A/N: MOTHER OF GODDD. I'm sorry XD I did all of this, had my chapter all fixed up and pretty, then I DELETED IT ON ACCIDENT. goijadg';akjdfg;lkajsdf. Anyways, thank you all for being so patient with me ;)
I'm going to try a new little format. sorta.
Thanks to..
[Reviewers]
{bored411} - Yeah, Kankuro's a big chicken c: Oh, it didn't have to be your favorite :0 Just a random one! Anyways, I'll probably be doing another one in the future :3 I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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{suzie1107} - Aww, thank you c; there was a date between Itachi and Kotone, so I hope that's okay :D HECK YEAAUuHHH! She'll kick his butt as soon as he appears again XD Thank you for reading c: I hope you enjoy this chapter!
{animegirl3774} - :O Don't be! You don't have to if you don't want to :) That date was A LOT of fun to write XD I'm sorry for not doing the Kurenai and Asuma thing :c I'm not good with them.. I just can't really picture them! That one was fun toooo! XD I had SOOOO much fun :) Thank you! Thank you for reviewing and reading!
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{Animefangirl95} - Aww, I'm sorry :c That never happens to me :0 I am so grateful! I hope it fixes itself :) Aww, thank you :) I would be excited, too :DDDD aww don't be scared XD She's not mean.. or nice.. Oh well XD Hiromi... I pictured her kinda like the young Sakura. Personality wise :3 Thank you :DDDD That's very sweet!
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You are all so sweet :D I love all of you!
Thank you, readers, reviewers, alerter, favoriters. I love you all ;)
Once again, thank you for being so patient with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
(P.S. - I don't own Naruto :D Just my OC's.)
The crowd became louder and talkative with anxiety and excitement. Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara were up next. It was a moment thousands had been looking forward to. Bets had been placed, and the battle was soon to begin. If Sasuke were to arrive.
Feudal lords looks antsy, eyeing whoever was around them, as though wishing their money back, and those who left their jobs to come watch began to regret that loss, sighing and pulling their hair.
Maiko was on her way out, but had stopped, leaning against a wall and eyeing the arena with curiosity. How was the Uchiha going to smooth talk his way out of this one?
Kotone stood perfectly still, watching with no hint of interest, as the fellow nin stood in the center of the arena, a stifling silence engulfing only them. Would the boy show up and defeat Gaara?
It was then, when all voices had roared, that a single leaf became a tornado of leaves, and suddenly, there they were. Sasuke and Kakashi, their backs to one another.
The crowd went silent, shock stilling their minds.
"I'm sorry we're late," Kakashi said smoothly.
"Name?" asked Genma.
The genin smirked, "Uchiha Sasuke."
The men and women in the audience screamed, yelled, shouted, and cheered in excitement. The main event was about to happen! It was time for the match of a lifetime! Voices rang out and bawls roared loudly. The anticipation was palpable.
Kotone stood in the waiting room, watching as Gaara's eyes filled with evil and bloodlust. She took back what she had said once before; their eyes were nothing alike. She lacked such foolish unnecessary qualities. It was foolish.
She watched him stroll out of the waiting room, almost being engaged in conversation by his teammate, Kankuro, but the girl, Temari, stopped him, telling him he would die if he engaged Gaara. Something stirred in Kotone, and in the back of her mind, there was the urge to shove the puppet master into his murderer friend. The emotion sent pain coursing through the girl's body, and she threw the thought away.
The Sand nin disappeared, and the crowd settled down, its loud roar dying down to shouts instead of shrieks. Maiko was close to the exit now, slowly inching her way to home, but had stopped to stare at the murderous boy who had made his way to the center of the arena. He stopped his advance and the stiffness was felt throughout the arena. It was finally beginning.
It was then that the audience's cheers died down to simple murmurs. No loud yells would interrupt this match, or at least, any yells coming from the crowd. Genma was explaining the rules, and it was obvious what he was saying.
"The rules are the same as the preliminaries. You fight until one of you dies, gives up, or I decide the match is over."
The crowd cheered loudly once again, as the two boys glared into each other's eyes, obeying when they were told to move to the center. Silence engulfed the two. Genma raised his arm, and then quickly sliced it down, saying the word that had been anticipated for quite a bit.
