HimekoUchia: Hello I am on holidays which is why I actually have even less time than usual to write. Exams. Exams. Exams are coming up!
Yuuki: Oh, you say: HimekoUchia, you always say that. Do you really have this many exams?
HimekoUchia: And the answer is yes. Trust me, I wish I was lying.
Himeko: Here she is, chilling by the poolside in Indonesia. Preparing for her French baccalaureate, French oral (and mocks), English literature, Geography and a heap of other homework. Nursing her illness that has lasted almost 2 months.
HimekoUchia: And sleeping 10 hours a day, thank you very much XD. I've got some catching up to do.
Ryo: Indeed, 5 to 7 hours is not healthy. The authoress does not own anything and apologizes for her sleep rant. Please proceed to chapter. Thank you for being awesome and sticking around.


Last Chapter:

'Farewell, Himeko.'
'Adieu, Gaara.'
'Is that French?'
'No, it's penguin language.'
Gaara blinks up at me and his lips tense for a second. I stick my tongue out at him.

Kankuro shrugs and picks up his brother. Without another word, the Sand Sibs leave Konohagakure behind.

Hiding behind the tree, I look down at my perfectly healed hand.
See? Wounds of the body aren't that difficult to fix. Wounds of the hearts... slightly more complicated.
However, there is enough love to go around in this world for everyone to be healed. It's up to the individual to receive and give it.
Gaara's on his way. And I can't wait to see him turn into the guy he has always deserved to be.


Though my side of the story was quite bloody and emotionally wrecking, I have to say that I probably had the easier time out of the three members of my team during the invasion.

"I rubbed rat period all over Iruka-sensei's favorite shirt. Then, when we were hiding in the mountainside, these two kids started fighting and I just hate kids. One of them scratched the other and he started bleeding. Before Iruka could step in, I had told that brat off so viciously that I was the one he had to calm down. Me! The kid stood in the corner, sniffling and shaking like a leaf. As if I had traumatized him, you know? Oh hey brat, your village is being burned to the ground and you spill tears when you are screamed at – yes, maybe a little loudly, but that's not the point – by a girl you don't even know! His friend called me a 'mean witch bully'. At least they stopped fighting. Iruka was giving me the stink eye for hours." moans Yuuki.

Ryo rolled his eyes.
"You want to know who gave me the stink eye? The entire Konoha medic team. I was trying to make a good impression and all, but they were breathing down my neck like vultures or... weird perverts. After I healed a few stab wounds, I thought they would let up. They seemed to relax. Then... Oh god, they brought in this dude with his guts all over the place and they asked me to heal him. I tried, I did. But we can't heal stuff like that. We aren't good enough. So I basically tried using medic jutsu but the second I prodded his intestine I... I kinda threw up into the nearest waste basket. The medical teamed laughed at me. They actually laughed! Professionals. Oh, the Hyuga guy... Kei, was like, sobbing because he was laughing so hard, but then the half dead guy on the operation table kinda started to stir so Kei took over for me. Cool guy. But now I can't even meet a medic's gaze without them winking at me, mimicking me throwing up or saying something along the lines of: 'That was cute. Thanks for trying to help, we appreciate it'."

I laugh softly, tightening the ropes on my black yukata. I check myself in the mirror.
"Do I look somber enough for the funeral?" I bite my lip. My friends immediately stop smiling and they stand up, smoothing out the creases in their monochromatic attires.
"Yes. We should probably go."
We exit the hotel room, locking the doors behind us, so that we can go pay respects to all the ninjas who were savagely murdered to protect their village.

Twelve hours later, I am petting a crying Naruto on the back. A group of mourning young people are currently aggregated in a corner of the burial grounds. The memorial monument, still in construction, stands out like a sore thumb in the middle of the flat grounds. A few names are engraved into the stone and a portrait of the late Hokage sits at the foot of it. The old man behind the frame smiles peacefully back at all who try to make eye contact with him.

"The... The old man was so... He was like my elderly uncle, you know? He was part of the family I never had." he sniffles. Sakura nods, her eyes red too, as she holds Naruto closer to her chest.
"You have us, Naruto-kun. Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun... We're your family." smiles the pink haired girl.
"And all the Konoha genin are like cousins you might not even have wanted." adds Ryo, who is holding a slightly tearful Yuuki, an arm wrapped around her body.
"And, for what it's worth, Ryo-kun, Yuu-chan and I are here too. We're going to be here for you. For all you guys." I nervously twist my hair into a messy braid.

