I'm back with chapter 11!
I should probably do a disclaimer, since I always forget.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I own only my OC Kaira.
Little warning - Kaira's does swear a little bit here, but only once or twice.
Kaira's previous assumption was correct.
No matter how funny Naruto was when getting blown up, dog walking still couldn't live up to the mission in the Land of Waves.
The same applied for any weed picking or rubbish collecting missions that were thrown Team 7's way.
As they walked back from another D-rank assignment, tensions were high.
Having to have Kaira and Sasuke hold him up, naturally, Naruto was not pleased.
"As funny as that was, Naruto, can you not fall off a waterfall next time?" Kaira sniggered.
Sasuke smirked too. "Yeah, you really are just one big problem."
Naruto snarled and pulled away from his teammates grip. "Sasuke!" He bellowed rushing forward as Sasuke walked on casually
Until someone grabbed him by the collar. "Knock it off, Naruto." The boy recognised Kaira's annoyed voice. "Save it for later."
"But, but, Kaira! I thought you hated him too!" He whined.
"There is a big difference between hating someone and wanting to beat them to a pulp, Naruto!" She shouted at him. "Like right now, I don't hate you, but I want to strangle you anyway."
"That's not fair, we're supposed to be on the same side!"
"I'm not on anybody's side. I'm on my own side, and I wanna beat both of ya!"
Kakashi sighed. "I guess we're not making much progress with teamwork, huh?"
Naruto turned his attention back to Sasuke. "That's right, our teamwork's all messed up, and it's all because of you, Sasuke. You think you're better than everyone else?"
"Not everyone." Sasuke said, not even turning to look Naruto in the eye. "Just you. Face it, I'm better and stronger than you are, it's a fact." The boy finally turned around. "Unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong."
"Uh, you two are so full of yourselves." Kaira huffed, and crossed her arms. "Get a grip."
Sasuke sent her a glare too, which she gladly returned.
Those three are getting along worse than before, if that's even possible. Kakashi shook his head.
The three growled at each other. Kakashi decided to stop things before they went any further. "Alright guys, let's call it a day. You can fight each other another day. Besides, I have to hand in the report of the mission."
"Whatever. I'm out of here." Sasuke turned and walked away.
"Oh, yes. Before I forget. Kaira, I'd like you to meet me at the training ground at six o'clock tonight to continue work on your jutsu."
Kaira snapped out of her bad mood. "Oh yeah! I nearly forgot about that! I'll be there at eight."
Sasuke turned around once more. "You're teaching her a new jutsu?"
"Yes, I am. Now, I thought I just said six?"
"Hey, wait, what about me and Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
"You did, but you're always late!" Kaira shrugged, ignoring the boys.
"Hello!" Naruto shouted. "That's not fair!"
"So what? Kakashi promised me that he'd help me with my lightning jutsu back in the Land of Waves. What wouldn't be fair is if he didn't keep his promise." Kaira finally acknowledged the two boys.
"What are we supposed to do while she's getting special training?" Sasuke questioned Kakashi.
"Maybe me and Sasuke want an awesome jutsu too!"
"Oh, what, so you're on "Sasuke's" side now?" Kaira mimicked the blonde.
"Relax, you three. Sasuke, Naruto, I will have the chance to train you as well. But Kaira's right, I did promise her." Kakashi said, trying to stop the impending fight. The boy's think I'm doing this out of favouritism, but it's quite the opposite. Sasuke inherited his strength from the Uchiha clan, and Naruto has the Nine-Tails. Kaira's clan has very few strong members - and she isn't one of them. I'm not doing it because I think she's the strongest, I'm doing it because she's the weakest. She'll need the extra training to keep up with them both.
"No fighting. I'll see you all later."
And with that, Kakashi disappeared with a puff of smoke.
Kaira twizzled round on her heels, but gave the boys one last smirk. "That last part was true, but it would have been a shame to stop now after we've been training for the past five days. See you!"
"Wait, what?" Naruto yelled.
"I said - see you!"
And with that, Kaira disappeared with her own little puff of smoke.
But the boys heard one last yell from a distance.
"Kakashi taught me that too!"
Fake rocks, what's up with that?
Naruto was staring at the cardboard rocks before him. After running back and forth a few times, he shouted at the so-called stone.
"That's the worst disguise of all time, there's no such thing as square rocks!" He put his hands on his hips. "It's completely obvious!"
