Reveries of Life, Love, and Revenge

A/N: Okay… change of plans. My cousin doesn't like Orochimaru anymore. Go figure. Now she's obsessed with Itachi, so… Alona isn't going to be paired with Orochimaru-sama now. She's going to get together with Itachi! Woo hoo? Okay, so, in this chapter, you'll meet someone new. Eh, you've guessed it; Alona. Yes, we finally get to meet that medical ninja... But you're not supposed to know that yet, so hush. Anywho, on with the chapter.

Legal stuff/Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any way whatsoever… but I do own my Sasuke-kun! Back, you fangirls!

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Chapter 3: Enter! Alona Raye!

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Mitsarugi winced as she continuously pummeled the tree in her backyard, sending surges of pain up her arm. She stopped for a mere moment, trying to stop the trembling in that certain body part as tremors made their way up to her shoulders, then down to her legs. This, of course, caused her legs to then shake. D-damn… Why am I shaking like this?! I train every day, and yet… My body will never be used to getting stronger and stronger… As those words she thought chimed in a melodic chorus in her head, she shut her eyes tightly. She'd never be better than Sasuke, and knowing that, she'd never have the strength to kill Itachi.

It's hopeless.

The chestnut-haired girl whammed her fist into the tree hard, making her whelp in pain. It wasn't exactly a smart move to have done so, but it calmed her to let all her anger out like that… even if it hurt her, physically. At least she wouldn't have to suffer mentally…

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto watched the girl from afar. They were on their way to invite Mitsarugi to go have lunch with them at the Ichiraku Ramen, yet… She seemed to be possessed with her training. However, they walked onward. Kakashi HAD told them to try and return with her, after all. "So, Sasuke…" Sakura began, tossing her hot pink hair. It didn't really go anywhere, due to its short length, but it did sway from side to side. "… Are you hungry?" The raven-haired boy simply let out an, "Aa." from his lips, and continued on without another word. Why was this girl so persistent?! He wasn't going to talk to her, as much as her valued her as a team-mate. Yet, she still thought they had a chance at getting together?!

Simply put, there was no logic in thinking that.

"Sakura-chan, are YOU hungry?" The annoying blonde-boy flashed his goofy smile towards the somewhat pretty girl who had an unusual hair color. In a friendly manner, the girl smiled towards Naruto and nodded. Of course she was; they had been told to not eat for two days straight. It was all part of Kakashi's 'ninja diet' or something like that. Whenever they were allowed to eat, they only got a small portion of rice with a little bit of teriyaki. Occasionally, they'd get a bit of sushi, but getting that food with their meal was rare. Kakashi wasn't being mean, he was just… 'Trying out a new thing for ninjas!' as he'd always say. However, their diet was keeping them wide awake, and when they had a nice dinner to eat, the trio could never finish it all. Yet, when eating ramen, that stood as an exception for Naruto. "Are we almost there?" Sakura queried to break the silence, watching Mitsarugi's growing figure. Although the answer to that was obvious, it had broken their completely silent moment, which, of course, relieved both Naruto and Sasuke because they weren't accustomed to the area around them being quiet. Sakura, as it was, was known as the 'Chatterbox', after all. It'd be a shame if she lost her nickname before they could even get a chance to call her it…

"Aa. Her house is right up there…"

The other two ninjas nodded as they stared at a small, pretty white house with green paint on it. Sasuke, of course, immediately recognized this home. He had, as a child, been in it to play with Mitsarugi. The eleven year old had sensed all three of their presence before they had even made their way into the premises. She was, after all, a Urashima child. It was just a gift given to them at birth. It had been a great ability that helped them greatly, and was easy to master. How her parents hadn't sensed Itachi before he came was still a mystery that had to be solved, however… "Yes?" the child shouted in a strained, hurt voice. She was still recovering from her hurt hands, so it was going to make her voice a little shaky from the pain…

The three pairs of eyes bulged; Sasuke's only bulging slightly, however. He had known about this power for years… so it didn't prove as some awesome skill to him. To Naruto and Sakura, however, this simple ability had caused them to be amazed. The blonde haired Genin's mouth was opened wide, causing his somewhat bad breath to fill the area. The raven-haired boy's nose twitched at this stench. Sakura also caught the smell and immediately put one of her hands over his mouth. "Naruto! Did you brush your teeth this morning—Hi Mitsa-chan! We were wondering if you'd like to come with us to lunch. It's Kakashi-sensei's treat." This made the child smile. Well, there wasn't anything edible in her fridge anyway. Just an expired carton of milk (A/N: Oh, doesn't THAT bring back memories…), a block of molded cheese, a half-eaten piece of bologna, and an empty jug of ice tea. She simply nodded in reply, and Sakura noticed this and stopped walking. Naruto and Sasuke looked at the girl awkwardly, then saw the youngest ninja limping over to them. What the hell was she doing...? was all Sasuke could think as she made her way over to them. She had, however, made a reputation for pushing herself over her limits. Well, it doesn't matter. If she's going to kill herself from training to hard, whatever.