Naruto nods and looks up at me.
"But aren't you guys going to go back to your village? Of peace and love? That sounds like a really nice place..." he mutters.
I sigh and rub his shoulders.
"Naruto-kun, that village was metaphorical. We are travelers for far, far away. Orphans. We have nowhere to go. We'll go talk to the council once the timing is appropriate." I say.
Naruto's eyes widen.
"Huh? Why?"
I smile, forgetting that this boy is not exactly a sharpened yellow crayon.
"To ask if we can stay, of course." I explain.

Naruto grins and pulls me into a hug.
"Yay, more family!" he laughs softly. I hold him, petting him awkwardly on the back.
"Yep. More family..." I feel the boy's body get heavier in my arms. "Hey, Naruto, you OK? Naruto? Dude, don't fall asleep, you're heavy!"
I groan as the boy starts to droop on me. A flash of black, and the boy is scooped out of my arms by Sasuke who looks more somber than usual.

"He's a heavy idiot. This always happens." mumbles the Uchiha, though the insult has no bite, just exhaustion. I give him a pet on the arm.
"How are you holding up, Sasuke-kun?" I ask, since the boy hasn't shown signs of needing comfort at all. That can either mean that he really wants to be left alone, or it can mean that he's feeling lonely.
"Let's just say that this is the penultimate funeral I hope I attend." he sighs.
"With the ultimate one being Itachi's, I presume?" I question.
"Correct."

We all plunged into an understanding silence for a few seconds.
"I'll take Naruto back to his place." finally announces Sasuke. "See you tomorrow."
We all exchange goodbyes before going on our ways, torn between wanting to be upset in privacy and the slight feeling of fear that comes with saying farewell to people after a funeral ends. It just gives off ominous vibes.

Since all the shops are closed today, Konoha seems like one giant zombie-movie-set cemetery. We stroll past the mourning, grey glass windows. They sit on top of wet window sills that have taken advantage of the previous rainfall to feed the small potted plants that are lined up in front of them.

We return to our hotel rooms and wonder what is going to happen next.


"Ryo! How do you cut these carrots so perfectly parallel?" I sob, eying my wonky, lumpy chunks of vegetable. Yuuki rolls her eyes and Ryo frowns.
"It's like modern, expressionist art." he mumbles, picking up my piece of carrot. "This is amazing. How do you manage to cut rounded shapes with a knife?"
"That's what I am asking you."
"I don't know, I do not have this talent."
"You are useless. Yuuki, how to cut straight?"
Yuuki shrugs and just shows me how to chop.
"But that's what I did!"

"You are not applying enough force to your grip. It is ironic that you weild a katana in battle," says the masked guy who just appeared in our kitchen.

Yuuki meeps and ducks behind the table. Ryo and I quickly fist our knives and point them at the suspicious guy. My heart pounds in my ears, a heavy weight drags down the bottom of my stomach and my breath gets stuck in my throat.
"W-What do you want?" I ask, glaring. The man put up his hands.
"I am part of the Konoha ANBU black ops. Lower your weapons."
My teammates and I exchange glances before obeying him. Don't mess with the shinobi. They break into your home and still your children and food.
"Good. You three are summoned to the Konoha council in thirty minutes. Please be punctual."

Then he disappears in a puff of smoke. We are left in silence. A cricket chirps. A piece of tissue drops. A pigeon rams itself into our window pane.
We are all watched in awe as it slowly slides down the glass.

"Well, that was a weird thirty seconds." Sighs Yuuki.
"We could have grabbed that bird and barbecued it." I point out.
"Um, an ANBU showed up in our hotel room. We are screwed." adds Ryo.

We change into outdoor clothes and walk to the Hokage tower. Well, now it's no longer the Hokage tower, is it? It's the no-kage tower. The council's territory.
The secretary/security guard lets us in after confirming that we have an appointment.

In two minutes, we stand in front of a room full of old people who are glaring holes at us. Well, this seems promising. The only one who doesn't look completely full of hatred is Shikamaru's dad, who just looks tired. Unfortunately, Ibiki Morino is standing in the room, which does not make me feel very optimistic.

