So, here it is, the long awaited 10th Chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. I am going to change some things around a bit, as I've decided I may not put Sae into the story at all, but there will be a new girl added in the next chapter (or the one after that) named Hikari. Once I figure out her picture, I'll post if for you all. By the way, you're going to hate me, but I won't say why until the end of the chapter. You'll see. Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not that any of you could really sue me, because you don't own Naruto either, but just in case Masashi Kishimoto reads this story, I don't own Naruto he does. Or, if he's reading it, you do. I do own CaruhJatchiHikari and Sae
After brutal training the next morning, which was cut short for reasons Asuma chose not to explain, I went straight to visit Haku. He had his own room in the Hokage's tower now, a small one, with only a bed and a desk with supplies on it, as there was a communal bathroom down the hall.
Together we had managed to have an extra chair brought in for my frequent visits. We sat upon them both now; for all that they were uncomfortable, because it was easier to be at the same level while we spoke.
Our talk was candid, as we discussed the inner workings of the mission I had just returned from. Somewhere along the way our discussion had turned from the battles and the outcome to my wound and from there to my dream.
I had had to confess to him that morning the truth, that I was not from Konoha, or even Suna, or any place he had heard of. I was from another world entirely. He wasn't angry with me for not telling him everything right away, nor did he scoff at the insane concept. He merely took a few moments a few moments to think about it and then nodded, accepting it as truth. I had come to realize that Haku was very easy to talk to. One of the easiest people I knew I could share my feelings with.
So, he asked me after a short amount of time, "So you honestly remember nothing of your life before?"
"Not now, but I did at one point," I noted. "Otherwise remembering my old name and coming up with this one would be an unexplained phenomenon. Though, I remember only my old name now."
"Well, it clearly isn't a phenomenon," he agreed, "seeing as how you remembered more back then than you do now."
"Exactly. Besides, how do you explain my remembering so much about this world? It's all knowledge from before."
"Not necessarily," a new voice spoke from the doorway. We both looked up from our bent over positions to notice the Hokage standing there, smiling at us. Behind his was another man, one I recognized as being the man who found me on a bench and convinced me to return to Kakashi. We'd only spoken for a few moments, however he had given me advice that helped me to move forward.
That didn't stop me from wondering what he was doing here. Or why the Hokage thought it was necessary he be here.
"What was with that remark, Hokage-sama?" I asked, looking between the two of them.
Instead of answering my question, he asked one of his own, directed at Haku, "May we come in?"
"You may, Hokage, but I'm not sure about your company," he responded, and none of us missed his lack of an honorific for the Hokage. The man hardly seemed to mind, however, and he walked in.
"This man is Viden Jatchi," he introduced us all. "He is here because he has a theory for you to consider Caruh."
With a small smile towards the Hokage and a questioning glance towards Haku, the man walked forwards and knelt down before me, to be at my eye level on the chair.
Grinning, he spoke, "So, you haven't been back to that bench since we first talk, I've noticed."
"You're right," I conceded.
He took up the seat across from me, and it took me until that instant to realize Haku had left his seat. I looked around rather frantically, to make sure he hadn't left me alone with this man who was barely more than a stranger. Breathing a sigh of relief, I noticed he was talking quietly to the Hokage, and they glanced at me occasionally until they realized I was looking them. Then they carefully avoided glancing in my direction.
Well, the distraction was only to last for a moment anyway. Jatchi spoke, "We have a chance to talk now."
"Honestly, I never thought I'd see you again," I admitted, slightly embarrassed I'd been so distracted.
"Hmm," he breathed, "but here I am in front of you again."
"So you are," I agreed, sounding like an idiot.
"Where to go from here?" he pondered.
I shrugged. "The Hokage mentioned you had a theory about my memories," I reminded him before we got lost in small talk.
"He did, indeed. Before I can get into that, however, I'll have to tell you that I know you've come from a different world," he admitted.
I was shocked, and then a wave of anger coursed through my body as I came to one of only two logical realizations. "The Hokage told you?" I demanded, irritated that he would reveal the secret that should have been only mine to share.
"No, actually."
Shocked again. The other theory, "Kakashi?"
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"I have my reasons for knowing," he told me, avoiding my question. "Now, with that out of the way, the theory." He once again had my undivided attention. "Here it goes. Because of your being here as long as you have been, with no connection to that previous life, and because I'm sure you haven't thought much about it with how hectic things have been and how much life has changed for you, forgetting would be the natural course of things."
