Authors' Notes: The last short story in this collection! More Naruto (though he may seem a little OOC) and Gaara...some Sasuke...of course Jiyou and Akemi...Haha...this is entertaining!

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Akemi was sitting at the kitchen table one bright morning. There was no training, no missions, that day and she wasn't sure what she would do with herself. She sighed, looking into her tea. Maybe she'd find a way to "bump into" Sasuke again…It slightly depressed her that she hadn't seen him in nearly a week. Even Jiyou's been finding Gaara around more than I have Sasuke! For at least a day after the tree climbing incident Jiyou had walked around in a daze.

Just then, her sister came into the kitchen. "Good morning!"

"Wow, you're…awake. And cheerful," Akemi replied, surprised. Jiyou normally slept in more.

"But you're not. What's wrong?"

Akemi grumbled but decided to tell her. "Maybe I should just forget about it. I mean, like we said, he lacks emotion…"

Poor Akemi. Maybe if she took a "walk"…Nah. Too much exercise. "Well, I don't know…I mean, you know how Gaara is, but I still follow him…I mean…you know…not like that…I really meant to say I still like him." He's actually very hard to find, thought Jiyou. "Don't give up."

The more Akemi thought about it, the more frustrated she became. "You know, why does there have to be so much conflict over Sasuke?"

Jiyou pretended to look thoughtful for a moment. "Welll…Maybe because he's talented…ok, more like a prodigy…and 'dark and mysterious' and all that stuff…"

"Anyone can see that. I mean…Ugh! WHY? You shouldn't pity me, you know. I need to do something about this instead of sulking." Akemi straightened and took a breath…but soon looked puzzled. "But what? Don't give me that look! I know I'm pathetic!"

As she walked away, Jiyou looked at Akemi's unfinished tea. Wow, she must be upset. Akemi always finishes her tea. I have to do something! YAAAAA! Jiyou stood and called to her sister, "I'll be back!"

Stepping out of the front door, Jiyou's confidence melted away. What am I doing? Jiyou began walking…and soon found herself pacing in front of Sasuke's door.

Once, she raised her hand to knock, but turned away again. What do I say to him anyway? "Hey my sister, Akemi – you remember her – really likes you, but she doesn't want to scare you away like the other girls do. So could you pleeease show a little more sensitivity and give her a chance? She won't be a crazy fangirl…" No, that'll seem like Akemi doesn't have enough backbone to do anything herself…

It was then that Jiyou realized her doing anything (openly) probably wouldn't help.

I have to find out what Sasuke likes. If Akemi knows that much, she can take it from there. But how…Naruto! I'll ask him when they have practice and then I'll sneak into Sasuke's house and search through his stuff! "It can't fail!" Jiyou said, laughing to herself. She stopped and looked around, making sure no one heard her.

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Jiyou finally reached Naruto's apartment. For Akemi…For Akemi… she thought as she knocked on his door. Naruto startled Jiyou when he opened it, still in his pajamas. And was that a night cap or a stuffed animal on his head?

Realizing Jiyou was obviously staring at his hat, he immediately took it off. "Hey Jiyou! What are you doing here?"

She was removed from her state of shock and answered, "Oh. Um. Hey Naruto…I was just wondering if you have a mission today?"

"Why?" Naruto asked curiously.

For Akemi! "'Cause I was just wondering if you (wincing) wanted to hang out later…"

He assumed his "relaxed" pose and said, "Gee…I don't know. I'm awfully busy. You know…I want to become-"

"Yes, yes. I know! But do you have a mission today?"

Naruto was surprised. Wow. She really wants to be with me! Heheh. No one can resist me! "Umm…yeah, but not until the afternoon."

DAMN! That means I have to be near him for TWO HOURS! "Ok. Well, I'll just come back another-"

"No!" Naruto shouted, "Let me just get my stuff! Hold up!" With that he closed the door. A few minutes later he was back. "READY! Ok, let's go!"

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Akemi heard her sister leave and immediately thought, Oh no…What will she do?

Having nothing better to do (except maybe practice…no…maybe not) Akemi left the house too. She didn't know if she should try to find Jiyou…She didn't know where she went in the first place. So, I guess I'll just take a walk to clear my head. Yeah.

