My first reaction to seeing Sai was to close the door in front of his face. I then quickly opened the door again, hoping what I had seen was a hallucination of some sort. Sadly, Sai was still there, along with the same fake smile on his face. I'm surprised his stomach wasn't exposed with the black clothes (a long-sleeved shirt and pants) he was wearing, but eh, he's like, what…thirteen, right now?
There's something about young Sai that I would find cute, but that smile is really killing it. Like—please stop…
"You are so creepy…" I didn't even bother holding back what was on my mind. "Stop smiling if you can't smile for real!"
"But aren't you suppose to smile at people you just met?" Sai, did you get a freaking book—oh my god, he did. "It's nice to meet you, by the way. I am Sai, and you are?"
"Akimichi Chōko…why are you here?" Please…enlighten me so I may try to speculate the possible deviations that could have brought you here.
"I should probably be the one to explain that." I nearly screamed when another person appeared right next to Sai so suddenly. I nearly screamed again when I realized that person was Yamato—what the hell happened?!
Wait, would it be Yamato or Tenzō…should I care? I mean, it's still the same person, who is also here three years too early! Oh god, I can't even begin to think of how I'm supposed to react to this!
SLAM!
I ended up slamming the door shut. When it came to my attention to what I had just done, I felt extremely awkward…and did the first thing that came into my head.
"Sensei!" I yelled. "There's a ghost and a strange man at our door!"
Well, there goes that first impression with those two, but fuck it—they caught me by surprise! I was prepared to go have lunch with Neji—not deal with this shit!
…
"I apologize for the way my Genin has acted towards you two," Kakashi said as he patted me on the head. "She's not used to being alone around people she doesn't know."
"Oh, it's quite fine," Yamato (Tenzō—whatever) assured. "It's our fault for appearing so suddenly."
You damn right it is!
"What brings you two here, anyways?" Kakashi looked questioningly at Yamato and Sai. "Wait…don't tell me…"
"The Sandaime sent us here." Sai smiled his fake smile—damn, that's gonna need a shit-ton of work. "Yamato-san should have the scroll."
"Indeed I do," Yamato said as he pulled out a scroll and handed it to Kakashi. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting us to meet again under these circumstances."
Kakashi opened the scroll and looked over its contents. "Likewise…Yamato, was it?"
"Correct, Senpai!" Yamato smiled.
I'm not even gonna ask, at this— "Why are you looking at me?"
"Meganekko!" Sai simply said.
I blinked a few times and narrowed my eyes. "Chōko…it's Chōko."
"Ahh, he's not good at making friends, so he's been referring to a book." Yamato rubbed the back of his head. "He's trying to give you a nickname."
Ah…well, that explains it. "Friends, huh?"
"The Sandaime said it would be good if I made some friends." Ahh, so that's why!
"Wait…the Sandaime?" Don't tell me…
"That's right, Chōko—they're here to live with us," Kakashi said as he closed the scroll. "It's a good thing this house has quite a lot of empty rooms, or this would have been a problem."
For some reason, Kakashi seems annoyed…maybe it has to do with the fact that Haku and Zabuza had recently moved in—yeah, that sounds about right. Wow, this house is getting more and more people.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Okay, that's has to be Neji! "I'll get it!"
And just in time, too, because Haku, Zabuza, Naruto, and Sasuke decided to finally check in on our unexpected guests. I'd rather not be here for whatever awkward interactions come out of it—as entertaining as they may be. I just…I need time to prepare and I'm starting to get hungry. The last thing I want is for my stomach to growl and have everyone staring at me, making me blurt out, "Food!" or "Eat!"
"Who's here?" Neji tried to look inside the house, but I quickly pushed him out of the house, making sure to close the door behind me after I did.
"I'll tell you when we get to the restaurant…the usual place?" And by the usual place, I mean a restaurant run by my clan. "I know you like herring soba."
"What about Naruto and Sasuke?" Neji asked.
"Yeah…they're busy…" Naruto has to be a parent, and Sasuke should be working on the pen with Kakashi, but with Sai and Yamato making their early appearances…everyone's currently preoccupied with them. "And if you're wondering about the dress, Ino threatened to go through my closet and force me into the kimono if I didn't wear something different."