"Begin."
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P.O.V. change - Hiromi
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Hiromi was almost sick with anxiety. It was almost painful. She knew. She knew who this man was. It was too late for her to warn anyone. He could've poisoned Hinata for all she knew. But.. She swallowed nervously, walking with Kiba as they approached the ANBU to thank him for healing Hinata, who was resting with Shino at her side. It was Kabuto. But how could she explain? She was too scared.. Of what he may do to Kiba and herself. And he knew of her fear, looking her in the eye through his mask as he healed her best friend, almost mocking her with an invisible smirk.
The blonde girl swallowed again, her throat feeling sore.
"Thanks, ANBU guy." Kiba said laxly.
"... Ki..Kiba.." Hiromi whispered, praying Kabuto didn't hear her.
Unfortunately, neither did Kiba.
"The medical nin nearby told me that Hinata would be just fine as long as she stays quiet."
"Really.." Kabuto replied.
Hiromi reached forward to grab her friend's sleeve, to warn him of the dangers the silver-haired male would bring, but she hesitated. It was.. too stupid of a move. She gulped again, but this time, she tugged on Kiba's sleeve, drawing his attention only for a second, before it was thrown to another; Akamaru.
He growled viciously before barking multiple times. It was his way of communicating with Kiba. And Hiromi let tears build up in her eyes when she realized that he must've realized it as well.
"You know him? What are you talking about? He's an ANBU." Kiba asked.
But now what? Hiromi asked herself nervously. There was no way for her to fight Kabuto. Even if he did leave the chunin exams, even if he always failed; he was too much for Hiromi to handle. She could tell.
The blonde girl stepped forward, "N-no."
The 'ANBU' turned around and face the two genin. It was now or never. Akamaru barked viciously some more times, and Hiromi nodded, not knowing, but somewhat understanding what he must be saying.
"N-no.. We met him during the exam."
Kiba turned to face his friend with a confusion expression, "What? What does that mean?"
Before Hiromi could reply, Kabuto held up a hand glowing with chakra. The girl's breath seemed to stop and her knees shook.
"This is what it means."
The silver-haired man stepped forward, advancing towards Kiba, but the girl with the majestic braid made no move to stop him, her eyes seemingly shrunken by her frightened state. Kabuto palmed Kiba in the chest, causing him to collapse, then turned towards Hiromi, whose knees clacked together.
"You knew."
"I-..I did."
And suddenly, everything was dark.
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P.O.V. change - Hanako
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The match was tense. Sasuke attacked immediately, seemingly outsmarted by the redhead's sand defense. He moved as fast as Rock Lee, landing a good punch on Gaara almost seconds after the match began.
Hanako smirked behind her fan, fanning herself vaguely. So this was the power of the Uchiha's? Wasn't so much to brag about. Her smirk disappeared and a thin frown replaced it as the boy once again hit the Sand nin, sending him backwards. Maybe it was just because this kid is weak?
Her beautiful eyes sharpened and she leaned forward. That Sasuke kid was moving just like Guy's student, with the same weird haircut! In fact.. the way he ran around the kid so quickly in circles.. Kakashi must've trained him.
Hanako laughed elegantly. Yes, that was it. She watched with interest as Sasuke kneed Gaara in the stomach. He was just copying poor little Lee. It must be frustrating knowing that the Uchiha mastered his moves only by looking at them with his Sharingan. She knew it was infuriating to her whenever she battled that silver-haired jounin.
The battle raged on, and the Sand nin had engulfed himself in a ball of sand. When Sasuke hit it, spikes activated and it was obvious they had sliced into his skin. The redhead must've used his chakra to harden it.
The Uchiha backed up and by the smirk on his face, he had a plan. When he was positioned high on the wall, Hanako smirked as well. So, this was why Kakashi and his little student were so late. No wonder. That jutsu takes a while to complete. She should know.
The lightning burst almost happily from his hand and the jounin with dark hair hid her ecstatic expression behind her fan. So this.. is what he can do. She knew at first sight that Sasuke was very much like Kakashi.
He ran at an incredible speed towards the defense mechanism of sand, and when he reached his destination, the boy thrust his hand into it, successfully dodging some spikes.
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Then it happened.
