Here we go, another chapter
Here we go, another chapter. In this one, the plot moves along some more, you learn some more stuff about the characters, and they take the first step in beginning their journey together. And the chapter title will explain itself. Enjoy!
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Chapter Three: Annoying, Hyper Twerp
"What the…?" Misuk murmured, wondering what she'd just seen a moment before, temporarily forgetting the wolf only a few yards away.
The wolf shook its head, pulling itself together and laying it's sights on the prey again. It started growling as it drew nearer.
Misuk was still oblivious to the danger until she heard a low growl right in her ear. She turned her head slowly towards the sound, and came nose-to-nose with the wolf. They stared at each other for a moment, and then the wolf snarled. "DAMN IT!"
Before Misuk could even react, the wolf got knocked sideways by a kick to the head. It rolled across the road from the intensity of the blow, soon getting up and moving towards the person who kicked it.
"Get out of here, flea bag!" a boy was shouting at the wolf.
Misuk could hardly believe her eyes. She was looking at the real Naruto Uzumaki.
"Get lost!" Naruto kicked dirt at the approaching beast.
The wolf snarled and jumped on him, at which point the boy began running around like a headless chicken, shouting 'Get it off, get it off!'
Misuk just stared in amazement.
Finally Naruto managed to pull the wolf off, just for it to grab him by the arm. Not knowing exactly what to do in this situation, he began punching it in the face.
"Let go!" He punched it again, and it lost its grip. He kicked it across the road like before.
The wolf got up off the ground, gave Naruto a dirty look, and slunk off into the woods.
The fight won, Naruto turned his attention to the girl in the middle of the road. "Are you okay?" he asked, running over to help her up.
She was silent for a moment, then smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a bear hug. "Thank you so much!"
"All in a day's work," Naruto replied. He didn't mind so much that there was a big-boobed lady hugging him, it was more the fact that she was suffocating him with her death grip that bothered him. "Excuse me… But I can't breathe…"
"Sorry. I'm just so happy you came along!" she said, letting go of him. "How lucky I am that you were nearby."
"I guess it's a good thing I got lost and couldn't find my team then," he said with a grin.
"Ah, so you're lost, eh? Why don't you come with me, and my team will help you find yours."
"You're a ninja?" he asked.
"Not exactly… But then again, I'm supposed to be my team's Sensei, and I'm not exactly one of those, either."
"Just what are you, then?" Naruto looked at her funny.
"Someone trying to help people. I'm Misuk," she introduced herself.
"I'm Naruto."
A few minutes later…
"There you are, Misuk," Hsaw said when she walked up. "We were wondering what happened to you."
"I almost became wolf food," she explained, and Yodo and Eri gasped. "But Naruto here saved me."
Hsaw, Yodo, and Eri all exchanged glances. He was the one she'd mentioned when talking about her world earlier.
Yodo's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Wait a minute… I remember you! You were that obnoxious kid in my village that I used to throw bricks at!"
"That was you?! What the hell is your problem?!"
"You're and annoying, hyper twerp! Who wouldn't throw bricks at you?"
"Uh, everyone in the village except you?"
"Oh, shut up!"
"You shut up, hag!"
"Okay, okay, everybody shut up!" Misuk said loudly. "Yodo, don't throw bricks at people. Naruto, don't call people hags."
"But - " Naruto began, and Misuk leaned close, giving him a serious look.
"Naruto, I like you. But that doesn't mean I won't gag you if you keep arguing."
Naruto didn't want to, but he shut up. Misuk was good at commanding respect when she wanted to.
"Now, everyone, Naruto got separated from his team. We're going to help him find them again. We don't have much to do, as it is… First, though, I need to sit down for a while."
They all sat at a table, a rather uncomfortable silence hanging around as Yodo and Naruto glared at each other. Eri was playing with chopsticks, while Hsaw whistled a memorable tune.
"Is that 'Singing in the Rain'?" Misuk asked.
"Yeah, it is." He continued to whistle jauntily.
"Get used to hearing him sing, too – he does it all the time," Eri said.
"No kidding? So do I," Misuk replied. "It makes me feel carefree."
"Speaking of music, he's been working on this jutsu where whatever he sings causes something to happen," Yodo said, still staring at Naruto.
"Like what?"
"Depends on the song," Hsaw answered.
"Can you give me a demonstration?" Misuk smiled sweetly.
"Sure thing." Before he could do anything, though, Naruto and Yodo went at it again, standing on either side of the table.
"Quit staring at me!" he shouted.
"Then stop staring at me!" she retorted.
The rest of the group exchanged looks and shrugged.
"Siren jutsu," Hsaw said, doing a hand-sign that ended with something oddly similar to the Egyptian dance, and began to sing. "Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"
As if stricken by rigor mortis, Yodo and Naruto suddenly went completely stiff and fell backwards, landing with thuds on the floor.
"Ouch," Naruto murmured from his spot on the floor.
"That has to be one of the funniest and scariest things I've ever seen – Hsaw, you are officially my musical hero."
He smiled with satisfaction. "It's a good skill, but it's sort of weak."
"Maybe it would work better with two people," Eri suggested idly.
Hsaw and Misuk stared at each other.
"Like two people singing together - " Misuk started.
"With synchronized choreography," Hsaw continued.
"It would be twice as powerful - "
"And twice as confusing and disturbing to enemies."
