantly. I smiled.
"It's… okay I guess," I said nervously. Sasuke turned to actually look at me.
"What kind of crazy woman jumps off a waterfall anyway?" He asked. I shrugged and looked closer at his expression. It was like, worry… Worry? Did he actually care that I jumped off a perfectly safe, water-protruding cliff?
"Well, that's enough emotional scarring for me today," I said awkwardly, starting to walk past him. He walked beside me. Oh god, can't he just leave?
"I said I was sorry," He said.
"I know you did," I snapped.
"Well stop being bitter then," Sasuke retorted.
"Stop being ugly then!" I added playfully, no need to argue. Sasuke pushed me gently. I furrowed my brow and pushed him so hard he fell against a tree.
"Mwahaha!" I laughed evilly starting to run away. Sasuke looked unconscious.
"Are you okay?" I asked, running back to him. Sasuke smirked and grabbed my wrist.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him.
"Let's take this shortcut," He said, gesturing to a thick field.
"No way, it's probably poison ivy or something!" I exclaimed, turning back around to take the other way. I started scratching.
"No, that one's poison ivy," Sasuke informed me. I finished scratching and I looked at him intensely.
"Sasuke!" I screamed at him, "I think I'm going to killyou!"
"Sasuke Uchiha!" Sasuke exclaimed, "Master of deception!"
"Saki Kumagaya! Master of hunting ugly beasts!" I yelled, hiding under a bush. I made my hands into binoculars, spotting Sasuke.
"Ah, there's one mate," I muttered, "A rare, genuine, ugly beast." Sasuke came over to me and stepped on my head.
"No!" I protested into the ground, "Dirt tastes yucky!" Sasuke took his foot off and I jumped up.
"It seems the ugly beast wants to fight," I narrated, "But he's no match for Saki the ugly beast hunter!" I punched Sasuke in the arm playfully. Sasuke scratched my neck with his one abnormally long sharp nail.
"Note to self," I pretended to say into one of those tape recorder things, "Ugly beast attacks with a mixture of cat and sissy girl fighting styles." Sasuke stuck his tongue out at me and we found ourselves back at the camp.
Later on that night, Kurenai was rubbing a cream on my back for my poison ivy. It hurt like hell, but I knew it was worth it. I was covering the front of my body up with my shirt. Sasuke lifted up the flap and came in, noticing that I didn't have a shirt on but not doing anything about it.
"It seems that 'Saki the Ugly Beast Hunter' has gotten poison ivy, could it be that the ugly beast planned this?" Sasuke narrated. I smirked. Kurenai probably had no idea what we were talking about. Kurenai gave Sasuke a look that said "leave right now, can't you see she's topless". I liked her idea.
"It's okay, I've seen it all before," Sasuke said, waving it off. I flushed red. God Sasuke, way to make her think scary perverted things.
"Um, care to elaborate on that?" Kurenai asked.
"Hot springs," Was all I said. I think that covered it. Kurenai turned to Sasuke for a more elaborate answer. Wrong person to turn to Kurenai, you'd have better luck with Hinata, even.
"What she said," Sasuke said, gesturing to me. Kurenai stopped rubbing the stuff on my back and arms.
"Sasuke, you're going to have to leave now," Kurenai said. Sasuke shrugged and left.
"You two seem to be getting along," Kurenai told me as she found me a tube top to wear so I wouldn't have to ruin a sleeved shirt.
"Yeah I guess," I said, "I just find it easy to talk to Sasuke since we're a lot alike." Where did that come from and why did I tell her (of all people)? She threw the shirt to me and I pulled it on carefully. I went outside and I looked around hastily. It's quiet… too quiet…
"The ugly beast must be planning a surprise attack," I muttered.
"Saki the Ugly Beast Hunter carefully treads along the ground, waiting for the ugly beast to strike," Sasuke narrated. Where is he?
"But the ugly beast has matured since their last encounter and he realizes the error of his ways, in other words, he apologizes for misbehaving," Sasuke kept saying. I crinkled my nose.
"Excuse me but I don't think the ugly beast can do that, it mustbe against the rules or something," I protested.
"It seems that the ugly beast is contemplating whether or not to confront Saki," Sasuke said, "He probably would if Saki forgave him." I almost laughed. Got you now, beast! I jumped at the bush and tackled Sasuke, finding myself lying over him.
"How'd you find me?" Sasuke asked. I smiled.
"My ugly beast senses were tingling," I explained. Hinata came outside and called our names. I was about to jump off of Sasuke when he held me down and covered my mouth.
"Pedophile!" I yelled, but it was muffled. Sasuke glared at me. Hinata came through the bushes and saw us, gasping.
"It's not!" I started, but Sasuke clapped his hand over my mouth.
"Aren't you glad I saved you from that spider?" Sasuke asked. I understood what he was doing. I nodded.
"Yes, thank you!" I gushed, "I hate spiders!" Sasuke turned to Hinata.
"And it was a big-ass spider too!" He said, making his hands into a shape about the size of a ping-pong paddle. Hinata shivered.
"Maybe you should go back before it gets you, we'll come soon," I said. She ran off, clearly scared. When I was sure she was in the tent I burst out laughing.
"Nice one," I said to Sasuke, raising my hand for a hi-five. Sasuke ignored it and went straight to the tent. I followed soon after. Hinata was on the left and it appeared that Sasuke wanted me in the middle.
"Sasuke, I'm going to get my poison ivy medicine on Hinata, you go in the middle," I explained. He looked kind of angry because of it. Does he have some sort of problem like wetting the bed? Yes. That's probably it.
