Do You Hate Me?

Title subject to change, rating PG13 to be on the safe side.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own the plot of this story (for as far as there is one) and the extra characters I may or may not add.

Response to reviews at the bottom, be sure to read the A/N's.

Chapter 12 – Passing the Limit:

"You're not putting enough strength into it!"

"I'm trying!"

"Try harder!"

When the rest of Konoha was having either dinner or relaxing after a hard day's work, two young Genins could be seen on training field Four, performing a series of kicks that would undoubtedly leave their unfortunate victims with shattered bones and battered flesh.

The boy, in a tight green jumpsuit, had removed his shirt and had it tied around his waist. He was crouched, dark eyes fixed intently on his sparring partner, his bare-chested torso with lean and supple muscles glistening with sweat from today's work-out. Even if the temperature kept dropping daily, the exertion of today's sparring session heated the both of them generously.

His partner, a girl with pink hair, had already discarded the black jacket she wore today and was panting heavily as she sent a glare so intense that the green-clad boy should have been able to feel it. However, the boy ignored it as he simply gazed back steadily with stoic determination. In the back of her mind she was grateful, but that was quickly shoved aside by her volatile inner-self as she kept repeating two words over and over like a mantra...

'Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!!!'

Straightening, the boy flexed his muscles, tossing his head from side to side to loosen the strain in his neck and shoulders, his glossy black hair with its distinctive black bowl haircut glinting as it caught the dying beams of the already setting sun.

After distancing his feet and crouching again, he put one bandaged arm behind his back and beckoned the girl with the other one to invite her to attack. "Again."

The pink-haired girl inhaled deeply, causing her nostrils to flare, and exhaled slowly through her mouth. She closed her eyes and settled into a relaxed stance as she prepared herself for the move her male training partner had continuously drilled into her brain for the better part of the day. With the added weights it had become even more difficult to learn.

Beating down the murderous part of herself, she forced herself to clear her mind and focus herself solely on this new technique. They stood like that for a few moments until the girl's bright green eyes snapped open and she twisted her body sideways.

"KONOHA GOURIKI SENPUU!!!" (Leaf Herculean Wind)

With a loud yell, the Kunoichi jumped up and turned into a miniature whirlwind as she sent herself spinning forwards, left leg stretched as far as it would go, with as much strength as she could muster. The only thing going through her head at that particular moment was to crush the skull, and subsequently the brain, of her voluntary victim with the back of her booted heel.

Acting quickly, the black-haired boy darted to the side and shifted his weight to one leg to counter the impact of the blow as he used both arms to block her kick. After the soft slap of the boy's bandaged palms hitting her flesh, the girl let out a strangled cry and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"No more." She managed to gasp, chest heaving with every laboured breath she took.

The boy slipped on his green shirt and walked over to her. He smiled as he examined the exhausted girl with her sweaty face that had a large number of pink strands that clung stubbornly to her forehead and cheek. "That was great, Sakura-chan." He stated proudly and she knew by the tone of his voice that he had meant every word.

Things had definitely changed during the last few days. Under the threat of unimaginable torture, he had taken a harsher attitude when it came to his beloved Sakura. Inwardly though, he cried every time he said that her technique was flawed, or when she didn't push herself hard enough which caused him to do it for her. But even he could see that there was something troubling her, he was sure she could have picked up this new technique a lot quicker.

With her breaths slowly returning to their regular rhythm, he sprawled down next to her on the damp grass while she muttered a quick thanks for his compliment. He was about to ask her what was bothering her, when she suddenly spoke up.

"Lee-kun..."

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" He inquired.

"I think I hurt someone a lot yesterday..." She started and let out a remorseful sigh.

Lee knew better than to interrupt her and therefore waited patiently until she continued.

"Do you know Hinata? Hyuga Hinata?" The pink-haired Kunoichi asked.

The boy's dark round eyes stared at the girl in confusion. "Of course, she's the one who fought Neji in the preliminaries, right? His cousin, from the Hyuga Main family?"

Sakura propped herself up on her elbows and looked at her feet in obvious shame. "I talked to her yesterday... And..." She paused here to twiddle her feet nervously. "I might have told her something I shouldn't have..."

'My dear Sakura-chan, no matter what you could have told Hinata-san, my love for you is as a raging inferno that will consume anything that might stand in our way!' In the back of his mind, a miniature Lee stood with fire in his eyes and a shaky fist held in the air in front of him. The mini-Lee ranted on and on, proclaiming his undying devotion to his female companion and Lee almost didn't hear Sakura continue about what was bothering her.

"I think almost everyone knew about her affection for Naruto, everyone except him. But he told me he had gotten a girlfriend a few days ago..."

"Really?! Naruto-kun has a girlfriend?!" Lee said quickly, but it came out as choked sob. 'Yet another thing you have bested me in, Naruto-kun! You truly are my eternal rival!'

Sakura kept on talking, point-blank ignoring the black-haired boy's surprise. "...And I thought it was Hinata. So I went to find her and asked her about it, but she isn't his girlfriend... I think she's really hurt, Lee-kun, what should I do?"

This was Lee's moment to shine, he jumped up and struck his favorite 'Good-Guy' pose; one hand on his hip, the other high into the air as far as it would go and a beaming smile that glittered, even though it was dark, on his face. "Do not worry Sakura-chan! Youth Power will prevail!!!"

"Eh?"