"Natural course of things? It's natural to forget everything I've ever known? To forget my own parent's faces? How many people were in my family? My friends?! MY LIFE?!!"
He let me rant for a moment, visibly flinching when I mentioned my parents, which confused me but didn't defuse my anger. When I was done, he looked at me, making sure I wasn't going to continue. Once he was satisfied I had finished my rant, he spoke again. "It's natural in that you are no longer a part of that life, and your mind is reacting in making it no longer a part of you."
That kind of made sense, but what about all of those other things I did still remember? "What about my dream?" I decided to start at the obvious place.
"Your memories are still in your mind, only suppressed, however they're still there," he informed me, gently tapping my forehead. "You are not truly meant to forget this that life, forgetting that much of life weakens a person. They forget much of how to live once they've forgotten their life. Besides, human nature does not enjoy forgetting experiences such as those, therefore you are subconsciously bringing it back."
"So I remembered in the beginning because it was still fresh in my mind, but as time went on it faded? Or vanished, like amnesia?" I asked, trying to make sense of it all.
"I do believe you understand."
"And this happens because, so long as I'm not in that 'world' the memories leave?"
"That's right."
"What about Aden? How did I remember him the night we met?"
"Emotions. You knew something was wrong with what Kakashi was saying, that it was touching a part of you that went deep. While you were walking your emotions brought the memory to the surface, your anger and frustration unlocked the key to reviving that memory," he explained, and I barely followed his words.
"Okay, then why do I remember everything I knew about this world that I learned in that one?"
"I am not yet at liberty to say," he sighed, standing again. "Come by the bench once in a while and we can talk some more."
With that he walked to the door, pausing in the doorway. "Thank you, Haku, for use in your room. I will see you again Lord Hokage." Then he was gone.
The Hokage finished talking to Haku and with a slight bow of his head to us, he left as well.
With all of that behind us, Haku reclaimed his seat across from me. "What was the theory?" he asked me.
I explained it as simply as I could, as I barely understood it myself at that point, and he graciously nodded. Mr. Silent Consent.
"And you and Lord Hokage? What did you talk about?"
"My future," he told me, a smile gracing his features.
"Eh…?" That lost me. "What about your future?"
"Later," he promised, giving me a hug. Evasion was becoming a habit with these people. Still, I wondered if his hug was a clue as to what they had been talking about.
Haku was eager to be alone for a while after that, so I obliged and decided to leave fairly quickly after our hug. He wanted to think about what had happened over the last hour, but quite frankly I did not. With everyone being so evasive, I didn't like the idea of trying to decipher all of their hidden meanings. With that in mind I set my sights on finding Team 7 and visiting with them for a while.
While I was walking, the Hokage's words drifted through my mind, just as I had hoped they wouldn't. 'Not necessarily,' he had said in response to my memories. What did it mean?
I shook my head hard, forcing my thoughts down a different path. Suddenly thoughts of Kakashi's kiss made their way to the forefront of my thoughts, making me blush often enough for the villagers to think me insane. Seeing my old team made those thoughts fade away, as I noticed Kakashi was not with them. I guess that was natural, but I couldn't help the disappointment that seemed to fill my heart. Still, I smiled at them, and forced the feelings from my mind, glad just to see Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura again.
Sasuke seemed to notice me then, and he mumbled something to the rest of his team. Naruto and Sakura looked up and spotted me, before waving like mad. By the time we met on the sidewalk they were grinning like idiots, and even Sasuke seemed pleased to see me. Wow.
"Caruh! You're back!" Naruto shouted, hugging me. I didn't bother an answer except a giggle, seeing as how his point was moot. Of course I was back, or I wouldn't be here in front of them.
Apparently, Sasuke was thinking along the same lines as I was. "Obviously, dobe, or she wouldn't be standing here."
"Don't call me that, Baka Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, jumping back from me and glaring at Sasuke.
Sakura and I exchanged a glance and a smile before pulling the two apart.
"So, where's Kakashi-san?" I asked, still wanting to use the honorific around them to be polite. Though, in truth I should use it anyway.
"Oh, he called practice to an end a couple hours ago," Naruto pointed out, turning to face me again.
"He even showed up on time today," Sakura said, giggling. "Just so he could end it early."
"I wonder why," I pondered, mentioning that Asuma had done the same thing. None of them had an answer, so instead we decided to walk around town together and enjoy each other's company once again. At one point Naruto mentioned that Sasuke had fallen into a ditch a couple weeks back and I flushed for a moment, realizing that the time frame was around the same time as I'd made that comment to Ino. She'd kill me if she found out. Luckily, none of the three around me noticed, and I recovered quickly.
