Aki felt like puking. Corona stood up with her arrogant smile, and
sauntered up to the podium to claim...Aki's PICTURE!? She stood up in
outrage, and shouted treachery.
"Excuse me?" said the judge, looking confused.
"This girl has stolen my artwork which is rightfully mine, and has claimed it for her own!!" spat Aki, pointing a menacing finger at Corona.
"How can you prove it?" sneered Corona, really getting underneath her flesh.
"My art symbol. No one else has my art symbol, and it's copyrighted."
"Well, then, by all means, come up her to identify your symbol. If this is not your work, I will ask you not to enter this contest again. We cannot have sore losers competing." Said the judge.
Those words made Aki's heart burn with determination. Trying not to make a fool out of herself, she walked up to the podium, and pointed to the bottom right corner of her page.
"There." She said, thinking she caught Corona for sure.
The judge looked down at the page.
"I am sorry...but I see no symbol."
"WHAT?!" shrieked Aki, looking down, "It's there! I drew it! It has to be there!"
But, there was no symbol in the corner, just blank.
"I am sorry, but this piece belongs to her. Her name is on the back."
Aki, sick with anger, turned the page over to find her name written largely on the back.
"Uh- huh, so, uh, get your hands off MY work!" said Corona obnoxiously, snatching it away.
"Forgive me, but I must ask you to leave." Asked the judge politely.
Aki wanted to scream so badly. Her heart felt as though someone had dumped acid on it and stabbed it over and over again with the sharpest knife possible.
"This is absurd!! She has stolen my work!!"
"Please leave, now!"
Tears of hatred streamed down her face as she raced back to her seat, swiped her books into he arms, and fled from the hall, sobbing. Her sharp eyes caught Corona grinning evilly, giving the "loser" sign to her.
She slammed through the doors, and ran down the steps. Through her contorted hatred, she tripped, and fell down the last of he steps, falling on her face. She did not get up, but just lay there, crying her emotions out. It felt like Corona was being rewarded for all of her cruelty towards her, and the Aki had truly been defeated by her enemies.
Her mother had always told her, "Try to forgive them. They will see the wrong they have done to you. Forgiveness is the key." Forgiveness? Screw that! She lied! Everyone lied to her! EVERYONE!!!! She hated everyone and everything, now and forever. She swore utter hell on Corona and all of those who had wounded her. They would pay dearly for their malice...
"Boo?" asked a voice.
Aki looked up to see her mother.
"What's wrong? Did you lose?"
All Aki could do was nod. Her mother said it wouldn't be the only time she had at this. Aki shook her head, and said nothing. Monday came slinking around, and Aki had gotten a one way ticket to hell from the Saturday fraud. Corona bragged loudly how she won the contest, and that Aki didn't even make the semi- finals. That tore it.
When the final bell rang, Aki waylaid for Corona to appear out from the gym doors in the back. A perfect ambush spot since no one was around to see or hear her scream if she did. Aki saw her come out, and walk towards the shed beside the school, pulling out a lighter and what looked like a ...joint?! Aki stepped out from the bushes to confront Corona.
"Why don't you just admit the truth?" hissed Aki, her eyes glaring with resentment.
"Uh, please!" she said, raising her lip in disgust.
"Confess."
"Outta my way!"
"No."
"E' scuse me?"
"I said, 'no'."
Without warning, she slapped Aki in the face, cutting her eyebrow with her nails. She then pushed Aki aside, stamping her in the shins with her high heels. This was more than enough to get some hurt time included.
"You dare, you fall!" threatened Aki, gritting her teeth as she got up from the ground.
Using her skills from karate practices, Aki punched her clear in the face. Corona, like a cat, scratched Aki furiously, tearing her shirt open. Aki didn't care; it was just a flesh wound. But Aki was smart.
She had a nasty habit of biting her fingernails, but now that she stopped, they had grown half an inch. Taking a nail file, she sharpened them into Inu- Yasha type claws. Pinning Corona down to the ground, she slapped her clear across the face, leaving four bleeding claw marks as she demanded a confession from her.
