Hey! Thanks so much to those who reviewed! Oh yeah, I edited a small part of Chapter 7, just the ending, so y'all might want to take a look there. ^_^
Some sibling love (not talking about incest, people!) at the end of chapter. Just, you know, Kakashi and Amaya shakin' up some drama. Oh, and I added a little Itachi and Sasuke twistie at the end. ^_^
I know, the fighting stuff gets kind of tiring. This chapter wasn't the easiest to write, but I had to have at least one chapter of Sasu vs Maya. But don't worry! Next chapter won't contain any fighting at all. Not counting bickering and bitch-slapping, of course.
Have fun reading, minna!
^_^.
"I will never…be able…to eat…another bowl…of ramen…again."
I groaned, clutching my stomach. Last night, eight bowls of ramen had seemed like a good idea.
Now? Not so much.
Naruto let out a groan of agreement. He was lying on the ground not three feet from me, waving a leaf taped to a stick. It wasn't exactly a white flag, but it was the best he could do. Besides, a stick and a leaf were the only things near enough without us having to walk. I didn't know where he got the tape.
Sakura and Sasuke stared bemusedly at us. Probably debating which to make fun of first.
"Are you okay, Amaya-chan?" Sakura moved over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, don't worry about me." I took a deep breath and got up. I was just about to moan about how much my stomach hurt when I suddenly thought of ramen…and the amount of calories ramen contained.
"OH MY GOD! I'm FAT!" I squealed and tugged my white shirt up, displaying my flat, cream stomach. I let out another squeal, not noticing how fast Sasuke's eyes went from me to the tree. I had a notorious and well known phobia of getting fat. I wasn't like Ino (my vanity was limited), but I was still fat-conscious.
And well, I had a good reason to be. As a kid I was extremely fat and kids teased me. They called me "Amaya the Ball." Yes, those were sad times.
"I've got to burn this off!" I sucked in every loose part of me. I could actually feel myself getting fatter. I suddenly had a horrible fat vision of me with little chubby legs and little chubby arms. I began running around and around in circles. Sweat drops formed.
"This," I puffed. "Is why I never eat more than three bowls of ramen!"
"Burning off calories, is she?" Kakashi came into the view, hands in his suspiciously bulging pockets and a smug smile on his face.
"Yes," Three voices chimed in. Traitors.
"She used to be this little fatso when she was a kid," Kakashi mimed a giant sumo wrestler and blew out his cheeks. I growled at him. Okay, I know I was fat, no need to rub it in, Oh-thin-Kakashi.
"She was the fattest kid in class," Kakashi wiped a tear from his eye. "I remember the time when they had a running contest and it took her fifteen minutes to get five meters from the starting point…"
I ignored their snickers, running faster and faster in a tight, dizzying circle before Kakashi finally stuck his arm out and pulled.
"You'll need those calories for the training you guys are going to have later on," He patted my head. I let out a little humph sound. Naruto was still laughing.
"Really, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto let out another laugh, still probably enjoying the image of Amaya the Ball. Jerk. "But she's so slim now! How'd that happen?" I tried not to get conscious as I felt Naruto's eyes combing me. I was surprised to see Sasuke looking, too. Good God, I've become an exhibit. I wanted to push Sakura in front of the two of them and yell "Hey, she has curves too!"
"When she turned seven that was the time she met Yuri," Kakashi grinned. "Enough said."
I tried not to wince as I felt another blow to my stomach. Which reminds me…
"Hey, Anniki, I bet you're all broke now," I smirked at him. His smug smile widened and he shook his head.
"What do you mean? Naruto had like, twenty-four bowls. Sasuke had five, Sakura had three and you had fifteen. Plus my eight. And you paid for all of that!" I watched in amazement as a gloating Kakashi pulled out wads of the green stuff from his pockets. He waved the money in front of me. Naruto peered at the money and put one up against the sun.
"Maybe it's fake…" He muttered. Sasuke picked one up and examined it boredly. Sakura caught one flying in the breeze. I caught them all sneakily stuffing the money into their pockets. Hey.
"Gai and I had a bet that you guys would figure out that his students were the old people before we reached the Ramen Shop. He bet you wouldn't. I bet you would. I won," He said gleefully, throwing cash in the air. I caught handfuls of it and stuffed it down my black shorts. Hee hee.
"How much did you win?"
"…" Wordlessly, Kakashi handed me a note.
"That's a lot of zeroes."
****
"Okay, let's start!" Kakashi clapped his hands. We gathered closer to each other.
"I want you guys to get trained up and good before your next mission. So…"
"Sakura and Naruto," Sakura groaned as she and Naruto moved towards the empty clearing.
I closed one eye.
"Amaya, I'm putting you up against Sasuke. Go easy on each other." He patted me and Sasuke and pushed us towards the half part of the empty clearing. I slung my pouch over my head, sloshing the water inside.
"You ready for me?" I called out to Sasuke, who rolled his eyes, the corner of his lip twitching. We stood about twenty meters apart. I slid my left leg further a little and adjusted my stance. Sasuke tensed, hand hesitating.
"Go!" Kakashi's voice rang. I could hear the whiz of a kunai and the sound of a branch breaking as someone stepped on it.
Woosh! I had barely enough time to duck as three shuriken came rushing by.