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P.O.V. change - Kotone
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A scream, a blood-curdling scream, from inside the sand shield. It was Gaara of the Sand.
"Blood! My blood!"
Kotone felt her master laugh, laugh heartily, mocking the boy who was once so full of himself he tried to kill her master's creation.
She watched with dead eyes as Sasuke struggled to get his hand out of the sand, and when he did, his Sharingan eyes widened and he back flipped away, a hand of a demon clutching his arm for a moment.
The limb sucked itself back to Gaara, and Kotone turned to face the other two Sand nin. They looked frightened, terrified even. Frozen in fear.
A small hole was left behind in the sand shield, and it was obvious that the only one who could see inside was Sasuke. His eyes widened and he seemed to shake. A feeling of.. bloodlust and dread.
The shield was beginning to crack, and almost in a flash, it seemed to melt, softened from its hardened form, and slipping to the ground in a puddle-like fashion, leaving a Gaara who seemed to be clutching a bloody wound, his face not in Kotone's visual.
He lifted his eyes, and it became obvious he was unstable, his blue eyes filled with shock, anger, and pure bloodlust. It was a palpable feeling that Kotone was beginning to recognize as Gaara's signature.
She waited for the next move to occur, but it seemed as though the two were frozen in a staring contest.
Then, in the slightest of movements, feathers, almost like someone had ripped open thousands of pillows and let their insides float down, fell from nowhere, and it was obvious that it was an illusionary technique, released to make everyone in the arena fall asleep.
Kotone looked around, analyzing the situation quickly, and immediately, her white eyes fell upon where the Hokage was located, a smoke bomb having had gone off. There was a one hundred percent chance.. that the Kazekage was attempting to kill the Hokage. It was inevitable. In fact, her master knew about it all along.
She stepped onto the railing, taking note of the fact that Temari and Kankuro had leapt down to their little brother. She looked up at where the Kazekage stood, a kunai to the Hokage's neck, and a barrier around them the color of violet. It seemed as though an attack on all Konohagakure was taking place.
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Seems.. kind of .. interesting, don't you think?
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P.O.V. change - No one
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"How unlucky."
Kakashi turned and didn't show his relief to see his friend, Hanako, gently prodding the sleeping Naruto with her foot. He figured she knew about the ANBU enemy.
"They're going to be everywhere, Kakashi. I hope you know that. Attacking the Hokage obviously means that there's going to be a war. I can only pray that while we're here, a talented someone is out there, protecting our walls."
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Kotone looked down into the arena, noticing the gathering of nin. She leapt down quickly, the wind balancing her gently and keeping her from injuring herself. She walked very slowly to Sasuke's side, not saying a single word to him, but staring blankly at the Sand nin ahead of her.
They spoke of a plan as though they were late for something, and Gaara was their only way of getting there. The man with the odd covering on his face said that he was a trump card. It was immediately obvious what Gaara was.
"A Jinchuuriki as a trump card. An intelligent, but foolish move indeed."
The shinobi looked up at her with looks of confusion.
"There is a eighty-nine percent chance that I am correct. The one who knows all supplies my knowledge to me.. I highly recommend you do not try and take this Uchiha on, or the proctor, Genma. You will only be making a fool of yourself."
Gaara's eyes lifted to meet hers, but Kotone spoke none of him. Her eyes were locked with Kankuro's, who was supporting the redhead as he stood.
"You think you can have this go your way?" asked Genma.
"I will make it happen," the older Sand nin replied.
They stood in a tense silence, three leaf ninja on one side, and four Sand nin on the other. Would they win if they went into battle? Perhaps. There was a fifty percent chance.
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"Go!" The Sand nin yelled, and almost too quickly, the three others leapt over, and out of the arena.
Kotone stood stiffly, her master silent.
"Is Orochimaru the promoter of this party?" Genma asked.
The senbon in his mouth made him look no more frightening than a wet kitten. He would not be able to defeat this man. It was surely bound to tip in the enemy's favor.
"I don't know," the Sand nin lied, "Let's just enjoy this for now."
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Genma turned slightly to face the two genin behind him.
"Sasuke," he began, "The Chuunin Exams end here. Sorry. But you are chuunin level already."
