A/N: Hiya readers! To those of you who I had promised an update over the weekend, I apologize. I had to stop writing due to a family emergency :(
I also apologize if this chapter seems all over the place, I was a little out of it when I typed this up
Well, without further ado, lets get on with the story!
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto
I shivered in the cold night air, my breath puffing out in chilly, white clouds. In my haste to leave the small house I shared- used to share with my great aunt, I forgot to change into warmer clothes for the night trip. Thinking about the drastic goodbye with the only family I cared about made my miserable mood worsen. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth, refusing to cry in front of Temari. Not that she'd notice; she had been in her own worried bubble, absorbed in her thoughts. Probably anxious to get home. To Suna.
Fiery heat licked at the back of my eyes and my nose twitched as unshed tears threatened to turn into an outright snot crying fest. I did not want to go back to Suna, after so many years. To me it was a mocking reminder of the happier times of my childhood. Especially after the fight with Miru. I fingered the cold metal of the locket in the pocket of my pants. I'll have to fix the chain later…
I slowly opened my bedroom door, peeking out at the living area to see if Miru was still there. I snorted. Of course she was, she never left. Stupid me. She was smoking a big, fat cigar, sitting in her usual place at the table. How could she sit there all day without anything to stimulate her mind? I entertained the idea of her having the ability to glimpse into the lives of random people and laugh at their misfortune. Nah, she most likely reminisced on the thousand or so years of memory she has stored up in that old fluffy head of hers. Actually, this constant amount of boredom is probably what made her so crabby all the time.
Her snort startled me out of my tangent before she snapped, "Are you just going to peek out at me behind a door like a timid rabbit, Fuuka?"
"I like to think of it more as a tactful observation of the current situation," I said as I pushed open the door and walked over to the table, carrying a bunch of storage scrolls under my arm. She responded with an ice cold glare.
I set down my scrolls on the table, and rolled one open. I glanced up at her, but she looked to be in deep thought, fingering a worn locket around her neck. I stared at it for a moment before going about the living area, picking up my knick knacks that were lying around.
I relished the uncommon peace that settled around us. It kind of felt like a normal family thing, going about our business in relative calm without any snide remarks or arguing. It made me a little sad too, but I consoled myself with the prospect of visiting often. I happily hummed an old tune from my childhood. It was, unfortunately, the catalyst to our fight.
"Stop that dreadful humming," Miru whispered in a deadly voice. It was filled with rage, the angriest I've ever seen her. I felt my body freeze as I was about to seal my stuff in the open storage scroll. I looked up to see her eyes closed, her old body trembling. Oh shit. I realized my mistake too late.
"I'm sorry, Miru baa-chan. The song slipped out from old habit," I whispered back, only in a subdued tone. She didn't respond, only covered her face and rested her elbow on the table, the cigar snuffed out on the ashtray and her body still shaking.
I'm such an idiot. I should've realized that the song would bring back painful memories, and somehow I managed to make even Miru genuinely upset. Fuck me. Maybe I could still salvage our last moment together before I left for Suna.
"Ne, Miru baa-chan, I'll visit lots after I get to Suna. Once every two weeks!" She didn't move.
"Or- or I'll visit every week... Twice a week even!"
She slowly moved her arm and tilted her head to look up at me. "I've told you once already, and I'm not going to say it a third time; today is your last day in Konoha."
My hesitant smile twisted into a slight grimace. "It's not as if I can't visit, Miru baa-chan."
"You can't. A Suna shinobi cannot enter another village's land unless given permission with a legitimate reason. Such a frivolous reason as visiting family is hardly legitimate."
I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off again. "If there is one thing I can promise you beyond a doubt, it is this. There will never again be a time when Konoha sunlight lights upon you. You will never again feel the warmth of the Konoha sun. It will never spark the Will of Fire within you," Her icy stare and tone made it feel as though the sun were already gone.
The finality in her voice made me clam up, sending me to the edge of desperation, "Miru baa-chan, surely-"
"Fine, then. I'll spell it out for you, again," she hissed at me, her mood spiking. "I don't want you coming back. I don't want to see you."
"Obaa-chan," I begged. "Please. Stop."
Her gaze hardened even further at the name. She stood up in a fury. "When will you get it through your thick head?! It is that face, that damned face that I do not wish to see. It irks me to no end."