"Hinata-san will surely grow stronger and become a much-desired lady!" He proclaimed and punched both of his fists into the air. "Yes!" 'Gai-sensei, be proud of me! One day I will be as wise as you!'

But, even if Lee was convinced that Hinata would probably get over her pain in time, at least that was what Sakura thought he meant, she wasn't too sure. From what she had seen, the only moment when Hinata had truly stood up for herself and had been strong was when Naruto had been cheering her on. If no-one else could make her do that, what would happen to her?

Unbeknownst to her though, Lee was already thinking about other things. Mainly if Naruto did indeed have a girlfriend, that meant he wasn't pining after Sakura anymore. And that in turn meant that the odd-looking Taijutsu specialist would be the only one chasing after Sakura. He thanked Naruto for this chance and would from now on go to even greater lengths in his great quest, focused on proclaiming his undying love to the pink-haired girl and make her his.

Deciding to brood more on this matter later, Lee walked over to where Sakura had dropped her jacket and handed it back to her. "We've made excellent progress today, Sakura-chan. Tomorrow we will definitely perfect the technique we practiced."

Sadly for him, the Kunoichi had other plans. "I'm sorry, Lee-kun, but I'm going to meet up with my teammates tomorrow. We haven't gotten to know Kumiko-san properly yet." She said and almost took pity on the sad expression on the black-haired boy's face. She had told him about the new addition to her team after she had first met her but had been too busy with her training to do anything else at the time.

After they said their goodbyes and headed towards their respective homes, Sakura had only one thought on her mind. 'I'll find out who your girlfriend really is, Naruto, or I'll die trying!'

Indeed, find out she would, but not without a small amount of shock...

A serene morning greeted Konoha the next day. The birds that hadn't left for warmer regions yet were chirping merrily as they scavenged for food. The pale sun was just rising to the dreary sky as the inhabitants of the village were eating breakfast or were in the process of waking up. Of course, a mix of the two was more widely applicable.

Yet for one girl, this was anything but a serene morning...

"Shut up already you twit!"

"Don't call me a twit!"

"Why wouldn't I?! If you don't like it, just go play with your dollies!"

"They're not dolls damnit! They're puppets!"

"Well you sure could have fooled me!"

"W-what?!"

"Yeah you heard me, cooing at them like they're your stupid playmates! Is that why you cover your face in paint? Don't people notice you otherwise?!"

"W-WELL SCREW YOU!"

"GO SCREW YOUR "PUPPETS"!!!"

Yep, Mikadzuki Kumiko had snapped. She had gotten a less then friendly welcome yesterday when she finally moved in, but this morning it had been even worse. She could stand the glare she got from the only other female resident of the large house; with whom she had shared a tense and uncomfortable conversation as she "helped" her get settled in her room. She could even deal with the creepy stare from the red-headed guy who seemed to suffer from severe sleep deprivation. But when that... that... boy... said something along the lines of having another useless brat inside the house, she got mad...

Really mad...

The other person who lived here, sat there in the kitchen with blonde disheveled hair and wide round blue eyes as he saw the shouting match in front of him. He had never expected that his new teammate, who as far as he could tell was normally shy, would blow up like this. When his other teammate, Sakura, would proceed to beat him senseless after he had relentlessly hounded her to get her to go out with him, it was still nothing compared to this.

Even his girlfriend, Temari, with her shrewd and calculating mind, sat there gaping on her seat, completely and utterly perplexed.

The boy, who was being yelled at, was addressed by his red-haired brother as he steadied himself for a burning retort. "Kankuro, be silent. She is our guest. Treat her as such. If you disgrace us any further I will..." He paused there for a moment, carefully considering his words. He had almost said he would kill his older brother, that wouldn't look to good. It seemed old habits died hard after all... "...hurt you..."

Kankuro, already lost for words, was outraged that his brother would take the side of this obnoxious little brat. He puffed himself up until his face became bright red like a tomato, which could probably not have been covered up by the paint he had not smeared on his face yet.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!!"

As he let out this thunderous roar, he stomped heavily out of the kitchen and up the stairs to lock himself up in his room and slammed his door shut in obvious protest and indignation.

It was only at that time that Kumiko calmed down and took in the shocked faces of Naruto and Temari. Gaara of course, only stared at her without a hint of emotion on his face. She didn't know what to think of him. He kept staring at her like he had nothing better to do. But apparently he was the one that held all the authority and he had allowed her to live in their house for the time being after all.

Unbeknownst to her however, there was a mix of emotions beneath that impassive mask of his. Emotions he didn't know how to deal with. Just the day before he had found out that there was someone other than him who had a demon inside of him. Actually he had already guessed that Naruto should have some extra power but he had never expected this. On top of that, he had actually offered to become his friend...

Nobody in their right mind would want to like Gaara, yet Naruto did.

To be perfectly honest, he really didn't know what to do, but he did figure he would have to have another talk with the blonde Genin. And if he didn't want to explain all of these alien things that Gaara felt? Well... There were always limbs he could crush and rip off.

As an uncomfortable silence fell, Kumiko sat down quickly and attempted to cover her blushing face with her small hands, but failed miserably. Thankfully she didn't need to bother explaining why she flew off the handle like that to the rest of the inhabitants of this house as a loud and impatient rapping on the front door caught all of their attention.

Counting her blessings, Kumiko watched Naruto bounce off his seat and run towards the front door to open it and greet the visitor. A moment later, a pink-haired girl walked into the kitchen after a grinning Naruto.