Neji nodded his head. "You look nice."
"Thanks!" I smiled. "Haku got it for me!"
Neji stared at me for a moment before looking away. "Let's go."
"So I'm assuming you had a nice break from training with Gai-sensei, am I right?" I asked Neji once we started making our way into town.
"You are correct…" Neji replied without once looking at me.
The heck? "Are you in a bad mood?"
"No, I'm fine." Aww, he is!
"C'mon, Neji—smile!" I prodded Neji in the cheek, laughing afterwards. "You look nice when you smile. Or maybe you want to talk about your feelings? Yes…no?"
"Can we just focus on getting to the restaurant?" Neji looked at me, wearing a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
"Do you need a hug?" You sure do look like you need one.
"No—I'm fine, it's just…" Neji sighed. "It's complicated…it's why I do not wish to talk about my feelings."
Ahh, I see! "Thanks for being honest with me! Though, if you have something to talk about, you ought to tell someone—don't keep it all inside."
Because trust me—it'll just make everything worse…
"I understand." Neji seemed calmer now. "Oh, and I never did say it, but…happy birthday."
I blinked a few times and smiled. "A little late, but thank you!"
…
…
"So then this little shit, Suigetsu, decides it would be funny to steal my masago nigiri, even though I told him not to because I was going to hurt him!" I ranted on before taking a bite out of my pork bun. By now, Neji and I were eating at an Akimichi clan restaurant, the both of us seated at a booth. I took a moment to chew before swallowing and continuing, "Like, what the hell—did I do something wrong? Was he still mad at me for that indirect kiss, even though I should be the one pissed off because it was his straw I drank out of—"
"Indirect kiss?" Neji looked at me questioningly.
"I drank out of his water bottle and Naruto made a comment about an indirect kiss, and he pretty much made both Suigetsu and I feel really awkward!" I felt my cheeks heating up as the memory popped up in mind. "He did the same damn thing when the Godaime Mizukage gave me some food using her chopsticks—has Naruto been reading some romance novels or something?"
At this point, it's really the only thing explaining why Naruto acted the way he did.
"Hinata-sama has mentioned a series she and Naruto have been invested in…" Neji mentioned. "Though, it's more of a manga than novel…"
"Wow, really?" I was just saying stuff, but holy crap.
"As ridiculous as it sounds…it's true." Neji sighed. "Hinata-sama had me buy her the latest volume at the bookstore while she and her team were out on a C-rank mission."
"Aww, that's really nice of you!" I will never get over how awesome it is that Neji and Hinata are on such good terms, especially since it's something that doesn't happen until after the Chuunin exams in canon. "By the way…the Chuunin exams are coming up—are you and your teammates gonna pass it up again like last year?"
"Not this time," Neji replied. "What about you and your team?"
"I doubt we'll even have a say in it, considering how Kakashi-sensei is with us and with Naruto and Sasuke, those two will jump at anything to advance." Meanwhile with me, I got a lot to prepare for because of these Chuunin exams. Ugh, I am not looking forward to the Forest of Death… "Not so sure about how Iruka will react."
Oh, I know how Iruka will react! He's gonna be totally against it!
"So what else happened while you were in Kirigakure?" Neji asked as I sank my teeth into my pork bun.
"Hmm…?" I took a huge bite out of my pork bun, chewed, and then swallowed. "We met this man named Utakata and he…was more or less like Naruto."
"What do you mean by that?" Neji looked questioningly at me.
"You know how people stare at Naruto like he's done something wrong?" Neji knows very well how much I hate it when that happens. "Well, Utakata is the same…maybe worse? I dunno, a lot of things are changing because Mei, the Godaime Mizukage, stood up for him."
"Like how we stand up for Naruto?" Neji asked as he picked up his napkin.
"Exactly and—" I was cut off because Neji decided there and then to use his napkin to wipe my face.
"I apologize…it's a force of habit." And by that, Neji meant that he was used to wiping Hanabi's face whenever she had food on her face and before Hanabi, it was Hinata.
