Chapter 10

The next two weeks of training passed by fairly quickly. One week of training with Naruto, since I had finished training under Kakashi, and then I had an extra week of training with Kiba. During my spare time I would eat my three square meals, just because I'm awesome that way, then I would go and train some more. So, I had no idea as to what the others had been doing.

I was training with Sara one such afternoon, when I heard Viva calling my name. She ran into the clearing that I was training in and skidded to a halt in front of me, panting. She held up a finger just as I was about to open my mouth to ask what she wanted. Damn, that girl was getting good.

"Alyss…..has……disappeared!" Viva panted. I stood stock still. Then, you guessed it folks, I went bang in a ball of black, red, denim blue and red-orange furry fury.

"WHERE THE FREAKING HELL IS SHE?!?!?!?"

"…..Hospital….." Viva panted. Determined, I sprinted off, Sara trailing behind me, in the direction of the hospital.

~*~*~*~

Alyss was lying on the bed, silent tears streaming from her now violet eyes. Silent tears were also running down my face as I stood watching her for a sign of movement. I had arrived about half an hour ago by this time and I had suspected for a while now, since the incident in Tsunade's office a while back, that maybe, just maybe, Alyss could have somehow gained the Byakugan. Now, I was even more sure. I didn't catch on quickly to most things, but Alyss was too close a friend to lose this way.

Alyss lay in the foetal position, curled in tightly on herself. Earlier, before this all happened and we wound up where we were, I only had to take one look at her face to know that she was absolutely petrified of her abilities, which is how myself, Kakashi, Hinata, and Neji were in the room, as well as everyone else, minus the pink haired bitch who seemed to think we were the scum of all Konoha's Chuunin.

I sat down on the bed as silent tears continued to stain my cheeks. I continued to look at Alyss for a moment before choking back a sob and dropping my head into my hands. I didn't know what to do anymore, things had been completely turned around. I had always imagined what it would be like here, with my best friends by my side, but, so far, it's a lot worse than I thought it would be. Everything was so different here, and coping was very hard, especially without my family to be my rock.

Put simply, I knew what was happening to Alyss, but I hadn't the slightest idea of how to bring her out of her mental shell.

Kakashi looked at Alyss for a long moment, some emotion no one had ever seen before in his eyes, only just hidden by the remorse in his visible grey eye. Sasuke sat down on the bed next to me as I choked back another sob. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders in silent comfort as I leaned into his chest and continued to cry.

Sasuke and I had slowly become closer over the course of the past month, but I didn't know whether it would eventually lead onto anything. Sasuke hadn't said anything, but I wasn't sure as to what he was thinking either.

Kakashi looked around the room for a moment, eyeing everyone in the room in silent thought before turning to an angle where he could look at everyone in the room.

"Guys, I need to talk to Neji and Hinata for a moment in private, can I get everyone to leave the room for a moment?" Everyone nodded and filed out of the room in silence, excepting Hinata, Neji, Kakashi and myself. Sasuke hesitated when he noticed that I wasn't leaving the room. I turned to Kakashi and eyed him steadily with watery eyes. Kakashi met my gaze evenly.

"Kakashi, I know how Alyss ended up in this state. I also suspect what you know." Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly in surprise, then, he nodded, allowing me to stay. Sasuke, being the stubborn guy he is, stayed as well.

Kakashi looked at me as Sasuke walked over and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"Do you have any idea how to wake Alyss up?" I made a surprised noise, then glared at the silver haired Jounin, not noticing that Alyss stirred on the bed, nor did I acknowledge Hinata's surprised gasp. I jabbed a finger at his chest and raised my voice slightly.

"Would I be crying if I did? I have no idea how to wake Alyss from her current state you, you. . . . . ."More tears welled in my eyes as a sob broke past my defences. Sasuke turned me to him and pulled me to his chest as I continued to cry.

"A-Artemis. . . . . ." Hinata stuttered my name and I looked up with teary eyes. Hinata silently pointed to the bed where Alyss lay and I looked over to see her uncurling slowly and sluggishly blinking her eyes. I gasped in surprise as she sat up, then I sprinted the short distance around Sasuke to the bed and hugged Alyss tightly.

Alyss groaned and I pulled back as she clutched her head as she groaned again.

"I, ugh...I don't like migraines.. . . ." She muttered. I giggled a little at that, then hugged her again, gently this time. Then I became serious as I looked at her critically.

"What happened?" I asked her as I looked her in the eyes. She looked away for a moment before replying in a hushed whisper of a voice.