But somehow, something made Sasuke regret saying that.

Naruto and Sakura made their way forward to greet the Genin. As Mitsarugi limped forth, her icy blue eyes examined each of the other kids. While Naruto and Sakura were coming over to her, Sasuke just stood there. This didn't faze Mitsarugi much though. She'd known him for over three years. Knowing him as well as she did, he wouldn't get all happy seeing her again. In fact, he probably wouldn't be happy seeing her period, considering what she had done to him long ago. Even thinking about that made her depressed... but it didn't matter now. As Nikko had once said, "It's all in the past." That was the truth, after all. "Hi... So, Kakashi's taking us out to lunch before the big mission, huh? What rank is the mission, anyway?" After this, Naruto took his eyes off the girl's bandaged hands to make eye contact when he spoke. "Hey, yes, and it's a 'B' mission. We usually don't get that many of those..." Mitsarugi nodded. He was right. They were lucky to even get a 'C' mission at some times. The Hokage just trusted them with 'D' missions... and that was okay. Those missions showed up on their records, and racked up pretty quickly due to their level of difficulty. The eleven year old snapped out of this mission thought, then nodded to Sasuke to say hello. He replied in the same manner; Quiet and without feeling. Sakura noticed this greeting between the two, then pondered to herself, well, I don't have competition. It doesn't seem like Mitsa-chan likes Sasuke, and vice versa, but... Somehow, I sense one of their act that they're letting on is false. Probably Mitsa's. I mean, every girl likes Sasuke-kun. He IS the cutest and coolest ninja in town. Oh... It'll be so great when I become his girlfriend... which I will. Inner Sakura: Hell yeah! Love always prevails! I'm going to be that special girl who steals his first kiss... with a girl, that is. That day in which Naruto had accidentally kissed Sasuke still haunted her. Oh, that day was horrible...

Flashback

Naruto was sitting on top of the counter in front of Sasuke, glaring. Sasuke was doing the same, their faces inches apart. Why Naruto got so jealous of Sasuke was clearly obvious. He WAS, after all, the number one ninja in town... But he WASN'T going to become Hokage! No no no! That title had already been claimed bye Uzumaki Naruto, the ramen addict! (A/N: You know the small circle things Naruto had in his ramen in the third episode? Well, they call those Naruto! Therefore, Naruto gets his name and his addiction to ramen from that! Go figure!) "Yeah... that's... Oops, sorry." A random ninja had accidentally pushed Naruto in the back... causing Naruto to kiss Sasuke. Sakura simply watched in the back. "I... Naruto... I was supposed to get his first kiss!" And with that, the inflamed pink-haired Genin began pummeling Naruto, not caring whether he got hurt or not at the moment.

"Sakura. Sakura! Come on, we're here."

The other female Genin snapped out of thought as she sat in a chair at the Ichiraku Ramen. How they got there so fast amazed her, but she just figured she was lost in thought before, so they got their at a normal pace without knowing it.

Little did they know that Mitsarugi's advanced bloodline was starting to take effect....

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Village of Hidden Mist; 2:00 PM

Niraku's blonde hair rested on her shoulders. Her silver eyes scanned the premises around her, looking for any sudden movements. Even though Zeo and her group were bound to come later, it never hurt to be prepared... "I'll have to be careful," she began muttering to herself in her low, feminine voice. "One pluck at the wrong nerve could cause Zeo to create a hurricane or something..."

And this was true. She had, after all, caused that last flood from being too upset.

"She doesn't know what's going to hit her, though. I have everything planned out.. The traps, the guards, everything. But still, I'll have to take caution, especially by making sure children aren't in the premises when Zeo comes." Niraku paused to take in a deep breath, putting some kunais into her pouch. "They don't need to see the beast in action."

With that, the woman stood on the tree branch she was originally sitting on, and took her position. "I'm ready for you, Zeo, you just have to come..."

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In Ichiraku Ramen; 2:10 PM

"So, are you all excited about the mission?" Kakashi asked awkwardly to strike up a conversation. Their seat arrangement surprised him just a bit, it went form Sasuke all the way to their left, then Mitsarugi, then Naruto, then Sakura, and then him. Usually, Sakura would try to sit either close to Sasuke or near him, at least... Something was going on. "Yesh." was what Naruto let escape from his lips. He couldn't have said anything more or less, due to the large amount ramen he had stuffed into his mouth. Kakashi flashed a smile to the sea-blue eyed boy, his eye closing in a way to signify that he was happy at this response. He had, after all, hidden all visible emotions with his mask.