Going by that logic, it meant that I had food my face and my face heated up with a blush from that realization. How embarrassing!
"Are you okay?" Neji looked concerned.
I just nodded my head and stuffed the last of my pork bun into my mouth. I didn't want to talk right now and Neji seemed to have gotten the message. We didn't talk for a good twenty minutes after that and each time our gazes crossed, both of our faces turned red. Unlike with Hanabi and Hinata, there was no familial connection between us. Just knowing that made what Neji had just done extremely awkward.
"I really am sorry for that…"
"It's fine…just tell me next time."
…
…
Right after we had finished eating lunch, I dragged Neji to the grocery store to pick out some ingredients I needed for tonight's dinner. We had two new guests and I might as well make them feel welcomed, and since Neji is gonna stay over for dinner—
"You can stay over, right?" C'mon, Neji!
"Y-Yes." Neji looked rather strained as I piled up the products I took from the shelf onto the basket he was carrying.
"I'm thinking of making kitsune udon—what do you think?" I looked at Neji for an opinion.
"I don't really mind," Neji replied. "Anything you make will certainly come out delicious."
"Unless I'm experimenting." In that case, anything goes. "Hmm…I guess I'll go along with it. And don't worry—it won't be spicy."
"That's good to hear." Neji seemed relieved. "So who were those people?"
"Oh, right…the Sandaime sent two more people to live with us." I love how I just include myself into the mix, even though my actual home is at the Akimichi compound. "I don't know why, but I'm sure we'll find out when we get back…oh! And Haku is now a Konoha-nin! He seems rather happy!"
"Ah, so he is male…" Oh right, Neji didn't know—holy shit, I forgot about Kiba!
Eeeh, I'm not sure how Kiba's going to react, considering it's been almost a month and he still doesn't know Haku is male. I'm mostly not looking forward to how Kiba will act towards us for not telling him and leaving him in the dark for nearly a month. I'm pretty sure the same could be said about Hinata. I'm not too sure about Shino, since his kikaichū pick up on a lot of things.
"He's a very pretty male!" I found myself saying. "He looks good with make-up—just like you!"
"Hmm…" Yes, yes, I know, you don't like looking like a girl, Neji… "Why was he passing off as female?"
"The Sandaime wanted that to throw off the council's decision to pair Haku up with someone to have kids." The council likes to play matchmaker with shinobi with kekkei genkai—especially if they're the only one of their kind in this village. Kakashi is seriously the only person standing in the council's way of preventing them from making Sasuke go to the many omiai they had planned out for the Uchiha.
I think that's part of the reason why the Sandaime had sent Kakashi to live with Naruto and Sasuke. The council is scary when it comes to matchmaking. I am seriously glad my clan rarely dabbles into arranged marriages—that shit is scary when you're not ready for commitment, yo!
"I did his make-up, by the way!" I really do like applying Haku's make-up. "He's pretty cool with wearing make-up, even when he's not passing off as female."
"What were those white carnations about?" Neji suddenly asked.
"Hmm?" I blinked. "Those? They were just flowers…He might have gone undercover as a hikkomi at a brothel, but I doubt even oiran are well-versed in hanakotoba."
"What if he was—what would the flower have meant?" Neji looked at me for an answer.
"Heehee, well, it's kinda awkward now that you bring that up." Unless otherwise, I really don't pay attention to hanakotoba, but since Neji was asking… "A white carnation can mean 'engaged to be married' or 'our love endures,' but I think I like the message I got from your sunflowers."
"My…sunflowers?" Neji arched his brow. "Ino told me they were fine when I picked them out. Is there something I missed?"
"They mean 'love and respect,'" I replied with a smile.
"Really? I just thought you would like them because of Himawari-sama…" Neji seemed a bit embarrassed.
"I really did like them!" But I never thought you would have picked them because of Hinata's mother—ahh, has it really been seven years already? "Though, for future references, in case you're ever curious, you should ask Hinata about flowers. I'm sure she'll enlighten you."