"I...I don't know if you'd noticed, Art, that me becoming a ninja is...difficult. It's gotten easier and I enjoy what I'm doing but recently another ability's presence became apparent." Alyss' breathing grew heavier and she tucked her head against her chest. I took a step forward and she lifted her head, hands still clutching her head, giving me a look that told me to stop in my tracks.

"The Byakugan is an awesome gift – awesome, in the literal sense of the word. Yet I have to admit...I cannot deny...the fact that I'm afraid of it." Her eyes brimmed with tears of what appeared to be shame. "I'm...I'm such a waste. Here I have this...this power of sorts and yet my blood runs cold at the very thought of it. Which twisted masters of fate would give such a treasure to one who is totally incapable of wielding it?" The tears flowed down Alyss' cheeks as her voice rose with exasperated torment.

"When we first came, it felt like all my past life had been so that I could become a ninja by strengthening my spiritual chakra. But the Byakugan goes against everything I had established with my mind. It blows wide open the gate to my final sanctuary and I don't know how to...I just don't know what to do..." Alyss laughed lightly after a moment, though without humour, startling the others.

"It's ironic in a way, isn't it? I'm always watching. Watching you, Viva, Zeala. Always watching. The Byakugan would help me with this...or it would if I weren't petrified of it." I stood in shock. I had guessed a million times over, both in this world and in our old world, but, I had never suspected this would come from Alyss. How can anyone, anyone ever think that they're worthless?

"Alyss," I breathed. "Alyss, you're not –" I was cut off by the approach of two noisy, and one deathly quiet, people, though the first two accounted for the latter's lack of sound. Alyss' eyes widened with panic and by the time Viva and Naruto had burst into the room, slowly followed by Zeala, she had already flung herself off of the bed and was shaking in fright, crushed into the corner made by the bed and the wall behind it.

"Alyss!" Viva shouted. "You've finally woken up! You have no idea how –" Viva was interrupted by Zeala.

"Where is Alyss?" she asked quietly.

"She felt the need to use the bathroom," Kakashi replied. I gave him a look. What the hell was with this guy and lying so casually? I wouldn't say anything though, since he didn't appear to want me to talk, knowing I would most likely break out the truth.

"And none of you felt the need to accompany her?"

"One of the medical corps took her," he lied smoothly.

"Nobody has left nor entered this room since you dismissed us. I was watching. Where is Alyss?" Zeala paused for a moment then realisation came over her. I could see it clearly written on her face. I had studied my friends faces for years. I knew when they felt hurt, betrayed, angered, enraged, happy, mournful. You name it, I've studied their faces concerning those emotions. Zeala, at the present moment, felt angered, upset, and there was also a flicker of betrayal in her eyes.

"She's here, isn't she? Why won't you let us see her?" I watched her step forward and I was sure that she would search til she found Alyss. I had to do something, right now, Alyss was petrified of almost anything, except the original people that were in the room when she awoke.

"Stop." Kakashi's voice was harder than I'd ever heard it and I mustn't have been the only one who thought so because there was a sudden silence.

"Now is not the time." Surprisingly, I couldn't have agreed more.

"Will there ever be a right time?" Zeala muttered as she left the room, Viva and Naruto following her, silent for once.

Oh boy, this sure was a problem, wasn't it? I felt guilty, and had absolutely no idea why I felt just that. Maybe it was the fact that, in a way, Zeala felt betrayed by not being allowed to see that Alyss was okay now. I don't know how Viva felt, but once again, I just felt completely and utterly stupid, like I'd done something harmful to all my friends and didn't deserve their forgiveness. I also felt like a weight was bearing down on my chest, which made me feel like, you guessed it, made me feel like crying again.

I just wanted to disappear for a while, forget about everything that turned my seemingly normal life very quickly upside down. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked to Alyss, who was being gently laid out on the bed by Kakashi, who had been holding her bridal style. She smiled dolefully up at him as I walked back over to the bed.

"It'll turn out alright." He murmured. I nodded in agreement and took Alyss' hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as she fell asleep this time, hoping that she wouldn't fall back into that state of mind she had been in.

When Alyss was fully asleep, I gently set her hand back by her side on top of the bed covers that she was tucked into and turned to Kakashi. He looked at me a moment, his visible eye crinkling to show what could possibly be a smile. I smiled in return and sighed, running a hand through my hair again. Sasuke looked on in silence.

"I'd better take my leave now. Kakashi, look after Alyss, please. You have no idea of the fragile state of mind she's in right now. It terrifies the life out of me to see Alyss so broken like this, I never want anything like this to happen to her again, if it can be helped. Alyss needs time to heal, but when the time comes again, I pray that she'll be able to trust in her abilities enough not to be petrified of attempting something like the byakugan. That ability is a great asset, but it also bears a major fault, which is hard for the more simple minded to detect, but it is there, it exists and, that's what scares me the most."

