[Me and Chicky in the park]

Me: So here's the 14th chapter. By the way, if you're wondering where Tobi is, he's at home. He's ill. Deidara's taking care of him.

Chicky: He doesn't seem happy about it.

Me:-suddenly sees a dango stand- DANGO! –Runs towards it-

Chicky:-sweat drop-

CHAPTER 14

I sighed happily as I set the can of coke down on the table. We were in the living room drinking some coke and apple juice (Hana being very cautious with what she drinks) since Tsume told us to settle down and that we should rest up a bit before we went bananas around the house.

The living room was white in color with brown sofas, a T.V, a book shelf, a fireplace with a picture of Tsume and Kuromaru over it, a red carpet and a glass table in the middle which was full of video tapes.

I picked up one of the tapes, "Tsume-san, what are these?"

Tsume smirked, "Those are some old tapes of my high school days but most of them are of you, Hana and Kiba when you guys were little."

I smiled; Tsume-san never excluded me. She never treated me like a foster child but rather she treated me like her own. I was very grateful for that.

Hana set her apple juice down, "Can we watch them?"

Tsume grinned, "Sure but don't you want to see your room first?"

"YES!" Hana and I exclaimed happily.

Tsume laughed, "Let's go."

The staircase seemed very long (though it wasn't) as we walked up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a small white corridor with two red doors on each side. At the far end was a small balcony where some honeysuckle vines grew on the railing.

I grinned, "Tsume-san, when did you start gardening?"

Tsume scratched her cheek, "I got bored around the house so I picked up a new hobby."

Hana giggled, "I can't imagine you nurturing those flowers mom."

Tsume looked away, "I grew them myself! Is that hard to believe?"

"Yes." Hana and I said in union.

Tsume blushed, "Do you want to see your room or not?!"

Hana and I snickered quietly as we followed Tsume. The first door on the right had a 'danger' sign on it. I guess that must be Kiba's room. Tsume opened the door right after it and moved out of the way for us to see. When Hana and I saw our room, we gasped.

It was a pale yellow in color and it had a two-storied bed with white pillows and purple sheets. There was a book shelf full of books and some of our old toys were on it too. There were two beanbag chairs, one red and one blue, next to the window, which had purple curtains. Our room also had a stereo, a computer and a cozy little mattress in the corner which was full of pillows and our old soft toys.

"I was cleaning out the basement and found some old stuff," said Tsume. "Do you like it?"

"It's awesome!" We yelled and we ran in immediately like a bunch of kids at the gate to Disney Land. I sat myself down on the blue beanbag chair and Hana joined me on the red one. I looked out the window to see that we had a flower box full of daffodils.

"That mattress in the corner is for the Haimaru brothers," said Tsume. "Hope you don't mind."

"Of course not!" I beamed. It would be fun having three dogs in the room with us.

Hana smiled, "Mom, this is amazing. You've really worked hard."

Tsume laughed, "Well this place was gloomy without you two so I decided to do a bit of cleaning and redecorating to make our home more alive."

"Mom it's only a week." said Hana. I threw her a look. She bit her lip; I guess she regretted what she said.

Tsume looked sad, "Yeah but I thought you would like it anyways."

"Mom, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-" Hana started to say.

"No it's okay." said Tsume. "Besides, this isn't going to waste. After you're done with college, you can use it if you come and live with me. Also, the road from Konoha to Ame is much better compared to before. You could use it when you come over for the holidays?"

"Right!" Hana and I replied with a smile.

"You might have to keep your clothes in your luggage itself," said Tsume. "I asked for new cupboards but they're still not done."

"No problem. Anyways, you did awesome," I told her. I got up and rushed up the ladder of our bed. "I'm taking the top bunker."

Hana stood up and pouted, "No fair! I want the top bunker."

I stuck my tongue out at her, "I was here first! Better luck next time Hana-chan!"

Hana puffed her cheeks and slumped back down on her beanbag chair. She then sighed and smiled, "I wish this was our dorm back in college."

I nodded in agreement, "I know! I won't mind staying in college if it were true."

Hana stood up and went over to a door which I did not notice. She opened it and smiled, "The bathroom's still the same although the shower curtains are new. And it is much cleaner."