Corona screamed in pain, and dug her high heels into Aki's sides. They felt like daggers, and she fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Corona tried to scramble to her feet, but Aki automatically grabbed her ankles, and pulled them towards her. She cried for help, but Aki grabbed her in a headlock her older brother had taught her. Corona was thin, though, so she slipped out easily, and now was about to repeat the same moves. Aki, however, was in a berserker rage, so when she saw Corona's hand reach to her neck, she bit it so hard Aki thought she heard a few hand bones crack. Corona shrieked in pain.
Aki grabbed Corona's 'treasured' hair, and held her hostage by it.
"If you want to spare unnecessary pain, scream the truth for your sake, or next stop's hell."
"Bitch! You fucking slut!" Corona struggled, only causing more pain to herself.
Aki shook her head solemnly, sighing.
"So be it."
Corona screeched as Aki lifted her up by her hair, and performed a hook punch, uppercut combo. Aki finished it with an elbow strike, sending Corona reeling backwards. She lay there, twitching. Aki walked up to her, a hand lowered in front of her.
"Do you submit?"
Corona untangled her head from her body, her face full to the brim with disgust.
"Fuck you to hell, Crusty Bitch! I win and you know it!"
Liked a psycho cat, Corona scratched Aki's hand, and leapt for her head. Aki cried in surprise and excruciated pain as Corona sunk her manicures into her back and neck. Aki, now growing more fearsome like a captured tiger, swung Corona off of her, her shoulders now shaking with anger. Corona tried to run, but Aki lunged, grappling her torso. She tried to punch Aki, but with her physical demeanor being weak, Aki grabbed her wrist, and using her back, hurled Corona back to the ground. Aki didn't know what overkill meant anymore; she wanted Corona to die. And she was going to be sure of that.
(Aki, stop! STOP! You'll kill her!)
She stopped suddenly, her eyes wide open. She stood up from the ground, her breathing horrified and tired. Corona unraveled herself from the ground, blood and tears streaking her face.
Aki was backing down?
(Wuss.) Thought Corona, grinning.
She now started to beat the crap out of Aki, even though she was practically the living dead. Aki let her take of couple of hits, but when she started to kick her in the abdomen, that's when she snapped back into 'killer' mode.
Aki thought her plan of revenge would work, but she didn't know that a teacher was on his way to his car when he saw the two quarreling girls. Rushing over, he grabbed them both by their collars to separate them.
"Both of you, stop it!" commanded the teacher, utterly disgusted in their behavior.
Corona was hysterically crying as if she had just escaped a tiger. Well, it was partially true.
"She attacked me out of no where!" she sobbed, pretending to be scared.
"You lying bitch! I'll kill you for all of the deaths you've caused me, you demon!" swore Aki, trying to take another swipe at her.
Both were covered in bruises and blood, and Aki's clothes were torn.
"You, to the main office! Shouted the teacher to Aki, "And you, get yourself to the nurse's office."
"What the fuck?!" protested Aki in a shrill voice.
"GO!"
Aki spat blood near his feet in contempt. They can't do this! It was self-defense! She thought that Corona might have bribed them all these years to get Aki legally in trouble, even if the odds were against Corona.
She found herself in the main office, her cuts starting to clot. Now that her rage had subsided, she now felt insanely depressed. She started to cry, her salty tears burning her cuts. Her eyebrow refused to heal though. Aki was forced to hear Corona's side of the story. She was hiccuping every couple of seconds, but Aki knew it was just an act. Sure, she knew that Corona must be in a lot of pain, but it wasn't enough to satisfy Aki's demand.
"I...I w- was tr- trying to g- get to m- my fr- friends, b- but SHE-" Corona pointed a condemning finger at Aki.
Aki spat out excess blood into the wastebasket in reply. She heard Corona, after translating her charade, say that she was going to meet her friends when Aki ambushed her from behind for no reason.
"Bull shit!"
"Watch your language, young lady!"
"No, I won't. You should have heard the swearing Corona was doing. A sailor couldn't beat what she had said. And anyway, she wasn't GOING to meet her friends; she was goin' to smoke a joint out back behind the shed. I came out to confront her on a personal matter by asking questions, but when SHE slapped and kicked me for NO reason, I acted upon self- defense. When I stopped, she attacked me AGAIN."