"You saw through my camouflage again!" A muffled voice came from within the disguise. "You're slick, Boss, just what I'd expect from my greatest rival!"
The box glowed before exploding into colour, revealing Konohamaru and two other children and coughing on the floor.
"I think we used a little too much gunpowder, you guys." Konohamaru complained. After glancing up at Naruto, the three striked a pose.
The little girl was up first. "I'm Moegi - the sassiest kunoichi in pre-school. Check me out!"
Next up was the boy in a blue jacket. "I love algebra, call me Udon!"
And, finally, there was Konohamaru himself. "And I'm the number one ninja in the village - Konohamaru. And when we're together,"
The three chouted together. "We're the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!"
Unimpressed, Naruto held his hands behind his neck. "Yeah, I knew it was you, Konohamaru." He noticed their heads. "Hey, what are those things, those goggles your wearing on your head?"
"You used to wear them, right, remember?" Konohamaru giggled. "So we're copying you!"
Naruto sighed. "So, did you want something?"
"He's just trying to be cool." Konohamaru whispered to Udon.
"You know what we want." Moegi stepped forward. "Aren't you busy now?"
Naruto grinned and pointed to himself. "I have to train - believe it!"
"What?" Konohamaru yelled at the blonde. "But you promised that you would play ninja with us today! Come on."
Naruto laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, did I say that?"
Uh, if I say yes, these kids will keep bugging me all day. I'll never get any training done!
"Sorry, you three, but I can't play ninja because I have to be a ninja! And my ninja mission today is to train."
"You're making that up just to avoid us, Naruto!" Konohamaru shouted.
He began to run at Naruto, who easily saw it coming and decided to at least play along for a little while. Sprinting in the other direction, he could hear the small child's delight at the game. However, much to Konohamaru's dismay and confusion, Naruto suddenly came to a halt. Not being able to stop, Konohamaru carried on running before tripping over and landing right at someone's feet.
And this someone wasn't friendly.
"Do you need something?"
The person was dressed in black, and his hat had pointed ear type-things - which his headband was built into. His face had purple markings all over it and he carried some kind of bandaged box on his back. There was a girl behind him, who had her blonde hair in four short ponytails and wore a white dress with a red belt. Her headband was around her neck and on her back, she had a large fan.
Both of them looked highly irritated by Konohamaru.
The scene quickly escalated and Konohamaru was being held up by his scarf in no time.
"So, does this hurt, punk?"
The blonde spoke up with a stern voice. "Put him down, Kankuro, or you know you'll pay for it later."
"H-hey, you two, I'm sorry, this was my fault." Naruto stuttered. "Don't take it out on him."
When he got no response, Naruto made himself louder. "You better take your hands off him right now!"
Kankuro grinned. So these are the Leaf Village's genin.
"We've got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks, huh?"
Konohamaru winced.
In a flash, the boy was skidding across the floor after being dropped violently, Kankuro's arm now occupied with someone else.
"Some of these punks have more bite than others."
Kankuro smirked. "Finally, someone who can have a little fun. And who might you be?"
"Kaira Akiyama of the Leaf Village."
Kaira's face was serious for once, which surprised Naruto. "Don't underestimate the Leaf Village, outsider."
Konohamaru quickly scuttled away as the scene continued. Kaira held a kunai at Kankuro's arm, whose hand grabbed her wrist.
"Mind if I ask who the person attacking little defenceless children in our village is? I think I missed the introduction."
"The name's Kankuro, and that's Temari."
"And why are you here? I'm not fond of trespassers, with permission or not, who start fights with tiny kids."
"We have permission to be here." Temari said. "But I'm afraid Kankuro doesn't listen when I say to leave people alone. I'm staying out of this."
"Whatever, looks like it's just you and me, Red-Head."
"Guess so, Kitty-Head."
The two exchanged glares for a minute before Kankuro reached for his back.
Temari looked surprised. "You're seriously going to use that for a fight like this?"
"Yeah, so what. Maybe I should show this girl how to simmer down a little."
"Bring it, Kitty." Kaira smirked after she got herself another annoyed stare.
"Oh, I will."
He flung the bandaged package round to the front of him as Kaira swiftly hopped out the way, and moved his fingers up and down as the bandages unwound themselves.
Who the hell is this guy? Kaira frowned as she put away her kunai and readied a jutsu if needed.
As the bandages were just about removed, Kaira saw a large wooden contraption emerge.
What is that? Is it... a... a...
She stared at it a little more, much to Kankuro's amusement, before realising what it was.