"Is your ramen good, Sasuke-kun?"

The raven-haired boy turned to Mitsarugi, thinking she had been the one who had said the comment. However, she was simply staring at her ramen. Sakura was the one who had commented that, and was beaming towards him. Sasuke simply began eating his miso ramen again, but let out an, "Aa." before he began to 'chow down' again. After all, his voice would sound weird if he had said it with a mouth full of food, and it would be rude.

'Never talk with your mouth full.'

Mitsarugi took her chopsticks and played with the noodles, managing to take a bite. Why had her appetite suddenly disappeared? A few minutes ago, she was starving. But now, she didn't want to even get a glimpse of food. Was it simply because of the ramen? Or was something else triggering this? It didn't really matter now, she was eating. However, it wasn't at a moderate pace. She ate her ramen slowly, as if to act like she was savoring the food. Yet, she wasn't. Sasuke noticed this first, but didn't seem to care. It was her ramen. If she didn't want to eat it, that was fine with him. However, Naruto took this loss of appetite to his advantage. "Mitsa-chan... Do you want your ramen?" Slowly, Mitsarugi shook her head, and opened her mouth to speak.

But Sasuke spoke first.

"Of course she wants her ramen, dobe. She just doesn't want to eat it all now. We have over an hour left to eat. Let her stomach settle... or something."

This last comment struck Mitsarugi by surprise. He cared, all of a sudden...? "No, no, seriously. Go ahead and have my ramen, Naruto-kun. You'll need to eat as much as you can so that you don't get hungry from running around all day. You're very hyper, you know." The last sentence made Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi laugh. Well, it WAS the truth, right? Under her breath, Mitsarugi whispered into Sasuke's ear when the rest of them weren't looking, "Thanks... for trying to save my ramen, Sasuke." Something surged in Mitsarugi when she had said this, but she moved away quickly before Sasuke could reply and handed Naruto her ramen. The raven-haired boy simply stared at the younger girl and snickered, then finished off his lunch.

You're welcome?

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The Village of Hidden Mist; 3:00 PM

Kakashi and the six students all sat quietly on a log, once again, Mitsarugi sitting by Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura sitting by each other, and Zeo and Nikko were sitting next to each other. The sensei just stood, awaiting the medical unit.

And they came.

"Oiiii! Kakashi-san! Thanks for accepting this mission." A whole throng of ninjas walked together, one of the medical-ninjas standing out. She was a female with short, curvy long hair with one wavy bang resting on her forehead. To bring out the red-ness in her hair, she had these pretty emerald green eyes. From the look of her slender body, she was probably about fifteen. This estimate was most likely correct. "This is Alona..." The leader of the unit said in his raspy voice, pointing to the red haired girl. "... Did ya tell thanks to Nanji for me? That sensei usually doesn't allow me to borrow her students..." Kakashi nodded, his silver hair sort of bouncing up and down and his head bobbed upward and downward. After a sigh of relief, the leader pushed Alona forward with force, causing her to silently wince. Was he hurting her..?

"Thanks for bringing my team here, Kakashi-san. I'm sure it'll be less of a burden for when we go back to Nanji-sensei."

Her voice was a mixture of low and high, making her tone sound somewhat beautiful. It was as if she had a singing career and practiced constantly, considering the fact that whenever she spoke, she stressed on some words, giving the sentence somewhat of a dramatic effect, and the fact that the words rolled off her tongue so well. Alona... Even her name was beautiful and unique. Well, at least her voice matched the name she was given at birth. "Now, where are my comrades?"

Zeo and Mitsarugi immediately stood, and allowed the girl to examine them. She could tell easily from Mitsarugi's arms with gashes all over them and from Zeo's unusually shaped eyes and hair color that they had an advanced bloodline. This would be an interesting year while learning how to be ninjas...

"Now, ain't that sweet?"

The whole medical unit along with Kakashi and the students looked towards a single tree. There, on a branch, stood a tall and slender –yet muscular– woman with blonde hair and silver eyes. In her hand she carried unusually small shuriken that could easily hit a puncture point, and of course...

... Mitsarugi had noticed this first.

"Well, it's nice to see your little meeting, but... I'm afraid every one of you is going to die here."

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A/N: Well, that ends the third chapter. What is Niraku planning? Is she going to fight them alone, or does she have a little trick up her sleeve?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Anyways, that was a good chapter. I'm liking my little cliffhanger... hehe..