I climbed down and went to look at our bathroom. It had a shower, a clean white sink and toilet and like Hana said, the shower curtains seemed new. They were lavender in color with tiny yellow stars on them. There was a window on the far end and I went to check it out. This window had a flower box full of red poppies.

There was a white cabinet next to the mirror above the sink and I opened it. Tsume must have gone shopping for our arrival because the whole cabinet was full of bath gels, fruity soaps, shampoos and conditioners; the kind I use and the kind Hana used.

"Tsume-san you shouldn't have brought new stuff for us." I called out.

"No worries," Tsume replied. "You could take them back to college too. Also, I don't have tampons; you should buy some later."

"Okay thanks!" Hana and I said together.

Hana then squealed and rushed to the shelf. She picked up a small brown-haired doll, wearing a pink dress, and held it close, "Yuki! Oh, I thought I lost you ages ago!"

"It's not normal for you to lose stuff," I teased her as I followed her out of the bathroom. I noticed something green on the shelf and immediately recognized it. I rushed over and grabbed it. "No way! My Green Lantern action figure; I thought it was stolen!"

Hana scoffed, "Who would steal that?" I stuck my tongue out at her and cradled it in my arms. I also noticed my other Justice League action figures were there too. I saw my Hulk action figure and grabbed that too.

"Kiba took your Superman and Wonder Woman figurines," said Tsume. "If you want them back, they're in his room."

I shook my head, "Nah, he can keep them. As long as I have my Green Lantern and Hulk, I'm fine. But why'd he take Wonder Woman?"

Tsume shrugged, "Beats me. I guess he has a thing for chicks in leotards carrying whips and wearing fancy bracelets."

"Ne," Hana said to me. "Can I keep your Batman and Flash dolls?" She held up two action figures; one of Flash and the other of Batman.

"They're action figures," I told her. I put my hands on my hips. "Wait a minute, how do you know their names? I thought you didn't like Justice League."

Hana blushed, "I got bored and read your Justice League comics. They're not half bad."

"Not half bad?" I prompted.

Hana sighed, "Fine! They were good okay? So . . . can I have them?"

I grinned, "Sure. And who knows? I might read those Twilight books out of boredom too."

"You really should," Hana beamed. "But I urge you to read the Hunger Games first. It is mind-blowing! Oh how I love a good book!"

I sweat dropped, "You're being melodramatic again."

"Am not!" Hana exclaimed.

"Well it's about time to pick up Kiba; actually, he should be home by now. I wonder what's up." said Tsume, as she pointed to a digital clock, above the door, which were blinking the numbers 03:45 in red.

"I did not see that clock." Hana said with a smile.

Tsume chuckled, "I got a digital clock since Konan gets confused with the hands of the clock."

I grinned, "Thank you for being so thoughtful."

"So you girls ready to go?" Tsume asked. We didn't answer; we just ran out the door and headed for the van.

"So this is Konoha High." I said out loud.

The place was about as big as the college in Ame. Well . . . not as big but about half of Ame College's size and trust me; our college is huge!

The buildings were white in color and bushes of pink and white roses grew all around, making the whole place smell fresh. The compound was clean and empty.

"Where is everybody?" asked Hana.

Tsume groaned, "Gai must be keeping them back for some youthful game or something. Geez that annoying guy . . ." I noticed that she stressed on the word youth. This guy must be really young.

"Well, we must be early then. Change in the timing maybe . . ." said Hana. We then heard a lot of cheering and screaming around the back of the school.

"No way!" said Tsume. "This is when school's usually over but I guess Gai's making them stay back till the game's finished. Also, judging from the cheering we heard, the game must be going on."

I grinned, "Let's check it out!"

Hana nodded, "Kiba might be playing."

"Yeah, and I have to talk with Gai." Tsume said as she cracked her knuckles. I just hope she wouldn't do anything rash. But then again, she's Tsume.

There was a big basketball court at the back and it was below a very long and large flight of stairs. You know McKinley High's basketball court? Yes, I'm talking about Glee. Well this basketball court was kinda like that but the area seemed to be larger. Also it was outdoors.