He then addressed both of them, "If you're a ninja of Konoha, be useful to Konoha."
Sasuke replied, "So you want me to resume my fight with Gaara, then? And win?"
Genma nodded, "That's right. Don't chase him too far, though. This isn't an exam anymore. This is the real thing."
The Uchiha frowned, "It's the same thing!"
He got up, grabbing Kotone's wrist, and ran towards one of the walls, taking her with him. Two kunai flew in their direction, but Genma cancelled them out with his own. When they reached the wall, Sasuke was about to leap up, but Kotone stopped him.
"Allow me, it will transport us faster."
She placed her pale hands on the ground (no hand signs..?) and suddenly, a whirlwind picked them off the ground and gently tossed them over the wall, almost in a magical fashion.
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Hanako frowned, putting away her fan in a womanly manner, taking note of the fact that the only ones awake were herself, Sakura, Guy, and Kakashi. Or at least, as far as she could tell.
"They have quite a number of people," Kakashi pointed out.
"We were too careless," Guy added, "and they even have the Hokage.."
He and Hanako both turned to spare the violet field a glance, but they both were unprepared for what they saw.
"Kaksahi, look!" The woman with dark hair commanded quickly.
It was very obvious that the man holding the Hokage (how they were able to see his features so clearly from so far away was almost impossible to grasp, but oh well) was the pale snake man, Orochimaru. Hanako growled out his name, and watched as the Sound nin beside the fake ANBU launched their attack, aiming for Kakashi's student. Immediately, she yanked out her fan and threw it like a shuriken, canceling out the weapons the enemies threw almost immediately.
"Why don't you stay there for a moment, pinkie," the woman said with a smile, taking out a kunai from who knows where, "I'm going to go on ahead and help you guys take these Musical idiots down."
She propelled herself off the ground and kicked one of the incoming Sound nin in the face, causing Sakura to gape in awe at the woman's strength, watching the man go flying backwards.
Hanako launched herself into a full-fledged uppercut, almost like the one Naruto performed on Neji earlier, sending an enemy soaring upwards, and she disappeared, and almost immediately, she reappeared above him, landing another punch to the face, sending him flying back down to earth.
After he impacted with the hard ground, she poised herself to attack another approaching enemy, instantly wondering where in the world they were coming from.
"This will be too easy, fighting these Hidden Village wanna-be's. In fact.. This isn't even fun!" Hanako smirked madly, causing Sakura to press herself up against her seat in fear.
She sent another human flying, the same mad smirk on her face, but calmed down considerably when she landed near Sakura and listened in to Kakashi's orders to her.
"Use the dispel technique and wake Naruto and Shikamaru."
Hanako looked around for Hiromi, wondering if she should tell her to wake up the blonde girl as well, but saw her nowhere, sweat-dropping when she saw a tuft of green amongst the fallen citizens.
"Naruto will rejoice. It's his first real mission in a long time."
The pink-haired genin frowned, "Mission?"
"Proceed with caution," Kakashi continued, "This is an A-ranked mission, like the one in the Land of Waves."
Hanako twitched when she saw the tuft of green get stepped on roughly by one of the attacking Sound nin.
"What do you mean an A-ranked mission? What are we supposed t do?" Sakura asked, her voice quickly getting on the dark-haired woman's nerves.
"Sasuke and Kotone went after Gaara and the others. Sakura, dispel the technique on Shikamaru and Naruto.. and go after the two of them."
Hanako held in a gasp, "Kotone went with him? She wouldn't ever do something so.. heroic."
"But if that's the case, I should wake Choji and Ino and some others and take a bigger group!" Sakura protested.
"There are already many Sound and Sand nin in the village, like Hanako said. Any more movement than with four people, a simple platoon, will result in a decrease in swiftness and it will become more difficult to conceal yourself from the enemy."
"You have to take Maiko with you," Hanako spoke up, "Decrease in swiftness my (curse.). She's not going to lay down and be useless. Especially since Kotone is out there, fighting off that monster because somehow she was able to grow a pair and do something of her own free will."
Kakashi sighed, keeping the fact that Sasuke dragged her with him a secret, "We learned this in the academy, Hanako. Sakura won't be waking Maiko. She'll have to stay here."