Ohohoh bad memories. I hope he doesn't remember the X-rated atrocities you wrote on your examination paper.

"You three probably already know why you have been summoned here." finally grunts an elderly person, motioning for us to sit in the three empty chairs that are lined up against the back wall. We gulp and sit down. It's like being lined up in front of a shooting squad.
"We have our guesses, but asking us questions directly might be more time efficient." I nod, as the de facto public speaker of the group.
"Very well. Who are you, and what are you doing in our village?" asks the man.
"This is Tanaka Yuuki. She and I are second cousins. Murakami Ryo. My best friend. And I am Tanaka Himeko. Nice to meet you. We came here to participate in the chuunin exams and meet people from Konoha. We heard that your village was the most accepting of outsiders and had the friendliest populations, so, even after the... incident, a few days ago, we haven't left. We were hoping to be able to stay here for an undetermined amount of time, but we understand that you might be opposed to that. We honestly don't have anywhere else to go."

The man's eyes sharpen and he nods at Ibiki.
"If your intentions are non-malevolent, why did you three breach our security rules by sneaking past the border guards?" questions the professional interrogator.
I jolt. Ouch. Busted. The worse thing is... This means that someone turned us in. Someone from... Team Gai? Oh, man, it was probably Neji. That bitch hates me.
"Since we are traveling orphans and were very lost, we did not have the possibility to apply for inter-regional travel passports." I grind my teeth. "We apologize for our irresponsibility. We were just trying to get into Konohagakure. We meant no danger to the village."

"So you counterfeited your identifications. Which you apparently had more opportunities to do." Ibiki mumbles 'possible link to criminal organizations' to the guy taking notes next to him. I flinch. Darn it. "Though all the currency you have is real."
"Yes." I nod quickly and tell them that story. "We... robbed a bandit camp on our way here. Putting fake money into circulation would not have been very fair to the honest workers in your village."

The council members eye us and scribble something down. I can feel my palms start to sweat. Ryo and Yuuki are just like statues next to me.
Ibiki cannot be fooled. Stick to honesty.
"Now, tell us, who are you, really?" sighs Ibiki, seeming bored. "Where are you from?"
"We told you who we were. We are traveling orphans. We are from very far away. We used to live in France. But all three of us have gone through experiences that cause us to have a selective memory, so we do not really remember that country, if you are going to ask about that." I blink, feeling bad lying a little against my inner voice's advice. OK, I don't know what 'France' is here, or where it is, so the truth would just be confusing.

"If you are simply traveling orphaned shinobi, then why do you not possess chakra?" And Ibiki grills us in two seconds flat. This guy is truly a genius.
"We don't actually know. We were never born with chakra, but we do have the ability to perform certain techniques that are derived from jutsu, but don't require chakra." I answer.
Ibiki's gaze narrows.
"You are telling the truth. Well, this is not the first case of shinobi being born without chakra flowing through their tenkentsu. If your parents were civilians from a far away land, this is probable." he sighs.
I frown.
"Wait. We have tenkentsu? A chakra system?"
Ibiki sticks a warm smile of his face. I feel my insides churn with suspicion.
"Indeed, you do. We have been informed by a member of the Hyuga clan that you possess a system void of chakra." Oh, crap, I knew it was Neji that turned us in. That bitter bitch. "You three also do not have a source of chakra, unlike Rock Lee-kun or Gai-san."
"Well, since Neji used his Byuakugan on us, did he figure out where our power gets it's source from?" I shrug.
"Your only source of energy that you three possess is located at the level of your head, which is, incidentally, the first chakra gate. It isn't the same color or consistency as chakra. Do you know what it is?"
"No, we could never tell the difference. We called it mental energy, though, so that is a coincidence."

Ibiki seems to realize something.

"You are aware of how chakra is formed?" he questions.
"Yes?" My goodness, what is this? Ninja school? "Something about converting stamina into chakra. A balance between the mental and physical strength of a shinobi into chakra and forming hand signs to release it as jutsu?"
"Correct. So what are you abilities formed with?"
"Mental strength?"
"That is a possible hypothesis. You may consider trying to reach a physical strength on par of that of a ninja. You could mix that strength with mental energy to create chakra."
"That sounds like an interesting theory." OK, Ibiki is actually pretty cool. I don't think that the council hates us so much, judging by how they are acting now. All chilled. "It will take a few more years of workout, since we have only recently started intensive training."