The blonde boy clutched one hand behind his head and used his other to introduce the girl to the sand-nins. "Sakura-chan, this is Temari-chan." He said, pointing towards a girl who was obviously not happy about something. "And uh, I believe you've already met Gaara, hehehe..."

Indeed she had, and her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw him. She had been vaguely aware of Gaara's presence when they brought back Sasuke but she remembered that horrible form of his when they pursued him During the Sound and Sand invasion Her nightmares from then on had often contained a horrible monster with pulsing purple veins and huge claws grabbing her and slowly squeezing her to death against a massive tree.

"Yeah, we've met..." She trailed off and refocused her attention on Kumiko. "Hello Kumiko-san, do you live here as well now?"

The white-haired girl nodded her head quickly, eager for an escape from the awkward happenings scant minutes ago. "Yes, Gaara-san graciously allowed me to stay."

While the two girls continued their banter which contained no useless information whatsoever, Temari looked suspiciously at Naruto and then at Sakura. What was with this 'chan' business? Even if she was his teammate, he had no right to call her Sakura-chan. Almost lost in her slightly paranoid thoughts, she quickly snapped to attention as the pink-haired 'invader' outlined the plans she had cooked up for the day.

"...Well I thought we could get to know each other a little better. So how about going to a training-field and maybe after we've talked a little bit we can show each other some of our abilities?" She explained.

"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto yelled delightedly, never missing the chance to show off his cool and flashy moves "But I'm going to get a new one soon. Kakashi-sensei thought it up for me!"

In one swift motion, the Kunoichi from the Sand jumped up, grabbed Naruto's right arm and refused to let go. "Naruto-kun, could I come along?" She said in a seductive purr, which immediately caused a faint red to stain his cheeks.

'Eh?! What the hell?!' Sakura thought. 'No way... Surely that can't mean that she's... his girlfriend?' She shook her head as if to banish these ridiculous thoughts from her head and locked her bright green eyes on the slightly flustered male Genin.

"Uhm... Sure, I don't mind Temari-chan! I'd like to see your moves as well!" He said and looked at both his female team members to confirm if it was indeed alright for her to come along.

He got a curt nod from the both of them and then immediately ran up the stairs to his room to get ready. This left a red-haired boy sitting at the kitchen table, feeling slightly amused for some odd reason.

Several minutes later, the party of four was under way. Sakura led them all towards the training-field she had used almost every day with Rock Lee in a quest to become stronger.

She smiled to herself, today all that hard work was surely going to impress her teammates. Sure she still needed a lot more training but doubtlessly she had improved and she wouldn't have to be left behind anymore just because she wasn't able to make a difference in a fight.

Her smile quickly turned sour though as she looked behind her, seeing an unsure Kumiko walking next to Temari who still clung stubbornly to Naruto's arm. He himself was also wondering what was going on, Temari had never been clingy like this before. But he didn't mind, actually he quite frankly enjoyed himself.

When they had arrived at the field after a short walk, they sat themselves on the damp grass, but it was obvious that Naruto was eager to get things started so he could show off his Jutsu's. He didn't know many Jutsu's yet, but the ones he did know were awesome, in his own opinion.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance as she saw the quivering and excited form of Naruto. "Why don't we all just state our likes and dislikes and our dreams for the future. Just like we did when we first got assigned as Team Seven, ok Naruto?"

"Sure!" He yelled happily.

Kumiko watched Naruto and was amazed by his happy and carefree attitude. 'He sure is interesting.' The white-haired girl thought and let a small smile appear on her face.

'What the hell is she playing at?' The other girl of the group thought. Temari was not happy about having her boyfriend surrounded by these girls, not happy at all. What was more; she had no idea what she was going to say. She disliked a lot of things, but didn't like much. Well there was one thing though of course... But what about her dream? Did she even have one?

Her musing was interrupted however, when Sakura spoke up. "I'll go first." She said and furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she tried to transform her thoughts into words carefully. "Well, I like training and I like flowers a lot. I hate it when people tell me I'm weak and my dream is to become a great Kunoichi who can fend for herself." She nodded as if to confirm this to herself and pointed at Naruto who now resembled a quivering object on an obvious sugar-high "You go next, Naruto."

"Ok!" He shouted and then grinned rather stupidly. "Well I like... Uhm I like Temari-chan, hehehe. And I like ramen! Yeah! I hate it when people hurt Temari-chan and I hate it when people underestimate me!" He blushed slightly, and gave the girl sitting next to him a slight squeeze as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and used the other to scratch the back of his head. "My dream is to become Hokage, so I can protect my friends and the people I, uh... Love..."

Kumiko thought it was extremely cute of Naruto to say all this but Temari was struck speechless. "Naruto-kun, I... I..." She began but became silent once more as she saw those sapphire orbs gaze adoringly at her.

Sakura was silent for a whole different reason, yet inside her mind a flurry of questions and shouts of amazements followed each other in rapid succession. 'No... No way! No way in hell! Temari?!'

From what she had seen, the Sand-nin had been nothing but cruel, yet here she was, obviously all lovey-dovey with her male teammate. Could things get any weirder? Slightly in a daze, she motioned for Kumiko to start.

"Uhm, I like training as well, especially with a Katana. I also like to go... shopping." She admitted quickly and blushed furiously, but found none of them making any comments about it so she continued. "I dislike living with Kakashi-sensei. My dream is... Well my dream is to restore my clan's honour."