Akemi just hoped she wouldn't run into Kankuro, or Gaara…Although, because of Jiyou's crush on him, she felt he might be more tolerable. What she didn't realize was that Sasuke's "hobby" was also taking walks.

And that could be potentially worse than meeting Kankuro…

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"And then Sasuke tried to fight me, but he knew he couldn't ever match my chakra, so he just-"

"Ok! I get it already. Can we go somewhere else?"

"Why? You don't like the ramen noodles? I'll have 'em. By the way, do you have any money to pay for these?"

Jiyou groaned, slapped the money into Naruto's hand, and stomped off. AHHH! I CAN'T take him anymore! I don't ned to hang around with him anyway. I already know his team has a mission. Time to put my plan into action!

From above, Jiyou heard the town's clock ring out. Ha! Noon! But she looked up and the clock only read 11:30 am. "Ahhh! Only 30 minutes!" I need to take a walk.

Jiyou headed towards the forest as well.

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Akemi sat beneath a tall pine. I wonder if Jiyou's home yet…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a stirring nearby. What…? Just then Akemi saw Sasuke approaching, hands in his pockets, looking absorbed in his own thoughts. Sasuke! Akemi almost panicked, but scolded herself. Oh, stop it Akemi! You've talked to him before!

So she just sat there, watching Sasuke get closer. Act casual, not like you're stalking him. "Hi, Sasuke," Akemi acknowledged him. Was that casual? To her surprise, he actually stopped.

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Meanwhile, Jiyou was entering the forest, sticking to more well-worn paths. I'm not going to run into any unwanted people this time. But seeing Gaara again would be good…Maybe I could get him to talk…

"JIIIYOUUUU! OH, JIIIYOUUUU!"

NARUTO! NO! She decided it was better to get lost than let Naruto see her, so Jiyou ran into the heavy foliage. Noo! He's coming closer! What to do, what to do? RUN? Yes, Jiyou, run MORE! Ok. I will!

With that she took off leaping behind bushes and trees.

"There you are Jiyou!"

I know that voice! Jiyou gritted her teeth as she turned and saw Naruto smiling back at her. Great.

"Hey Naruto. I didn't seeee you there…" she said through her teeth.

"That's ok!" he replied in his extremely loud voice, "Where've you been? Exercising, I take it. I tried my best to keep up, but, man, you run fast!"

Naruto sat down near Jiyou, who had given up. "Sooo Jiyou. You've sure taken a liking to…well…me or something I do…"

Actually no. I just used you to help my sister.

"…Anyway, I was just thinking maybe you'd want to…"

Jiyou had lost all concentration. She was too preoccupied with two insomniac's eyes staring down at her and Naruto from a tree across from where they were sitting.

"…So how about it, Jiyou? I mean Sakura's great and all, but I want to be…"

What amazing eyes. Too bad I can't wave to him; that'd be weird for everyone. Maybe Gaara will save me from Naruto…

"…really likes me back. So, Jiyou, what do you say?"

She hadn't even noticed that Naruto had been creeping towards her. All of a sudden, Naruto's face popped into Jiyou's line of vision, cutting her off from that water-colored stare.

"AACK!" she screamed as she toppled backwards, caught off-guard. Naruto's arm shot out to steady her, and he momentarily grabbed the wrong place – Oh, he better NOT have done that on purpose! – but he quickly recovered, moving his hand up to her shoulder.

"Sorry. Were you listening to me?" he asked.

Jiyou was enraged and reeally hoped Gaara hadn't seen that. She shook Naruto's hand off. "No, I was preoccupied! Not right now, please, Naruto." Her face was turning red. She glanced over Naruto's shoulder but could no longer see any sign of her crush.

Naruto, on the other hand, was giving her a confused and somewhat hurt look. Right about then Jiyou didn't care, although she realized she'd been hurting Naruto quite a bit lately. But knowing she might need him in the future (as wrong as it was), Jiyou said, "I'm sorry too." Grrr…Not really! "But don't you have to go soon anyway?"

"Oh, yeah…right…"

They stood up and Jiyou brushed herself off. Akemi owes me double this time! Why do I put myself through this?

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