I could see the boys play basketball. The cheerleaders, who were wearing very short clothing, were screaming their heart out to the guys while others sat on the stairs and watched the game.

Kiba was playing too; damn he played well too. I watched him prevent his opponents from scoring a basket; he was a good defender. Wait. Defender . . . hmm . . . is that a football term or a basketball term? Gah, forget it!

I noticed some other familiar faces too; Sasuke, Gaara, Neji and Naruto. I saw Shikamaru too but he wasn't doing much. Okay so after analyzing (I don't analyze usually but I guess my eyes just picked the info up) I knew who was on who's team. Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, a pale looking guy and one weird guy with a bowl-shaped haircut and fuzzy eyebrows were one team and Sasuke, Gaara, Neji and a white-haired guy and an orange haired guy were one team.

I could see the guys had as many fan girls as their brothers did in college because I could hear the cheerleaders scream, "SASUKE-KUN!" or "NEJI-SENPAI!" or "GAARA-SAMA!" and so on. Nuff said.

I could see Tsume impatiently tapping her foot and her left eye was twitching. She was waiting for the game to end but apparently, it wasn't. She sighed out loud when it finally ended. Sasuke's team had won and the fan girls went mad.

The teacher, whom we thought was youthful, had the same weird bowl shaped haircut and really fuzzy eyebrows; even fuzzier than the guy on Naruto's team. Yikes! He was wearing a green tracksuit and when he gave a toothy grin, it blinded my eyes; no, seriously it did!

"Well done my students," he said. "I, Maito Gai, your gym teacher, am very proud of you. Now the losing team has to do 100 pushups!" Groans of complains were heard.

The kid with the bowl shaped haircut stepped forward, "Gai-sensei, I promise to work even harder to win next time!"

Gai-sensei started to cry, "Oh, Lee!"

Now, the kid, Lee, started to cry, "Gai-sensei!" Was it just me or did a sunset appear in the background?

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!" Okay this was getting weird.

"Eh?" said Hana, as she was clearly confused. So was I.

Gai-sensei raised his fist in the air as if he was determined to do something, "Yosh! In the light of Lee's youthful speech, everybody get down here and do pushups!"

A loud and sharp noise, a whistle, sounded right next to us; that got everyone's attention. Apparently, no one knew of our presence. Now, they were all looking at us.

"Mom . . ." I heard Kiba say. His eyes widened when he saw me and Hana. "Sissy? Konan?" I just gave a sheepish grin and waved.

Tsume glared at Gai-sensei as she shoved the whistle back into her pocket, "Sheesh Gai, do you have only today to carry out your youthful games?!"

Gai-sensei grinned, "Ah Tsume, but you should never hesitate to let the power of youth flow!"

Tsume put her face in her palm, "God . . . well at least . . . no more pushups for these kids."

"No can do! They have to pump the power of youth throughout their body!" Gai-sensei exclaimed. More groans erupted from the students.

"But," Hana started to say. "Their power of youth will decrease if they keep it up like that."

Everyone was now looking at Hana. Gai-sensei raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean youthful maiden?"

Hana blushed, "Well . . . the power of youth is like . . . a fire. And . . . sweat is water. If you make them exercise too much, their sweats will . . . extinguish the fire of youth within them!" She nudged my arm.

"Yeah," I said slowly. "They will never be youthful again and . . . that would be bad?"

Gai-sensei seemed to consider this. He ran up to us and slung each arm around mine and Hana's shoulders. He gave us one of his flashy grins, "You two are absolutely right! Students go home and rest! Be prepared for another youthful day tomorrow!"

Everyone cheered and rushed out of the basketball court. Some even thanked us quietly. The only ones left in the court were Tsume, me, Hana, some fan girls and the basketball players.

Gai-sensei gave two thumbs up and a toothy grin before he left the court as well. Kiba came running towards us and he hugged Hana and me. He looked at Tsume, "You didn't tell me they were coming today!"

Tsume shrugged, "If you did, you wouldn't have come to school today! You'd just be a pain in the ass."

Kiba pouted, "That's not true!"

"Great game." I told Kiba.

Kiba grinned, "Thanks . . . although we lost. By the way, I didn't know you were so familiar with the 'Power of Youth.'"

