I am a super terrible updater. I will not lie. However, in return for me being the worst updater ever to have updated, I will attempt to finish this story by Christmas (or before new years as I would like to be finished with this story before the next year) as a present to all of you for still keeping up with this story. I apologize. But please,
Enjoy~!
On the way back to the house, Haruno contemplated what happened in the clearing. Clearly, that man was a skillful shinobi to be able to change his body into birds. Or even if it was a clone or genjutsu, Haruno couldn't help, but be impressed. She wanted to learn how to do something like that too, even if it would probably be a bit too flashy and she would loose the element of surprise should she attempt an ambush...anyway, she was getting distracted. She didn't even know how to perform the jutsu anyway. But still...
'Hmmm...maybe I can turn into birds too! Like sparrows or owls...Ooh, what about doves! And then when I meet the guy again we can both fade into birds of black and white! That'd be so cool! And we'd be opposites too, seeing as how crows are 'bad' and doves are 'good'! Why'd the guy chose crows to start with? Or can I change into something else entirely? But not smoke or leaves, gosh, too many ninjas do that and its getting boring...maybe I'll chose flower petals. I remember when Nii-san used to calm me his little flower growing in the snow.' She smiled then, a little blush evident in her face. 'Yeah...that'd be nice.'
She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice she'd reached the house until she fell face forward into the floor of the porch deck. Luckily, only Tsunami-san was there to see her fall.
"Oh my goodness! Haru-kun! Are you alright!?" Tsunami yelled as she ran towards the pink haired ninja, who was still face-planted into the boards.
"I-I'm fi-i-ine..." Haruno groaned as she slowly picked herself up. There was a huge red welt on her forehead from the fall. She really hit the floor hard.
x
"Hey! I was looking everywhere for you! I almost thought you abandoned the mission!" A huge, muscular man bellowed as he saw a slightly shorter and more lean man walk up to him.
The other man was silent.
"Well, you're here now I guess..."
Silence.
"Where were you anyways?"
"..."
"C'mon! At least tell me this once! I'm never going to ask ever again."
"I...had a run in with someone..."
"Oooh~. You mean like a lady someone?" There was a wiggling of eyebrows along with a razor sharp grin.
The leaner man decided to let the man know, after all it was a one-time deal. "In a way."
His partner's curiosity was peaked. "What do you mean by in a way?"
"They were dressed as a kunoichi-"
"So a cross dresser?"
"No."
"Okay, if they're dressed as a kunoichi, but aren't then-"
"It was a girl. However, the way she was carrying herself is that she was pretending to be male. However, it seems that something has caused her, most likely the forming of her genin group, to dress as a girl, thus her discomfort in her dress-" Though something could also be said about her odd hair color and eye color.
The first man frowned, confused. "You lost me. So was it a girl?"
"Yes."
"A kunoichi." He emphasized.
"Yes."
"Was she with her team?"
"No."
"Was she on a mission?"
"I did not inquire."
"Was she just passing through on her own, then?"
"Yes."
"Where did you two meet exactly?"
"In a clearing in a forest. She seemed on edge, but I attempted to not appear intimidating. I even gave her a gift."
"You dog!" The other man grinned. "So by gift you mean-"
"No." A dark glare was thrown at the man.
"Figures. You and your morals." The man seemed to pout. "Let's get going then, this mission isn't going to finish itself." The man heaved a sword over his shoulder as the two left the vicinity.
x
"Ugh. Thanks Tsunami-san." Haruno said as she rubbed the bandages over her injury. She really needed to stop spacing out like that. She could have fallen off a cliff or drowned in a lake or run into a pack of ravenous wild animals. Seriously.
"No problem at all!" Tsunami said cheerfully, putting the supplies back into the box.
"I better go see my teammates." Haruno said, standing up and walking towards the living room.
"Ah! Wait! Haru-kun!" Tsunami spoke all of a sudden.
"Yes?" Haruno turned to face the black haired woman.
"Your teammates told me to let you know that they went to the place you all were the other day to go train!" Tsunami said with a kind smile.
Haruno's eyebrow twitched. Could no one inform her of anything? She sighed. It wasn't Tsunami-san's fault that her teammates decided to leave without her.
"Thank you, Tsunami-san."
"You're welcome! Good luck training~!" Tsunami waved (A/N: oh the unexpected puns...).
Haruno's eyes lit with an emerald blaze. Oh, she was going to have an excellent training session. Shame that the same could not be said for her teammates. After all she had three new dummies that would make perfect targets for her ice weapons...or whirlpool...or snow pack. The possibilities were endless.
x
"And that is why no one should ever leave me behind unless you wish to face judgement again~!" Haruno said with a bright smile on his face as he cracked his knuckles.
Naruto could only groan in pain. He didn't know how, but Haruno had ended up defeating Sasuke, himself (because he was obviously stronger than that black haired jerk after all), and even their sensei!
It all happened a little like this...
Flashback
Naruto growled as he fought with the boy he considered his rival. He was able to land hits on him, but the smug jerk was still swatting him around. He tried to aim a punch to his stomach, but instead got a kick to the side. He had to stop to get his breath back and the raven decided it was the best time to insult him.
"Come on loser. I can't believe that Haruno would even spar with you, you're so weak." Sasuke said with a sneer.
"Shut up! Don't drag Haru into this!" He yelled as he aimed a punch at the raven's face.
Sasuke merely scoffed as he grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder onto the ground.
"Can't even land a solid hit. Tch."
"Shut up!" This time Sasuke managed to kick him in the face causing him to land harshly on the ground. He spat out the blood that accumulated in his mouth rapidly.
