Chapter 3

After one afternoon, playing "I forgot everything" was getting rather dull. Naruto bugged her, Sakura was just flat out annoying, and, despite what Sasuke said, their teacher wasn't any better. Ume would have gone back to the sound village the first chance she got if only she knew Orochimaru wouldn't be mad a disappointed.

So, she just put up with it.

During the early evening, Naruto insisted on eating ramen to celebrate Ume's joining of team 7. Ume almost said no, but noticed when Naruto was pointing at Kakashi's turned back, then pretended to be pulling down the mask. For once Sakura agreed with him. The younger girl guessed the duo had tried it before, and failed, but she too was curious what was really under the mask. She accepted, convinced the nurses to let them go, and then grabbed her money bag which hung loosely at her side. She didn't worry about pick pocketers; she would get them before they knew what happened.

"So, where ya from?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know."

"Oh yeah. What's your favorite food?"

"I can't remember." She lied.

"Uh hu. Do you prefer chicken ramen or beef ramen?"

"NARUTO! Leave the poor girl alone!" Sakura yelled and hit the back of his head. For once Ume was glad of her presence. "Geez, that Naruto is so annoying."

"Who are you calling annoying, huh?" He shot back.

"I'm calling you annoying."

"Why?"

"Because you are!" The pair kept squabbling, and Ume sped up a little to dull the noise.

No wonder Sasuke left his team. They were a bunch of head cases.

"Hey, Ume! It's that one there!" Naruto yelled, and Ume turned at the one to her left. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura followed. "Hey, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled, and wheeled himself down next to a younger looking man. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"What happened to you? You broke both legs!"

"Well, I broke them when I fell off a tree limb, and the limb landed on Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan." Naruto muttered while rubbing the back of his neck. "It was an accident; honest!"

"Uh-huh," The man named Iruka said unbelievingly. He looked over at Kakashi, who nodded, then handed her bowl to the man working behind the counter. "I've got to get going. Tomorrow is a school day." He smiled at Naruto, and nodded his head at the rest of the team. "Stay safe." He said before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

Sakura hurried to take his place, and Ume scurried to sit on her other side. After eating, although Naruto made it look like a massacre, they went back to the hospital. Once again, they team had failed to see what was under Kakashi's mask. When they reached the hospital, they went into their separate directions. Ume went straight back to her room, but halted in front of the door. A familiar presence lingered inside.

Ume quickly pushed the door open and had a kunai in her hand. He turned around just before she threw and got up to shut the door. "You followed me!" She hissed so that the nurses in the hall couldn't hear. "You're supposed to be with Orochimaru!"

"Oh, it was fun to spy on them. Plus, you never detected my presence."

"Stupid! Baka! What if somebody saw you?"

"Nobody did, so drop it."

"Sasuke, you idiot." She growled. "I realized why you hate your teammates. They're all idiots!"

"Be careful not to underestimate them. Naruto has as much chakra as you do, Sakura was top of the class, and Kakashi is a top jounin."

"This is the first time you've ever said anything positive abut them."

"I'm just telling you to be careful. Orochimaru would kill someone, probably me or Kabuto, if you died." He smirked and went over to the window. "By the way, I don't understand how everyone fell for your act. It was horrible."

"Well let's see you do better next time. Now go, or else a nurse will come or some-"

"Excuse me, but are you alright?" Somebody called through the door. Ume turned to look at it, but when she turned back Sasuke was gone, as she expected.

"I'm quite alright. Thank you for asking." She called back and settled into her bed. She then turned out the light, and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, she was awoken by Naruto yelling outside her door. "UME-SAN! TIME TO START TRAINING!"

"Idiot!" She heard Sakura yell at him. Ume was tempted to flip over and put a silencing jutsu on the room, but decided to get up. She changed into her regular clothing, the new ones the village had provided, and slowly made her way out.

"Good morning Ume-san!" Naruto said, a little too happily.

Ume just glared.

"You're as bad a Sasuke in the mornings." Kakashi muttered and snapped her book shut, "Alright, into the forest. Now we have to train."

"Alright!" Sakura and Naruto yelled at the same time.

Ume just grunted.

Thank you to all readers. Feel free to leave comments and whatever. There won't be any updates for the next week or two, so don't have your hopes up.