I lay down on the right side of the tent and I put a blanket up to my waist because the ointment was only on my upper body. I lay there in silence for a while, my eyes closed. I slid onto my left side for a while, switching to my right. I lay that way, staring at Sasuke's back. I turned back to lying flat.
"Could you just go to sleep!?" Sasuke snapped. I rolled my eyes.
"P.M.S" Was all I said. Sasuke whipped around just when I turned to my left. We stared at each other intently, our faces close together. After a while, I started blushing.
"Loser," Sasuke said, turning the other way.
"Woman," I retorted. Sasuke turned back around and I noticed the look he gave me. I sat up, crossing my arms.
"What!?" I asked, my lip protruding like a child's.
"You call me a woman like it's an insult," Sasuke explained, "You're a woman too."
"No, I'm Saki the Ugly Beast Hunter, and if the ugly beast doesn't stop complaining Saki's going to destroy it," I explained calmly. Sasuke clenched his teeth.
"The ugly beast will stop if the hunter stops moving around!" Sasuke whispered harshly, finally realizing that Hinata was asleep. I lay back down. I tried to stay quiet.
"How can you be tired at this hour!?" I screamed.
"You don't have to be tired, just force yourself to go to sleep or you'll be really tired tomorrow morning," Sasuke said, his back to me.
"You know, this always used to happen when I was younger and my mom would sing to me," I explained. Sasuke turned around to face me, narrowing his eyes.
"I am not singing to you," He said.
"Why not? I heard ugly beasts have great voices," I said with a smirk. I knew this would be fun.
"No," Sasuke said blankly. I pouted, giving him puppy-dog eyes.
"Hey Hinata, you awake?" He asked. I shook my head knowing she wasn't. There's absolutely no way you'll get out of this one Sasuke.
"Will you go to sleep if I sing to you?" Sasuke asked. I nodded innocently.
"I hate you," Sasuke said, glaring.
"You should sing…" - I thought for a moment – "The mahna mahna song."
"What the hell is that?" Sasuke asked.
"The one that goes; Mahna mahna" – my pitch changed to higher – "doo doo be-doo-do, mahna mahna, do do-do do!" I sang, "You know!"
"The one from muppets!?" Sasuke asked excitedly.
"Note to self," I said, "Ugly beast demonstrates muppet loving behavior. I wouldn't expect that from a creature of that species." Sasuke sighed.
"Mahna mahna, doo doo-be-doo-do," he started.
"No no no!" I scolded, "More pizazz! More life! And make those doo-doo's high-pitched!" Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Mahna mahna," – He now went high pitched – "Doo doo-be-doo-do!" – he smirked – "Mahna mahna!" He sang. I joined in for the next part,
"Doo do-do do!"
"Mahna Mahna!" We both did this next part;
"Do doo be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do be-do-do-doodle do do do-doo do!" Kurenai came rushing in to see us both pretending to sleep.
"What the hell was that noise!?" She asked. We kept "sleeping". When she left, Sasuke and I had our backs to each other.
"Nighty-night muppet," I said. I decided to call him muppet from now on.
"If it was any other song I wouldn't have done it," Sasuke said. I smiled.
"Tuesday, week one of research; I've come up with an official nickname for the specimen, muppet. We will call it this in our further studies," I "recorded". Sasuke whipped around and gave me a strange look.
"What's that look for!?" I screamed.
"You referred to yourself as 'us'," Sasuke stated. I shrugged.
"And more importantly, 'it'!?" Sasuke asked angrily, "So now I'm an it?" I nodded proudly.
"Let's be honest here, none of us are really convinced either way," I said with an evil smirk. This is fun, I likebeing on this kid's team.
"There you go, referring to yourself as more than one person again," Sasuke said. I gave him a hearty half-smile and I turned my back to him, falling asleep almost immediately.
I got up, realizing everyone else was outside.
"So, you finally fell asleep huh?" Sasuke said, rolling up Kurenai's tent.
"It was the song, I know it was," I assured him. Sasuke rolled his eyes. I walked over to Hinata, yawning loudly.
"I told you you'd be tired today," Sasuke informed me. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"I see you didn't wet the bed," I said to him. He raised his eyebrow. I forgot I didn't say that out loud.
"Sometimes I wonder where you come up with your theories," Hinata mumbled. I laughed. Hinata tugged on my shirt and pulled me behind our tent.
"What is it Hinata?" I asked, sensing her urgency.
"While you're on good terms with Sasuke, want to ask him what Naruto likes, other than ramen?" Hinata asked me. I put up my hand to say something (don't ask why I did that).
"Umm, two things;
1. I am definitely not in any way on good terms with Sasuke, if you don't remember, I just called him a bed wetter.
2. I'm friends with Naruto you know, you could just ask me yourself," I told her.
"So what do you know?" She asked me.
"He likes ramen, obviously, well, he likes any kind of food, so make him food and you're set," I explained, "He likes it when Sasuke gets put down or defeated, but don't go challenging Sasuke for Naruto, just compliment him on how great his fighting is."
"Was that I good explanation?" I asked.
"Yes," Hinata said, bowing in thanks. We walked out and Sasuke eyed us skeptically, and Kurenai knowingly. Ah, the joys of having a female teacher. When we were done packing up we all got started jumping along.
"I don't even get to bathe!?" I protested.
"If you were up earlier…" Kurenai started. I crossed my arms and kept jumping through the trees.
"Meanie-pants," I said in a childish voice.
Ah, another glorious chapter is finished.
I'm going to need people to start reviewing because, well, I don't want to keep this up if I don't know who likes it:(
Did you like the ending to this chapter? I just didn't know how to end it...
Oh well...
- - Suzuki Yumi '.'