"She isn't staying here, you (curse.)! She's going with your little group whether you like it or not!"
"Wait a second," Sakura pitched in, "since it's a squad of four, she can't come, since you're coming, right, Kakashi-sensei?"
Hanako hissed. Stupid brat.
"No, I can't leave here."
She deflected a weak kunai nonchalantly, watching as Kakashi used his summoning jutsu. It was still a little funny to her, that such a powerful ninja signed a contract with a bunch of puppies, but they were powerful.
A small dog appeared on an unconscious man's back, his pug-like face making it obvious that he wasn't one of the powerful dogs Hanako was thinking of.
"Pakkun here will chase Sasuke by using his scent."
Sakura gasped, "Our other teammate is a puppy?"
Hanako scoffed, "Maiko may not be smart, but she's better than some stupid mutt!"
In the corner of her eyes, she saw Shikamaru flinch, and smirked. He was awake. What a lazy (curse.). The dog jumped to Sakura and talked rudely to her, not surprising Hanako at all, since she had already encountered the puppy before.
"Hey, little girl. Don't call me a cute puppy."
"Okay, Sakura," Kakashi began, "Go on ahead and wake up Shikamaru and Naruto."
The pink-haired girl nodded and went off to her friends' aid, causing Hanako to growl at her laid-back partner.
"You complete dolt! Didn't I tell you to wake up Maiko, too?"
"Like I said, a four person platoon. Are you saying Pakkun doesn't count?"
Hanako snarled, "Of course he doesn't! He's a stupid mutt! He doesn't count as a person! Akamaru might, but that doesn't mean Pugly does!"
Kakashi sighed, "Darling, can't you listen to me for once?"
Vaguely, Hanako noticed Sakura look over at them with curiosity, before carrying out her orders and waking Naruto. The beautiful jounin 'accidentally' crushed Kakashi's foot with her own and hissed at him.
"No, I won't, honey. You better (curse.)ing listen to me for once, sweetie, before I make sure you will never, ever be able to have children. You got that, babe?"
The Copycat ninja smiled underneath his mask, "Well, if you put it that way, love. You'll have to bring her up here, but be careful. We can't have any of these fake ANBU following them and trying to sneak in an attack. You understand?"
Hanako smirked before nodding, bolting off in the direction of her student. When she reached the tomboy, she picked her up by her collar, but quickly figured that was a bad idea considering her shirt was so big and baggy it almost slipped off the small girl's body.
A Sound nin immediately attacked, sending a couple of kunai in her direction. A plan formed almost too quickly in the woman's mind, and she tossed Maiko carelessly into the kunai's path, letting them slicing through her clothing and send her backwards, pinning her to a wall vaguely close to Sakura.
She sighed, "I'm a (curse.)ing genius."
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P.O.V. change - Maiko
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Her eyes peeled open slowly, looking around her with a confused expression that could hardly be explained.
"What the..? What's happening? What's going on?"
She looked around, noticing Sakura and Naruto, and what looked like a sleeping Shikamaru. When she looked down, she noticed two of three kunai piercing through her shirt. She yanked them out, taking note of the fact that whoever threw them at her didn't want her to get cut. Her shirt was ruined though, that's for sure.
"This was my favorite one, too.." She sighed.
"Okay, good, you're awake, now I just have to wake Shikamaru up and I can explain everything," Sakura said quickly.
She crawled over to Shikamaru and formed a hand sign before frowning, noticing that he flinched vaguely.
"Shikamaru.. You've been awake."
Maiko eyed the small dog at the pink-haired girl's side, and frowned.
"What the heck.. Is a puppy doing here?"
It sunk its teeth into Shikamaru's leg and immediately, the lazy genin 'awoke' and waved his leg around wildly.
"OW!"
Sakura growled at him, "You dispelled the technique a long time ago, didn't you? Why the heck were you pretending to be asleep?"
The genius yanked the dog off of his leg, holding it up in front of him and quickly torturing the pug by yanking on its face.
"I don't want to get involved in this. I'm not doing anything for you guys. I don't care about Sasuke."
Maiko blinked owlishly. What happened to the Uchiha? She looked over at the arena and noticed it was practically empty. What.. happened? When she looked back, her best friend was waving his hand around just like earlier, with the dog hanging on by his teeth. Two kunai collided overhead, and the green-haired tomboy frowned, looking around at all the sleeping figures.
