Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the brand names I mention in this story. I also don't own any of the music lyrics that appear.

Chapter 11

Catching Up with Sasuke

The clouds finally moved out of the way of the sun and it's light streamed in through the leaves once more. The sunlight made everything look like a fuzzy, emerald scene.

"I sense that Sasuke has stopped moving," Pakkun called from ahead of us. "But he's still a long way ahead of us."

"Great," I said sarcastically.

"Did I just smell what I think I smelled?"

Pakkun suddenly stopped on a long, sturdy, branch. I landed next to him and Naruto stepped on the other side of him.

"What is it?" Naruto asked. "What's wrong? Do you smell an enemy or something?"

"This better be good for having to stop us," I sighed.

"Strange I never noticed it before," Pakkun muttered. "Sakura, did you know you used the same shampoo as I do?"

Sakura's mouth dropped open and her whole body went white.

"Minty, rainforest mist, right? With extra body?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto screamed.

"But, I wonder why my coat is so much glossier than yours...Hm? Madeline? Do you also use it too? My, it must take you a long time to wash your hair if you use two shampoos and conditioner. Minty, rainforest mist, creamy, cool, coconut, and lovely, lavender breeze, right?"

"Who gives a damn about that," my right eyelid twitched. "For all I give a shit, it doesn't matter what the hell I use as my hair care products. That's what preps are supposed to be worried about, not an asshole like me."

"Sorry, just making an observation."

"I smell like a dog, I smell like a dog," Sakura murmured.

She started slowly jumping from branch to branch.

"Look what you've done!" Naruto exclaimed. "Sakura, get back here!"

We all chased Sakura and calmed her down. I slapped her in the face…hard. It was one of those moments that made the SMACK! echo. I did it again and again and again until she finally returned to reality and glared at me.

"Well, whatdaya know," I smirked, staring at the red marks from my hand on her cheeks. "The Sasuke-obsessed bitch has finally recovered from her fashion emergency. Get a grip, will you? It's not like some random dude is going to come up to you and smell your hair."

Her glare was nothing to the stare I was dishing out. Yes, it was then officially a stare-down. The bitch that looked away first lost.

She looked away a couple minutes later. Ha! I win! What now?!

We then continued on our way.

"There it is," Pakkun sniffed ten minutes later.

"Oh, what, someone's shampoo?" Naruto growled.

"No, I smell Sasuke…He's caught up to them, the three Sand siblings."

Naruto and I looked at each other.

"They've all stopped moving," Pakkun continued. "We should hurry. It could mean a fight."

"But, what about...?" I asked.

"What about what?" Sakura turned her head to me while leaping.

"Nothing."

"Smells like we're not the only one tracking Sasuke," Pakkun suddenly said. "There's something else out there!"

"Really, where?" Naruto asked.

"Who is it?" Sakura questioned. "Friend or foe?"

"I don't know, but..."

"But…?" I asked.

"It isn't human," Pakkun replied gravely.

Angel growled.

Do you know who they are?

"I probably do," I whispered back to her. "But if I do, than I forgot. I've only seen the episodes up to one hundred sixty five or something. Whatever happens after that will all be new to me…Sort of."

"Uh, oh," Pakkun landed on a tree branch.

Sakura and I landed next to him, but Naruto kept jumping ahead.

"What's wrong?" he asked before hitting a tree trunk.

Naruto's torso lifted back, but his feet stayed attached to the trunk.

"What the hell?!" he waved his arms wildly. "Why did you guys stop??"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"They're in motion again," Pakkun replied plainly. "Sasuke along with two of the other ones and they're moving fast."

"You sure?" Sakura asked.

"Of course he's sure," I said before Pakkun could reply.

"But there are two more still there…not moving," Pakkun continued.

"So what?!" Naruto cried. "Who cares about them? We've got to catch up to Sasuke! Come on!"

"Those two are probably about to fight, considering the fact that they were left behind."

"Nice," I grinned.

They all looked at me strangely, except Naruto, who grinned back.

"Oh, I mean, too bad."

"Even if it means losing some time, we should go around them," Pakkun continued. "Just to be safe."

"Are you kidding me?" Naruto exclaimed. "We don't have time to go around them! Dammit, we don't even have time to lose time! How cares if they're fighting? We should just go right on ahead!"

"Oh give me a break, Naruto," Sakura growled. "Are you really that stupid? Who knows what will happen if we get caught in someone else's fight? That's what we don't have time for, no matter how much you and Maddie may enjoy it."

"Awwwww," I pouted. "Why not? I wanna see some action for once in my goddamn life!"

"Who says I'm gonna enjoy-"

"Listen kid," Pakkun interrupted. "Our mission is to bring Sasuke back. We should try to avoid any fighting if possible, let alone go out and look for it."

My stomach growled and I sweat dropped.

"Man, I haven't eaten since like 4:00 in the morning," I whined. "I'm starving...wait, I have an idea."

I reached into my pouch and pulled out a Skittles package. Angel started to bark. I ignored her and tore the package open.

"What's she saying?" Sakura asked Pakkun.

"She telling Madeline not to eat the candy," Pakkun replied.

"Why?" Naruto questioned.

"...Because she gets really hyper on a sugar rush if she's hungry."

"A what?" Naruto repeated.

"A sugar rush," Sakura explained. "It's a sudden burst of energy when you eat something sweet. It can last a couple minutes to a couple of hours depending on the person. However, after the extra energy has been worn off, the user gets extremely exhausted because their blood sugar gets really low and they've wasted too much energy."

"Madeline, don't do it!" Naruto shouted. "We might need you later!"

"Oh yeah? For what?" I shot back. "To fail and then sit on the sidelines like a useless child?! Maybe somehow taken as a hostage?! No way in hell! I'm going to eat what I want and when I want!"