"She's lying!" cried Corona, hiding behind the nurse, "Don't let that THING come near me!"
"THING?!" growled Aki, her eyes glowering with flames.
"Akiosu Berokunta, enough! You've assaulted and beaten up a fellow student. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Oh, really?! What about her smokin' joints?! Or is that NOT relevant?!"
"You stop being fresh, Miss Berokunta."
"You stop actin' like you're fricken' BLIND!!!"
Instead of fighting, the principal walked into her office, and picked up the phone. Aki heard her talk to her mother on the other end. Aki demonically turned her head towards a trembling Corona, and flashed her eyes that said, "I'm not finished with you yet."
For the first time in Corona's life, she truly shook with fear.
Aki left the office an hour later, condemned to Juvenile Hall for six months.
"That's it." She thought, her head numb "There's nothing left for me."
She was to go in three days. She had in- school detention for now. Aki heard gossip buzz like flies saying that she was a killer, and tried to claim Corona as her first victim.
She was restrained within a tiny room, a teacher sitting at a white- washed desk checking notes.
When lunch came, Aki felt so alone. The teacher had left, but had locked the door. She sat there, crying her soul out. A soft knock interrupted her cycle of tears and sniffs. Pulling herself up, she looked down to see her friends sitting at the base of her door, their lunchboxes beside them. Aki heard the crumple of paper, and saw a note slipped underneath. Diving for it, she unfolded it and cried in relief at what she read:
"Hey, Aki."
For the next thirty minutes, they sat at her door, eating their lunches as they passed notes back and forth to keep the conversation going. They had asked if she really kicked Corona's ass. Aki said yes. The scribbled all over the piece of paper with words like "SWEET!" and "NO WAY!". Though they comforted her in the moment, her heart felt like it was buried under an anvil. At least she was still accepted by some, and treasured their loyalty. She would find a way to make it up to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And what happened to Corona? She was pitied and hospitalized by her wispy pieces of string called her parents, while Aki lay emotionless in her prison that had once been her home on the last day of semi- freedom.
"That's it." She said, getting up from her bed.
She started to pack up her treasured possessions half- angered, half- regretful. One part didn't want to leave, while the other was determined to vanish forever. Packing all of her stuff, she turned to her kitten, Karma, a confused expression on her cat face. Aki was crying, but her mind was set. She patted her on the head, and could not stop herself from sobbing as she carefully pulled out her fire escape ladder, and set it on the windowsill.
"Goodbye...Karma. I'll... al- always lo- love you." She stammered because of her tears.
She started to climb down the rungs, trying to stop the tears. When her feet touched the grass, she snuck around to the front, avoiding the windows, and quietly opened the garage. Wheeling out her bike, she buckled her helmet on, and rode as fast as she could and as far away from her house as she could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aki?" called her mother, knocking on the door.
No answer.
"Aki?!"
She unlocked the door to find it empty, the ladder hanging over the side.
"AKI!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She stood out on the green of the playing fields at her school, a letter opener gripped in her hand. She felt like school was the right place to commit suicide; it would leave a blemish on their reputation, and Aki considered it revenge for all they had and had not done. Her video camera was set on the ground, recording her "Last Will & Testament". Writing didn't feel like it was enough for her. She took her personal possessions with her so that they could be buried with her when they found her.
(I wish this were a kunai, and not some letter opener. That would have been cool.)
She raised it to her heart. She closed her eyes, and was about to plunge it when she heard a voice.
(What ARE you doing?!)
Aki opened her eyes, and looked around warily. She saw nor heard anything. She went back to her funeral plans when she suddenly heard a swish, and saw a small object knock the opener out of her hand. Looking down, she saw buried in the dirt next to the opener, was a shuriken.
With a strange rush of hope, she snatched up her camera and her single shoulder strap bookbag containing her artbooks, herb books and Naruto comics, and tried to find the angle of where the shuriken was throw. It seemed to have come from the woods. Making sure no one saw her, she ran off, leaving the opener to be fossilized in her book of her history.