She got a few surprised responses from this, they had heard she was a refugee from the hidden Moon village, but had this something to do with the apparent dishonour of her clan?

"What happened to your clan, Kumiko-san?" Sakura asked curiously.

The white-haired Kunoichi's expression was filled with sorrow. "I'd rather not talk about that right now..."

Naruto nodded in understanding. Possibly more than Temari and Sakura would, he understood the need to keep a secret. Therefore, in an effort to lift the mood slightly, he prodded the girl next to him to start and tell the rest a bit about herself.

Temari looked hesitant for a minute but decided that she might as well 'share' with the others. She cleared her throat and began. "I dislike a lot of things, mainly weak opponents who aren't worth my effort and certain people who need to stay away from other people." She said this through gritted teeth and Kumiko and Sakura could literally feel the burning glare she sent their way.

It only now became apparent to the pink-haired girl why she would do that and Sakura nearly laughed out loud at the very thought that she'd try and steal away Naruto, but any thoughts like that were quickly banished by the slight feeling of dread that the Sand-nin inspired.

"I like cooking and I like..." She trailed off and nudged Naruto slightly, which caused him to chuckle in slight embarrassment. "And... I don't have a dream I'd like to follow."

Wide blue eyes turned to her in shock. "Eh?! Why not?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Temari sighed and shook her head sadly. "I just don't, I never really had one." 'Not that I really had the chance...' She added as an afterthought.

The girl with her four spiky pigtails quickly got annoyed though at the looks of pity she received from the two other girls and was about to tell them where to shove them until Naruto spoke up loudly.

"That's alright Temari-chan! We'll find your dream eventually!"

Nearly face-faulting, the girl didn't know whether to strangle Naruto for embarrassing her or to kiss him senseless for being so caring and cute. She chose a mild form of the latter and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek which sent Sakura into a state of shock once more. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

The Genin merely chuckled and flashed his trademark foxy grin at her. "Now come on, I want you to see my cool moves!" He jumped up and ran a short distance from the three girls.

A slight pang of sadness ran through Kumiko's body as she watched him, his cheerful attitude reminded her so much of her...

Well, best not to think of that now. Truth be told, she was quite curious to see the abilities of her teammates and pondered whether she should really show them her own true abilities as well...

But it had already cost her so much, there was no way she could show it to them. Not yet...

No, the fewer people that knew of it, the better...

Three sets of eyes swiveled towards the boy as he took a focused stance and formed a middle index cross with his hands. After inhaling deeply, he bellowed; "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

With a loud poof, a small cloud of smoke appeared next to Naruto. After it dispersed, another identical Naruto stood grinning broadly at the three girls. Both of them spoke in unison. "Cool huh?"

Absent-mindedly running a hand through her flyaway strands of hair that refused to be held together by her braid, Sakura gazed at Naruto in perplexed confusion and grudging admiration – it was amazing how he was able to use this technique so successfully every time!

Temari of course, was proud. She mainly judged people by their strength and she had heard of this move and knew it was supposed to be hard to pull off. But she expected nothing less of the teenager that had defeated her little brother.

Kumiko however, let her jaw drop to the ground. "Kage Bunshin...? I-isn't that Jounin level?" She stuttered.

Her village, although reclusive, was knowledgeable of the techniques from other villages. As far as she knew, no-one in her entire village had been able to use this technique. Even though certain techniques were exclusive to certain villages, that didn't stop the able Shinobi's of the Hidden Moon to try and master them.

The blonde boy nodded proudly, this technique was his favorite by far. Nothing else could give him the satisfaction of beating an enemy to a pulp with a small army of his own tangible clones. "Ok, are you guys ready for the other technique I'm going to show you?"

Without waiting for any response, his features were suddenly tense and strained in obvious concentration as he grabbed his right arm by the wrist with his left hand, his fingers tightly clutched around it.

Never telling anyone, Naruto had secretly trained this technique. Running off whenever he had time to spare.

'I can do this...Now I'm beginning to understand how this technique was done...'

The boy's pressure on his own wrist increased, as his left hand remained locked in position, instead of using it to perform the usual rapid stabbing motion which brought to life the spinning energized ball of whirling chakra...

Blue eyes narrowed in strained concentration, teeth gritting almost painfully, his muscles complained as they always did when he took on so much strain...

But his body tingled with triumph, the pinnacle of the sense of achievement...

Because he had now slowly, slowly perfected the technique of this chakra bullet, achieving the one-handed focus of chakra that had first defined it...

This pure, raw energy in his palm was the true essence of the technique he had acquired so long ago...

And now it was perfected...

To the silent and awed audience, it seemed that at first nothing seemed to happen... Until suddenly the girls felt the beginnings of a slight breeze, a light gust of swirling wind that gradually increased in intensity.

A mischievous smile seemed to tug at Naruto's lips as he stared at his calloused palm, but it was quickly squashed as he clenched his jaws even harder in concentration.

Ghostly white tendrils of pure energy randomly spinning around his hand were suddenly focused, forming a growing ball that hovered on a single point just above his palm.

The whiteness started to pulsate into a quickening beat as it began to form into a round object and after a few more seconds Naruto yelled out loudly in triumph. "Rasengan!"

The girls' eyes widened, even Sakura who had seen it before. All of them, although unknowingly, agreed on one point; it was beautiful. A perfect glowing white orb, that shone brightly as if to banish all darkness away, was situated into Naruto's open hand as he held it in front of him.