Kakashi looked astonished, Sasuke surprised as I continued my speech. "Kakashi, I couldn't bear to lose one of my friends, I wouldn't be able to handle it. After a while, if such a thing happened and one of my most cherished friends was no longer in this life, I might very well go mad and attempt to join them, just to appease my state of mind. Things like life and death situations which occur so readily and plentifully in this world made me realise that life itself, truly is short. It may very well be, however, the longest experience, if you were to survive every ordeal thrown at you.

"I worry about all of them every day. Viva can be crazy and out there, but she still manages somehow to look after herself. Zeala, Zeala's a fighter, she can survive almost anything. Alyss, she's so fragile sometimes, but she, in my opinion, by far, is the bravest of us four. She faces her fears head on and doesn't look back. Looking at all my friends, and comparing them to myself, makes me wonder, how I've survived this long, how I still manage to live through each day."

I sighed as I looked at the floor, before looking up at Kakashi again.

"That's probably the most of my thoughts that I've ever divulged to anyone, Kakashi, Sasuke. I normally don't open up like this." I exhaled loudly as tears threatened to well in my eyes.

Sasuke stood, looking at me for a moment of silence, then, stepped closer and pulled me into an embrace.

"I'll walk you back home." I nodded, sniffling as we slowly walked out of the door, one of his arms around my waist.

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

I sighed as I collapsed tiredly onto the grass, lying eagle spread on the ground and looking up at the clouds passing by. It had been a little while since the incident with Alyss losing herself in her mind, and I'm not entirely sure if she had attempted to use the Byakugan again since then, since all of us have been training very hard. I had left Sara at home today, feeling the need to hone my Genjutsu a little more, as well as my Taijutsu, my Ninjutsu being pretty much down-pat by now.

I looked at my watch and grunted as I stood up. I had to go and see Tsunade now concerning something. She said, from what I remember, something about giving me a useful weapon of sorts and an unofficial mission, which I was cool with, since I had no idea when exactly our exams would be.

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

I was definitely given a 'mission' during my visit to Tsunade's office, as well as a new wicked cool staff. It was probably the most simple thing in the history of tasks. Baby sit a civilian child for the day. Easy when you know how to act like a child in teenager form. I grinned evilly at the thought as I came up with a game to play with the child I was spending the day with; Yukiko. At most, she looked to be about seven years old. She happily told me when I was introduced to her that she would be entering the academy next year, to undergo ninja training. Both of her parents are in ANBU Black Ops and couldn't be more grateful that someone could readily look after their child for the day, since they were busy working and looking after Yukiko.

We were currently sitting in a clearing in the forest, or rather, lying down and watching clouds roll across the sky. Yes, we were having a total Shikamaru moment. I pointed to a moderate sized cloud in the sky.

"What do you think that is shaped like, Yukiko?" I asked in a muted voice, laziness taking over my body easily. I felt her shift, turning her head in one direction, then the other, as she contemplated as to what the cloud was shaped like. She rested once again, after a moment, and stayed silent a moment longer.

"It looks kinda like a love heart." She murmured quietly. I turned my head as well, searching, and found it. It did look like a love heart at a certain angle. A small smile curved the corner of my lip the smallest of bits. If I ever have kids, and one happens to be a girl, I hope that she will be as adorable as Yukiko. This kid is just too cute.

I rolled over and got onto my hands and knees, sitting up, enjoying the warm sun on my face. Today is the first day of February, we've been in Konoha for a month, so we were due for our 'unexpected' Chuunin exam sometime soon. I sighed, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my bared limbs and face. Today, I was simply wearing a black singlet, and white washed cut-off jean shorts that stopped at my mid thigh. By now, the whole village knew about our mysterious appearance, so, instead of having my tail wrapped around my waist, like it normally would be, I had it wavering freely, the tip of my tail quivering in contentment. I noticed Yukiko look up at me curiously. I looked down at her with a smile on my face and hummed in question.

"Artemis, what is it like…..being from a different world and all I mean?" I smiled as she sat up and I ruffled her hair playfully. Then I stared off into the distance for a moment, contemplating as to what to tell her about the world I grew up in.

"Well….it's much the same as this world I guess, except that the continents, countries, states, they're formed far differently to this world, Yukiko. In my world, everyone had their own language, English, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Deutsch, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Afrikaans, Ukrainian, and many other countless languages, and each was unique. I suspect that much the same is here in this world as well, however. There are several other differences however, but, they're harder to explain, and currently, harder for me to grasp." Yukiko nodded. Just then, I heard a rustling in a tree, followed by the tell-tale whistle, silent to regular human hearing, of a kunai or shuriken having been thrown. I gasped, then got in front of Yukiko.

