A/N: Ugh, sorry it's taken so long to update. I'm actually pretty far ahead in this. The problem is: I've just been too lazy to update. ^-^' Sorry!
*Lub dub* "Ar.....!"
'What is that....?' *lub dub*
"Ara....i....!"
'Where....am I? Who's calling me...?'
*Lub Dub*
'Am I....'
"Arai..! Wh...r...ou...?!"
'Dead....?'
Sasuke searched frantically with the rest of the village, searching for his missing teammate and future daughter. He glared slightly as he remembered what Sakura had told them.
*Flashback*
Gatou and his goons were defeated. Zabuza and Haku were dead. Sasuke was alive. The village had won.
Sasuke sat in silence as Sakura and Kakashi pulled out needles and patched up his wounds. Naruto watched, silent as well. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, noticing the boy was staring heavily at him. Naruto's face tinted slightly and he glanced away towards Sakura.
When the bandages were in place, Kakashi helped Sasuke stand. "Well! It seems everything has worked out quite nicely."
Sakura sniffled slightly, making the group turn to her. "N-not qu-quite." She sobbed.
"What happened, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, rushing over to comfort her.
"It's-it's..." Sakura sobbed again. "It's Arai-chan." The males all stiffened.
"What happened?" Kakashi demanded.
"She-she...I don't know....She just suddenly started shaking. I tried to see what was wrong but she pushed me away and then....and then..."
"And then?!" Sasuke asked.
"And then she fell off the bridge!" Sakura wailed and covered her face with her hands. Naruto ran to the side of the bridge.
"She...she couldn't have survived..." Naruto whispered, his eyes wide. Sasuke stared.
'No...She can't be dead...' He thought.
"Naruto!" Kakashi called. The blonde turned to him. "Inform the villagers! See if they can help us search!" Naruto nodded and dashed off towards the celebrating villagers. "Sasuke and Sakura, we are going to search. Spread out." Both ninja nodded and disappeared.
*End*
Sasuke glanced at his companion, Naruto. The boy had a determined and worried frown on his face. The two sped up.
"Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't reply. "What do you think happened to Arai-chan?"
Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know. I'm hoping this was some part of her plan." The two stayed silent for a moment before returning to calling Arai's name.
It was dark. Arai looked around. 'Where am I?' She wondered. She didn't understand how she got there. It was pitch black, and yet she could still see her whole body. It fascinated her.
And then a light appeared. Arai blinked, blinded momentarily. The light was blinding, but it was warm. It was calling out to her. She'd just taken a step, when she heard a faint voice.
"I found her!" Arai glanced around, unsure of where the voice came from. She was completely alone with the light.
"She needs CPR!!" Another voice cried. Arai ignored it this time. Obviously they weren't talking about her. She was breathing just fine. She walked towards the light, interested by it. She took a few steps when suddenly a figure appeared in the light.
Arai couldn't see the face, but she could see details. She saw enough to know that it was a blonde-headed man. 'Naruto...?' She wondered. She took another step, excited at the chance to see one of her close friends again when the man shook his head. Arai stopped.
The man smiled at her and lifted his arm, pointing to some place behind her. Arai turned and saw her friends, past and future. They were calling out to her, begging her to come back. She didn't understand. What was so wrong with going into the light? Was it evil?
Then she saw her mom, and Arai remembered everything. 'I'm dying!' She realized. Arai turned and ran back to her friends and family. She glanced back over her shoulder one time and saw the man fade with the light, his smile was the last thing she saw before she woke up.
Water sputtered from her mouth. She felt like she was still drowning. Instinctively she rolled onto her hands and knees and coughed up the rest of the water. She only faintly heard the cheering near-by. She shivered as the last of the water left her body and she eagerly gulped down air. A blanket was thrown over her and she felt herself being lifted up before she passed out.
A few days later, team seven minus Sakura sat in Kakashi's room. Arai sweat-dropped at the intense stares she was receiving; one of them being a glare. None of them had believed her when she told them that the whole falling off the bridge thing happened because she got a huge headache and accidentally slipped.
"Well?" Sasuke demanded when Arai didn't answer.
"Er...I wasn't lying?" Arai mentally cursed herself for making her answer sound like a question. She received another glare in response. She sighed. "Okay, okay. Look, remember how I was out for a few days when I first arrived, Sasuke?" She asked.
"Yes...?" Sasuke said.
"Well I'm pretty sure this was another side-effect." She lied.
"Falling off the bridge was a side-effect?" Naruto asked, somewhat stupidly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"No..." Arai bit her lip. "I wasn't lying when I said that I got a huge headache and fell off the bridge." That much was true; except for the fact that she JUMPED off the bridge. They seemed to believe her.
Arai watched sadly as they got up to leave. She hated lying. Her parents taught her not to lie to them because she knew she could go to them or any of their friends for help. She grew up protected, but was still given a free will to do whatever.
She could almost feel her parents disappointment. 'It was for a good cause!' Arai thought defensively even though she was just arguing with her imagination. 'This is to protect the future!'
Two weeks after the battle...
Team seven, Tazuna's family, and the boatsman all stood in front of the completed bridge.