His intense blue gaze flickered slightly to his astounded, silent audience, and then alighted on the energized ball spinning and hovering on his palm...

Sure he had finally managed to conjure the Rasengan with one hand, and he was quite proud of that fact. But he what he really wanted was to show the raw power of the technique. After all, its goal was hardly to shut his enemies up by impressing them with its prettiness.

Dismissing his clone, the blue eyes scanned the many trees that lined the training-field, finally focusing on one with a particularly thick trunk.

The awed spectators watched the boy crouch slightly, beads of sweat lining his forehead. Briefly, he met their gaze and grinned toothily before he became an orange streak, swiftly leaping towards his target, his right arm poised in a backwards thrust, like a coiled spring...

Three pairs of widened eyes could just stare in stunned silence as they watched him hurtle towards the stout tree, a glowing, pulsing orb creating a blinding blur before him...

It had all happened so quickly, that suddenly the thrust of his arm into the tree trunk seemed to happen with the slowest of motions... Numbly the girls watched, but nothing prepared them for what happened next...

A blinding flash as his arm met the tree, then... a moment later...

The tree exploded.

A huge shockwave ripped through the tree with a horrendous force, knocking the wind out of the three girls as it washed over them, carrying an endless spray of large chunks of wood and splinters out the back of the now shattered tree trunk.

Flinging their arms protectively across their faces, the girls saw the debris litter the ground. As the orb of swirling chakra dissipated, it left a stunned silence in its wake...

That is until, with a loud groan, the tree's years of peaceful existence were extinguished as it fell down to the earth, unable to support its weight any longer due to the gaping hole replacing what was once its gnarled trunk.

"Holy..." Sakura began.

"...crap!" Kumiko finished.

"..." Was Temari's silent response, her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

'Hmm, maybe I went a little overboard...' Naruto mused as he took in the gaping forms of the girls.

As he slowly walked back towards the rest of them, Kumiko was beginning to feel slightly intimidated by the level of skill of her new teammate. If the other one, Sakura, was also this talented, could she even begin to compare? She had her own techniques, but compared against that Rasengan technique...

Sakura's eyes bulged though when she heard Naruto calmly explain that he had a summon too. He said he couldn't show it to them because he still wasn't really able to control his chakra properly yet. For all he knew he might summon a small frog or the boss of all frogs; the incredibly large Gamabunta.

She looked around to see if anyone else was surprised, and indeed they were but for a whole other reason. Their minds were still trying to take in the destructive power of the Rasengan. Unbeknownst to Sakura, she was the only one of the group who didn't have a summon.

Shaking herself out of a slight daze, Sakura stood up and told the rest she would go next. She still wore her weights so that they would provide some protection against what she was about to do. She explained to the three others that she didn't knew much Ninjutsu or Genjutsu yet, aside from basic techniques like Henge no Jutsu, Bunshin no Jutsu and Kawarimi no Jutsu, but was training vigorously with Rock Lee to improve her skills in Taijutsu. It served two purposes, one was to increase her normal stamina and strength, and the other benefit would be an increased chakra reserve which she desperately needed.

Now was the time to prove to herself and others, that her training had indeed started to pay off.

She picked out a tree that luckily didn't get picked for Naruto's display of his destructive technique and took a relaxed pose as she focused all her strength in her legs and midriff, rotating her upper body sideways as far as it would go.

Taking a deep breath, she held it fast in her lungs and bent her knees slightly to prepare herself for the jump. After a short moment, she let the gulp of air go in a loud cry; "Konoha Gouriki Senpuu!"

Jumping forwards and spinning like a savage tornado she struck the trunk with her heel, making the whole tree shudder and groan in protest.

All the leaves that had not fallen yet, floated down to the ground gently, a stark contrast with the horrible ten-inch dent marring the tree trunk.

The rest began to wonder if this was it, the extent of Sakura's new strength...

But any and all murmurs of puzzlement were quickly silenced by sharp snaps and cracking noises as the tree keeled over ever so slowly. Aided mercilessly by gravity, it dropped towards the earth with a loud echoing boom.

'Whoah! She's like obaa-chan!' Was Naruto's immediate thought as he saw the violent scene in front of him.

Although still working hard, the pink-haired girl did indeed show the affinity for, as Jiraiya put it, the 'freaky strength' that Tsunade possessed. Coupled with Sakura's random maniacal outbursts, in other words when her inner-self would gain control, she could very well become a force to be reckoned with. That thought alone made Naruto proud yet also shudder.

"Eh?! That's it?!"

Sakura, still panting slightly, turned slowly at the sneering, scoffing tone, at the bluntness of the words.

Temari met her glaring eyes defiantly. "That's all you can do?" The Sand-nin wasn't impressed at all. Nearly everyone could fell a tree in one strike.

Sakura felt her body tensing as a vein started to throb dangerously on her forehead. "What did you say?!" She screeched, her fury rising.

"You heard me! That's basic kiddy stuff, you're nothing without some good Ninjutsu or Genjutsu!" Temari shouted, still in her jeering tone, and rose menacingly to her feet, her fists clenched.

Even though Sakura knew that Temari was right, she couldn't let that comment slide. There was someone who was a great Shinobi regardless if he could use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu or not. "Shut up! That doesn't matter at all you stupid bitch!"

"Why you little..." The Sand-nin was fuming, how dare that little pink... weed insult her like that...

Growling ominously, and not once taking her intent gaze from the furious pink-haired girl, she crouched briefly to retrieve her fan, which she had set down beside her when they had arrived at the training grounds...

