Chapter Twelve:
Meeting Outsiders
"I'm happy for you, Liyenn." Kakashi smiled at the glowing Liyenn. He was just glad that his friend wasn't hitting on the new girl. "I was hoping I could make you happier." He received a confused look from the girl in front of him. "We just need to wait for Naruto and the others to get here. They need to report to me about the missions they've done today."
"Oh, ok."
Liyenn and Kakashi waited for a bit. Liyenn sat on the railing and Kakashi leaned against it. Out of boredom, Kakashi had pulled his book out from his pouch. Liyenn caught a glimpse of the cover, and she started to giggle. Kakashi blinked and looked at her. What was so funny?
"You're reading Icha Icha Paradise." she giggled. Kakashi frowned at her, not realizing that she knew about the book. "I use to tease Yoshi-tou-san about it all the time. Daddy use to read the early ones too. I found his stash one day."
Kakashi blushed from in under his face mask. He grumbled and put his book away. Liyenn just giggled and muttered, "You old perv." Kakashi flushed when she said this, and grumbled some more. Moments later, Naruto showed up, carried by an anger Sakura and the unbroken Sasuke. Liyenn waved her hand when she saw them. "Naruto! Sakura! Sasuke!" she called.
Naruto smiled at her. "How was your day, Liyenn?"
Liyenn beamed. "The best!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. She giggled and everyone else blinked. She was extremely gitty for someone who had just lost her family.
"What's with you?" Sakura asked grumpily.
Liyenn stopped giggling and looked at Sakura. "Wow, what happened, Sakura? You don't look so hot." Liyenn commented and Sakura fumed.
"Weed picking, replanting, garbage picking, and dog walking, that's what. And Kakashi was suppose to come help out, but he never showed up." Sakura complained. She glared at Kakashi.
"Sorry, I couldn't make it, but Hokage-sama wanted me the be around for more pressing matters." Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, Sakura fumed and Naruto just looked confused. "Well, I need your report. How did things go today?"
"Well, if it wasn't for Naruto pulling out all of our client's good plants, we wouldn't've had to do the replanting. Naruto almost fell over a waterfall and then he picked the biggest dog, which walked him into a mine field. Other than that, it was a good day." Sakura gave a sarcastic smile and Naruto gave a nervous laugh.
"Well, I guess I can't complain." Kakashi said. "Now, to what I need to do. Liyenn?"
"Yeah?"
"Hokage-sama wanted me to give you this." Kakashi said, handing her a hitai-ate with the Leaf insignia inscribed in it. "You're an official Genin of Konoha." Liyenn blinked and looked at Kakashi. "Hokage-sama was really impress with you today. He said that you have more knowledge than most Genin and that he could've easily made you a Chuunin or Jounin. But that wouldn't've been acceptable, considering you didn't even have a rank, you were just a shinobi. He said that you'll have to take the test like everyone else. This hitai-ate just means you can participate in the exams when you're ready for it."
Liyenn didn't speak. She didn't know what to say. She never had a hitai-ate before, and she never actually belonged anywhere. This hitai-ate meant that she belonged, that this place was now her home no matter where she went. And to know that the Hokage thought so highly of her was a nice confidence boost as well. She blinked and looked up at Kakashi. Her eyes sparkled with happiness. She jumped off the rail and glomped Kakashi. "Thanks Kakashi! You're the greatest!"
"Hey! Watch the vest!" Kakashi said, although his was smiling. He turned serious and looked at his team after Liyenn let go of him. "I've got to go and give your report to the Hokage. You've got the rest of the day off." Kakashi said.
Naruto groaned as he was being carried by Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura gave Naruto an 'all knowing' look. "This is what you what you get for being reckless." she stated as the group walked through the village.
Sasuke smirked. "You're a guy who needs help all the time, aren't ya?" he sneered.
Naruto straighten himself up and began to lunge at Sasuke. "Sasuke!" he cried.
Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "If you're going to go all crazy again, I'm just going to finish you off." she warned.
Kakashi groaned. "The teamwork's a little off these days."
"Yeah, well, Sasuke's the one who disrupts our teamwork!" Naruto exclaimed, shaking his fist at Sasuke. Liyenn sighed. She glad she wasn't in the middle of this. "He's always sticking his nose into everything!"
"No. I believe that's you, idiot." Sasuke replied, not looking at Naruto. "If you don't want to owe me anything for saving you all those times..." Sasuke turned and looked at Naruto. "... become stronger than me."