"He even calls you his best friend...what a joke. If anything, he should be acknowledging me instead of you." Sasuke glared at him, but then directed his attention towards the distance.
"Tch. Jealous much Sasuke?" He decided on responding. The jerk was jealous that Haru liked him better.
Sasuke's head snapped almost inhumanly quick back to face him, which he admitted, caused him to flinch slightly. The raven's night orbs bled into bright crimson with comma shaped markings circling his pupil.
He knew he was playing with fire, but he couldn't help continuing to poke at the raven as he stood up. "Of course Haru likes me more. You're a rude, blunt jerk, not to mention that you think girls are weak and useless. He almost tore you to pieces for that last one! I can't believe that you said that even after knowing what Haru is like!" He had an arrogant grin on his face.
Sasuke grit his teeth. His grin only grew wider at his expression. Sasuke glared and the tomoe of his eyes spun as he made a fist to hit the blond. "Wipe that stupid grin off of your face dead last!"
Naruto didn't move, he knew that he struck a nerve on this one: even if Sasuke hit him, he would not be helping his case with Haruno. He decided to let what would happen happen.
Turns out that Sasuke wouldn't get to land that hit because out of nowhere a hand grasped his wrist. After a moment of shock from the both of them, they saw that it was the boy they were just fighting over who gripped Sasuke's wrist.
"Wha-" Sasuke didn't get to finish that phrase either because Haruno punched him in his midriff and sent him spiraling out of the clearing. Haru then turned to Naruto and he couldn't help the gulp. He knew he was dead.
And right he was. After finishing his punishment, he saw Sasuke manage to limp back to the clearing holding his waist. Haru then jumped up into the trees and the sounds of a pursuit was heard. Their sensei was dumped into the clearing in the middle of the two of them.
"Ah-! Hello boys!" Kakashi nervously said.
All three shuddered as they felt a deadly glare directed at them. They turned their heads up to see a really, really mad Haruno looking down at them. They let out screams of fear as the boy jumped down from the trees above them.
Flashback End
"We're sorry Haruno-kun..." the three echoed.
"I think you all learned your lesson, now who wants to fight against me first?" Haruno said as she cracked her neck. The three jumped and both shook their heads.
"Nah! I think we're good Haru-chan. I mean you did beat all of us anyway!" Naruto laughed, even though it hurt. The other two nodded to his response.
"I suppose..." Haru trailed off,cupping her chin.
The three boys sighed in relief.
"But, we haven't worked on our running speed yet have we?" Haruno smiled. They sped off with Haruno quickly gaining on them. The water surged as it rose to follow Haruno. The water quickly froze to become levitating weapons that would be launched at them and running wolves that would howl and nip at their heels. The boys tried to pick up their speed and become evasive as much as possible.
"RUN YOU FOOLS RUN!" Haruno cackled evilly.
Later, when they were all getting to bed, Haruno noticed a paper pinned to her sleeve. Written on the slip was how to perform the jutsu the man at the clearing did.
x
Haruno felt very somber as she returned from the trip to go buy food...so many people were living in poverty. She sighed at their cruel misfortune, but hopefully by the time the mission was completed along with the bridge, these people would be headed towards the path of their economic recovery. That little question about the ripped picture, followed by Inari's outburst also reared in its ugly head. Haruno's head slumped. She just had to ask the worst questions didn't she.
She sighed as she fixed her futon that was left on the floor and put it in a corner. She gazed out the window, watching the birds fly over the horizon. She was worried about Naruto. He didn't return last night and Sasuke was sent out in the morning to find him seeing as how Kakashi seemed a bit out of commission to go outside for too far or long. Haruno on the other hand stayed back as "precaution" in case something were to happen, but everyone knew was that they didn't think Haruno was strong enough to go anywhere on his own out of civilization. Was she really that weak? Even as a boy? Or was this some kind of super-macho-protect-the-weak-and-feminine thing going on? Or were they trying to protect the elaborate ruse they had set up? Or maybe-?
"YOU GUYS! YOU GUYS!"
And there he is. Why did she worry in the first place? This was Naruto she was thinking about. And according to her observations, Sasuke was trailing behind, a little miffed, no doubt by having to go and fetch the ball of sunshine.
"Welcome back." Haruno called out from the second story window, waving at the boys.
"Ah-./Hey Haru-!" Haruno smiled at the boys, glad to see them safe. The two boys' responses fell and they looked intensely at the ground. Their feminine teammate seemed even more like a girl than usual now that he was wearing kunoichi clothes. They flushed a bright red. Why did their teammate have to be a boy? It seemed as if fate was targeting them for misfortune.
Kakashi observed all of this from his perch on the nearby tree. He couldn't help the snickers that came out of him from behind his orange book. Those three were so entertaining to watch. The blond and raven were falling under the rosette's spell so easily. NaruHaru and SasuHaru are still sailing smoothly with the help of the fates. However, they never get far especially when the boys refused to admit their feelings! Kakashi gripped his book harder. Someone make a move already! Confess! Confess! The suspense kills!
Naruto was the first of the two to lift his head. He rubbed the back of his neck like he always did when he was embarrassed or nervous. This got Kakashi's attention.
"Hey Haru?" Naruto spoke at a normal level for once, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Yes?"
"I-" Kakashi gasped. Was his demand being answered?!
Leave any questions or comments in a review!
Japanese: English (just in case)
shinobi: ninja
genjutsu:
jutsu: skill/ability
nii(-san): older brother (respectful term)
-kun: usually placed at the end of a boy's name as a term of endearment
kunoichi: female ninja
genin: low rank ninja
sensei: teacher (can also be used to refer to a doctor)
tomoe: comma shaped marks
-chan: usually placed at the end of a girl's name as a form of endearment