She grabbed at the locket from around her neck and broke the chain with a strength that was surprising for her age. She threw it at the table, the metallic oval bouncing from the force. "This is why. Your face is a mockery of the past, take a look inside if you wish to know."
But I didn't. I already knew what was inside that locket. I caught her staring into its contents from time to time, and out of curiosity, I peeked over her shoulder. What I saw made my skin crawl and my blood run ice cold. I had locked myself up in my room afterwards, wallowing in self-pity.
I stared at the locket, and Miru stared at me. I didn't want to look inside, I never wanted to look inside it again.
"Get out," she spat at me. "Get out now. And take the damned locket."
I fumbled with my things, finally sealing them into the scroll with tears pouring down my cheeks. I took the locket and stuffed it into my pants. I looked up at Miru, but she was pointedly glaring in another direction. I huffed, which sounded more like a sob, grabbed my storage scrolls and strapped them to my back hurriedly.
I flickered to the entrance, and strapped on my shinobi sandals. I slammed open the door, but turned back before leaving.
Miru's gaze had softened, back in deep thought as she stared once again at the drawings that hung on the wall.
"Goodbye," I whispered before I dashed out of the house towards the gates of the village, the sun setting behind my back.
"Hey. Fuuka," Temari's voice woke me from my thoughts, the first words she had spoken to me in hours.
"Yeah?" I croaked out. Her blue eyes softened at me.
"Let's hurry back to Suna. I think it'd be better for both of us if we got there quicker."
"Yeah," I repeated, this time in confirmation. We quickened our steps before jumping up into the surrounding trees, leaping from branch to branch.
I looked over my shoulder, before addressing Temari, "A platoon of shinobi are headed in our direction."
She looked at me in surprise, "You're sure? I don't sense anything, and your profile stated that your chakra sensitivity only extended to differentiating between different types."
"You're right, and it's more of an on-off kind of thing. But this isn't my chakra sensitivity, it's less of a sensory thing and more of a feeling I guess," I grimaced. "I know it sounds unreliable, but I'm never wrong."
She looked at me wearily before sighing, "I always say trust your gut. Hostile?"
"No, but I think they're hurried."
She looked at me incredulously with a raised eyebrow as if to say 'you think?'
"Hey! You're the one who said trust your gut, and that's what it's telling me!" I said indignantly.
She sighed again but stayed on the alert. Eventually she stiffened, and confirmed the presence of a team, not a platoon, fast approaching with a warning to stay on guard.
I sensed their presence right before they landed on us, and one in particular caught my attention. Oh shit no, not him.
They hit the branch a few paces behind us and we whipped around to face them. I gulped in terror, even though I knew they wouldn't attack. Probably.
"Naruto? And the rest of your team? What is going on?" Temari demanded in surprise, her anxiety level spiking through the roof. Oh boy, this is not good for her nerves.
"Yeah, you just got back to Konoha," I added, trying to keep the trembling out of my voice. The Naruto guy had had a serious look on his face, tinged with anger and that terrified me to no end. Now he was blinking at me in surprise, as was Kakashi and Sakura.
"How did you know that? What village are you from?" He asked me suspiciously.
"Konoha," I replied at the same time Temari said, "Suna."
Well, I guess both are true.
"Transferring to Suna." We said in tandem.
"Naruto, this is Tatsumaki Fuuka, the new girl you just missed," Sakura supplied and Naruto 'ohhed' as realization hit him.
"This isn't the time for friendly introductions," Kakashi started and everyone tensed once again. "Temari, your brother was taken by the Akatsuki and Kankuro has been poisoned by an unknown toxin while engaging the enemy. We just received a request of aid from Suna."
"Gaara? And Kankuro?" Temari gasped in shock, her tan skin paling to a ghostly white as blood drained from her face.
Gaara? The name sounded familiar, as was the group that had taken him. My memory tugged at my mind. I remembered when I glanced at the confidential documents that Tsunade had folded into a kunai and thrown at me. A... criminal organization was it? What would they want with Temari's brother?
"We're to retrieve Kazekage-sama and heal Kankuro," Sakura continued. Kazekage? Gaara? And then it clicked.
Temari's brother was the Kazekage! Oh shit, this is bad, very bad. An international incident has just taken place. Shit. I've had more drama today alone than the better part of my last three years in Konoha!
