A/N-Thanks for the reviews from puppy444219, Kyuubi92, RoxasRocks, Hatake Sienna, Gaara's Desert Rose-Hasame and ShinRa Associate. I am EXTREMELY story for the delay on this chapter, I had an extremely bad case of mental block. Read and Review!!!
Disclaimer-I don't own Naruto
Chapter 12
Kakashi stared at Kenji, momentarily struck dumb. As what the boy had said sank in, Kakashi reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure you were sensing Mika?"
Kenji nodded, his serious expression matching Kakashi's. "It was very faint… like she was in one of those car contraptions, just zooming by. I haven't been able to sense her since that day though…so I know what it was."
Before the kid had even finished speaking, Kakashi had his cell phone out and was dialing Gaara's number.
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'Who let the dogs out? Who, who who who…'
Keiko and Sienna stopped watching their TV show and stared at the phone on the dresser. Kame and Itachi had gone to the workout center and Gaara was down at the convenience store next door, picking up some cereal and milk.
Keiko made the first move, because it was her father's cell phone, and picked up the thin piece of red. Flipping it open, she said into the receiver, "Uncle Kakashi? What's up?"
"Is your father there?"
"No, he's not…what's going on?"
"Your brother sensed your mother."
Keiko froze. Her grip on the phone loosened, and it fell from her hand, clattering on the cabinet. From where Sienna sat, it looked as though her normally cheerful friend had turned to cold, unresponsive stone, a look of astonishment etched on her face.
The silver haired girl leapt off the bed and snatched the phone up. "Daddy what did you say to her? She looks like she's gone into shock."
"Sweetie, we know that they're in Los Angeles, in California. Pack your stuff and have Uncle Gaara call me as soon as he gets in."
"Okay dad I will. Talk to you later." Sienna snapped the phone shut and reached out to touch Keiko. "Keik-chan, snap out of it. We don't know when your father's going to be back, but we need to be packed before then because you know he'll want to move."
Keiko pulled her eyes away from the spot she was staring blankly at and fixed her jade eyes on her friend. "Pack…"
"Yes that's right Keik-chan…we can pack. I'm going down to get the boys, start packing your things and I'll do mine when we get back up."
Keiko nodded dully and, as Sienna snatched a card key from the dresser and hurried out of the room, she wondered if Keiko would even move from that spot. The girl had seemingly gone into a sort trance as soon as she heard the news about her mother. When she was leaving the room, however, and the door was swinging closed, she saw that Keiko had jumped into action and was now shoving clothes back into the suitcase at a frantic rate.
The door shut behind the silver haired girl with a soft click. As soon as it was closed, she raced down the hall towards the elevator.
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"Kame, if you don't slow down the treadmill, you'll probably break it or burn out the engine," said Itachi in a dry voice from across the room where he was lifting weights. The son of the Kyuubi was practicing his chakra control and had the treadmill going as fast as he could possibly have it. The little bursts of chakra that he was putting out of the soles on his feet were also speeding up the tread of the treadmill.
He, however, appeared to be hardly exerted. He turned his blonde head and arched an eyebrow at his friend. "And you aren't going to draw any unwanted attention by benching almost 150 pounds? You look too slight to do something like that."
Itachi scowled, put a little bit of chakra into his arm and began to push the weights up and down. He, however, quickly dropped the weights back into the rack when the door rattled. He could also hear the treadmill slowing down. He glanced warily towards the door, pushing his black hair out of his face, and wiping the sweat away with a towel.
Suddenly, just before the door opened, he sensed Sienna's chakra. Leaping off the weight-pressing bench, he ran for the door. Just as he got there the young girl finally figured out how to work the electronic lock in a panic and she fell through the door into his arms. "Sienna, what's wrong?"
"Dad just called Uncle Gaara's cell phone –Keiko is packing our stuff as we speak. Kenji managed to sense Aunty Mika for a few moments. We're going to be going out west. You guys need to pack your bags…we're going to be headed out as soon as Gaara gets back."
"Okay." Kame had come off the treadmill and was standing beside Itachi. Itachi had released Sienna and she was now standing on her own. "We'll go back upstairs and pack." Sienna waited as the two grabbed their workout things and they headed back up.
Unfortunately, a family of 8 made it to the elevator's first –there was only room enough for one of them.
"Okay, Kame you go first. Go back up to our room and start packing. Itachi and I will take the next one." The blonde nodded and squeezed onto the elevator.