"Ninja Art: Chakra shield!" (Artemis' personalised attack, or rather, defence mechanism. Artemis releases a burst of chakra in all directions, easily deflecting all forms of long range weaponry) I quickly pulled my recently acquired staff, which had intricate designs, gold caps on either end of a five foot, decorated pole, with three feet of reinforced lead in the centre. I pulled it from its holder on my back, and twirled it a few times in the oh so awesome way I had perfected during the day and brought it to a stop, with my hands closer to the end of the staff closest to my body.

"Yukiko, stay behind me, I'll protect you." I exclaimed as a rouge ninja, who appeared to be from the Hidden Grass village revealed himself. I glared, wrapping my tail around my waist, where it would be out of the way of being yanked.

"What do you want?" I growled, opting that, for now, I would put my staff away, switching it for a kunai. The ninja didn't answer, just suddenly rushed forward without warning and meeting my kunai with one of his own. We pushed back and forth, before I broke away, easily picking up Yukiko, and depositing her behind a bush, where I hoped she would be safe.

"Leave this to me." I murmured, before reappearing in front of the rogue ninja, meeting him head on with my kunai again. I leaped back, performing handsigns as I went.

"Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger! Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Flower Jutsu!" I heaved in a great breath and started spitting out chakra induced fire balls, of which my enemy dodged with precision. I growled in annoyance and flipped into the air and up into a tree.

'We could use our jutsu, cub.' Onitora growled, I nodded my agreement and started to perform the handsigns.

"Tiger, Rooster, Dog, Snake, Dragon, Dragon, Horse, Rat, Horse, Tiger, Monkey, Ram, Dog, Dog, Tiger, Horse, Dragon, Tiger! Ninja Art: Call of the Tiger!" I exclaimed, as what sounded like a tiger's roar reverberated throughout the forest, and seconds later, demon tigers of all ages(you can tell by how many tails they have) appeared in front of me.

"You called us, milady?" The oldest one, who had five tails asked, turning and bowing to me. I nodded my confirmation, then explained the situation.

"I need all of you to guard a civilian child I have hiding just on the edge of this clearing, as for me, I'll be taking care of this rogue ninja." I growled the last sentence, as my eyes changed colour to a bright amber green, and whisker marks appeared on my face. I performed some other handsigns now, thankful for the extra training I'd been under with Kiba. I was starting to regret my decision to leave Sara at home now.

"Ninja Art: All Fours Jutsu!" I exclaimed as my nails grew longer and sharper, and my tail unravelled from around my waist to waver in the air freely. I then ran with new found speed at my enemy, tackling him around the stomach, then lifting him and throwing him easily across the clearing into a tree. I then leaped and flipped back yet again, throwing my right arm behind me, and willing my chakra to become visible in lightning form.

Once my jutsu was fully charged, I rushed towards my enemy.

"Chidori! One Thousand Birds!" I exclaimed as I was about to hit my enemy, before I felt him grab my wrist and swing me around, my attack hitting a tree and sparking a moment before dissipating. I yanked my hand free of the poor defenceless tree, before turning around to face my enemy again. My enemy now had a lazy, carefree smile on his face. I growled in frustration and curiosity.

"Congratulations," He began in an eerily familiar voice. Then, he went poof! causing me to jump a foot in the air as the smoke cleared and Kakashi stood there.

"You pass." He finished simply, my jaw dropped.

"Pass……what?" I asked in a squeak Then, as if the surprises would never end, Tsunade appeared, a grin on her face.

"Your Chuunin exam of course." Tsunade laughed as my jaw hit the ground again.

"WHAT!!!!" I exclaimed, before I saw stars and met with the ground……

~Kakashi~

I chuckled as Artemis fainted. Tsunade sighed and brought a hand to her forehead.

"I can't believe we just let her pass." She murmured, rubbing her temples. I chuckled again and looked at Alyss' closest friend for a moment. Really though, all four of the girls were close to each other, Artemis seemed to have a special bond with each of the girls. If anyone were to ask how the four of them came to be such a motley crew of close friends who share each others' secrets, wishes, and friendship, one would simply have to say that Artemis brought them all together, and then Zeala continued to maintain that by looking after the other three.

"They're remarkable girls." Was my reply as Tsunade sighed again, then ordered me to pick Artemis up while she went to negotiate with Artemis' summoned tiger demons while I took Artemis back to Naruto's apartment.