"Shut up." Hana and I said in union.

Tsume simply chuckled, "I'm going to turn the Van around." And after saying that, she left. We then went to where Sasuke, Naruto and Neji were.

I flicked Sasuke's forehead and he glared at me, "Do you have to do that?"

I grinned, "Like I said, I want you as my brother."

Sasuke looked away, "Well, I would have died by now if I had a sister like you."

I pouted, "Don't be mean." I flicked his forehead one more time.

A blur of red suddenly tackled Sasuke and attached itself to his arm. Hana had an expression of shock and I'm guessing my face looked the same too. The blur of red was a mini version of Aiko. She had the same red hair, same red eyes behind a pair of small black round glasses and apparently the same slutty behavior.

"Sasuke!" She purred. The look on Sasuke's face was not new; I'd seen it many times on the Akatsuki (except Tobi since he has the mask) and I knew it meant annoyance.

"It's a mini-Aiko!" Hana suddenly said.

At the mentioning of Aiko's name, the mini-Aiko turned to Hana and glared, "I'm not Aiko. I'm her sister, Karin!"

"Oh." Hana and I said in union.

Karin curled her lip with disgust at Hana, "I know you; you're that Hana girl that my sister mentioned. I hear you're a dumb nerd trying to steal her boyfriend!"

Hana rolled her eyes, "Please! She doesn't have a boyfriend!"

"She's dating Sasuke's brother!" Karin said tightening her grip on Sasuke's arm. Sasuke took his arm back but she grabbed onto it again.

I laughed, "No he's not. He's way out of her league."

Karin scrunched up her nose at me, "Aiko told me about you too; you're just a no good slut who's messing with the Akatsuki!"

"Excuse me?!" I yelled as I stepped forward. Naruto and Neji held me back.

"I don't think it's wise to pick a fight with high school girls," said Kiba. He then looked at Karin. "Karin, just go home."

"Oh you care so much about me Kiba-kun!" She said girlishly. She then blew a kiss to Kiba who shivered; I doubt it was from the cold.

She then tried to kiss Sasuke who pulled away. She gave flirty goodbyes to Naruto and Neji and started to walk away. She then stopped and turned to look at Hana, "Aiko will deal with you; I have another nerd I have to handle here." She then clicked her tongue and left.

Naruto sighed, "That is one crazy chick, believe it!"

Neji shook his head, "At least Sasuke's number one on her list." This earned him a glare from the Uchiha but he simply smirked in response. The rest of the basketball players came over to us.

Kiba introduced us to the basketball players. The white haired guy's name was Suigetsu, the orange haired guy was Jugo, the bushy browed kid was Rock Lee and the pale guy was Sai.

Sai gave Hana a new nickname; Flower. Hana was happy with it. But the nickname he gave me, which was Kitty, didn't quite suite me. Do I really act like a cat? Maybe the guy is just trying to be friendly so like Hana says, always be grateful.

"What did that girl mean by 'another nerd?'" asked Hana.

"Huh?" said Suigetsu, clearly confused.

"Karin," said Neji. "Just came here to show off and attack Sasuke again."

Shikamaru sighed and gave a lazy smirk, "Troublesome. She still isn't happy about the fact that Sasuke has the hots for someone else."

I grinned and poked his cheeks, "You have a girlfriend? How cute! Who is she?" Sasuke looked away, although I could feel some heat rise to his cheeks.

"Not exactly a girlfriend," said Jugo. "Kinda like a crush. She's nice."

"I don't have a crush!" Sasuke said sharply.

"That's so cute! You're blushing." I teased.

Gaara crossed his arms, "I still don't trust you with her."

"I would love to meet her." Hana said politely.

"You should," said Kiba. "She's just like you! I have a feeling you two will be best buddies."

I pouted, "Hey, I'm her best buddy."

"Must you always be so animated?" said a smooth voice. The voice startled me so I jumped. A hand caught me by the arm and I turned to my side. There was Pein, with one arm extended to hold me and the other shoved in his pocket.

Me: -mouth full of dango- mnmm thmthsm mthtm!

Chicky: She means 'And that's that.'

Me: -swallows- Tee hee. Hope it was good. Read and review folks!