Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto land.
"Unacceptable! What were you thinking, using that kind of a jutsu in the HOSPITAL?!"
The earth shook violently with Tsunade's rage as she stomped her foot on the floor of her office and awaited my response, regarding my stiffened body with impatience.
"W-Well…You see…I can't control my jutsu that well yet so sometimes when I panic it just happens and I kind of mess up…" I replied in a shaky voice, starting to feel more like a mouse trapped with a cat.
Or in Tsunade's case; a lion. A big, angry lion…
"Kind of mess up? You're lucky that that colossal stone of yours missed Kakashi's head by an inch! Not to mention that the patients on the third floor almost had a heart attack from shock as well!" Roared the lion-- err Hokage back at me.
"Gomenasai…" I mumbled the familiar Japanese phrase to apologize quietly, shuffling a little to the right uneasily.
Tsunade let out a long, heavy sigh and muttered some unkind things about me, which I shall not repeat, to herself as she dropped her weight onto her seat.
On my left I could hear the all too familiar annoying boy yawning, looking bored.
"Neeeee, Tsunade-baa-chan, when I can go? I didn't do anything, did I?" Naruto asked, folding his hands behind his head.
"You're not going anywhere! I wouldn't call walking into the women's bathroom and starting a ridiculous fight nothing. Now be quiet while I think of a decent punishment!" The lioness snapped back, causing him to stiffen up next to me.
"Hmph. This is all your fault, dattebayo!" The blonde whispered to me heatedly, glancing at me with an annoyed look.
"My fault? I haven't done anything to you! You're the one who keeps bugging ME." I hissed back through gritted teeth, making sure that Tsunade wouldn't hear me.
"With a good reason! You're obviously one of the akatsuki." He replied, narrowing his eyes and staring at me accusingly.
"Yeah right. Tsunade already gave me the benefit of the doubt, so you can't prove that!" I rolled my eyes, answering his accusing stare with a knowing smirk.
"You obviously tried to kill Gaara when you were with Deidara! You almost smashed his head for crying out loud." Naruto retorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I did not!...Eh? You mean Gaara isn't dead?!" I gasped, raising my eyebrows surprisedly.
"Of course he isn't dead!" Naruto frowned, looking at me oddly when I almost literally started beaming with relief.
I didn't kill Gaara! This is great! Now I can finally rest in peace--
"Shut up! Do you honestly believe that your chitchatting goes unheard?!" Tsunade's irritated growl boomed in the room, making me and Naruto turn back her.
"Gomenasai." The genin and I replied at the same time, exchanging brief glares when we noticed that we responded with the same answer.
The hokage's eyes pierced us like needles, studying our expectant faces with a look that I couldn't read. Then she leaned back against her seat and ran a hand through her long hair.
"Alright. I've decided. Naruto, you will keep an eye on Miraiko for the rest of the day until I find a suitable replacement and--"
"EHH?! WHAT?! You're leaving that akatsuki guy with me?!" Naruto interrupted her, his blue eyes widening with disbelief and shock.
"Who are you calling an akatsuki GUY?!" I exclaimed, jabbing my index finger at his chest.
"Don't touch me! And you probably are a guy in disguise, you akatsu--"
"Don't even try to say it! I'm not--"
Before I could finish directing my anger at Naruto, Tsunade intervened with another one of those terrifying outbursts of anger and she kindly threw us out of her office. Leaving me alone with the unappealing young man.
I didn't say a word to him and merely followed him as he began to walk down the stairs to leave the building, rolling my eyes at the way he moped about being stuck with me.
Once we stood outside of the building, walking down the street, he turned to me and placed one hand on his hip while the other moved to my face, nearly poking my eye out with his finger…
"Okay, here's the deal. You are going to do everything I say and if you cause any trouble, I'll kick your ass." The blond stated, grinning like an idiot.
My mood darkened and I shoved his finger out of my face. "I think not. You're supposed to watch over me, not turn me into your slave."
"It's the same thing, I just added this to make sure you won't try anything." Naruto shrugged, still grinning childishly.