"Awesome," they said in unison.
"We could work as a team within the team," Hsaw said, "Would you like to try it?"
"Sure," Misuk responded, "At least then I'd be able to defend myself with something other than brute strength."
"Hey, guys; I just had a thought. Shouldn't we name our little group? Since we're from all over, we don't really have an identity," Yodo said, finally getting off the floor after the effects of the jutsu wore off.
"I know where she's from," Naruto pointed to Yodo as he got up, "But where are the rest of you from?"
"Hides in Sound," said Hsaw.
"Hides in Snow," said Eri.
"Err… Really far away," said Misuk.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Can't you be more specific?"
"Why?"
"Are you a wanted criminal, or something?"
"No! Is everyone I meet going to grill me about this?"
Everyone shrugged.
"You know what, from now on, if someone that we know we can trust asks, we just spill it, okay?"
"How do you know you can trust him?" Yodo directed at Naruto, who snapped back.
"Speak for yourself!"
"Shut up," Misuk said, and they fell silent. "This is how it is…"
A while later…
Misuk finished explaining about how she came to be in their world. Naruto stared at her… And then began to laugh. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Uh, no," she replied simply.
He took on a quizzical expression. "So you expect me to believe that you're from another world? And that people there know about me and I'm popular?"
"Well, more or less."
"Come on, that's impossible."
"Nothing's impossible. Besides, it's supported by physics."
"I have no idea what you mean by 'physics'…"
"Oh, right. This is the one who's sort of…"
"Sort of what?"
"Um… Nothing."
"No, what?"
"Stupid," Yodo interjected.
"I am NOT stupid!"
"People, we're forgetting something – what do we call ourselves?" Eri said, trying to quell the tension.
"Good question," Hsaw said, tapping his fingers on the table. "We're a pretty odd group of misfits."
"Somewhat crazy misfits," Yodo added.
"Yeah, you especially," Naruto mumbled, and Yodo jumped over the table and tackled him.
The other two teens looked to Misuk, who shook her head. "Eh… Let them tire themselves out." Then she had a thought. "If we're so crazy and weird, why don't we call ourselves 'Hides in Crazy'?"
"That works." The two nodded vigorously.
"Okay, 'Hides in Crazy' is how we'll identify ourselves. Now," she said, standing up, "Let's go find Naruto's team." She proceeded, with a good-natured smile, to separate Yodo and Naruto and drag them out, followed by Eri and Hsaw.
Back on the dirt road…
"So," Naruto said, having calmed down and chosen to ignore Yodo for the time being, "You said that where you're from, none of this is real?"
"Yes," Misuk groaned, "I've reiterated that several times already."
"So tell me something about… well, here… in your world."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, anything. Tell me something about someone I know."
"Hm. Okay." Misuk thought briefly. "In my world, practically every girl I've ever known who's a fan of yours has a crush on Kakashi – he is, after all, very awesome. How 'bout another person?"
"You know about him? Anyway… Let's see… Lee."
"Hehe, my reaction the first time I saw him was 'what the hell is that thing?'"
There was rustling in a nearby bush, and they all stopped and listened. There was a high-pitched sound of an animal calling that Misuk thought sounded familiar.
"Tweek?"
There was a meow, and a brightly colored Tortoiseshell cat ambled out of the bush.
"Oh, Tweek!" she said, going over and scooping up the cat, giving it a big hug. "This is my cat Tweek. How did she get here?"
"Maybe she was brought here with you," Yodo proposed.
"Tweek, I'm so happy to see you! What were you doing in this bush, though?" She set down Tweek, parted the bush, and gasped in delight. "My bag!"
She pulled a large brown purse out of the bush. It had several cords of a leather-like material forming a collective strap, an embroidered design of flowers in tan, and chains crisscrossing down the side. She opened it, and smiled. "I don't know how this stuff got in here, but it's perfect!"
She dug through it. "I've got some of my music collection, a bottle of my favorite tea, a CD player, various items… a grilled cheese sandwich?"
"I'm getting hungry," Naruto was mumbling to himself.
"Here, take this," Misuk said, tossing him the sandwich of questionable age.
He took one bite and made a face. "Oh, that is old!" Then he continued eating it.
"I wonder how all this stuff got here… And in my bag, for that matter." She picked Tweek up off the ground and put the cat on her shoulder. "Come on, Tweek. We're going for a walk."
"You dropped this," Eri said, handing Misuk a picture of a familiar boy.
"Who is that?" Hsaw questioned.
Misuk looked at it, hardly able to collect her thoughts. "It's… someone who means a lot to me… And I really miss him right now…" She shook her head, deciding it was time to change the subject, stuffing the picture into her bag. "Come on, let's get moving."
When she was far enough ahead to be out of earshot, Naruto spoke quietly. "That was a little odd."
The others agreed, and they began to walk.
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The story title is finally explained. Hehe, I like the hostility between Yodo and Naruto – that will probably continue throughout the story, too. There's actually going to be some conflict between Misuk and one character that if you were paying close attention to what she said, you might catch the foreshadowing. That conflict is going to lead to a rather amusing plot twist sooner or later.
The story behind the picture in Misuk's bag is actually going to be part of the central plot, so all will be explained… And you'll have to wait to see what I mean, 'cause I don't want to give anything away.
Ah well, I need sleep. So, see you next time. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!