I quickly rack my brain. Developing chakra... It could help us do actual jutsu. But having no chakra means that we slip undetected through most villages, border patrols and don't receive the full impact of genjutsu. The pros and cons are both debatable.
"Well, we were planning on working out a lot anyway, if we want to pass our next chuunin exams. I presume we didn't pass this one, didn't we?"
"No. You failed."
"OK." I sweatdrop.

Ibiki sighs and walks around the table.
"This is not as interesting as I was hoping it would be. We collected a few witness accounts of your actions in the village over the past month. Everyone points out that you three started out acting completely inappropriate, but have slowly adapted into the shinobi lifestyle since. Otherwise, all accounts have been generally positive." I raise my eyebrow. Ibiki grins. "Even Neji Hyuga's, yes. It was even pointed out that you have provided aid to Konoha during the invasion. If you were planning on harming the village, we believe you would have struck it while it was down. So, rest assured, we do not plan on using intense physical torture to get information out of you. Your fingernails shall rest on your cuticles. For now."
I open my mouth and let out a something caught between a chuckle and the parting cry of a suffocating eagle.
"Good to know! We are going to cooperate. We do want to be part of Konoha. Our other choice is the great unexplored around Konoha. Who knows if we might actually run into another hidden village or rogue-nin. We will probably die."

Ibiki smirks.
"Yes. All the more reason to let you stay, right?" he sounds incredibly sarcastic. "The late Hokage has trusted you enough to let you go on missions. You have therefore actually brought income to the village and the Sunagakure customer was very satisfied with your services, Himeko-san."
I bite the inside of my cheek because that sounded so horribly wrong but now is not the good time to point that out. Nope.
"However, in the light of the recent invasion, that piece of information can be rather ambivalent when it comes to judging your character. Your mission teammates have reported correct behavior and a genuinely innocent nature that does not fit with the quintessential description of a shinobi."
Aha, he is trying to trick us again.
"We are just young, I guess. Not that you're old! Or anything like that! We haven't truly experience the horrors of war or missions before."

"I see. Now, tell us, where did your parents go? Your families? We want a detailed backstory. Make it believable, or Yamanaka-san will retrieve the information for us." huffs Ibiki. I feel my entire team flinch inwardly at the mention of parents.
I quickly share a look with my teammates and they nod to me, mentally authorizing me to divulge their past on their behalf. Should I omit a few details? Yeah, maybe all the ones that are completely unlinked to the shinobi world.

I sigh and face our audience again.
"OK. Ryo-kun's family members... His mother, father, brother and sister... All died in a natural disaster." I feel my friend twitch a little and slowly run my fingers through his, hoping that the movement is comforting for him. "A few years ago, his entire family went on a trip to a coastal village. A tsunami hit. He was on an another trip with his friends at that time. He moved in with his other family members, his paternal aunt and uncle. They were not very welcoming and Ryo left. He survived on his own in the street for a few weeks, before making his way to where I lived because we are really close friends. So he moved in with me."

Was that OK? I left out the street fighting and gangs Ryo was involved in because that could sound suspicious. I omitted his reaction to his family's death. I flinch. I was with him then.
That was the first and last time I witnessed Ryo punch through every glass surface he could find.

I take a deep breath and dart my eyes to Yuuki. I don't want to do this to her, since she is probably the most sensitive out of the three of us about her family's death. And, knowing the way they went, I can understand.
"My cousin... Lived in a tropical area. She traveled a lot with her family. She and one of her elder brothers were away from her family when it happened. They were both called back to their homes by doctors." I let out a shaky breath. The entire council eyes me silently. "Her mother, father and her eldest brother were dying of an illness. Only her brother was alive when she arrived, but she had to leave immediately with her surviving sibling because the disease was contagious."