The two stared each other down, no one moved. Liyenn gave a weary look and Sakura became uncomfortable. Things suddenly got even more unfriendly between those two... Sakura gulped. She thought that with someone new around, the two boys would start behaving better. But, was she ever wrong.
Naruto and Sasuke continued to stare at each other. Sasuke suddenly frowned and Liyenn wondered why.
Kakashi sighed and looked up into the sky. He saw a bird he realized he was being summoned. "I should really get going and do up those reports. You guys can just relax for the rest of the day if you want."
"Then I'm going home." Sasuke said. He obviously didn't want to be around these people anymore than he had to be. Liyenn looked around, wondering how to break the tension. Sasuke started to walk away when Sakura ran to catch up to him.
"Hey! Sasuke-kun! Wait up!" Sasuke turned to look at Sakura. "Maybe we should train a little bit right now. You know, to strengthen our and everything." She blushed slightly. Liyenn just giggled at Sakura's attempt.
"You're the same as Naruto." was all that Sasuke said. Sakura looked taken aback by that. She knew she wasn't as good as Sasuke, but to be like Naruto?! "If you have time to bother me, you have time to practice a technique or two." Sasuke started to turned but stop to add one last comment. "To be honest, your abilities are worse than Naruto's." Sasuke dropped bluntly. He then began to head home.
As Sasuke walked away, Liyenn noticed how hurt Sakura looked by what Sasuke had said. These Genin were still young and weren't put under the same training as Liyenn. Liyenn couldn't imagine how hard it must be to prove yourself here with people like Sasuke around. "Hey, Sakura!" she called.
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Forget about Sasuke and come train with us!" Naruto called out. Liyenn gave a faint blush. She knew that Naruto like Sakura, but he was including her too. With that, Kakashi was gone. Naruto noticed and thought this would be great time to try to get with Sakura. He turned and saw Liyenn. The wind gently blew at the moment, making Liyenn's hair sway. He blushed as he realized that Liyenn was more of a friend to him than Sakura and that he couldn't leave her out.
Liyenn walked over to Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, Sakura. At least you tried." she said gently as Sakura faced her. Liyenn smiled at Sakura. "I know it must be hard for you to be able to prove yourself, but you'll do it someday." Sakura blinked. Liyenn was so nice, so kind, Sakura couldn't help but smile. "There's an old saying that Momma told me once. She said that if you love someone, set them free. If they come back, then it was meant to be. If they don't, well, I guess you'll just have to move on." Liyenn stopped long enough look at the clouds. "But, always remember to never give in and always keep going. Don't let others stop you from becoming the person you want to be." Sakura gave a small blush when she realized how right Liyenn was.
Sakura beamed at Liyenn. "Thanks, Liyenn. You're a really good person." Liyenn smiled, she liked it when people said those kind of things to her.
Meanwhile, Naruto was being chased by a square rock. Naruto ran in circles, trying to lose the rock. He ran and he ran, and then he brought up solid. "A square rock with holes! That doesn't exist! It's so obvious!" Naruto exclaimed, yelling at the box. Liyenn gave a questioning but interested look, and began to walk closer so she could investigate.
"I should've excepted that from the man who I have high hopes for and is my rival!" said a voice from the box. With a bright light, the box exploded, revealing three young children. They coughed and the browned hair boy stated, "I think we used too much gunpowder." They looked up at Naruto, and jumped up to introduce themselves.
"The one who possesses the sex appeal of an adult, and the female shinobi from the senior group, Moegi!" announced the girl with pigtails.
"The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon!" the boy with the runny nose stated.
"This village's number one genius shinobi, Konohamaru!" cried the browned hair boy.
And together they finished their speech. "The three of us make the Konohamaru Corps!"
Naruto sighed. "I thought it was you." he said in a very bored matter. He looked at Liyenn and saw her staring at him. He noticed that all three of them were wearing goggles like the ones he use to wear. "Why are you wearing goggles?" he pondered out loud.
"We're copying the old you." the one called Konohamaru grinned.
"Oh?" Naruto didn't seem too interested.
"'Oh?' Why have you been so cold lately?" Konohamaru asked him. Naruto looked at Liyenn and remembered how she reacted to the children in her village.
Naruto sighed. He should try to be nicer. "And? What do you want?" he asked, but he realized it still came out cold. He mumbled inside of his. Liyenn's gonna think I don't like little kids or something after this...