It was then that we ran into our next trial. Konohamaru ran up to Naruto, begging to play with us. Naruto agreed readily, and off they raced, playing ninja. I chose gracefully to ignore the irony of a ninja playing ninja. It was in both of their best interest.
That was when it hit me. The next chapter, and Konohamaru and Naruto were about to run straight into them! "Sorry guys," I said to Sasuke and Sakura, taking off, knowing in seconds that they were behind me. We turned the corner shortly after Naruto, and stopped dead at seeing Temari and Kankuro! 'THE CHUUNIN EXAM!!' I screamed in my mind, thrilled. I hadn't thought of it since I'd seen the Sound Trio over a month ago, but now here it was, staring me in the face. Then I let it go, focusing on the situation at hand.
Kankuro had Konohamaru by the front of his shirt and was lifting him off the ground. I sighed, here we go. As I remembered (and I was glad at that moment my memories were as fresh as ever) Sasuke was not supposed to be out in the open, meaning there was no one to throw a stone and stop Kankuro. Well, damn. What I wanted was for Naruto to stop Kankuro so Konohamaru wouldn't lose any respect for him. Easier said then done.
With that in mind I told Sasuke and Sakura to move in and hold the intruders off while I, as discreetly as possible, dragged Naruto away. After his initial irritation I managed to get him to listen to reason and attack from the shadows. I still don't know how I did it.
Then I was at Sasuke's side again. He didn't ask about Naruto, which was for the best as it would have given everything away to tell him. Instead, he looked at me, silently asking what to do.
It was at that moment it dawned on me, Sasuke was looking to me for help, and I was almost floored. Almost, there was no way I was losing my concentration to think on Sasuke turning to me for ideas. I looked back at him, silently telling him to wait for a moment and let things play out. He got the message, and passed it on to Sakura just as silently. She nodded.
Only seconds later a short caused us all to look up, and we noticed Naruto leaping from a tree to tackle Konohamaru's tormentor. Naturally Kankuro dropped his charge and moved to block his attacker. Unfortunately, he was too slow to do anything but topple over into the dirt with Naruto on top. Konohamaru cheered for his hero, and Naruto smiled at him as he was pushed off Kankuro.
"You piss me off," Kankuro growled, which he had already said a few times.
Temari, also, had spoken once or twice since we had shown up, and as Kankuro reached around his back for his puppet Karasu she argued against it. As he ignored her, she renounced any responsibility she had for what he did next.
Clear, precise words stopped everyone in their tracks, "Kankuro, stop."
The voice demanded recognition, and although it wasn't meant for me, I obeyed. The redhead hanging from the tree branch Naruto had jumped from was looking at each of us, but when he caught my gaze we both froze for an instant. I swear my heart stopped, and then he broke the gaze. A good thing he did, too, because I seemed unable to do so. In fact, as his gaze locked upon Kankuro again to berate him about being a disgrace to their country and to genin everywhere I was still watching him like a love-struck puppy, my heart going from not beating at all to beating so rapidly, so loudly, I was sure everyone in Konoha could hear it.
What was wrong with me? I tore my gaze away from him and concentrated on Naruto and Konohamaru to reorient myself. I was in love with Kakashi, right? I mean, I'd gotten so close to him recently, and we had kissed. Sort of. So confusing. Anyways, there was no way I could be in love with Gaara, especially not after having only seen him once.
Impossible. Right?
I looked back towards them, and noticed that he was looking at me again. While I couldn't help wondering what he was thinking, I could keep my heart from playing its stop-start rhythm. Our eyes met for the second time, and I studied the hidden world behind those black-shadowed orbs. The pain there nearly broke my heart, and when he turned away again I had to compose myself before tears formed. As they walked away, I found my voice unexpectedly, and called out, "Gaara!"
All three of them stopped and turned, though Kankuro was the first to speak. "How do you know his name?"
Luckily, I had a ready answer for that, as unexpected as the outburst was. "You said his name earlier. And he said your name Kankuro."
No arguing that point, and luckily he didn't. Gaara studied me for a moment before asking, "What?"
Now I didn't know what to say. "Good luck in the chuunin exams," I blurted, embarrassed. He nodded, and then the three of them turned and left.
At that moment Sakura spoke, "What were they doing here? I realize the alliance keeps us at peace, but they aren't allowed onto Fire Country without permission."
