Chapter 9: The Uchiha Awakens


Yumi sat in the long grass slumped against the coffin with her eyes closed. Naruto was nearing her location. She could tell it was him because his presence was different than that of the other Leaf ninja. That didn't surprise her though, not after what her father and Kabuto had told her about him having the kyuubi trapped inside of him. Instead it made perfect sense, and it was an added bonus because she could always tell where he was in regards to other people. It did mean however, that Tayuya had let him past, which only made her job more difficult.

There was a dull thud from up ahead of her and her eyes snapped open, revealing black irises with grey pupils. The whites of her eyes were also black; her regular icy blue eyes had been sacrificed to her curse mark in order for her to fight properly. She had heard stories, the nine tailed demon fox was strong, so she wasn't about to take the irritating blonde boy lightly in a fight. It would appear that he had yet to notice her presence, perhaps because of the tall grass and the fact that she was still sitting. Either way she currently had the advantage. Breathing out she concentrated and fully released her curse mark, grimacing as her hair changed colour entirely to become an awful blue-grey as it broke free of her braid to hang around her face in a slightly frizzy curtain. Glancing down at her arms she saw they were a darker grey now, a colour that made her look sickly and weak.

Naruto was too thick to even notice the spike in her chakra, which just proved to her how much of an air-head the boy was. Getting into a crouching position Yumi watched as the blonde looked around the clearing, trying to figure out where he needed to go next. It really was lucky that the long haired boy with the byakugan wasn't with him; otherwise she would have been discovered long ago.

She let out a surprised gasp when she saw he was just standing in the centre of the field. He must have been really clueless, meaning he hadn't been paying any attention to where she had been going at all. His eyes finally turned in her direction and they lit up at the sight of the ugly wooden coffin. Keeping low to the ground she watched him approach, noting that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings as he walked as he was too intent on getting to Sasuke. Either those two were really good friends or Naruto was a gay stalker. Yumi had to suppress a bubble of hysterical laughter that rose up when she decided that the kyuubi host was a stalker with a thing for Sasuke Uchiha. If her father didn't want him so badly she would have gladly left the stupid Uchiha boy to get attacked by his stalker, but even though she despised him for receiving the same curse mark as her she knew there was no getting around the mission at hand.

When Naruto was about 6 metres away from her position she threw a kunai in his direction. Amazingly he managed to dodge it, and she quickly scurried off to a different position in case he had actually noticed where it had come from. Naruto was looking around with a sort of spaced out expression on his face, which only added to the mystery of how he had managed to dodge it.

"Who's there?" He called out, still spinning around and trying to find the person who had attacked him. Yumi rolled her eyes, she was the only one left and yet he still couldn't figure it out? He was even more of an idiot than she had given him credit for. Rising out of her crouch she jumped up to land on top of the coffin, a quick glance at her feet confirming that yes, the seals were smoking. It was almost time for the young Uchiha to come out and play.

"Yo, Blondie, looking for something?" She folded her arms across her chest aggressively, a habit she had picked up from Kidomaru. Naruto followed the voice to find himself looking at the coffin again, but this time someone was standing on top of it. Yumi was acting rather bitter now, really not appreciating the fact that she was now alone. If Kabuto hadn't gotten so impatient then she could have taken Naruto on while he continued on towards the base. She flicked her headband impatiently. At least when Sasuke got out he would be able to make his own way there while she held of the bratty stalker genin.

"Who are you?" He asked, extremely confused. She glanced down at herself. A puzzled expression played across her face as she took in her appearance. It was still obviously her, she wasn't even using stage 2, and all that had changed was her complexion and the whole colouration thing.

"Naruto idiots should stay behind and leave the fighting to the big kids." Making some hand signs she created several shadow clones that formed a defensive line in front of the coffin. Yumi jumped down to land in front of them, not really wanting to be up there when he finally got out. Naruto scowled and looked across at her.

"I don't get it. Have I met you before? You seem familiar…" If she hadn't been about to engage in a serious fight Yumi would have face-palmed herself, but that would just have to wait for later.

"So let's just say that we have met. All you need to know is that I'm your enemy." With that she bit her thumb and summoned one of her father's giant snakes for some extra help. He didn't seem to be too happy about being summoned out of the blue by her, but at the prospect of a fight he perked up a bit. The blood mixing with her grey skin made an awful picture, and Naruto had a sudden urge to gag, giving Yumi an easy opening. Three shuriken went flying through the air, one hitting him in the back, one nicking his left arm, and one missing completely as he snapped out of his daze after the first two made contact. Damn, I was so close to hitting him too Yumi whined in her mind, annoyed that she hadn't hit him with all of them. Her aim was better than that, maybe her mind was wandering, for she certainly wasn't getting the results she wanted.