"We have no time to waste then!" Temari shouted, and we all raced towards Suna, bounding in blurs across the branches. We didn't even bother hiding our presence.
There would be no sleep for us until this S-class mission was completed. I may be transferring to Suna, but it isn't complete yet. This will be my last mission as a loyal member of Konoha.
-
A day passed, and with no breaks, we managed to reach the border between Wind Country and Fire Country in a quarter of the time it would've taken us at a normal pace. Another hour of quick shinobi travel, and we would hit the tree line. Then, and only then, would we stop for a three minute water break.
Naruto sped up and ended up running beside me, I flinched away from him. He looked at me startled, before a look of resigned acceptance overtook his features. Somehow that look seemed familiar to me, as though I had seen the very same expression long ago...
I didn't think of his feelings when I reacted to him in such a way. I got the feeling he had similar reactions from others in his village, remembering the ANBU that was so clearly bothered by him. Guilt overrode my fear, and I felt the need to apologize.
"I'm sorry," I said to him quietly, trying to explain my irrational fear. "When I saw you earlier in the village, I got a very strong impression from your chakra. There's... another presence inside you. It's terrifying."
His mouth plopped open in a big O before he turned to send a look at his former sensei, who returned it with a shrug. He turned back to me and addressed Temari and Sakura as well, who were looking curiously at us.
"Yondaime Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in me the day I was born," he said warily, a tone that didn't seem to suit him. "It's the reason why the Akatsuki targeted Gaara. They're after the Bijuu, the one I have included."
Gasps from both kunoichi sounded and my eyes widened. So I hadn't imagined the red chakra! To think it was the Kyuubi this whole time. And the Kazekage, he was a jinchuuriki too! Of all the... Shit just got a ton more serious. Why me?
I was too caught up in my thoughts, barely registering Sakura's solemn oath to protect her teammate from harm. If this Akatsuki group were after the Bijuu and not the jinchuuriki, then that would mean they'd have to extract the chakra creatures from the hosts, right? Won't they… won't Kazekage-sama and Naruto die from the shock? Oh god, I thought, feeling sick. We have to hurry. We might even be too late…
"Guys," I spoke up worriedly and interrupted them, glancing at the setting sun. "It'll take us another day to hit Suna. Won't they have already extracted the Bijuu by now?"
"It's not that easy to extract such a huge amount of chakra, Fuuka," Kakashi answered. "I'd say it'd take them anytime between three days to a week, depending on several factors such as method, amount of participants and if they're taking breaks to replenish chakra. Though I doubt S-class criminals would need to take a break for something like this."
Relief washed through me. Normally I don't take missions seriously, but this was clearly a special case. Too much was riding on this. Sabaku no Gaara, the Kazekage and brother of my new mentor, was taken by a criminal organization to have his Bijuu extracted. If they succeed, he will most surely die. And that was something we couldn't let happen. No matter what it takes.
A/N: Anyone spot similarities between this scene and the Gaara scene? I know, there's sooo much drama between Miru and Fuuka, but I promise no more angsty drama between the two of them. I'm curious as to what you guys think about the locket and the angst. Any theories as to why :3?
You know the drill, REVIEW!
-sabakunofaye
One more thing! My older sister, who doesn't watch anime and has limited knowledge of Naruto, borrowed my laptop, saw my fanfiction, and decided to troll me by writing a very short Naruto fic. I laughed so hard I decided to share it with you guys! XD She named it...
A SENSUAL NARUTO FANFICTION!
By Naila.
One day Naruto was walking down the street, and he saw that one chick with the pink hair. Her name was possibly Sakura. He thought Dayum, because he thought she was quite hot. So he ogled her. She thought, who dis creepo?
And almost like he sensed her thinking about his general person he whipped off his pants so she could stare in awe at his weiner, which he thought was quite massive. He called it his Mastiff.
Her heart fluttered a little in excitement.
Unfortunately this is as pornographic as this story gets because she was not impressed with his weiner. She thought it was more of a Chihuahua.
So she Kamehameha-ed him only ninja style and got on with her life. Naruto did not, he lived on in the woe and misery of his heartbreak.
Except one day he saw this hot Brunette called Naila. He got over his heartbreak really fast because that's how hot she was. Smoking. Only this time he stood no chance because Naila thought anime was really dumb.
Eventually Naruto killed himself over the heartbreak.
He died.
The end.