Seeing that Temari was quite ready to beat the snot out of his teammate, Naruto gulped and his first reaction was to duck for cover and hope that this would blow over, but he knew that he had to diffuse the volatile situation somehow.

Eyes darting between the two young women, he rose to one knee, wondering whether he should jump in between them and possibly sacrifice his life in the process... However, Kumiko, who had remained silent up until this point, beat him to the punch.

As Temari and Sakura were stalking towards one another, sparks flying between their hateful glares, they were stopped from getting any closer by a long and sharp metal object.

Silently and with amazing speed, Kumiko had grabbed her beautifully ornamented katana that no one had previously noticed and used it to slice through the air vertically between the two glowering girls.

Its pure ivory handle held securely and confidently by the white-haired girl who gave the other two a look that said plainly; "Don't go any further, you won't like the consequences."

That went nearly unnoticed by Temari and Sakura however, as they gazed at the beauty of the blade. Aside from the precious ivory, the handle was also studded with a perfectly cut diamond and three round pearls inlaid in both sides.

But even with the beautiful jewels, it still radiated simplicity. The sparse sunlight that filtered through the clouds was reflected off the perfectly curved blade, its stunning silvery beauty indicating its rare and precious metal lineage. All of this almost made it seem like the katana was housing an unearthly spirit... No, a divine spirit. Even moments after it cut through the air, it still hummed and vibrated as if it was energy itself, as if otherworldly beings were whispering their untold secrets...

Kumiko saw the two back off, although reluctantly, and stated calmly that she would go next. With a fluid motion she returned the blade to it's snow white lacquered sheath that, in comparison to the katana itself, looked very plain indeed.

After this quick and unplanned exhibition that clearly showed Kumiko's skill with the sword, the two other girls seated themselves next to Naruto, who was quite eager to see what else his new teammate could do.

She shook her head slightly, making her sleek white hair to ripple gently in the wind, and reached into a pocket of her light-blue jacket to grab a simple black ribbon. She placed it in her mouth to hold it and used both her hands to bundle her hair in a simple yet effective ponytail. She couldn't allow her pure white strands to get in her way, needing to maintain all of her attention on the movements she was going to perform.

Facing the other three, she distanced her feet and relaxed into a comfortable position, knees slightly bent and hands resting on the sheath and handle of her sword. She closed her silver eyes to stare into the hidden space only she could enter through the darkness of the back of her eyelids. The gateway to her inner-peace, the place she visited in her mind when she needed to focus completely. Once, it was a widely used meditation technique by her now extinct clan...

As if timing her movements to her own inner-melody, accompanied by the thumping rhythm of her heartbeat, she slowly extracted the blade and brought it overhead, simultaneously lifting her left foot to the side of her right knee. She stood motionless like that for a moment, making her seem like a perfect picture of serenity.

Returning her foot to the soil and shifting her weight to her right side, she sliced the sharp edge through the air, ever so delicately balancing the blade between her slender thumb and index finger...

With practiced perfection she gracefully swirled around, arms extended as her hands gripped the ivory handle confidently, striking down imaginary foes...

She weaved the katana into complex motions only few could perform, shifting her weight slightly to maintain her balance, to continue her beautiful and lethal dance...

Leaping backwards she flipped in the air, immediately bringing the katana in for a sideways sweep. She made a final twirl and blindly let her blade return to its sheath. After what seemed like a blissful eternity, Kumiko opened her eyes, her silvery depths still in trance-like state as she stared into nothingness.

The three that had been watching this awesome spectacle, felt themselves release a breath they didn't they had been holding.

Naruto and Sakura tried to find words to compliment Kumiko, but only found themselves able to let out a stream on nonsensical babbling.

Temari was uncharacteristically silent. She desperately wanted to form a venomous comment about the things the white-haired girl had displayed, but the sheer beauty of it all was still fresh on her mind.

Coming to her senses, Kumiko let her unsure gaze stray over to the three others, and always feeling self-conscious about herself, she took their gaping forms the wrong way. "D-did I do something wrong?" She asked them hesitantly.

"No!" Naruto and Sakura immediately yelled.

"T-that was... beautiful..." The pink-haired Kunoichi breathed.

"Yeah!" Naruto affirmed, nodding brightly several times.

Kumiko beamed at them and scurried over to where they sat on the grass. 'Did they really like it? It wasn't just for show though...' She thought as she tried hard not to feel too pleased about her performance.

"Hmmph, it was alright." Temari scoffed and folded her arms in front of her chest. After seeing Naruto praising his teammate so readily, she felt anger boiling inside of her and with it, came the focus to speak clearly again. 'Stupid little... Who the hell does she think she is anyway...'

"Oi, oi! Kumiko-san, I can't wait till you teach me how to use that cool sword!"

"Eh?!" Sakura and Temari exclaimed.

Naruto looked at the both of them with an eyebrow raised. "I told you, Kakashi-sensei developed this technique for me. Kumiko is going to help me how to use it properly." He said as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I am?" Kumiko asked with a puzzled expression. "Nobody told me anything."

"But Kakashi-sensei said..."

"He did huh?!" The white-haired girl interrupted hotly. 'When I get my hands on him...' "He should be glad I don't live with him anymore!"

"Yeah, why don't you live with him anymore anyway?" Sakura piped up, curious as ever.