"But Angel said that you can't!" Sakura protested.

"You know what?" I changed my voice so it was quiet and I gave a totally fake smile. "I've finally figured it out. You guys don't need me, you just say you do. You want me to believe that I'm important, but when in reality, I'm not. Am I right?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"But…" Sakura finally said.

"Oh, blah, blah, blah, your needs. What do you expect me to eat? Leaves? Bugs? Twigs? Yeah right. I don't care if I'm tired after, so that's that."

I took out a handful of Skittles and poured them into my mouth.

"Oh no," Pakkun put his paw over his eyes and dragged it down.

A smirk spread across my face as I swallowed the chewy candy. I jumped high into the air and emerged from the tree tops.

"WEEEEE!!" I screamed wildly.

"Come on!" Pakkun started to chase me.

Every ten meters I leapt off a branch. Angel growled.

At this rate, we'll reach Sasuke in about ten minutes.

"Well, at least it gets us moving faster," Pakkun said from behind me.

"True," Sakura agreed.

"Hey!" Pakkun called out. "Stop for a minute!"

"Fine," I groaned.

I stopped on a tree branch, looked behind me, and started to tap my foot rapidly. Pakkun, Naruto, and Sakura landed on a branch above me a couple seconds later. They were all panting.

"You mean we stopped just for you guys to rest?!" I cried. "My God, you guys are slow."

Sakura glared at me and I glared back. Another stare down that lasted for about five minutes. Of course, I won again.

"Ok, you guys rested, now can we please move?"

"Wait!" Naruto shouted. "Come here and look at this!"

"What?" I groaned.

I jumped up to the branch he was standing on. Next to him was a body that lay collapsed. It was a boy the age of twelve. He had brown spiky hair and wore round, black sunglasses. The boy wore a baby blue jacket and light brown pants.

"It's Shino," I breathed. "He must've been one of the people who were fighting."

"Is he alive?" Sakura asked nervously.

I poked him with my foot. No reaction. I then kneeled and put my head to his chest. I heard a very faint thump.

"Barely," I replied.

"What the heck is that?" Sakura pointed to an object a couple feet away.

I got up and turned it over. It was a headless, wooden puppet with four arms and two legs. A black cloth was draped over its body.

"Oh," I said. "He and Kankurou must've fought."

"Okay, but what does the puppet have to do with it?" Naruto asked.

"Kankurou's a puppeteer, so he carries this puppet around with him. Almost in every joint is a knife or other weapon that injects poison."

"I don't see any blood," Sakura said, looking over Shino's body.

"That's because he probably breathed in the poison gas bomb that Kankurou's puppet can release."

"So, he's going to die?" Naruto rephrased.

I nodded, "Wait, do you guys have any medicine?"

"I do," Sakura handed me a small box.

I turned the medicine over in my hands. I was brown and had Japanese writing on the label. The writing suddenly turned into English words. It read For Sore Throats, Stuffy Nose, Coughs, Fevers, and Poison. Take every two-three hours. I took the cap off and poured some of the medicine into Shino's slightly parted lips.

"We don't have time for this," Pakkun protested. "We need to get moving!"

I ignored him, put two fingers to his neck, and felt his pulse. A normal, steady beat. I bent and rested my head on his chest.

"His heart is back to normal and he's breathing easier now," I got up. "He should be fine...for now."

I handed Sakura back her medicine.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded.

"It means that he'll only be fine for a little while," I replied.

"That's right," Pakkun agreed. "It says that you have to take this medicine every two-three hours. The medicine helps fight off the poison, but it doesn't get it out of the system. Hopefully, he'll be able to wake up and walk himself to a hospital before it's too late, or hopefully someone finds him and takes him to a hospital. The poison has to be drawn out of his body."

Naruto nodded, understanding the situation. I stared down at Shino's body for a long silent moment. An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"Wait, a minute," I said slowly. "If Shino is here, that probably means that Kankurou is around."

"So?" Sakura said.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Just making a statement. Kankurou would never leave his puppet lying around on some branch. He's bound to be close. I'm going to see if he's around."

"Are you nuts?!" Pakkun screamed. "We don't have time!!"

I whipped around, gave him a glare, and jumped down to the ground. I looked around for a bit.

"Okay," I sighed. "Where are you? I know you're here."

I spotted something on the ground. My sandals made a scratching noise as I ran over to the object and turned it over. Kankurou puppet's three eyes rolled from the back of its head. Its mouth was wide open and its brown hair was matted.

"Hm," I made a thoughtful noise. "Why would this be detached from the body?"

Suddenly, the puppet head rose up and faced me. My eyes narrowed and they darted back and forth. I pulled out a Kunai Knife from my pouch on my thigh.

"Okay, come on out, Kankurou," I growled. "I know how you use your puppet. Chakra strings, right? Every part of your puppet's body is a lethal weapon, injecting poison into the body. However, you're so concentrated on focusing your chakra to the puppet, that you're too dumb to pay attention to your back or sides, leaving a huge hole in your defenses."

Angel growled.

Man, what was that for?

"Honestly, I don't really know," I whispered back to her. "I'm not thinking right. That's my pride talking."

Well, you better not do it again, just in case if the enemy really does come out.

The head stay floating, but then fell to the dirt. Pakkun, Sakura, and Naruto jumped to the ground.

"Okay, let's get moving," Pakkun finally broke the silence.

"Right," I nodded. "Hang on."

I took the Kunai Knife I was holding, twirled my fingers in the circle of the knife a couple of times, and plunged it into puppet's face, making splinters explode in every direction. I then ate another handful of Skittles and my sugar rush continued.

Ehehehe…yeah, when I eat sugar when I'm hungry, I get really hyper…You should see me the day after Halloween. XD