Neji nodded his head. "I'll keep that in mind…"
"Okay…now let's go get some tofu!" I need fried tofu for this kitsune udon and I'm sure Naruto will enjoy this, since he didn't get his fried tofu for lunch.
…
When Neji and I arrived back at Casa de Uzumaki, it was quiet…too quiet.
"That's because I locked that emotionless brat with Naruto in a room," Zabuza said as he looked through a book out of sheer boredom. "I know that brat's type…"
"And what will be achieved through this?" I would like to know that.
"I locked the two of them into that room in hopes that the emotionless brat develops emotions and a personality," Zabuza explained. "And if you're wondering about that other guy, he's with Haku, currently out shopping for beds and futon—whatever floats his boat. As for Kakashi and Sasuke…they're in the back, finishing up the pen."
"Ah…" So I guess that means things'll be quiet until dinner…excellent. "C'mon, Neji—you're gonna help me with dinner!"
"Yes, Chōko…san." Ooh, so close!
"You'll get there!" I said as I patted Neji on the head. "Now let's make some udon!"
…
…
It was certainly very lively come dinnertime, considering the two extra people at the table. Sadly, Sai had not yet developed a personality or emotions, but we'll get there. It'll take some time, but with enough exposure to Naruto and the rest of us, it'll hopefully undo the Danzō's conditioning. My god, I cannot wait for Danzō to die. He has caused too much grief and I'm still pretty pissed off at the fact that he has one of Shisui's eyes on him.
"So what brings you two here?" I found myself asking Sai and Yamato as a way to detract myself from my rage against Danzō.
"I'm not sure what the Sandaime was thinking, but recently, I've been assigned to a team of Genin as their Jounin-sensei," Yamato responded. "Sai and Haku happen to be two of the three Genin who were assigned to me."
"I'm sure we'll all get along!" Haku smiled at Yamato and Sai.
Sai stared at Haku for a good minute before saying, "Yuki-onna."
Oh my god, is that seriously Sai's nickname for Haku? "Pfft—ahahaha!"
Yamato frowned. "You are aware he's male, right, Sai?"
Sai smiled his fake smile. "Yes."
"I don't think the nickname's that far off, apart from that technicality," Sasuke remarked. "Haku does have a way with ice."
"Hey, hey, what am I-ttebayo?" Naruto looked expectantly at Sai for a nickname.
Sai took one look at Naruto and said nothing. Looks like it's still a work in progress for Naruto…though, I do see Sai taking quite the interest in the fox kits scampering around the floor.
"So who is the third member of your team?" Kakashi asked Yamato.
"How about I bring her over tomorrow?" Yamato suggested.
"If you're gonna do that, give me a heads up of when in case I have to make dinner." I wonder who the third member of Team Yamato is… "Haku, Neji—stop staring at each other like that!"
Upon hearing me, Haku and Neji averted their gazes, looking somewhat embarrassed, but mostly miffed. Honestly, these two…what the heck is up with them?
"I sense a rivalry between these two…" Zabuza looked amused.
I was just confused.
…
I never did find out why Neji and Haku acted the way they did toward each other, but come the next day, I did finally get to meet the third member of Team Yamato and it was…
"Sakura!" I was quite surprised to see the pink-haired girl follow Yamato, Haku, and Sai into the house in the evening.
Sakura was just as surprised to see me—especially since I have not seen her in quite a long time. She was busy with her medic-nin training, while I was stuck doing tedious D-rank missions, a deadly A-rank mission, and a thankfully normal C-rank mission.
"Y-Your hair!" was what Sakura first told me. "Ino told me about it, but I didn't expect it to be this…"
"Short?" I finished for Sakura. "Spiky? I've been referring to this team as Team Spiky Hair because of it."
"Now that you mention it, all of you do have spiky hair," Sakura mused. "I think it's cute how you all match!"
"Anyways, so you're finally out of the Genin Reserves?" It's been a while since graduation.
"That's right!" Sakura smiled. "I think I've had enough training. Besides…I'd be able to advance even more if I was a Chuunin."
"Right…the Chuunin exams…" Wait a second… "Do you think your team will be ready in time for the Chuunin exams?"