She heard a rustle from the bushes, and silently crept towards it. Carefully, she pulled back the bushes to find... a rabbit hole. A big rabbit hole. Aki suddenly felt like Alice, following the hurried rabbit into Wonderland, though Aki thought it was not so "wondrous" as a child, but scary. She suddenly had doubts if she should follow, but her curiosity was too strong to hold back. With a deep breath, she crept closer, but when she touched the hole, she fell through the ground as if it was a void, and vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ALL RIGHT! ROAD TRIP!" shouted Naruto in joy, both fists in the air.
He had fought for a better errand job than a D rank, and now was assigned a C rank job to escort Mr. Tazuna safely back to the Land of the Waves, though he didn't see why an old fart needed bodyguards, but he felt accomplished for going against the Hokage's first decision.
"What are you babbling about?" said Mr. Tazuna in a gruff voice.
"This'll be my first time out of the village!" exclaimed Naruto, excited as he looked around.
Sasuke shook his head, giving a face of disdain to the small group. Sakura instantly agreed with him, and bonked Naruto in the head to stop his temporary sugar high.
"What was that for?!" shouted Naruto, his arms wrapped around his head.
"For being a blockhead!" retorted Sakura, already anger for him talking back to her.
Hearing all this, Kakashi, Jounin and master for Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, sighed as he shut Make Out Paradise. He was soooo close to the ending, but no, they had to stir up trouble even before they left!
"Am I really going to have to place my life in the hands of this fool?" said Mr. Tazuna skeptically.
"There's no call for concern. I'm a Jounin, and I'll be along, too..."
Naruto was fuming, thanks to the little shove that Sakura gave.
"This has got to be the worst client in the history of our village!" thought Naruto bitterly.
He exploded, and tried to impress the old man, but all he received was scorn.
"Respect you? I don't think so..." Said Mr. Tazuna, raising an eyebrow in arrogance as he took a swig from his bottle "Not even if you did become Hokage."
Naruto's eyelid twitched.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" he screamed.
No one EVER insulted Naruto's dreams and ambitions.
"I SAID no, you little dunce." Said Kakashi, bopping a good one on Naruto's head.
In the shade of the trees, two ominous figures crouched, staring at the travelers with hungry eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: I commemorate your bravery in making it through this chapter! Congrats! Now, for the juicy Naruto parts!
"Excuse me?" said the judge, looking confused.
"This girl has stolen my artwork which is rightfully mine, and has claimed it for her own!!" spat Aki, pointing a menacing finger at Corona.
"How can you prove it?" sneered Corona, really getting underneath her flesh.
"My art symbol. No one else has my art symbol, and it's copyrighted."
"Well, then, by all means, come up her to identify your symbol. If this is not your work, I will ask you not to enter this contest again. We cannot have sore losers competing." Said the judge.
Those words made Aki's heart burn with determination. Trying not to make a fool out of herself, she walked up to the podium, and pointed to the bottom right corner of her page.
"There." She said, thinking she caught Corona for sure.
The judge looked down at the page.
"I am sorry...but I see no symbol."
"WHAT?!" shrieked Aki, looking down, "It's there! I drew it! It has to be there!"
But, there was no symbol in the corner, just blank.
"I am sorry, but this piece belongs to her. Her name is on the back."
Aki, sick with anger, turned the page over to find her name written largely on the back.
"Uh- huh, so, uh, get your hands off MY work!" said Corona obnoxiously, snatching it away.
"Forgive me, but I must ask you to leave." Asked the judge politely.
Aki wanted to scream so badly. Her heart felt as though someone had dumped acid on it and stabbed it over and over again with the sharpest knife possible.
"This is absurd!! She has stolen my work!!"
"Please leave, now!"
Tears of hatred streamed down her face as she raced back to her seat, swiped her books into he arms, and fled from the hall, sobbing. Her sharp eyes caught Corona grinning evilly, giving the "loser" sign to her.
She slammed through the doors, and ran down the steps. Through her contorted hatred, she tripped, and fell down the last of he steps, falling on her face. She did not get up, but just lay there, crying her emotions out. It felt like Corona was being rewarded for all of her cruelty towards her, and the Aki had truly been defeated by her enemies.
Her mother had always told her, "Try to forgive them. They will see the wrong they have done to you. Forgiveness is the key." Forgiveness? Screw that! She lied! Everyone lied to her! EVERYONE!!!! She hated everyone and everything, now and forever. She swore utter hell on Corona and all of those who had wounded her. They would pay dearly for their malice...
