Chapter 9

It was two hours before the preliminaries started and Nozomi and Ai were waiting for Misa in front of a dome-like structure. But unfortunately Misa was no where to be found. "Jeez Misa!" Ai groaned. Being laid back and all, Nozomi just said, "Just wait and relax Ai. Misa could be doing… Misa stuff." She chuckled. 5 minutes later they say their sensei heading their way, carrying something (or someone) on his back. 'Oh shit…' Nozomi thought when she realized it who it was.

"What happened to her?" Ai asked as Suoh put Misa onto the ground. Misa looked up and said hyperly to her team mates, "I aciddentlyateallmypokilastnightsoIgotsomemore like I don't know…30,40packsandatehalfonthewayhereandthenthe sugarrushcameandlikewhat,anhourlaterIwasSOtiredout then senseisaawmeandcarriedmehere AND… I feel better now!" Misa gasped in for air while Nozomi scolded her for eating too much sugar.

Two hours past and everyone had lined up and the Hokage was talking about the Preliminaries & Finals." Of course Misa and Nozomi knew what would happen. (Nozomi had to remind her.) Nozomi looked at the sensei. The only one she knew very well was Kakashi and Suoh. She looked at the sensei to the right of Kakashi. Her eyes widen in surprise, that guy looked exactly like Lee!! Nozomi took note that Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi were watching not only her, but Misa's every move. "Losers…" she mumbled."This year the preliminaries will be different…." 'The Hokage is watching us too…' "…This year instead of one verses one; it would be team verses team." Everyone was surprised. "Each team will be randomly chosen. Which ever teams win, will go and proceed to the next and final rounds." The Hokage coughed. 'GREAT! Another Hayate….' "Let the preliminaries begin!"

Everyone was on the second level now, except for Hayate of course. They were looking at the board, as it began picking randomly. Everyone waited anxiously, except for laid-back Nozomi and sugar-hyper Misa. The board stopped and everyone was surprised- the sound Nin grinned, this was going to be an interesting battle. "Oh we're up first? Oh how troublesome…" Nozomi mimicked Shikamaru's lazy attitude.

Team Nozomi and the sound Nin went into a fighting stance. It was Dosu who moved first, he clapped his hands together and sound waves headed towards Misa- but nothing happened. Misa smiled and did a spin then a flip, then shot out earth (that looked like kunais) from her sleeves to Dosu-who just barley dodged it. "I don't get it, why wasn't Misa affected?" Ino asked. It was Shikamaru who answered, "Let me keep it clear and simple. SHE.IS.STUPID." Ino was just as puzzled as before. One of the sound Nin, Kin, shot out two needles t Ai-but she dodged it. "Fire special clone no jutsu!" yelled Nozomi, doing lots of hand seals. Clones came out of Nozomi. "Hey!" That's like my shadow clone!!" Naruto yelled. The sound Nin hit on of the three Nozomi, but it was a clone that dispersed-after it exploded. That took the sound Nin by surprise and he hit the wall hard. "Gee…. I wonder what happened to his arm….' Meanwhile Ai was having trouble, she was seeing multiple of Kin. 'Okay, all of her have shadows….'

Misa did a round house kick and then a low spinning kick-Dosu easily missed those. "Heh. And I hear you're so great!" Dosu did not expect Misa to smile. "Likewise Dosu." She said, pointing at the quicksand. Misa then ran to go help Ai.

Nozomi just stood there, dodging the sound Nin's kick. On one of them, a low kick, Nozomi jumped over him. In mid-air, Nozomi blew out fire. (Like Sasuke sometimes does) After the fire cleared, the sound Nin was laying down, burnt. Nozomi looked around, Mia's opponent was in quicksand and Ai's was knocked unconscious. "Don't even think about it Nozomi…." Said Kakashi. "Don't worry, I won't." She said right back. Misa and Nozomi were three feet away from Dosu, standing beside each other. Nozomi walked between Misa and Dosu and did Fire special clone no jutsu. Misa then concentrated and all Nozomi's clones went into the quicksand. "Earth Box Jutsu!" Three solid blocks came out of the earth. "Ready to play a game Dosu? It's simple, find the real Nozomi!"