"Sakura," I explained, looking at her, thoughts of the Sand Siblings in the back of my mind now, "It's time for the chuunin exams. The tests that decide which genin are qualified to become chuunin. They're here for the exam. I bet tomorrow Kakashi announces to you guys that the exams are being held in a week, if I'm wrong we can spar, me against the three of you."
"And if you're right?" Naruto asked.
"We'll see when it happens."
The next day did bring the exciting news, and Asuma told us we had a week to decide. "No one is allowed to pressure another member of the team into joining," he told us. "It is a personal decision. In the meantime, you three will be learning new abilities, and building on old ones. Let's get started." That practice was the hardest we'd ever had, but it was worth it. I decided that sometime this week, seeing as how I had been right, I would get Naruto to teach me his Kage Bunshin technique, learn all about chakra and the shinobi standards from Sakura, learn a few famed Uchiha fire jutsu's from Sasuke, and practice my chakra training alone or with my team (I was determined to learn water walking before the exams began).
Meanwhile, I spent whatever free time I had left, which amounted to sometime between eleven 'o' clock at night and seven in the morning with Kakashi. Usually, I slept, he understood that I was exhausted, and was giving all my strength to becoming the best I could be, but I always knew he was close by. He'd moved his bed over to my side of the room and only about an inch and a half separated our sleeping areas now, as I realized that morning of the announcement. Generally, when I woke up, it was to his face, close to mine, his right eye open and watching me. In the morning, we shared a kiss before starting out on our days, and a hug if we saw each other in public. I loved being near him, I loved his presence, and I loved him. However, that day with Gaara disturbed me still, and I tried everything in my power not to think about it. What bothered me the most was that, when I saw him leaving, I wanted more than anything for him to stay. I pushed the thought aside. I had Kakashi.
The morning of the exam was upon us, and Shikamaru, Ino and I met outside the academy, where the exam (the first part anyway) was to take place. Neither of my team mates knew about my "sixth sense", nor did Asuma. That was probably for the best. I had too much on my mind for them to be asking questions.
The conversation with Jatchi had been on my mind a lot since we'd talked, and my dreams had been coming back with more force. I was remembering more, colors were surrounding the woods and the area seemed all the more familiar. Details adorned the faces of the people, and every time they were walking closer. I could almost recognize them as well, though it was still stuck in the back of my mind, refusing to surface. New people had appeared as well, though they were as featureless as the first figures had been in the beginning.
I hadn't seen Gaara all week, which was for the best, because I couldn't deal with what that implied. Kakashi and I were closer than ever, although we were still discreet in public we shared the same sleeping mat now, though he graciously slept on top of my covers under his own, so we had a layer between us. Still, it was nice to wake up in his arms each morning.
My extra training with Team Seven had brought be up to par with genin now, and I had a few extra tricks up my sleeves. I'd mastered the Kage Bunshin and a few Fire Style techniques from Naruto and Sasuke respectively. It had, however, cost me dear time in sleep. I couldn't help but think it was worth it, however.
Asuma showed up right on time, for which I was grateful. I could never get used to Kakashi's three hours late with "I got lost on the road of life" or "A black cat crossed my path" as his only excuses, even if I did know what he was really doing. I'd heard, though, that Team Seven had picked up on the habit of sparring or studying together while they waited now though, and was proud in spite of myself.
"Have you all filled out your forms?" he asked us, and we all nodded, handing them over to him. "Good job, team. I am proud of each of you for deciding to do this, because if a single one of you had chosen not to the entire team would have had to sit out." He smiled especially at me, and I nodded in return. With that, we stepped inside.
Walking up to our room, we noticed a group of kids being stopped outside. I smiled and kept walking, not even making eye contact with the two guarding the door. Ino and Shikamaru followed me curiously.
"That was the classroom, Caruh," Ino pointed out to me, and I shook my head.
"Look at it again Ino," I told her, and she and Shikamaru looked back.
"Genjutsu," Shikamaru noted, looking back at me. The look in his eyes told me his earlier assessment was true, I wasn't very troublesome at all. I smiled at him and we made our way upstairs to the classroom. The exams had begun.
AHHH!!! Can you guys ever forgive me? I made it long, but still, the exams only just started. I hope you liked, and understood, the description from Jatchi, if not I'll try to edit it. Well, if you didn't understand it, I'll try to edit it, if you didn't like it I can't really help you. Anyways, What did you think about her first meeting with Gaara? And how are you likingCaruh/Kakashi? It'll only last a little bit longer, and I don't want them to get too heavy before making the decision to break it off. Well, let me know what you think, okay? And I would like to get more than one review on this chapter, please. Arigato and ja ne minna-san!!