"I won't make any promises, but I will ensure my team prospers while under my guidance!" Yamato is really a nice guy… "Besides, you need to complete a minimum of at least eight missions to be eligible for the Chuunin exams."
Oh, then Team 7 has definitely filled out that quota!
"We'll be starting our D-ranks, tomorrow!" Yamato looked at his team. "So be ready."
"Don't accept any babysitting missions—this is coming from someone with experience!" And with Sai being an emotionless tool right now, I doubt putting him around children would be… "Actually, never mind! I wholly suggest you go for babysitting missions—especially if it involves the Takemi triplets!"
Torture builds character!
"Oh, I heard of them!" Sakura made a face. "In fact, I've treated some of the Genin and Jounin who have had an encounter with Riku's teeth. How did you guys get through it unscathed?"
"Easy…Riku developed a crush on Sasuke." Sasuke is quite the heartbreaker. "From there, everything went downhill for the triplets until we made friends with them. They're quite nice when they're not being little shits."
"It sure seems that way," Haku remarked.
"Are children that difficult to care for?" Even when asking a question, Sai lacked emotion.
Ugh, I'm gonna have to put Sai through the Neji and Kiba method at this rate…I should go buy some stickers. Now the true challenge is learning when Sai is showing some emotion. Seriously, this is a lot of conditioning we have to fix with the poor boy.
…
…
Since that day, life has certainly gotten interesting. I ended up buying a lot of stickers with smiley faces on them, hoping that Sai starts showing some freaking emotion so I can slap one on his hitai-ate (which is covering his forehead). Unfortunately, Sai showing emotion at his current age was extremely rare. The only times I could actually get Sai to show some emotion was through my cooking, which he really liked.
I'm gonna chalk that down as ROOT not having good food and if that is the case, then I feel extremely bad for Sai. Just how much has he and the other ROOT members been deprived of and for how long?
Then there was Naruto introducing Sai to Shisui's tree and considering that Sai also had an older brother who is dead…I'm just counting down the days before Sai decides to buy a tree of his own—does he even have any remains of Shin to do so? Ehh, I guess Ino can help him out, there, considering her family does delve into cases where people were unable to salvage any remains, so the tree stand as makeshift graves.
One thing I could do without is Sai scaring the crap out of me with his fake smile and appearing out of nowhere at times. Like, what the fridge—I just wanted to get a glass of water, why were you awake during the middle of the night?
"I couldn't sleep." And it seems as though Sai suffers from insomnia.
"…Sit down, we're gonna have a talk." Now I can't go back to sleep until I resolve this issue. "So what are your hobbies?"
"I like calligraphy and drawing!" There's that fake smile again…
I slapped my hand onto my forehead and sighed.
…
Team Yamato seemed to get along and have great teamwork, according to Haku whenever he brought up his team's progress, since Sai doesn't talk much, as he still is referring to the book for guidance (though he does like to follow Naruto around like a lost puppy). The poor guy is just trying to follow orders, but it's a concept he doesn't understand because Danzō's conditioning broke the little guy.
Danzō seriously needs to die.
So while Team Yamato was occupied with D-rank missions, of which Haku and Sai have been increasingly quiet about, with the exception of Sakura, who complains (and she has every right to complain!), Team Kakashi (as we were now known as, what with another Team 7 in the making at the Academy) resumed training. And by training, I mean I got stuck in a tree!
"Sensei, get me doooowwnnnn!" Oh god, one wrong move and it's a one-way ticket to the ground!
"You can do it, Chōko!" Kakashi called out. "I believe in you!"
"Stop believing in me and just get me down!" Why must it be so difficult to climb down, dang it?!
Meanwhile with Sasuke, Kakashi was in the midst of teaching Sasuke some Raiton techniques and Naruto was trying to get his kits to cooperate. Naruto was set on turning his kits into something akin to what ninken were to the Inuzuka clan. A lot of us were skeptical of this, except for Kiba, who actually encouraged it and gave some tips about how it worked with him and Akamaru.
"By the way, why the hell didn't you tell me Haku was male?!" And there it is!