"What's.. going on?" Naruto asked.
Before an answer could be given, a ninja (a.. Sound headband? What?) appeared behind the blonde boy, kunai raised with intent to kill.
"Naruto, look out!" Sakura cried, but the man was smashed against a wall by a flash of green and sparkles, Guy-sensei soon showing his .. tightly clad figure.
He said something that sounded like bragging before using his strength and shoving the Sound nin completely through the wall, creating a small opening.
"Guy-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed.
Maiko looked around, her eyes giving off the vision of being swirls.
"What the (curse.) is going on?"
Kakashi-sensei, the smooth talker who appeared to always have his masked nose in a porno book, appeared in front of the group of five, if one were to include to small puppy still at Shika's side.
"I'll tell you your mission now," He began, his tone serious, "Once it's explained fully, go out of the arena through that opening. Go after Sasuke and Kotone. Once you catch them, stop them, then await further orders in a safe place."
Maiko frowned, "What? What happened to Cockatoo?"
Naruto nodded, "Yeah, what happened to Sasuke?"
Sakura crawled to the hole in the wall, "I'll explain while we move."
She reached out and grabbed Naruto before disappearing, leaving the two jounin and two genin.
"Geez, why me?" Shikamaru asked grumpily.
The dog by his side spoke, not at all fazing anyone. Maiko guessed that talking dogs was normal. In the back of her mind, she wondered why Akamaru couldn't talk.
"Hey, kid!"
"Eh?"
"If you succeed, I'll let you touch my paws."
Maiko sighed. This mission didn't sound worth it. Sasuke was a stuck-up 'avenger' with a pole stuck up his (curse.), always acting like he had something to prove; he's better than everyone else. Shikamaru groaned.
"Look," the dog held up one paw, "It's soft and bouncy."
"Soft and bouncy?" Shikamaru repeated with a disgusted expression.
Maiko couldn't help but snicker, whispering under her breath, "That's what she said."
Kakashi sent her a vague grin (it was strained because of his wish to be serious, but, you know, it was also underneath a mask. It could've been a frown for all she knew).
"Actually, it's.." The dog continued, "Really soft and bouncy!"
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Shikamaru had his arm slightly lifted, and Maiko vaguely wondered if he was being tempted by some pup's paw.
The dog sighed, "Let's just go."
The lazy genius was bitten yet again and he looked at Maiko with a frown.
"If I'm going, you're coming, too."
"What? When the (curse.) was that decided?" The tomboy growled.
Shikamaru reached out and grabbed a fistful of her hair, causing her to stumble out of the opening in the wall, looking around for a way to stay, but her odd eyes met Hanako-sensei's and she stared for a moment before disappearing.
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"Will they be okay?" Guy asked.
Kakashi nodded, "They've got Pakkun.. They'll be fine."
He glanced at Hanako, who seemed to be clenching her fists uncomfortably.
"As long as they don't pursue the enemy too far."
The beautiful woman with dark hair gritted her teeth. Why..? Why would Kotone go do something so.. out of character? It's almost as if that puppet guy made her.. angry. But Kotone never acts upon her emotions.. If she has any..
The jounin vaguely remember her reaction when the puppet man fought his match in the preliminaries. The railing where her hands were was completely crushed.. But why?
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"(Curse.) that Sasuke! He got too hasty!"
Shikamaru asked, "So why'd I get sent out here? It's so troublesome."
Sakura pitched in, "We couldn't help it! Kakashi-sensei ordered me to bring you along!"
"What about me? Last time I checked I was not even near you guys!" Maiko growled.
The pink-haired genin sighed, "Your sensei fought with Kakashi and made him tell me to. She sent you over to us by letting you get hit by the enemy. You're not injured are you, Maiko?"
The tomboy frowned, "What? She let me get attacked? What a (curse.)!"
Their conversation was interrupted when the pooch ahead of them spoke, "This way!"
The group obeyed and leapt off the trail they once followed, taking a sharp right, completely unaware of the group of Sound nin after them, or more appropriately, Naruto.
A/N:
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Please leave feedback :D I hope you look forward to Chapter 21!