The real Nozomi was behind Misa all along, back to back. Nozomi heard as three explosions, 'that's my cue!' She did a flip and teleported to above Dosu, The final blow, Nozomi did Gouken, a Taijutsu move. Dosu fell, but not dead. Everyone again was shocked, even Kakashi. 'She didn't kill them…' The 3rd Hokage thought to himself. Out of the corner of her eye, Misa noticed Sasuke leaning on the rail, smiling at her, acknowledging her silently. Misa smiled back and waved.

The next battle was against Team Kakashi and Team Asuma. "Cold, loud mouth, and self-absorbed verses greedy, foul-mouth, and lazy? Oh this should be really interesting." Nozomi insulted, for jokes though. A pulse literally broke in Kakashi and Asuma. "Come on Sasuke! You can do it!!" yelled Misa. Nozomi sweat dropped. 'Geez, why do we have to face Sasuke-kun? Now I can't root for him!!!' Ino whined in her head. Just then Ino felt sharp pain urge all over her body. Shikamaru yelled at her, "Pay attention Ino!" Sakura just threw 5 kunai at her.

Nozomi chuckled.

Sasuke jumped over Shikamaru's shadow (for precautions) and did a kick to his back, but it was just a clone. Meanwhile Chouji was rollin and rollin and Naruto was getting hit. "Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, really wanting to win this fight, "Use his own weight against him!" Naruto had to ponder on that, but then understood what he meant. Naruto then jumped on the rolling fat, not realizing how fast he was going. "Wwwwwwhhhhooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Naruto yelled, rolling Chouji all over the place. "Naruto! Watch where our going!!" That time it was Sakura who said that.

"Misa, can I ask you something in private?" "Sure…." He grabbed her hand, not harsh but gentle. This made Misa giggle as they walked out.

Sasuke looked up and saw Neji and Misa holding hands, walking out. Misa even giggled. Sasuke easily drowned in jealously, letting his guard down. Before Shikamaru can do any hand seals, Naruto rolled Chouji into Shikamaru. 'Two down.' Naruto turned to Sakura as the last blow was impacted. Both Sakura and Ino were knocked down. Hayate declared, "Team Kakashi wins!"

Nozomi was going to make a remark to Kakashi but she noticed Misa wasn't there. 'Shit… she usually makes lots of noise….' Then she noticed Neji wasn't there either. 'Shit…'

Neji and Misa had let go of each other's hands. Misa, uncomfortable in the silence, began to whistle. "Misa, do you… like anyone?" He asked tensely. Misa placed her index finger to the bottom of her lips, looked up and said, "Ummmm….no. No one at the moment…." She looked at him and continued, "Unless you mean like as in friend, that's another story." She started to babble off. "Like Nozomi, she's my bestest friend in the whole world!! On the guy's side, I'd have to say you and Sasuke." He sounded relief, but yet jealous too, "Me and Sasuke? Why? You've only just me us." She just shrugged. 'So…she doesn't like Sasuke.' Neji snapped out of his thoughts when Misa founded a flower patch

Misa and Neji returned when they were going to select the last teams. Luckily for Neji the last round was Team Biki vs. Team Kurenai. "Dude what happened to you?" Nozomi asked Neji, eyeing the flowers in his hair. Nearby, Suoh sweat dropped, thinking, 'Spending her life in Kohana must've affected her a lot.

Flashback

"Sensei! That flower is sooo pweety!" 6-year old Misa exclaimed, picking up a flower. Then she looked up at him and asked, "Why our village is called Kohawa Mawu?" She realized she said it wrong, so she tried to say it over and over again until she got it right. "Kohana Mawu…Mawu! Mawu Mawu Mawu!" 'Misa's not good at pronouncing words with r.' Suoh realized as he picked he up and headed for the campsite. "Kohana Maru" He began. "Because of all the flowers n our village.

-Change of Scene-

"Happy birthday sensei!" Nozomi added, "Yeaaah! Now you're really old!" Suoh pretended to whine, "But I'm only 15!" "You're still old!" "Nah uh!" "Yea huh!" "Nah uh!" "Yea huh!" Misa interrupted as she held flowers, "Here's your pwezant fwom me sensei!" Suoh smiled slightly, getting the flowers from Misa.

End of Flashback

'You know, I think she'd get her feelings hurt if I told her I threw them away.' Suoh could just imagine what would happen. The next battle of Kabuto's Team verses Team Gai commenced.