"You never asked!" I tried to weasel my way out of Kiba's wrath…keyword: tried. I ended up getting tackled onto the ground by both Kiba and Akamaru (god damn, that little mutt hits like a brick!).
Hinata ended up telling me later that the reason Kiba was a little more volatile than usual was because he was still irritated from their last C-rank mission, in which he and Shino got stuck to each other and, well…there goes another two first kisses.
"I feel really bad I was unable to do anything, but…they got me in my blind spot…" Hinata frowned. Since graduation, Hinata had slowly been phasing out of her stutter until she finally stopped stuttering. Hinata mentioned that Kurenai had helped her out of it, though the stutter does return whenever she is extremely nervous or scared.
"It's fine—you just got really unlucky!" I tried to reassure Hinata. "It happens and I notice you're wearing that ring Naruto gave you!"
Hinata's cheeks lit up with a blush. "A-Ah, I-I…N-Naruto-kun said it s-suited me, so I…"
"No need to say anymore!" I grinned widely. "You do look nice in black!"
"N-Naruto-kun said the same th-thing." Hinata smiled shyly, her blush only deepening.
"So Shino, how are you doing?" Shino's been oddly quieter than usual—and yes, I can tell. "Are you still trying to get over the loss of your first kiss—oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Holy shit, I never thought I'd see the day when Shino would ever blush that hard!
"Please do not mention that, Chōko-san." Shino tugged on the collar of his jacket, trying his best to hide his blushing face, but failing.
The Aburame clan is known for keeping a stoic demeanor, but let it be known that when they show emotion, they show emotion—stoic demeanor be damned.
…
…
"So how did your lunch date go?" Ino asked me seconds after I had entered Yamanaka Flowers.
"Date?" The hell, Ino? I'm not ready for romance yet! "We were just catching up—which we did!"
Ino pouted. "Hmph…so boring. So what are you in here for?"
"Wait a second…" I left someone outside of the shop. "I'll be right back!"
About a moment later, I came back into the shop, dragging Sai with me. Ino arched her brow at Sai, taking an interest in the pale-skinned boy.
"Oh, I haven't seen you around." Ino smiled. "I'm Yamanaka Ino, and you are?"
"Sai," Sai simply said. "Naruto said I could…get a tree, here?"
"Tree…oh, you mean those?" Ino nodded her head. "Do you have any remains or is this a memorial tree?"
"It's a memorial tree," I piped up. "You think you can find one that would fit someone like him? He lost his older brother like Naruto."
Ino took one long look at Sai and nodded her head. "I'll see what I can do…come back here in a few days and I'll give you some options."
"Do you hear that, Sai?" I light jabbed my elbowed in Sai's side, trying to get a reaction out of him. "She's got you covered! Now what do you tell someone when you're really grateful?"
"Thank you so much, gorgeous!" Sai said with a completely straight face.
Sai's comment left Ino blushing quite furiously as she tried to process what the pale-skinned boy had just told her. Sai is extremely lucky Inoichi wasn't around to witness this, because Inoichi was quite protective of his daughter.
"Oh my god, Sai!" Don't tell me you're taking after me, now?!
"The book said compliments should be given to share the rush of positive emotions one feels…" Did Sai just admit to feeling some emotions? This calls for a celebration!
Smack!
"Oh, I got a sticker!" Sai honestly seems happy, but that smile is still fake.
"Apart from your smile, you're really doing well!" Zabuza will be so proud to learn that his method of locking Sai in a room with Naruto was actually working.
…
…
"Big Boss!" Oh my god, it's been quite a while since I've been called that by Konohamaru and—oh, Moegi and Udon are here. Looks like I came across Naruto at a good time! At least, that was what I thought until I was swarmed with little kids.
"I'm Moegi!" the pigtailed girl introduced herself to me.
I smiled at Moegi before turning to the boy who wore the same styled glasses me. He appeared as sickly as ever and my brain wanted to associate him as Gekkō Hayate's son, thanks to a certain abridged series. Ahaha, I can't believe it took me this long to make a—
"I'm Gekkō Udon," Udon said before sniffing.