I sighed, resisting the urge to roll my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time. I wasn't in the mood for his troublesome games, I had to think of something to distract him…
"…Don't you…have to go look…for a new teammate or something…?" I blurted out randomly, recalling the event from the manga.
For a moment he looked like he didn't know what I was talking about, but then he seemed to get one of those imaginary light bulbs that popped on in his head and he responded with:
"Oh yeah! Hmm…" He put his hand under his chin, pondering about the subject.
I followed him as he started to think out loud, talking about how the new team member couldn't be too good looking, because of Sakura and how he couldn't be too cocky, because it would ruin the teamwork and blah blah…
This is going to be a loooong day…
"Haven't you thought of ANYONE yet?" I whined, getting fed up with the endless tour that Naruto was taking through Konoha.
Where are Shino, Kiba and Hinata when you need them?!
"It's been a while Naruto…" A deep voice spoke, making me and Naruto turn to a large old tree that was near the path we were walking.
"…Who?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, eying the guy with the black sunglasses and the long jacket suspiciously.
"It's me…" The guy who was leaning against the tree replied mysteriously.
"Who's me?!" Naruto demanded impatiently, pointing at him.
Ahh this is going to take AGES! Recognize him already!
I rolled my eyes, stepping forward next to Naruto. "Do you honestly don't recognize that guy? Come on!"
"Wha-?"
I couldn't hold myself back from saying it. "It's SHINO!"
"Ehh Shino?!" Naruto exclaimed, looking perplexed.
"You got it at last…" Shino answered calmly, lifting his head slightly to look at me.
"Well, how's anyone going to recognize your face when you keep it hidden like that?! IDIOT!" Naruto continued, pointing at him wildly.
"Your friend did…" The insect-controlling shinobi answered, referring to me.
"Ah no, this isn't my friend. She is…"
"Shino! You're early!"
"…Ki-Kiba?" Naruto uttered when out of nowhere a large white dog with another boy sitting on top of him leaped out of the air, making a loud entry.
I watched as two boys talked to each other excitedly, though I felt bored myself. I had read this stuff more than once in the manga already…so boring…
"Who is that, Naruto?" Kiba finally turned to me, looking at me curiously.
"I'm his girlfriend." I replied sarcastically, causing the genin to blush furiously.
"W-What are you talking about?!" He yelped embarrassedly, making me burst out in laughter.
Take that Mr.You'reObviouslyAnAkatsukiGuy! Revenge is mine! Hahaha!
"Uwaah! G-G-Girlfriend…?!" Thunk.
My little inner victory didn't last long though.
"Is that Hinata?!"
"Hinata?! Are you okay?!"
Kiba and Naruto rushed over to the poor kunoichi who had fainted behind a wall right after she heard the dreaded words leaving my lips.
Traumatizing Hinata with a stupid joke. Just my luck again.
"Fine, fine! I won't call myself your girlfriend anymore. I was only joking you know."
"Hmm I don't think so…You secretly have a crush on me!"
"…I haven't sunken that low yet."
About fifteen minutes after trying to wake up Hinata and failing to negotiate with Kiba about borrowing a member from his team, Naruto and I were on our way to find Shikamaru.
And while doing so, the fifteen year old brat amused himself by making idiotic assumptions that I had fallen for his non-existent charm. Oh joy.
"You do! I can see it--"
"Oh look, there's Shikamaru, please go and pester him now." I quickly said after spotting the shadow manipulating ninja, cutting Naruto off so he wouldn't damage my ego any further.
"Like I said…It's troublesome, but I have to sort out the entrants for the chuunin exam. I know we have a sort of friendship thing and I'd like to help you out, but there's just no way I can do what I want either. It's…"
I was leaning against the wall of some building I didn't know while Shikamaru explained to Naruto that he couldn't do much for him either.
Hmm…For some reason, I get the feeling that I'm forgetting something here…But what?
"Probably nothing important…" I concluded for myself, staring up at the blue sky.