"Boo?" asked a voice.
Aki looked up to see her mother.
"What's wrong? Did you lose?"
All Aki could do was nod. Her mother said it wouldn't be the only time she had at this. Aki shook her head, and said nothing. Monday came slinking around, and Aki had gotten a one way ticket to hell from the Saturday fraud. Corona bragged loudly how she won the contest, and that Aki didn't even make the semi- finals. That tore it.
When the final bell rang, Aki waylaid for Corona to appear out from the gym doors in the back. A perfect ambush spot since no one was around to see or hear her scream if she did. Aki saw her come out, and walk towards the shed beside the school, pulling out a lighter and what looked like a ...joint?! Aki stepped out from the bushes to confront Corona.
"Why don't you just admit the truth?" hissed Aki, her eyes glaring with resentment.
"Uh, please!" she said, raising her lip in disgust.
"Confess."
"Outta my way!"
"No."
"E' scuse me?"
"I said, 'no'."
Without warning, she slapped Aki in the face, cutting her eyebrow with her nails. She then pushed Aki aside, stamping her in the shins with her high heels. This was more than enough to get some hurt time included.
"You dare, you fall!" threatened Aki, gritting her teeth as she got up from the ground.
Using her skills from karate practices, Aki punched her clear in the face. Corona, like a cat, scratched Aki furiously, tearing her shirt open. Aki didn't care; it was just a flesh wound. But Aki was smart.
She had a nasty habit of biting her fingernails, but now that she stopped, they had grown half an inch. Taking a nail file, she sharpened them into Inu- Yasha type claws. Pinning Corona down to the ground, she slapped her clear across the face, leaving four bleeding claw marks as she demanded a confession from her.
Corona screamed in pain, and dug her high heels into Aki's sides. They felt like daggers, and she fell to the ground, crying out in pain. Corona tried to scramble to her feet, but Aki automatically grabbed her ankles, and pulled them towards her. She cried for help, but Aki grabbed her in a headlock her older brother had taught her. Corona was thin, though, so she slipped out easily, and now was about to repeat the same moves. Aki, however, was in a berserker rage, so when she saw Corona's hand reach to her neck, she bit it so hard Aki thought she heard a few hand bones crack. Corona shrieked in pain.
Aki grabbed Corona's 'treasured' hair, and held her hostage by it.
"If you want to spare unnecessary pain, scream the truth for your sake, or next stop's hell."
"Bitch! You fucking slut!" Corona struggled, only causing more pain to herself.
Aki shook her head solemnly, sighing.
"So be it."
Corona screeched as Aki lifted her up by her hair, and performed a hook punch, uppercut combo. Aki finished it with an elbow strike, sending Corona reeling backwards. She lay there, twitching. Aki walked up to her, a hand lowered in front of her.
"Do you submit?"
Corona untangled her head from her body, her face full to the brim with disgust.
"Fuck you to hell, Crusty Bitch! I win and you know it!"
Liked a psycho cat, Corona scratched Aki's hand, and leapt for her head. Aki cried in surprise and excruciated pain as Corona sunk her manicures into her back and neck. Aki, now growing more fearsome like a captured tiger, swung Corona off of her, her shoulders now shaking with anger. Corona tried to run, but Aki lunged, grappling her torso. She tried to punch Aki, but with her physical demeanor being weak, Aki grabbed her wrist, and using her back, hurled Corona back to the ground. Aki didn't know what overkill meant anymore; she wanted Corona to die. And she was going to be sure of that.
(Aki, stop! STOP! You'll kill her!)
She stopped suddenly, her eyes wide open. She stood up from the ground, her breathing horrified and tired. Corona unraveled herself from the ground, blood and tears streaking her face.
Aki was backing down?
(Wuss.) Thought Corona, grinning.
She now started to beat the crap out of Aki, even though she was practically the living dead. Aki let her take of couple of hits, but when she started to kick her in the abdomen, that's when she snapped back into 'killer' mode.
Aki thought her plan of revenge would work, but she didn't know that a teacher was on his way to his car when he saw the two quarreling girls. Rushing over, he grabbed them both by their collars to separate them.