—reference? Oh what the fuck is this shit?! Are you freaking telling me that the abridged series got one thing right?! I don't even know—that would mean Hayate and Yūgao were hella young when they had Udon! Then again…Kurenai's father, Yūhi Shinku, quite possibly has to be the youngest father I have ever come across, being only thirteen when his daughter was born.
It is surprisingly disturbing what war times can do to young shinobi...
I honestly shouldn't be surprised anymore…but seriously, what the fuck?!
"Are you okay, Big Boss?" Konohamaru asked me. "You don't look so good."
"I'm fine!" I smiled weakly. "So what's up?"
"Do you wanna play ninja?" Konohamaru grinned widely as he held up a couple of paper shuriken in his hand. "Or maybe you can show us how far you can throw these?"
I looked at the shuriken in his hand and took it from him. "These?"
"Heh, are you up for it, Big Boss?" Oh, Konohamaru is trying to get me to show off in front of his friends.
"Let's see what I can do with these." Paper shuriken are quite difficult to throw if you don't do it right, so I have to make sure I throw it right. "Of course, that does mean I have to chase you…"
"Oh crap…" Konohamaru's eyes widened.
Fast forward to five seconds later, I was now chasing after Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, armed only with paper shuriken that Konohamaru had handed me. Following after me as I chased after the kids was Naruto, who was surprisingly without his kits…but that could be because he left a couple of clones back at Casa de Uzumaki to watch over them there.
I had never had this much fun playing such a childish game with children, but really, I was bored and they got me into it, so I hope they're having fun! They sure do look like they're having a good time!
"Ow!" Oh, looks like someone got hurt and that someone was Konohamaru, who had just finished crashing into a black-cladded shinobi with a…painted face?
Is that… "Kankurō?!"
"Oh, hey, it's you!" Kankurō grinned as he picked Konohamaru up by the back of his shirt. "Did you get a haircut?"
"Who did your make-up?" I smirked.
"Temari-chan!" Naruto exclaimed upon seeing the blonde-haired girl, who was now carrying a giant fan.
Temari grinned as she waved at us. She has certainly gotten a lot taller, but then again…she is older than us by like three years. "Hello again, Naruto—you might want to turn around. There's someone who's been waiting to see you again."
When Naruto turned around, he found himself looking right at Gaara, who was holding out a small potted cactus toward him.
"For you…" Gaara smiled.
Naruto grinned widely and took the potted cactus without saying another word. The two of them stood there for a good minute or two before they embraced each other.
"Hard to believe it's been almost five years already…" Temari crossed her arms.
"Yeah…so what brings you here to Konoha?" Did something happen?
"Didn't you get our letter?" Temari blinked.
"I got it right here!" And there's Sasuke, never too far away from any of us. "They're here for the Chuunin exams."
Oh, right…oh fuck! Is it time for that already? It hasn't even been a month—oh yes, it has, you dumbass! I remember us observing Itachi's eighteenth birthday not that long ago. I wonder how weasel's doing…
"So are you going to participate in the Chuunin exams?" Temari asked us.
"We don't know yet!" I proudly stated, even though I already had an idea of what was currently happening right now.
"Such confidence…" Kankurō laughed before placing Konohamaru onto the ground. "Now scram. I don't like kids."
"Wow, you can finally say that without being a kid, yourself." Took you long enough!
"Oh shut it!" Kankurō spat.
"Hey, what's the Chuunin exams about?" Konohamaru asked.
Moegi nodded her head. "Yeah!"
"Can you explain it to us?" Udon looked expectantly at Temari, who just shook her head and sighed.
"Listen up, brats, because I'm only gonna say it once," Temari warned the three before beginning her explanation of the Chuunin exams.
While that went on, I felt someone tap on my shoulder and when I turned around to see whom it was, it was Gaara. To my slight disappointment, Gaara was a bit taller than I was.
Am I just gonna stay shorter than everyone?!
…
Oh, right—I'm supposed to say hello! "Hello, Gaara! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it has…" Gaara trailed off, though I could tell he wasn't done talking from the way he struggled to say something to me. I wondered what it was he was trying to tell me, but I really should have seen it coming when he finally asked, "Can I have a hug?"