"That Godaime…You'd think I get enough nagging from my mother." Shikamaru finished, sounding troubled.
"I'll give you a hand in that case." A new voice responded to Shikamaru and Naruto's conversation. "Hey, Shikamaru! Here's the lunch your mother asked me to bring you." The voice continued cheerfully, until a large boy stood in front of us.
"Chouji!" Naruto shouted happily, turning around to face his old friend.
"Chouji…Are you sure you can say that so easily? Don't you have a mission with Asuma-sensei and Ino?" Shikamaru asked sternly.
So boring…I rested the back of my head against the wall again, losing my interest in the conversation the boys were having.
"Come on, we can't just ignore Naruto's request. I'll try to talk to Asuma-sensei about it." Chouji encouraged.
Hmm…But why can't I…
"Chouji thanks a lot!" Naruto stuck his thumb up thankfully.
…stop feeling like there's something important about to happen..?
I glanced back at the boys, watching as Naruto made a comment about Chouji's big appetite.
"Hehe. Still always eating. You're even a bigger fatass than--"
What?! That's it!
"Naruto get away!" I jumped up swiftly, pushing him from his spot roughly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto demanded angrily, hitting the ground at the other side of the road.
"Oushiro no jutsu!"
I managed to set up my large red wall as the three boys all sent me alarmed looks.
"GRUAAAHHH!" I could hear a growl before something that sounded like water splattered against the other side of the wall, confirming the thoughts I had earlier. But I was too occupied with my own thoughts to pay attention to the rest of my surroundings.
"Miraiko above you!"
"What-?" I looked up just in time to see a large monster of ink coming for me before it lashed out at me and sent me flying through the air…
"Hmm…" Sakura let out a content sigh, smiling as she stretched out her arms in the air and relaxed her muscles.
She was taking a stroll through Konoha after Tsunade and Shizune had asked her to leave them for a while, because they had to take care of some business with the council.
At first she had wanted to stay, but after seeing the heavily irritated look on Tsunade's face once the council was mentioned, Sakura decided that she would rather not risk becoming the target of her master's wrath.
"I hope nothing bad happened though…I wonder what they're talking about, it's been a while since I left." The pink haired kunoichi mumbled to herself.
She kept walking and walked past Ichiraku, the ramen stand where she'd usually ran into Naruto.
Hmm, I might as well have a chat with Naruto while I'm here. I bet he's stuffing himself with ramen again. She grinned, knowing how gluttonous he could be when it came to ramen.
"Naruto! Are you here..? Eh? He's not here today?" Sakura frowned, turning to the man who ran the shop.
"No I haven't seen him here today. Though Ayame said that she saw him walking by, looking very concentrated and he was mumbling things about new team members. Isn't that right Ayame?" Teuchi, the owner of the shop, turned to his waitress who nodded.
New team members? Oh Naruto…You really rush into things, don't you… Sakura shook her head, smiling to herself.
"Thanks anyway." She thanked the man, before moving on again.
Maybe she could have a chat with Ino then, she'd probably be at the flower shop.
"Eh? A mission? She went to find Chouji? Oh…Thanks anyway." Unfortunately, she had no luck there either. She walked away from the flower shop, turning around the corner.
SHANDAROO! Why is everyone so busy?! I'll get bored to death like this! Inner Sakura threw imaginary punches in her mind as Sakura sighed in defeat.
"I might as well go back to Tsunade-sama now…" She sighed again, about to walk back.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" When a body literally flew past her, crashing somewhere in the distant street.
"What the?!" Sakura gasped, jumping back startled.
"Sakura-san! Quickly you have to come with me!" Chouji all of a sudden landed down in front of her out with a loud thud and dragged her after him.
"W-What…WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" She exclaimed, completely stupefied as to why Chouji popped up in front of her out of nowhere. "Why was there a flying--"
"I'll explain later. Right now, Miraiko-san needs you!" He replied, triggering the more concerned side of the pink girl.
"Miraiko-san? Did Naruto do something again?! If he did, I will kill hi--!"