"Excuse us for the interruption, but which disease was this?" calls out one of the council members. I glare daggers at him and he curls up a little into himself in his seat.
I hear Yuuki clear her throat next to me. Ah. That is probably not a good idea. I don't stop her.
"My family died in a case of hemorrhagic fever. You know, that disease that make people bleed? Out of everywhere? Even their eye sockets?"
My cousin holds back a gag.
"And they vomited blood. And they skin just... broke out in this bloody rash... And... My parents were dead when I got there. I watched my brother die. So my other brother had to raise me. He resented me for it. For the extra responsibility of raising his sister. He was too young to do that. Far too young..."
My cousins starts to openly cry. I hold her hand. My insides churn in fear. What am I supposed to do if my cousin starts to weep in front of the Konoha council? I mentally offer to continue the story but she shakes her head.
"He partied to forget. He drank too much. He fell out of a tall building. Well, I was told he fell. The police had to ask me to identify the body because I was the only family member in the country." Yuuki rubs her eyes, letting out a strangled sob. "I managed to recognize him. I joined Ryo and Himeko at our grandmother's place. The end."

The entire room is suffocatingly tense. Ryo has moved so that he could hug Yuuki, who brushes him off. Ryo frowns, but keeps silent. I quietly rub circles into my cousin's palm. The council members look extremely uncomfortable at my cousin's open display of emotion, but they gaze at her with sympathy.
"We apologize for you losses. But Himeko Tanaka-san, we must ask you to explain yourself as well."
"OK." I nod, chewing the inside of my cheek a little. "It was my birthday. My parents and brother were out, preparing a surprise. They got into an accident..." I can't say car accident. I take a deep breath to give myself time to find a substitute. "A drunk man killed them. He didn't mean to. But my family died. He survived. I didn't know what had happened to them. Why they were coming home so late. The police told me. So I moved in with my grandmother. It was lonely and it took time to repair the damage done. For all of us. Ryo joined us. Then Yuuki. So it was just the four of us against the world for a bit. Then grandmother died. Of a few diseases linked with her advanced age and the stress of losing half her family in such a short time span. We had nowhere else to go, so we came here. It took some traveling and searching, but we made it. And here we are."

I finish with a small wave. The council members shift nervously in their seats for a millisecond before recomposing themselves. Ibiki clears his throat.
"How did you find the village?"
"Directions from merchants. We got through the wall by teleporting. Teleporting only requires mental energy, apparently. We also teleported most of the way from France, if you are going to ask."
"That is a very long distance. Could you teleport back?"
"Probably not. It was emotionally, mentally and physically draining. One way was difficult enough."
"What else can you three do? Apart from teleporting?"

OK, another tricky question. Honesty means they will definitely want to keep us around. But that also means that our abilities will become their weapons. Which kind of infringes on the ideals of liberty that most people from our world grow up with, but that shinobi don't really value. I should probably go with honesty, or will might get kicked out of the village.

"Basic healing powers, as you probably already know. We can use seals, as long as they are modified to adapt to our energy. We can use our energy as a flexible shield. We can connect our three minds to communicate telepathically. I am the one of the team who gives us the ability to do so. We can usually force mental images into people's minds. Yuuki can use another person's five sense without being detected. She can also shut down one of her victim's senses, if she focuses. In each case, she has to know the person's exact location for it to work. Ryo can search through minds of a person he is looking at, though he has to retrace most of a person's thoughts to find a specific memory. By touching an object, he can also see its memory. Like who created it, for example."
Wow, Ryo is going to become a slave of the interrogation corps. I can already sense it. The council members are probably rubbing their hands together laughing manically. Unless they think we are lying.
"I can hear mental voices from a distance, though I have to focus on one to hear it clearly. If the person I am listening to has visual thoughts or is focusing on something he or she is seeing, I can picture their thoughts. I can mentally connect with objects as well, and tell them to move. Sort of like telekinesis. To be honest, we can't control most of what we can do yet. We make a good team, though."

Ibiki frowns and glances at a man whom I suddenly recognize as Ino's dad. Right. It makes sense that he would be here.
"That sounds similar to the Yamanaka clan's power." points out Morino.
"Similar. Quite similar. Just not the same functions. We could train them, to help them reach their full potential. Some of their abilities seem quite rare." adds Inoichi.
"Indeed. Are you reading our minds now, Himeko Tanaka-san?" asks Ibiki cooly. Ah, I forgot that could make them nervous.
"No. We never use our mental powers unless necessary. They are difficult to maintain, tiring to use and... Honestly, we find our abilities very unethical and believe that they breach people's privacy. Besides, most people think of really inappropriate things so we want to avoid trauma."