The other door slid quietly open after a few minutes, empty. The two of them got on and, after Sienna pressed the button for their floor, started to rise noiselessly.
'This is the perfect opportunity,' thought Itachi. 'Beat Kame to the punch and tell her how you feel.' "Sienna…" he looked down towards his feet.
"…Itachi, don't." Itachi froze and looked at the silver haired girl. "I know what you're going to say Itachi and please…don't. I don't feel the same way about you. I…I feel that way about someone else. And I know that someone I care about feels that way about you and…"
Despite himself, Itachi felt a slight flare of resentment. "You're talking about Keiko. I don't feel anything for her…I like you!!!" He looked up at her, his eyes desperate.
"Well then, I…I'm sorry Itachi, I really am. You're a valuable friend and someone precious to me. But not in that way. Forgive me for hurting you." Sienna's eyes were filling with tears.
The elevator dinged, the doors hissed open and the silver haired girl leapt off, racing down the hall towards her room.
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Kakashi, having checked in to a massive hotel and taken enough rooms for all of them to live for as long as it took, set out on a preliminary search of the city, just browsing around to see what was up. He recalled some things that Seyann liked and figured that into his equation…looking for things that she might like, things she might be drawn to. He decided to start right downtown. She always liked action, and downtown is usually where the action was.
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Crystal placed her leg on the bar in the ballet studio. "That's it for today Kai. I think I'm just going to do a little workout till Dani gets here to give me a lift home." The sandy blonde haired assistant looked up from where he was stacking the CD's in the corner.
"Okay Crystal. I'll see you tomorrow." Kai smiled and left the ballet room.
After she finished stretching, the redhead put 'Everytime We Touch' on the CD player and began blaring it out. Allowing the music to just flow through her body, she began to move without thinking.
Dani walked in, just at the moment where the dance slowed. She could hear Crystal huffing and puffing out the words as she danced. "Your arms are my castle…" deep breath "your heart is my sky…they wipe away tears that I've cried…" Dani always enjoyed watching her friend dance and, as the music (along with the dance steps) sped up, she sat back and enjoyed the show.
When the song was over, and Crys was finished, Dani applauded, catching her friend rather off guard. "Dani!!! You should've told me you were there!"
"What, and have you stop dancing right when you're at the good part? Never!" Dani moved closer to the bar and began to do some mock stretches. "Watching you do ballet…" she took on a mock French accent. "Et iz ze beautiful experience!!!"
"Oh really?" smirked Crystal.
"Really." Dani leaned back against the mirrors, looking out the window. "I meant to take up ballet ages ago but it never quite worked out. I got too much into my…"
Dani, however, was cut off abruptly when she slipped on some wax that had been scrubbed on the floor to assist the ballerina students before. As her footing slipped out from under her, she felt her head smack on the hard wooden bar. And after that she knew no more.
Crystal was packing the CD's away when this happened. When her friend stopped speaking, she thought that the girl had gotten slightly sidetracked but upon hearing the sickening sound of someone hitting their head on hardwood. Whirling around, she saw her friend lying on the ground, clearly unconscious.
"Dani!!!!" shrieked the redhead as she raced over to the prostrate girl. Hurriedly positioning the girl so that she wouldn't choke on any fluids in her mouth, she was horrified by the slowly spreading pool of blood surrounding her friend's head.
"I've gotta go get help…" However, as soon as she stood and headed for the door, she felt her vision start to blur. "Oh…no…" she closed her eyes tightly and began to shake her head back and forth. Hair that wasn't captured in the tight ballerina bun floated around her face. "I can't…not now…Dani needs my help…"
But, no matter how badly her friend needed her, seizures listened to no one. Crystal's body began to convulse and she collapsed to the ground.
Outside, a silver haired man was passing. Kakashi looked through the wall sized window and saw the one girl lying on the ground and watched as the second one seemed to convulse and fall to the ground. "What!!" Quickly, he broke through the window and hurried to the twitching one's side.
"Are you okay?? Miss, can you speak to me???"
Is that….Kakashi? I'm glad he's here while she's unconscious. It's the only way I can talk to him…
"Kakashi…is that you?" Kakashi looked up in shock. It was impossible to tell where from the voice came…it was all around him…perhaps even in his head.
"Celina???"
A/N-Tell me what you made of this!!! Read and Review!