Konohamaru turned to Udon. "See? He's being really cold." Udon nodded.
Moegi decided to try to pass it off. "Well, Nii-chan, do you had time right now?" she asked.
"No, sorry. I'm going to go train!" Naruto stated.
"What?" Konohamaru cried. "You said you would play Ninja with us today." Naruto looked up, and he saw Liyenn frown at him. She was going to hate him now for sure.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Really?" He gave a nervous laugh because he knew what Liyenn was thinking about him right now.
"What's the point of a shinobi playing Ninja?" Sakura sulked. She was obviously still hurt by Sasuke's comment. She looked at Naruto.
"What is it?" He nervously smiled at her. Sakura couldn't stop think about what Sasuke said, even with Liyenn's kind words of encouragement.
Naruto was looking more nervous by the minute as Sakura stared at him. He turned red and started laughing nervously.
"Hey? Nii-chan? Who's the big girl?" Konohamaru asked. Konohamaru noticed that the pink haired kunoichi was staring at Naruto pretty hard. He noticed that there was also a navy haired kunoichi who was frowning at Naruto for some reason. Konohamaru then got an idea. "Nii-chan!" Konohamaru started, rubbing Naruto on the back. "You're better than I thought!"
"Huh?" Naruto blinked and looked at Konohamaru.
"One of them girls, or maybe both of them, are your... right?" Konohamaru smiled as he raised his pinky finger. Sakura frowned at the thought, while it made Liyenn blush and laugh.
Naruto laughed. "Wow, you kids are sharp!" he commented.
"NO!" Sakura screamed. She hit Naruto, sending him flying into a nearby fence.
"Nii-chan!" Konohamaru cried as Liyenn gasped. Liyenn ran over to Naruto's aid, while Konohamaru yelled at Sakura. "What did you do?!"
Moegi and Udon ran over to Naruto with Liyenn. "Oh no! Nii-chan!" Moegi cried.
"His pulse... his pulse is ...!" Udon cried.
"Naruto? Are you ok?" Liyenn asked. She frowned at Sakura, but her attention was on Naruto, who twitched a little bit.
"You ugly girl! Ugly!" Konohamaru cried. He was actually crying. Sakura cracked her knuckles and her hair flared out. As Konohamaru stopped and looked at the fuming kunoichi, his expression quickly changed from anger to fear. He screamed as Sakura came closer and punched him in the head.
Sakura walked away, leaving Liyenn with two badly beaten boys to tend to. Liyenn frowned. "How could she?! Hitting a little child like that!" Liyenn grumbled as she helped Naruto up. Naruto opened his eyes and saw that Liyenn was tending to him. A blush spread across his face but it disappeared when Konohamaru spoke.
"That ugly, wide-forehead girl... is she even a girl?" Konohamaru whined.
Sakura heard this, and stopped in her tracks. She turned to look at them. The look she gave them could've killed them on the spot. Sakura started running towards them, and everyone left Liyenn behind. Liyenn blinked and then frowned. She was going to have to treat Naruto's wounds after this, along with Konohamaru's. She sighed and started after them.
Sakura started to catch up to the group that was fleeing from her. Konohamaru, out of fear, picked up his own pace and surpassed Naruto and the others. Konohamaru only stopped because he ran into an older boy that was wearing a black body suit and carrying what looked like a mummy on his back. Everyone stopped to look at the strange boy. They then realized that he was with a blonde hair girl. She had her hair pulled back into four ponytails and she too carried a fairly large object on her back.
"That hurt." the boy said.
Liyenn approached them as the older boy picked Konohamaru up by the collar of his shirt. "Konohamaru!" Naruto cried.
"That hurt, brat." the boy repeated. Liyenn noticed the hitai-ate that both the boy and the girl were wearing. They were from outside; from Suna.
"Stop it." The girl beside him sighed. "We're going to get scolded later." she said, though she didn't seem too worried.
"I'm sorry!" Sakura said. "I was only joking around, so..."
"Hey! Let go of Konohamaru!" Naruto yelled. He looked like he was going to charge.
"Becareful, Naruto." Liyenn warned. She was now standing beside him and the new blonde haired girl looked at Liyenn with interest. She's not even wearing a hitai-ate. She can't be very strong at all the blonde thought to herself.
The boy smiled at Naruto when he noticed the Leaf hitai-ate. "But, I want to play around before some noisy people come around." He gave a sarcastic whine.