Everyone in the council stared at us in a very patronizing way. My skin crawls in irritation.
You must have sounded so self-righteous. No wonder you piss Gaara off.
Shut up.
Ibiki raises his eyebrow.
"OK. Does anyone have anymore questions?" he asks. When no body replies, he turns back towards us. "Please step outside for about an hour. We will decide on your fate."

We step outside and twiddle our thumbs until Ibiki tells us to come in again.

A council member stands up.
"We have voted. By one vote... You can stay."
Mental cheer! Mental cheer!
"However, since half of the council wants you three to face expulsion, a compromised has been reached. You will have to prove your loyalty and abilities. A task, a sort of survival mission will be assigned to you as soon as the council figures out the more pressing current matters in a village. When a new Hokage will be chosen, they will have the final word regarding your stay. He or she will also be the one to give you your headbands. For now, you have your word that you will be loyal. In case of treason, the punishment is interrogation and execution."
The old man skims through more papers as if he is reading a shopping list.
"As underage orphaned citizens of Konoha, you will be allocated a partially state funded apartment. However, we greatly recommend that you start doing low ranked missions to pay for the absolutely staggering hotel bill you have managed to accumulate by staying longer than the duration of the exams when hotel prices had been reduced for foreign genin."

He drops the paper and looks up at us, his long eyebrows drooping into his eye.
"Now, do you accept these terms?"
I quickly think for a second. Now that I actually consider this, dying for a village, even Konoha, is not something that I am ready to do. For now. Though I don't really see myself even fully being as devoted as a shinobi. And I don't exactly trust all the people of Konoha. I only trust Ryo and Yuuki. OK, and maybe Naruto, because that guy is an angel. However, sentiments aside, there is only viable answer to this question.
"Yes. We accept. Thank you." choruses my team, plastering professional smiles onto our faces.

The head councilor nods and hands me an envelope.
"The address and key to your apartment." He smiles. "Welcome to Konohagakure. Respect the memory of our late Hokage and bring pride to the village."

My teammates and I find the apartment that we are living in by searching the dodgier area of the village. What is cool, however, is that Naruto lives in the next building. We get one comfortably sized apartment with three small bedrooms, a bathroom, a pocket-sized kitchen and a nice view on the forest. I take a deep, shaky breath and pull my friends into side hugs.
"Guys... We've got a home."


So we finally find out why Team French is here in the first place. Though the characters and some events might be loosely inspired by real life, these stories are fictional.
In accordance to our world, Ryo's family probably died in the 2004 tsunami in south-Asia (remember, this story actually started a few years ago?).
Himeko's family died in a drunk driving accident.
Yuuki's family died of the Ebola virus (the fact that epidemics of Ebola are now happening in Guinea are completely, terrifyingly coincidental) because she lived in Africa (probably Madagascar or Mayotte, since she is French). Her brother died because of a stupid drunk mistake.
Terribly tragic back stories. They can now officially be part of the Naruto cast XD.

So... Less suspenseful, more filler-is and plot orientation here. The next few chapters will be in 'episode' form. Basically, I'm not going to do this day-by-day narration I've got going on for the chuunin exams (thank goodness), otherwise we will still be stuck with The Battle Plan in 2034. So I will just be writing important character development, interactions and comedy until the next important manga plot arc that Team French are going to be fully taking part of.

Please go vote on my poll.

Happy Easter! A Naruto one-shot is coming up soon. It's going to be about Gaara finding Yashamaru's home videos of when he was a baby *gasp* doesn't that sound fluffy?
Peace, love, and WTF there are literally millipedes, snails and toads in my shower oh come on equatorial country,
XOXO ~~~ HimekoUchia (and I've read the first two volumes of a romance novel called Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat (last one coming soon urg can't wait). OMG it's seriously incredible. The plot is so clever I was gasping at the suspense and sheer brilliance of all the details tying together. A tough, clever and totally adorable prince called Damen gets backstabbed by his brother and shipped off to his enemy number 1 as a slave. This guy, Prince Laurent, is the most bitchy, awesome, badass and ingenious dude ever (and he's French). I highly recommend it for people who love Game of Thrones, Death Note and good yaoi because this book is a bit of all three. If you know it, please come fangirl with me.)