"Both of you, stop it!" commanded the teacher, utterly disgusted in their behavior.
Corona was hysterically crying as if she had just escaped a tiger. Well, it was partially true.
"She attacked me out of no where!" she sobbed, pretending to be scared.
"You lying bitch! I'll kill you for all of the deaths you've caused me, you demon!" swore Aki, trying to take another swipe at her.
Both were covered in bruises and blood, and Aki's clothes were torn.
"You, to the main office! Shouted the teacher to Aki, "And you, get yourself to the nurse's office."
"What the fuck?!" protested Aki in a shrill voice.
"GO!"
Aki spat blood near his feet in contempt. They can't do this! It was self-defense! She thought that Corona might have bribed them all these years to get Aki legally in trouble, even if the odds were against Corona.
She found herself in the main office, her cuts starting to clot. Now that her rage had subsided, she now felt insanely depressed. She started to cry, her salty tears burning her cuts. Her eyebrow refused to heal though. Aki was forced to hear Corona's side of the story. She was hiccuping every couple of seconds, but Aki knew it was just an act. Sure, she knew that Corona must be in a lot of pain, but it wasn't enough to satisfy Aki's demand.
"I...I w- was tr- trying to g- get to m- my fr- friends, b- but SHE-" Corona pointed a condemning finger at Aki.
Aki spat out excess blood into the wastebasket in reply. She heard Corona, after translating her charade, say that she was going to meet her friends when Aki ambushed her from behind for no reason.
"Bull shit!"
"Watch your language, young lady!"
"No, I won't. You should have heard the swearing Corona was doing. A sailor couldn't beat what she had said. And anyway, she wasn't GOING to meet her friends; she was goin' to smoke a joint out back behind the shed. I came out to confront her on a personal matter by asking questions, but when SHE slapped and kicked me for NO reason, I acted upon self- defense. When I stopped, she attacked me AGAIN."
"She's lying!" cried Corona, hiding behind the nurse, "Don't let that THING come near me!"
"THING?!" growled Aki, her eyes glowering with flames.
"Akiosu Berokunta, enough! You've assaulted and beaten up a fellow student. You should be ashamed of yourself!"
"Oh, really?! What about her smokin' joints?! Or is that NOT relevant?!"
"You stop being fresh, Miss Berokunta."
"You stop actin' like you're fricken' BLIND!!!"
Instead of fighting, the principal walked into her office, and picked up the phone. Aki heard her talk to her mother on the other end. Aki demonically turned her head towards a trembling Corona, and flashed her eyes that said, "I'm not finished with you yet."
For the first time in Corona's life, she truly shook with fear.
Aki left the office an hour later, condemned to Juvenile Hall for six months.
"That's it." She thought, her head numb "There's nothing left for me."
She was to go in three days. She had in- school detention for now. Aki heard gossip buzz like flies saying that she was a killer, and tried to claim Corona as her first victim.
She was restrained within a tiny room, a teacher sitting at a white- washed desk checking notes.
When lunch came, Aki felt so alone. The teacher had left, but had locked the door. She sat there, crying her soul out. A soft knock interrupted her cycle of tears and sniffs. Pulling herself up, she looked down to see her friends sitting at the base of her door, their lunchboxes beside them. Aki heard the crumple of paper, and saw a note slipped underneath. Diving for it, she unfolded it and cried in relief at what she read:
"Hey, Aki."
For the next thirty minutes, they sat at her door, eating their lunches as they passed notes back and forth to keep the conversation going. They had asked if she really kicked Corona's ass. Aki said yes. The scribbled all over the piece of paper with words like "SWEET!" and "NO WAY!". Though they comforted her in the moment, her heart felt like it was buried under an anvil. At least she was still accepted by some, and treasured their loyalty. She would find a way to make it up to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And what happened to Corona? She was pitied and hospitalized by her wispy pieces of string called her parents, while Aki lay emotionless in her prison that had once been her home on the last day of semi- freedom.
"That's it." She said, getting up from her bed.