"A puppet?!"
"Took you long enough." You could hear the smugness in his voice as he lifted his hands and the puppet raised with it.
As his fingers moved, the puppet rushed forward towards Kaira. The girl easily dodged it, jumping over the top, only to have to slide underneath the puppet as soon as she landed.
As the puppet drew a knife, Kaira struggled to get up in time, but managed to swerve out the way and block the knife with a kunai.
"Not bad evasive skills, Red-Head." Kankuro said, a cocky smirk still painting his face.
I would respond, but I'm really not sure what evasive means. She panted as she thought. Only one good thing for wood - puppet or not.
And that's burning!
"Let me show you a little trick of my own. Dark Style: Dark-"
Her jutsu was cut off as two rocks came flying into her head and the back of Kankuro's.
"Sasuke - you bastard! That was gunna be and amazing counter attack!" She said as she threw her hands in the air. "I didn't need your help!"
Sasuke was sat on the branch of a nearby tree, one of his legs stretched out. He was tossing one last rock up in the air. "You shouldn't start fights with outsiders. It just causes trouble."
Kaira shook her head. He's still a bastard. A cocky one too.
It was Kankuro's turn to be annoyed. Turning round, he growled at Sasuke in annoyance.
"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league."
Kaira was unamused. "That's pretty much what I said before, you know."
"Oh great, another Leaf ninja to tick me off."
Sasuke lifted his arm up and crushed the rock in his hand effortlessly. "Get lost."
In the background, Konohamaru criticised Naruto for being as cool as either of his teammates.
Argh, Sasuke, you're always trying to make me look bad in front of everyone. And Kaira thinks I couldn't do it either! Naruto thought angrily.
Just as Kankuro was going to invite Sasuke to join his and Kaira's fight, he was interrupted by another new face.
"Kankuro, back off."
Kaira stared wide eyed at the newcomer - who happened to be stood upside down on a branch near Sasuke's.
"You're an embarrassment to our village." The other red-head continued.
Kankuro smiled sheepishly. "Erm, hey, Gaara."
This guy's good. None of us even noticed him go there, he was silent.
"Hey, you!" Kaira yelled up to Gaara. "Who are you, and what do you think you you three are doing in our village?"
The boy stared at her for a moment and she wasn't sure whether it was hateful or not. Kankuro and Temari shot her a warning glare, but it was ignored.
"I am Gaara of the Desert. We are here for the chunin exams from the Village Hidden in the Sand." To everyone's surprise, Gaara was then surrounded by swirling sand, before appearing on the ground by his teammates.
"I apologize for Kankuro's actions. Were you injured?"
"No, not at all." Then, slowly, Kaira nodded. "Apology accepted."
His eyes, I don't like the look of them.
As Temari and Kankuro turned to walk away, Sasuke jumped down to Kaira's side.
"You." Gaara said, his eyes moved from Kaira to Sasuke. "I am curious about you. What is your name?"
"I am Sasuke Uchiha."
There was a silence before Gaara spoke again.
"And you, the girl who fought Kankuro, who are you."
"Kaira Akiyama - me and Sasuke are teammates."
Naruto ran forward to join in. "So am I. Hi there, I bet you all want to know who I am!"
"I couldn't care less."
Team 7 was once again on a bridge waiting for Kakashi.
Even though Kaira, after all the training she'd had with Kakashi, had gotten used to him being late and arrived late herself, she still ended up having to wait half an hour.
After the incident with the Sand Ninja, the three had once again gone there own way before being called by Kakashi the next day.
"Hey, good morning everyone."
Kakashi appeared on top of a pillar on the bridge.
"Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life!"
"You liar!" Naruto yelled.
"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams. All three of you."
Kakashi held three forms in his hand.
"These are the application forms." He held his hand out as Sasuke, Naruto and Kaira each took one.
"This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you. If you don't feel ready, you can wait till next year."
"Alright!"
It didn't take long for Naruto to start yelling in excitement.
"Kakashi-sensei, you rock!" Naruto ran to the Jonin and threw his arms around the man's neck and spun around, ignoring Kakashi's protests.
"Do I even need to ask if you're in, Sasuke?" Kaira asked after she finished giggling at Naruto.
Sasuke nodded his head.
"You don't."
I stayed up late again to get this finished. Once I get into writing, I can't stop!
Please review with any thoughts, I really like to hear anything you have to say.
Thanks.
Cobalt Flame