Great. Focus, Amaya.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" I did my hand signs quickly, and ran towards Sasuke, accompanied by seven more Amayas. I shot out a kunai. The attached exploding note whistled in the breeze. Dust settled as I saw a whizzing shape running towards me. I squinted, gave a yelp, and blocked Sasuke's arm just in time. I weaved and ducked his punches and kicks. He was trying that Lion Combo on me!
Damn it. I have to avoid getting hit even once, or else I'm going down!
It felt like my stomach was being stepped on when Sasuke's fist shot out and punched it hard. I landed on dirt, wincing as I felt blood trickle from my mouth. Grimacing, I squinted as a rain of punches hit me from what seemed all directions. I managed to block a few, but my legs were giving in under the blows. I'll be lucky to get out of here with all my vital organs still intact.
Biting my lip, I dodged a kick, jabbed Sasuke's thighs where I knew most of the muscles being used for moving were, careful not to hit his muscles too hard. The effect would last only for five minutes, but he would not be able to move. Well, he would, but it would hurt a lot. I wiped the blood from my mouth.
I jumped high off the tops of the trees, hopefully long enough that he had lost track of me, and hid myself in the leaves, careful not to make a sound. Quietly, I did my hand signs and sent three clones towards other trees. I peered towards Sasuke. He was moving his foot, wincing a little. After less than a minute he shook his leg out and with a grim, triumphant smile, he was walking again. Okay, so he had a limp.
My clones lashed out, and they were gone within minutes.
I didn't know he was this good.
My forehead creased as I considered. He would hear the splash of the water if I tried ice needles. There wasn't a big enough source of water for anything strong. He was too agile for kunai. I closed my eyes. This was so not good for my stress levels.
Maybe if I—
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fireball Technique)!" Sasuke jumped agilely from a tree, blowing a huge gust of fire towards me. I could feel the warmth already.
Oh, no hell, shit! My hair!
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!" I dropped out of the tree, leaving an exploding pouch behind. The loud sound should have masked me, but I quickly spotted Sasuke running towards my general direction.
Boy just never gives up.
I gritted my teeth, and as soon as he got near, I aimed a quick kick at his jaw, but he recovered soon enough and punched my stomach. Growling, I aimed a couple of punches and kicks at his jaw and the general waist area, managing to knock him down. He wiped blood from his mouth. Before I could react, he had gotten up and aimed a strong blow to my stomach.
I winced, my legs trembling. I knew why he kept aiming for my stomach. I took quick breaths. He knew it would be painful for me to breathe, let alone unleash enough chakra for a strong attack.
His leg shot out and kicked my back. I landed on the ground with a painful thump, breathing hard.
Sorry Sasuke.
I whipped out a kunai and slashed his hand, leaving a deep, red line behind. Before I could hesitate, I sloshed the water out, and gave it a good kick. As the ice needles formed, I could see the look of intense concentration on Sasuke's face. He had activated his sharingan and was obviously looking for a way out. He moved quicker than possible, and knocked me down, a kunai in one hand. I felt a familiar twinge—knee jerk reaction. It took all I had not to finish him off, and the ice needles were already moving forward, but as soon as I started falling, I forced my chakra to come back and the ice needles started melting. But I kept the biggest, sharpest of them all.
So we were positioned there. Me, lying on the ground with a kunai poised in front of my stomach. Sasuke, in front, crouched, with an ice needle poised at the back of his neck. We breathed heavily, waiting for one to make a move.
"What do you call this?" He asked me, his bangs falling in front of his face.
"I call it a TIE!" Kakashi appeared, hands on hips. "A draw. Equals. I told you guys to go easy on each other, not build coffins for each other!"
He walked over, grabbed the kunai from Sasuke, and I automatically pulled the ice needle away, leaving it to melt on the ground.
We grinned sheepishly at him. His eye twitched, then he started walking away, calling behind his back.
"Next time, I am going to put both of against trees."
"…Trees?"
*****
I breathed in the sweet scent of wet grass and stared up at the moon. Smiling to myself, I walked towards a familiar shape standing against the silver light.
"Hi," I stopped next to him.
He didn't say anything.
"Aw, Kakashi. Don't tell me you're still mad?" I pouted at him and tugged at his arm. He relented, patting my head.
"Why are you so angry, anyway?" I looked down at the dewdrops, dragging my finger across them.
He was silent. I waited for a few minutes, staring up at the moon.
"When I saw you out there with Sasuke," He paused. I waited.
"I got worried." He shrugged. I started to grin, bumping my shoulder to his.
"Of course I got worried," I heard the emotion in his voice and tried not to choke on the lump in my throat. "You're the little sister I never had. I'm not supposed to dance around happily when you die."
Maybe this is how it feels like to have a family.
We looked towards the stars decorating the sky.
"Kakashi?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
"'S alright."
Silence.
"Kakashi?"
"Yeah?"
"Does this mean I'm forgiven?"
"Yes, but don't expect to be put up against a real person in a long time,"
"Konoha will have run out of trees by next month,"
"Atta girl."
*****
They're close. Black orbs observed the two siblings.
Unbeknownst to the small Uchiha, a small sad smile had appeared on his face.
What happened to us, Itachi?
Aw… ^_^
Tune in next chappie!!! They're going to a fair!
Sasuke: Way to spoil the surprise, Miyu-chan.
Reviewers get a Sasuke each!
Sasuke: NANI?!
:Drop me a review and get your Sasuke…! He comes in different colors! XD
~Miyu