"No not Naruto! I'll explain later."
"She doesn't look too good."
"She'll be fine in a minute, I already healed her wounds."
"But she's still not waking up yet…So troublesome."
"I know! Maybe we should throw water over her head or something?"
"BAKA! YOU'LL MAKE IT WORSE LIKE THAT." Smack.
"Itai! I was only trying to help Sakura-chan!"
"Hmm…"
"Ah. She's waking up!"
Four big blobs of swirling bright colours in a pale white space came into my vision when I opened my eyes. It took me a while before I realized where I was.
"God…Did I die and go to hell?" I groaned when I smelled a familiar unpleasant white room that reeked of medicine.
"You're in the hospital." Sakura's reassuring voice brought my attention to the female ninja who was sitting at the side of my bed and at the other side of the bed stood Chouji, Shikamaru and Naruto.
"Finally, she's awake. I need to go work on the preparations for those troublesome chuunin exams again. Later, Naruto." Shikamaru said, looking as troubled as ever when he glanced down at me before he left the hospital room.
"Are you feeling okay now Akatsuki--I mean Miraiko…chan?" Naruto asked anxiously, moving past Chouji to get closer to my face.
"Did you seriously just call me Miraiko-chan? That's new…" I chuckled lightly, before coughing a little. My stomach was hurting for some reason.
"Yeah well, Sakura-chan said she'd punch me if I didn't--" Naruto blurted out, scratching his head nervously when a certain pink haired teammate of his turned to glare at him.
"He means that I explained him where you really came from." Sakura cut in, folding her arms over her chest.
Before I could reply, the door slammed open again, revealing an exhausted Ino.
"Chouji! I've been looking for you all over the place! Did you forget about Asuma-sensei?!"
Oh dear…She probably missed her original chance to meet up with Chouji when they were bringing me to the hospital…
Ino took Chouji with her after briefly introducing herself to me and making a quick chat with Naruto and Sakura. Then the two turned back to me.
"Nee Miraiko-chan…Did you…You know, knew that that guy would attack us…? Is that why you suddenly pushed us out of the way?" Naruto began, seeming somewhat excited. Sakura also glanced at me, looking curious.
"Uhm…Sort of." I answered hesitatingly.
"That's so cool! So you can predict things for us!." He concluded, looking excited.
"Naruto…" Sakura muttered his name, looking like she was going to intervene.
"Uh no. I do know some things, but I can't tell you anything." I quickly said, almost instantly resulting in a sulky face from Naruto.
"Eeeh? Why?! Not even a little--"
"Lets give Miraiko-san some rest, now shall we?" Sakura grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to halt his chattering.
"But I want to know!"
"Isn't it obvious why?! I'll tell you later. Rest well, Miraiko-san!"
"Yeah…Thanks." I forced a weak grin.
And with a last smile from Sakura who was keeping Naruto away from going back into my room, she slammed the door shut.
I could hear them yelling at each other, like a married couple, for some time in the hallway, before silence deafened my ears again.
I sat up on the bed, cringing when I did so. My stomach was still hurting for some reason when I moved. "What's this..?"
My eyes fell on a faint bruise in the centre of my stomach when I lifted my shirt up. So that was it. I got hit in the stomach by one of Sai's beasts…
Sakura probably healed it…But it still hurts! I cringed again, lowering my shirt.
Just in time too, because once again the door was slammed open, startling me.
But I couldn't see anyone standing in the doorway. It couldn't have been the wind that blew the door open, could it? No, not that hard…
"Over here!" A barky voice called out to me, making me lower my eyes to the ground.
"Eh?! I know you…You're Pakkun!" I gasped, looking down with big eyes at the little dog that was standing in the doorway.
"Ah you know my name, good. Well, Kakashi sent me to you, since he can't supervise you this week." The droopy eyed dog explained, walking over to the bed.
"What?" I blinked, staring down at him. "Does that mean…that you…?"
"Yep. I'm your babysitter for the week."
"WHAT?!"