Kumiko let out a remorseful sigh and fidgeted slightly with her feet. "He's a pervert, that's why."

Squinting at his new teammate, Naruto wanted to find out exactly what Kakashi had done. If his sensei had done something terrible, and no doubt Sakura would agree, he would pummel the living daylights out of him.

"Well what did he do anyway?" Temari snorted impatiently. She really wanted to get out of here. She wanted to separate her boyfriend from those... those... people as quick as possible. Obviously it would be pretty hard with Kumiko living together with them and everything, but she could try couldn't she?

Sakura raised a delicate eyebrow at the tone the Sand-nin used, but chose to ignore it. "We know he reads those dirty books of his, but he didn't... You know... Come on to you or anything did he?" She asked, mortified at the very thought.

Naruto let out a strangled gasp as the weight of this question hit him. "He didn't!"

"No!" The white-haired girl shouted quickly and blushed furiously. "No! Of course not! I'm only thirteen, what the hell are you thinking!"

'God, this village breeds the stupidest people, doesn't it...' Temari scoffed. She had thought that Sakura was a smart girl, but that she would actually think that her teacher, who was probably in his late twenties, would try and seduce a teenage refugee from a foreign village?

Silvery eyes still wide with shock and slight embarrassment, Kumiko spilled the proverbial beans. "No, he didn't." She affirmed, wanting to leave no doubt whatsoever that Hatake Kakashi would go after very, very young members of the fairer sex. "Well after a few days since I came here, I was taking a shower early in the morning..."

Two gasps and a snort interrupted the girl slightly before she continued.

"...I was showering and he... accidentally... stepped into the bathroom and saw me completely... naked..." She admitted in a horrified voice.

The girl knew that Kakashi hadn't meant to walk in on her like that; evidently, the silver-haired Jounin was not used to the sounds of someone in his house early in the morning. And still in a sleepy daze, he had stupidly stumbled into the bathroom where it was coming from...

As fate would have it, Kakashi did indeed not do that on purpose. But he had a hard time explaining that on that particular moment, as Kumiko recalled not without a shudder. She had completely and utterly lost it, and her normal calm reserve had broken down into fits of hysteria, and no doubt the man's eardrums must have been literally ripped apart, with the staggering level of decibels from her raging and furious high-pitched screams.

Following this revelation, Sakura's and Naruto's eyed gained a steely glint. With unspoken words, they promised nothing short than excruciating torture and other horrible punishments that would be exacted on their unfortunate Jounin-sensei...

Temari shook her head in disbelief. 'Absolute, utter morons...' She stood up abruptly and without hesitation; no way in hell would she spend any more time with these two girls.

What made her even angrier though, was that Naruto was also showing signs of being as stupid as his teammates. Without any further ado, she grabbed one of his arms and yanked him to his feet, her fingers tightening in a vice-like grip around his arm refusing to let it go.

"We're going." She stated simply and looked sternly at the other girls, as if daring them to protest.

The other two girls got the hint though, be it slightly angrily, but didn't complain as they saw the girl with her four spiky pigtails drag a confused Naruto with her as they remained at the field for some much needed girl talk. Or to talk about ways to get back at Kakashi, they weren't really sure yet.

Halfway across the village, a certain silver-haired Jounin sneezed and got a slight feeling of impending doom which he couldn't quite explain...

Moments later, the couple stopped in the middle of a deserted narrow street as Naruto tried to pry his right arm free from the forceful grip of his girlfriend.

"What's wrong? Why did we leave?" He asked, rotating and massaging his numb arm, trying to get the blood to flow through it once more.

Temari let her emerald orbs wander around freely, trying desperately to look at anything except in those gorgeous sapphire eyes of his. 'I can't tell him, he'll probably hate me for being so stupidly jealous...' She thought mournfully.

Getting slightly worried, Naruto placed his hands on her slim shoulders, squeezing them gently. "Temari-chan, what's wrong, you can tell me."

"N-nothing's wrong, Naruto-kun... It's really nothing..." She told him and let out a sigh, tightening her hands into fists and all the while damning herself for her cowardice.

The blonde boy pursed his lips and retracted his hands using them to finger the head-protector that had been tied around his neck. "Well ok... You don't have to tell me..."

She felt as if a ten-ton sledgehammer had hit her in the stomach, it seemed he'd hate her after all, regardless if she had told him about her childish jealousy...

...Until he ruined the moment completely with an incredibly stupid comment...

"...But I really wanted to see your techniques and everything!" He whined.

"Oh Naruto-kun!" She groaned as she nearly face-faulted. Yes he was a stupid boy, but he was her stupid boy. Temari was relieved and for once happy for his stupidity, it seemed she could get away with her jealousy for a little while longer.

She quickly slipped her arms around his neck and grinned at him as she placed her forehead against his, receiving a broad grin in return as they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes. "You're so weird sometimes, you know that right?"

"I try." He chuckled.

"Good." She said simply before she swiftly closed the distance between them and placed her soft lips on his.

"Mmmm." She moaned softly and lifted her left leg as they continued to kiss for a few moments longer, completely forgetting the happenings of the world around them.

They never did notice the girl watching them, her bright blue eyes sparkling much like a cat that had cornered a mouse, preparing to toy with it mercilessly before it gobbled it up.

'Haha! Looks like I've got the scoop of the century!' The girl thought gleefully and cackled madly as she disappeared into the shadows, leaving the oblivious young couple to their own devices. 'This is going to be very fun indeed!'