She started to pack up her treasured possessions half- angered, half- regretful. One part didn't want to leave, while the other was determined to vanish forever. Packing all of her stuff, she turned to her kitten, Karma, a confused expression on her cat face. Aki was crying, but her mind was set. She patted her on the head, and could not stop herself from sobbing as she carefully pulled out her fire escape ladder, and set it on the windowsill.
"Goodbye...Karma. I'll... al- always lo- love you." She stammered because of her tears.
She started to climb down the rungs, trying to stop the tears. When her feet touched the grass, she snuck around to the front, avoiding the windows, and quietly opened the garage. Wheeling out her bike, she buckled her helmet on, and rode as fast as she could and as far away from her house as she could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aki?" called her mother, knocking on the door.
No answer.
"Aki?!"
She unlocked the door to find it empty, the ladder hanging over the side.
"AKI!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She stood out on the green of the playing fields at her school, a letter opener gripped in her hand. She felt like school was the right place to commit suicide; it would leave a blemish on their reputation, and Aki considered it revenge for all they had and had not done. Her video camera was set on the ground, recording her "Last Will & Testament". Writing didn't feel like it was enough for her. She took her personal possessions with her so that they could be buried with her when they found her.
(I wish this were a kunai, and not some letter opener. That would have been cool.)
She raised it to her heart. She closed her eyes, and was about to plunge it when she heard a voice.
(What ARE you doing?!)
Aki opened her eyes, and looked around warily. She saw nor heard anything. She went back to her funeral plans when she suddenly heard a swish, and saw a small object knock the opener out of her hand. Looking down, she saw buried in the dirt next to the opener, was a shuriken.
With a strange rush of hope, she snatched up her camera and her single shoulder strap bookbag containing her artbooks, herb books and Naruto comics, and tried to find the angle of where the shuriken was throw. It seemed to have come from the woods. Making sure no one saw her, she ran off, leaving the opener to be fossilized in her book of her history.
She heard a rustle from the bushes, and silently crept towards it. Carefully, she pulled back the bushes to find... a rabbit hole. A big rabbit hole. Aki suddenly felt like Alice, following the hurried rabbit into Wonderland, though Aki thought it was not so "wondrous" as a child, but scary. She suddenly had doubts if she should follow, but her curiosity was too strong to hold back. With a deep breath, she crept closer, but when she touched the hole, she fell through the ground as if it was a void, and vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ALL RIGHT! ROAD TRIP!" shouted Naruto in joy, both fists in the air.
He had fought for a better errand job than a D rank, and now was assigned a C rank job to escort Mr. Tazuna safely back to the Land of the Waves, though he didn't see why an old fart needed bodyguards, but he felt accomplished for going against the Hokage's first decision.
"What are you babbling about?" said Mr. Tazuna in a gruff voice.
"This'll be my first time out of the village!" exclaimed Naruto, excited as he looked around.
Sasuke shook his head, giving a face of disdain to the small group. Sakura instantly agreed with him, and bonked Naruto in the head to stop his temporary sugar high.
"What was that for?!" shouted Naruto, his arms wrapped around his head.
"For being a blockhead!" retorted Sakura, already anger for him talking back to her.
Hearing all this, Kakashi, Jounin and master for Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, sighed as he shut Make Out Paradise. He was soooo close to the ending, but no, they had to stir up trouble even before they left!
"Am I really going to have to place my life in the hands of this fool?" said Mr. Tazuna skeptically.
"There's no call for concern. I'm a Jounin, and I'll be along, too..."
Naruto was fuming, thanks to the little shove that Sakura gave.
"This has got to be the worst client in the history of our village!" thought Naruto bitterly.
He exploded, and tried to impress the old man, but all he received was scorn.
"Respect you? I don't think so..." Said Mr. Tazuna, raising an eyebrow in arrogance as he took a swig from his bottle "Not even if you did become Hokage."
Naruto's eyelid twitched.
"YOU'RE DEAD!" he screamed.
No one EVER insulted Naruto's dreams and ambitions.
"I SAID no, you little dunce." Said Kakashi, bopping a good one on Naruto's head.
In the shade of the trees, two ominous figures crouched, staring at the travelers with hungry eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: I commemorate your bravery in making it through this chapter! Congrats! Now, for the juicy Naruto parts!