"Let go." Konohamaru struggled. Liyenn frowned and positioned herself in case they attacked.
"You're very energetic, kid." the boy commented.
Naruto grew anger and began to charge. "Why you...!"
Liyenn looked at Naruto with a worried look. "Naruto!"
The strange new boy moved his fingers around. Liyenn recognized the movement. It was the same as a puppeteer's. Without explanation, Naruto tripped and fell backwards.
"What was that?!" Naruto asked all panicky.
"Konoha's Genin are weak." the boy commented.
Sakura was starting to get worried and realized now that these people were from outside the village.
"Konohamaru..." Naruto cried. He felt useless.
"Konohamaru-chan!" Moegi cried. The tears had built up in her eyes.
"Konohamaru-kun!" Udon cried.
"How sickening." Liyenn stated. "You come all this way just to pick on a bunch of kids."
"Who asked you?" the girl asked.
"Nobody. But I'm allowed to speak without your permission." Liyenn said calmly. The blonde girl glared at Liyenn. This girl has an attitude the blonde thought.
"Hey! If you don't let go of him, you're gonna get it from me, you idiot!" Naruto said after he finally stood up.
Sakura moved to shut Naruto up. "You're the idiot!" she hissed. "Don't provoke him!"
"You've pissed me off." the boy stated with a smirk. "I hate short people, anyway. And you're so impertinent for someone younger than me." The boy looked at everyone before saying, "It makes me want to break you."
Everyone gasped except for Liyenn. She smirked. "You're one to talk about manners." she taunted coolly. Everyone looked worried, and the two younger children were crying. The boy growled as the girl sighed.
"I'm not going to be responsible for what you do." the girl stated. Sakura wondered who these people were. This boy was also extremely dangerous, but Liyenn was still taunting him. Sakura envied Liyenn's courage, but she couldn't help but think that Liyenn was being stupid at the same time.
"After this short kid, the short kid over there is next." the boy said, raising his arm to punch poor little Konohamaru.
Naruto ran in to try to stop the strange boy. "Stop!" he yelled. Before anything else happened, a rock flew out of nowhere and hit the boy in the hand, forcing him to drop Konohamaru, who ran to his friends, Sakura and Liyenn for cover.
The boy gasped at the rock and looked to see where it came from. He saw a black haired boy, sitting in a tree, repeatedly tossing and catching another rock. Everyone else looked and saw it was Sasuke. "What are you doing in a another village?" Sasuke asked him.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried in glee.
"Another kid who pissed me off..." the boy hissed.
Sasuke caught the rock he was tossing and crushed it. "Get lost."
Sakura, Moegi, and Udon were amazed. "He's so cool!" they all cried.
Naruto gave a nervous look and Konohamaru turned to him. "Naruto-nii-chan, you're not cool at all."
Trying to convince Konohamaru that he was still cool, Naruto bent down and smiled nervously. "I would've beaten that guy..." Naruto sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that too.
"Lair!" Konohamaru cried. Naruto gave an angry look. He was fid up with Sasuke taking all the glory. Sasuke always stuck his nose in places where it doesn't belong.
"Hey! Come down here!" the boy called out to Sasuke. Sasuke didn't move, which made the older boy even angrier. "I hate kids like you, who think that they're so clever." The boy grabbed the strap that held what he was carrying on his back in place.
The blonde girl looked surprised when the boy with her took his object off of his back. "Hey. You're not going to use Karasu, are you?" she asked.
The boy slammed 'Karasu' down on the ground. He stared at Sasuke hard.
Liyenn smirked. "I thought so. You use puppets, don't you?"
The strange boy turned his attention to Liyenn. "How did you guess?"
"I've seen puppeteers before. They're fun to fight with, but they're also a pain." Liyenn gave a cool smirk. "I just that's what happens when the puppeteers can't fight for themselves."
"I'll show you who can't fight!" the boy snarled at Liyenn.
"Kankurou, stop." ordered a voice from somewhere in Sasuke's direction. Everyone looked and saw a young boy with crimson hair and pale green eyes standing upside down on a branch across from Sasuke. "You're a disgrace to our village." the new boy commented.
"G-Gaara.." the boy, now known as Kankurou, studdered.
A/N: Nobody new today. Well, nobody that you don't already know. Also no jutsu used. Lemme know what you think, please! Thanks for reading this far.