And there came a hug that gave me a huge sense of déjà vu. I laughed as I returned the hug. "As shy as ever, aren't we, Gaara?"
"I missed you…all of you…" Gaara said before releasing me from his embrace. "Where's everyone else?"
"Somewhere…" Definitely not on a mission, that's for damn sure. "They're in Konoha, at least."
"That's good…" Gaara looked content, if rather exhausted…
"Have you been getting any sleep?" I found myself asking.
When I saw the brief look of anxiety on Gaara's face, I knew something was up, but I didn't really have time to ask anything because something else felt off. If I recall correctly, a certain team from Otogakure should be spying on us right now and knowing that, I turned around, about ready to look for said team, except I ended up seeing something else.
A team quite different from the one from Otogakure…one that was extremely familiar and yet not—and just what could that be? Well, I'll let a certain shark-toothed Hōzuki answer that for you!
"Hey flat one, guess who's back, aahahhaa!" Suigetsu practically cackled while Chōjūrō sighed. Their new teammate, one that none of us had met before and was quite possibly older than both Suigetsu and Chōjūrō, just shook his head in disappointment.
What…the fuck…happened?
…
…
…
A/N 3-24-18 So just to make sure, I changed Chōko's height a bit, so if I made a mention that she's what Naruto was in canon...that no longer applies, because she's shorter than Gaara now. So yeah.
4-16-15 EDIT: So I have my laptop back and yeah, it was a battery issue—which has been solved, huzzah! That aside, I did as much as I could, but I doubt I'll be able to work in any more additions. At least, not now, but do keep an eye out for any in the future.
BAM! ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER, YEAH! Also, credit goes to PolkaPox for the smiley face stickers and Sai getting the same treatment as Neji and Kiba!
Okay, confession time, I wrote this chapter waiting for this laptop to get backed up because I gotta take it in at Best Buy to get repaired, because of issues involving this laptop STAYING on when it's plugged in. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon, so here's a chapter to pass the time and give you an update of where I stand!
Be warned…I have not slept at all as I type this—it's almost 8 AM and I am sleep-deprived. Please tell me if I have made any mistakes, because holy crap, there might be a lot of them in this chapter.
That aside, I think it's pretty self-explanatory as to why Sai had made an early appearance—the same could be said about Yamato and guess who's back from the Genin Reserves?! Haruno Sakura—you didn't think I'd forget about her? Hell no—I was waiting for this arc to finally pop up because Sakura deserved her time to shine and trust me, she will have her time.
That aside, Team Ao is in Konoha—it was foreshadowed in the previous chapters, the biggest one being when Mei got a scroll from Kakashi. I'll get into that in the next chapter, which shall hopefully be longer than this one!
Also, Gaara's back! A lot of you guys have been waiting for him, so here you go! Oh, and by the by, about Udon—him…that was me going, "It'd be funny if Chōko were to come across one thing the abridged series did as a joke and actually find out it's a real thing"… Like, Haku being a girl was one thing, but I was like, NAH, I like canon!Haku the best, so I went with the next best thing…Udon being Yūgao and Hayate's son. Also, if you do the math, Kurenai's father was only thirteen when she was born, like HOLY SHIT, that is young.
So you guys got some Neji/Chōko in this chapter and, depending on how I see this chapter later on once I get access to a laptop with Word, I might repost it again with modifications…of course, only time will tell if that happens.
For now, let's just get to the shout outs! Shout out goes to MaemiSmile (cute name!) for being reviewer #540, kopycat101 for being reviewer #550 (also, getting all the fox kit name references and GTA: Ninja Vegas), B1ackAshes for being lucky reviewer #555, ghina . dhia2 for being reviewer #560, and Doodlebugrox for being reviewer #570!
That's about it for now and holy crap, I need sleep, but I gotta make sure this laptop gets backed up correctly because I gotta take it in today to get fixed. Uuugh, laptop problems… Hope you enjoyed this chapter and depending on how it goes, I might repost it again in case I want to add things or fix it, so watch out!
So until next time, everyone! KD out! XD