Disclaimer: I do not have Naruto in my arsenal of own, and that goes for all future chapters.
I sincerely apologize for not updating quicker, but I've lost all my files, my computer went berserk, and now my laptop's berserk… And now I have oil pastels on the computer screen due to my sibling…
"Oh, what did I do?! Now his arrogant ego's going to completely destroy him!!!" Sakura wailed as she put her hands to her forehead. It was very stressful, indeed. Anyone would be if you had sent someone on a path of doom that you had no intention of letting them walk.
"Hokage-sama, is there any way to contact him?" Lee asked desperately. There was a spell of silence, and that told him all he needed to know.
"No…"
-X-
Neji sighed as he starred at the blazing fire merrily flickering in front of him. He had a bad feeling about this particular mission. Something just wasn't right. Sakura was a sensible person, and this mission seemed way too rash for her personality.
It was a moonless night, perfect for assassins to be lurking in the corner. By now however, he was ready. Though completely against his will, he urged himself to dress like the folks in Water country, and since he absolutely despised the shades, well, he found a way to mask those Byakugans.
He sighed again as he got up. To be frank, he knew that camping out in a unfamiliar forest was a lot more dangerous than a hotel, even though Neji really did ever so despise those things. However, for this mission, information was vital, and civilization was a lot more populous in the city than in the woods.
Why can't I forget that battle? It was as if something was… wrong. No, not wrong, just… weird…
Those thought lingered on his mind as he cautiously proceeded to the town in which that took place. Somehow, it was as if a tingling sense of de ja vu (or however you spell it) was cast over him as that happened. Odd really.
What is happening to me? What ever happened to forget what happened and move on?
-X-
Mean while, Lee and Sakura were having a bit of trouble themselves…
"Okay, okay, okay, I've got this under control." Sakura feebly tried to convince herself of the polar opposite.
"Don't get killed, don't get killed, don't get killed, don't get killed…" Lee chanted. As if that was going to bring back his best friend, A.K.A. his greatest rival. "Oh… Isn't there anything we can do?!"
"We? I'm Hokage! You are Lee!!!" Sakura cried flustered and stressed to no end.
"Anything?!" Lee begged.
Sakura seemed to realize that approaching this with a cool head was a lot better, so she quickly tried to settle herself down as much as possible, which, mind you, wasn't too much…
"O-Okay, let's see, who do we know lives in water country, besides the ones we've already killed?" Sakura tried. "Never mind, just name all the people that we know and Neji knows."
"Why Neji?" Lee asked.
"Because… Just answer!" Sakura screamed again, losing all control. It was quite a stressful day, and well, she was missing her dinner, and her hair hadn't been washed in two days.
"Um, me, you, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, um, Kaka-
"We don't need old people!" Sakura yelled. Though it was true that her former sensei was only about forty or so, she wasn't about to miss any chance of interrupting people in order to dish out her rage.
"Um, that's it. Sasuke up there and uh, TenTen's in I-Have-No-Idea." Lee told her.
"Okay, so we've got another Hyuuga, Chubby, Lazy, Puppy Pal, Bug Boy, Ms. Stuck-Up, and Loudmouth, gee, didn't I read this in a book before? You know, the one with the seven dwarves?!" Sakura sighed. "Someone go make tea…" Funny how you sound twelve when you're actually in your early twenties.
-X-
"Hey, don't mess with me." Neji sneered. He had just finished demolishing a pickpocket who tried to steal his stuff, and the first thing that little thief got his grubby hands on was TenTen's diary, imagine the anger.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry… JUST LET ME GO!!!" The person screamed as he scrambled up and fled. Neji was about to give him a break, but unfortunately, people don't always learn.
"Oh, you'll pay for that. You'll pay dearly." Neji whispered in a dangerous way. The little snitch has just taken off, ripping the end page of one of his most prized possessions, and was dashing off into the distance, knocking people down as he went, Neji followed.
"Just try and catch me! In case you didn't know I'm a ninja also!" He laughed.
Idiot, just because he's a ninja doesn't specify how good he is. Even more, just because I'm wearing these stupid clothes doesn't mean I'm not a ninja either.
Neji voiced that all mentally, for he wasn't thick enough to utterly blow his already nearly blown cover. Instead, he just vowed that as soon as he caught up to him, he was going to crush him with everything he had.
Unfortunately for him, that would never come to happen, in fact, he never did stop that person, because he was already stopped by, as Neji would say 'A queer little kid'.
The thief had gotten half way down the street before he was tripped, (some ninja) leaving Neji in a very embarrassed mood and a very disturbing look, for he was the pursuer, and not some other person. (That was the hardest and most ridiculous paragraph I've ever written.)
"I didn't need your help." Neji scoffed at the little kid who was sitting on the pickpocket.
"Sure you didn't, Neji." The little kid laughed in an ever so oddly familiar way…
It's pathetic, but this is just to paste the last two chapters together…