"Thanks to you, the bridge is completed but it's going to be awfully dull around here, once you're gone." Tazuna thanked them.
"We've enjoyed your hospitality." Kakashi thanked them back.
"No problemo, Tazuna, my man! We'll come back and play again some time!" Naruto smiled.
"You better...." Inari sniffled, close to tears. Naruto bit his lip, trying not to cry himself.
"Inari...Don't let it get you down. You can cry, if you really want." Naruto said to cover up his growing sadness.
"I'M NOT GOING TO CRY!!" Inari yelled. "B-but Naruto, hey, nii-san! ...Y-you can cry! Go ahead!"
Naruto turned away. "Me? No way. See ya." The rest of the team followed. Arai couldn't help but giggle as Inari and Naruto both started crying, but tried to hide it.
"Idiots." Sasuke murmured from next to her as Naruto began telling them what he would do when they got home.
Sakura turned to Sasuke. "S-so...um...Sasuke-kun? Would you like to go out with me when we get back?"
Sasuke frowned. "Um....No thanks."
"Hey! I'LL go out with you!" Naruto suggested.
"NARUTO! NO! Knock it off!" Sakura punched him in the head. Arai had to hide her snort at their antics. However when Naruto started laughing, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She laughed loudly with the blonde boy. Pretty soon almost everyone was laughing with them.
Arai walked by herself as the sun slipped below the horizon. She sighed lightly and gazed at the sky. These days seemed to be getting longer and longer. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her friends. She wanted...to see her parents. A silent tear slid down her face.
"Arai-chan?" Arai paused and turned to see Naruto running towards her. She quickly wiped her eyes. He came up to her and placed his arms behind his head. "What are you doing out this late?"
Arai smiled lightly. "Just taking a walk." Naruto looked around.
"No Sasuke?" The boy wondered with a frown. "He's usually with you."
Arai gave a small, breathy laugh. "Yeah, usually. He's probably training." Naruto nodded. He gazed at her.
"Are you okay? You seem down." He said.
She shook her head. "I'm just homesick." She gazed at the sky again. "I miss going into my house and seeing my mom filing paperwork and my dad cooking. Or walking in and accidentally catching them having a private moment..."
Naruto made a face. "'Private moment'? Isn't that kinda embarrassing?" She blushed.
"Not anything inappropriate!" She shook her hands in front of her. "My parents don't often have a....erm...romantic moment? often. You know, like staring into each others' eyes lovingly...cuddling....That stuff."
"Oh!" Naruto nodded in understanding. "I can see that. Sasuke doesn't seem the type to do that."
Arai grinned. "Yeah, he doesn't. In my time he does a little, though." She sighed. "My dad's a great man."
"...." Naruto kept silent. "I'm sure your mom's a great woman too." He murmured, a bit of sadness seeping in.
Arai pretended not to notice and snickered. "Yeah, yeah. But only in my mother's own way." They walked in a comfortable silence for a few moments.
"Arai-chan? What's my relationship with Sasuke in the future?" Naruto asked.
"You're best friends."
"Anything...more?" It came out a a soft squeak.
Arai narrowed her eyes slightly, suspicious. "Why?" Naruto shook his head, a red tint on his cheeks.
"Just wondering." The Uchiha smirked, having a feeling of what the boy was 'just wondering' about.
"Come on." She said after about an hour of the two walking and chatting. "I'm hungry. Wanna get some ramen?"
Naruto placed his hands behind his head. "Hell yeah!" The two raced towards Ichiraku's.
A figure watched in silence as the Uchiha female raced a yelling Uzumaki boy. His white ANBU mask rested on his face, making it the only part of his outfit the stuck out in the night. The man pulled his black cloak around him more as a breeze blew it and frowned at the sight.
The girl he was watching glanced in his direction and he ducked down, missing her line of sight. Arai frowned and said something to Naruto but kept walking with him, glancing back one more time in the man's direction. The figure disappeared in a small whirl of leaves.
Team seven walked home together after another mission. Sasuke could see that Arai was sad. She lagged behind and hardly helped in missions....well she helped less then she usually did. He frowned, sensing someone watching him. He glanced back as Arai looked around.
The girl scowled. "What's wrong?" Sasuke's murmured.
"Someone's been watching me since last night." She muttered looking around. Right then a kunai landed in front of the group, causing the team to be on guard. Arai responded by pulling out her own kunai to toss in the direction of the first kunai when suddenly a figure appeared, grabbing her arm from behind.
Naruto pulled out his own kunai and jumped at the ANBU mask wearing man as Sasuke attacked. Both were blocked, however. The figure kicked Sasuke in the stomach as he used his other hand to punch Naruto, sending the two boys flying. Arai kicked her leg out behind her and kicked the man in the shin, jumping away.
Sasuke sat up with a cough and saw the newcomer and Arai staring each other down. "You're coming with me." The man said. Sasuke scowled.
Arai's eyes widened. "No way..." She whispered. The man took a step forward and the girl tensed. "There's no way you could be...." Sasuke raised his eyebrow.
"...Dad?"
A/N: OMFG it's Arai's dad! OoO Oh dear lord what'll happen next??