"Why is your skin grey, are you sick?" Yumi was attacking the guy, and he was asking if she was sick? Something must have been wired wrong in his brain, or maybe Tayuya gave him a good smack on the head for her. Either way, he seemed reluctant to fight back. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed, because fighting someone who wasn't going to fight back seemed like a waste of energy. The snake grumbled something about the fight being boring before he threatened to go back. Yumi shushed him with a wave of her kunai wielding hand. The seals on the coffin were smoking intensely now, and she knew it was only moments away from opening.

A grunt sounded from inside the coffin, and the seals disappeared altogether. Yumi's clones all backed up, surrounding Naruto instead. They all turned to watch as the lid was kicked off, exposing a rather angry Uchiha. His skin seemed a bit off-colour, almost slightly grey, but that was probably an aftereffect of the forceful awakening. She wouldn't know, since she hadn't had to go through that particular process. Sasuke climbed out of the coffin, glaring briefly at Naruto before immediately turning his gaze to the real Yumi, who was holding a kunai in her mouth and several shuriken in her hands. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question as to her appearance.

"You look different Yumi. Where are we going and why is he here?" Sasuke glared angrily once more at Naruto when he voiced his other question. Yumi pointed in one direction.

"Go that way and don't stop. Kabuto or someone else will hopefully be further along to guide you if you get lost, but let's hope it doesn't come to that." She had had to drop the kunai on the ground in order to speak, and she quickly picked it back up with her spare hand. He nodded briefly and ran for it, ignoring Naruto's voice as he called after him, telling him to come back.

As Naruto made to follow Sasuke Yumi motioned for the snake to block the path. He nodded and did as he was instructed, sensing that the fight might get serious now. Naruto might have been about 2 years older than her, but she had had four extra years of training compared to him. He glared in her direction, his anger finally starting to show through.

"I don't understand why you're helping them!" Naruto complained angrily. Yumi was unsure whether that meant he had finally figured out who she was or if it meant that he was just confused in general. It was most likely the latter option. Her shadow clones encircled him, all drawing their own kunai as one of them held a blade to his throat. Even so, they were only clones, and sooner or later he would remember that and break free.

"If by helping them you mean aiding the object of your obsession to escape your clutches then yes, I am helping them." Yumi was teasing him now, trying to stall for time before he really tried to make a break for it. With her clones holding him still it felt like cheating, but she couldn't afford to fight on even grounds, and there was no such thing as fair for a ninja. Using her increased agility she disappeared, reappearing behind him as she slashed a line across his back, unfortunately destroying one of her clones in the process. He winced, twitching and trying to break out of their hold.

With a snap of her fingers the clone disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving the boy completely free and able to move again. He blinked in surprise, flexing his hands and cringing when he stretched out, pulling at the gash on his back. Yumi grinned maliciously. Even if he did manage to get away, she had injured him now, so he wouldn't be able to do anything. Shaking her head she reprimanded herself. If she began to think like that then she would end up just letting him go, and that wasn't going to look good for her when she got back to base if he had actually managed to get Sasuke back in his injured state.

Something rustled in the trees over at the far end of the clearing and Naruto tensed, giving Yumi time to give him another gaping wound, this time running down his leg. The rustling stopped and Yumi turned to face the open expanse, waiting for the newcomer to reveal themselves. She already knew that whoever it was would be from the Leaf, since if it had been one of the Sound ninja they would have ignored her and gone on ahead. A figure in a dark green full body suit landed heavily on the grass near the edge and she frowned.

"Bushy eyebrows!" She cried out randomly, since that was the only thing about the newcomer that she could focus on. In her moment of distraction Naruto tried to escape, but was quickly impeded by the enormous snake blocking the way.

"Damn it!" He cried in frustration. Making a series of hand signs he performed the shadow clone jutsu as Yumi watched curiously, wondering what he was going to do. His clones surrounded the snake and the one she could only assume was the original yelled "Naruto Uzumaki barrage!" Yumi rolled her eyes, thinking that he was just being stupid. To her utter shock he actually managed to give the snake a good beating. He disappeared along with all of Naruto's shadow clones, leaving the path free for him to escape.

"Don't you dare!" She yelled at him, flinging another shuriken his way. It lodged itself into his back just above the gash as he ran into the forest. "Come back here!" She shouted, going to chase after him until she was interrupted by the bushy brows in the green jumpsuit.

"Now you have to fight me." Yumi glared at him, wondering if he was serious. She remembered seeing him at the hospital once when she was there, and he had been severely injured. Obviously that old lady Tsunade had been awfully low on ninja to be sending an injured man after her.

"Like hell I will. I have better things to be doing than fighting an injured person." He gave her an odd look and she shoved past him, only to have him grab her arm and stop her in her tracks.


A/N: Two chapter updates in 24 hours. I hope that makes up for me not updating in ages. It probably doesn't though.

Lots of cookies to Z.C.A for reviewing the chapters, and some to Sammy too for her random as anon reviews.

Please Read and Review, I need encouragement from people I don't know as well as my classmates