A/N: Whoah, where the hell did this come from eh? Nearly 8000 words my friends. Don't expect that again in a hurry... Well, who knows, a nearly endless supply of words could again flow in future chapters...

Oh by the way, if some of you didn't get that part with the summon thing? Kumiko also has a summon, but I'm not going to tell you what it is yet, teehee. Let's just say it is/was a guardian of the Mikadzuki clan...

But I'm really happy the way this chapter turned out, and what makes me even happier is the fact that I hit the 200 review mark and the 50000 (over 55000 to be exact) words mark with this chapter! WHOOHOO!

A million thanks to my beta "refused" and "Princess-Tsunade", I owe you guys a lot for the things you've done for me.

Now I don't know if any of you have read it yet, but "Princess-Diana's" sister also published a Naruto fanfic on , I urge you to check it out, it's good for a HUGE barrel of laughs.

Her nickname is: CurlyRedToothpaste and the title of her story is: Return Of The Porcupine Egg

Find it and read it and please leave a review for her, it's really funny. :)

Moving on... To celebrate the new marks I've hit. You guys can vote for some stuff here. (no not between the options, if enough people want it, I'd even attempt to put all of it in) I'll put it on top of what I am already going to write but would have left out anyway.

So, a Sakura/Lee scene again where Lee gathers his courage to ask her out? Another Shikamaru/Ino scene? And for this you do need to choose only one; a scene involving another character entirely, someone else from the rookie nine (Kiba, Shino, etc.), Tsunade or Jiraiya. (I hope that made sense...)

Oh well this is what you can expect in the next chapter: Gaara ponders on the meaning of friendship, training at last for Naruto with his new technique aided by his sensei and Kumiko. And Tsunade wants to see the Sand siblings and Team Seven? Could there be a mission at last?

I hope everyone who reads my fic will leave a vote!

Just a note on the next update, it probably won't be affected by it, but it may be possible. My birthday is the 27th of august and I'll be turning twenty... God that's so old isn't it? Anyway, maybe I'll have a big party for hitting the big two-oh and I'll be drunk stupid for the rest of the weekend. :P

Oh well, now that that's settled, on to the review response!

refused: Yeah yeah, but don't you DARE put in colours, you know I'm colourblind... I couldn't release the previous chapter that night because the document manager was under construction.

Princess-Tsunade: Well if you've slept in the same room as your brother for the majority of your life, you do develop ways to wake up one another, hehehe. Yep sorry, but the spatula will have to make a cameo every now and again. I hope you enjoyed the Kankuro bit, I put it there especially for you, you know. Thanks for the review, princess! :D And I'm not a chibi!!! (refused is... :P)

Max Knight: Thanks, I'm glad you liked so many lines :P

Inferno-Dragonz: Hmm if I missed it I apologize profusely, but I don't think I've seen a review from you for the previous chapter. Anyway, I hope your Temari/Naruto craving has been sated.

One Azn Dragon: Don't worry about Hinata, she'll take it all in stride and be stronger than ever! Well, I hope for her sake anyway, who knows what will happen... And look for Gaara's thoughts on the whole matter in the next chapter.

Black Fyre Dragun: Hmmm... (hands dragun some more tissues) Don't bleed to death now, I want more reviews from you in the future. ;) I left out the conversation between Kumiko and Temari for a reason, sorry, but it was redundant, the effect of Temari talking to her menacingly was what I was looking for. I'm sorry if I disappointed you!

Peradis: Thanks! This chapter is even longer, I really hope you enjoyed it. You should update again soon as well!

Raidin: Ah don't worry, Shikamaru and Ino will meet up with the rest again soon. Thanks for the review! And hey, are you ever going to update your fanfics as well? I hope you will!

Licht Sieger: Well if you want to see Gaara's face like that, you should check the manga. It appears several times in the fight between him and Lee in the prelims.

Omnis Morganis: Hahaha, thanks for the review. And hey, update your fic as well eh? I've enjoyed it a lot so far.

Crutches: Like I've said before several times, Hinata will definitely not be paired with Kiba, don't worry. Maybe I should include it in the A/N next time huh? :P

Per: Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad you like my story. :)

Kuwabaras pupil and Ipeefreely: You loved it but not exactly? A little confusing, but I can understand I guess, I wasn't really happy with it too. But oh well, I think I made up for it with this one. The question to how old Kumiko is has been answered in this chapter. And Temari is definitely a possessive type of person as you could see in this chapter. :P

weirddramagirl: Yeah, the Sakura/Lee seen was for you, I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Lucas: Eh don't worry about it mate, I hope you'll enjoy my fic regardless of anything else.

Skuld's Sentaro: Well here you are, thank you very much for your review! :)

clicke: Uhm, I don't know how many chapter there'll be to be honest. My first plan was to have a time-jump but I've scratched that idea, at least for now. And I update every two weeks (knocks on wood) at least I hope I can maintain at least that. Of course I'll try and update sooner but...

The Red One: Yeah yeah, just bring it on ya crazy Canadian. :P

kashisenshey, Gopu, Sirus183, InuSaiyan, The Fenris Wolf, Yondaime-samaKazaraYume, Anime-Lance, SxStrngSamurai13: Thank you for your reviews; I appreciate every single one of them very much!

To all those who have reviewed; Thank you all, I love every one of ya! And to those who haven't yet? Well what are you waiting for! Leave me a review so I know what you all think eh? :P

Seriously, reviews motivate me a lot...