FUUSHIGI YUME

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00.11

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Naruto and Sakura arrived first at the training grounds. "Ah-hah! Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naurto yelled, grinning. Sakura smiled weakly back and said, "H-hey Naruto ..." She looked around. "Wow. I guess we're here first today." Her smile slipped into a smirk. "Looks like you finally beat Sasuke-kun."

Naruto beamed. Right up until a voice in his ear snorted, "As if."

The blonde jumped a foot in the air.

"SASUKE, you bastard!"

"NARUTO!"

"Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"Stop yelling, dobe."

"Hah! You're just jealous because you lost to me!"

"At what? Being here early? Please; that's nothing to be proud of."

"What?! Why you--"

"Naruto!"

The blonde avoided Sakura's fist, ignoring the grin on Sasuke's face. 'Hmph--that smug bastard...'

Then, the blonde's frown warped into a grin, and Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "What's that smirk for, dobe?" he asked, a bit unnerved by the blonde's sudden swing in emotions.

"You know," Naruto said mysteriously.

Sasuke frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You know," Naruto stressed, eyes sliding down Sasuke's body and suddenly it clicked, "I know why it took you so long to get here."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke hissed, though Naruto knew that he had the Uchiha now.

"I saw DJ and Tohru this morning ... they were lookin' for you," Naruto said in a half sing-song voice, knowing that it was killing Sasuke, who was beginning to blush. Sakura blinked, semi-oblivious.

"What did they want? Directions to the training grounds?"

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "They--" Sasuke jumped over to him and shoved a hand over the blonde's mouth.

Sakura blinked, "Hey, what's going on guys?"

Naruto broke away from Sasuke's hand and blurted, "They were at his house last night!!!"

Sakura's eyes widened and Sasuke tensed. Naruto squirmed in Sasuke's grip. "It's true! They said last night they were at your place, and that you--" Sasuke put his hand back over Naruto's mouth. "Shut it, dobe! You make it sound dirty," he hissed. Inner Sakura was fuming. 'They were at Sasuke-kun's house ... thwy were at Sasuke-kun's house ... and I wasn't? How DARE THEY? HOW DARE THEY?!' Naruto thought of a way to get Sasuke off him, and tested it. Licking the palm of the other boy's hand seemed effective, as the offended Uchiha shoved the blonde away so hard that Naruto tumbled across the floor and landed in a heap twenty feet away. Sasuke wiped his hand on his pants as Naruto re-oriented himself and sung at the top of his lungs.

"Sasuke and Tohru and DJ, too! All last night, what did they do?"

He dodged a punch as the enraged and flushing Sasuke flung himself at his loud-mouthed teammate. "Shut UP, Naruto!" he yelled. Sakura looked mortified.

"They were looking for a bracelet!" Sasuke shouted in his defense.

"Then why're you blushing?" Naruto teased as he caught the kunai Sasuke sent at his chest. The comment served to turn the dark-haired boy's face a shade redder. Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke as he rose another kunai.

"Well, sorry I'm ... oh?" He looked around, his single visible eye scanning the area his three students occupied. "Where're the new students?"

Naruto grinned and pointed to Sasuke, who dove at the latter and covered his mouth with a hand. "I'll treat you to ramen if you keep your yap shut for the rest of the day," he ground out as Naruto struggled. That caused Naruto to stop and nod. "Deal," he mouthed onto the other boy's hand. As they separated, Kakashi snickered while Sakura looked even more mortified.

"Let's keep our hands off of each other in front of a lady, boys," Kakashi mock-scolded as Naruto and Sasuke realized the positions they'd been in. It was all Sasuke could do not to slug his teacher as the idiot beamed at all of them, clearly enjoying the situation.

"Our first priority is to find our teammates, then I'll hand out the mission. I got a 5-man mission specifically for today, but we can't start it without the rest of the team." Naruto grumbled until Kakashi continued, "We'll meet at Ichiraku at 12, Sasuke's treat."

Sasuke's eye twitched as the blonde jumped in joy. Sakura growled and whacked him over the head as they headed into town. The Uchiha heir looked up at his silver-haired teacher

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Aa?"

"I hate you."

"Aa."

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00.12

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Later that day, Kakashi came across a determined Tohru. As he spied her from one of the trees, he wondered. 'She doesn't look like she's up to any trouble ... more like she's looking for trouble ... I wonder where her cousin is?' Shutting his orange book, he deemed the situation worthy of further investigation, and got closer. He jumped within thirty feet of the brown-skinned girl, careful to conceal his movements until the last moment, when he dropped down out of the tree. Instead of startling the girl, he was flipped onto his back and pinned before his feet could hit the ground.

"OK, you bastard, where's my ... my ..." Tohru blinked, "... oh my ... se-se-sensei!"

"Yo," Kakashi said weakly as Tohru let go of his vest.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I really am sorry," Tohru said quickly, "have I hurt you? Are you--"

A hand cut off her rambling. The silver haired man rubbed the back of his neck and checked discreetly for injury. Finding himself in relatively good condition, he sat up and shook his head. "I'm impressed," he said, addressing her reflexes. Tohru nodded absently, looking worriedly at his neck. Kakashi watched her, amused, and took a stray strand of her hair between two fingers. Tohru suddenly noticed her hair in her teacher's hands, and their closeness. "Your hair's soft," Kakashi noted, bringing the lock to his lips, then to his nose. "And fragrant."

Tohru blinked. "Kakashi-sensei ...?"

The silver-haired man looked down at his student.

"It smells nice," he said finally, dropping the strand and forcing a smile as Tohru looked at him blankly. False understanding drew across Tohru's face and she beamed. "Th-thank you very much, sensei!" Kakashi nodded, pulling out his orange novel.

"Tohru?"

The book nearly fell out of Kakashi's hands. DJ emerged from behind him, looking curiously satisfied at his obviously startled appearance. "I found the guy," she said mysteriously, the words having no meaning to the jounin, but serving as a trigger for the other gennin.

"WHAT?!?!!? WHERE IS THAT BASTARD? HE'll WISH HE WAS NEVER BORN WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH 'IM!" she thundered, stampeding in the direction from which DJ'd come. The student and teacher left studied each other in silence. The silence only lasted a moment.

"Pervert," DJ said finally, earning a twitch from her sensei.

"..."

"You realize I'm gonna give you hell before I let you get that close again?"

Kakashi suddenly realized that she'd seen the entire exchange moments ago, and had a pretty good feeling that she'd follow up on her claim. Crossing his arms, he held back a frustrated grin as the teen trekked after her cousin.

"I think ... that I hate you."

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00.13

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"KISAMA! GIMMIE BACK MY BRACELET BACK! RIGHT! NOW!"

The light-blue haired boy grunted as he was thrown against a tree, the dark-skinned girl's fist gripping his collar. "Get off me, man!" he demanded, shoving her hands away from him and freeing himself from the bark. Tohru growled and thrust an accusing finger at his pocket. "Turn 'em out, buster, I betcha there's a gold bracelet and a scrunchie in ONE of those pockets!" The boy stared at her blankly for a moment before a sneer crossed his face.

"Yeah," he said, sliding a hand into a pocket and slipping on the scrunchie, "what of it? You gonna make me give 'em back?" He slid the other hand into the pocket opposite and withdrew the bracelet. Tohru's eyes glittered maddeningly as her bracelet dangled from his fingers tauntingly.

"Shuuji-kun!" boomed a voice from the trees, causing Tohru to blink, "You should not steal! It is wrong and unjust! The youth must never take from their peers what can be achieved by hard work or simply by asking!"

Tohru swore she could see a grin and someone giving a thumbs-up sign in the top of a tree.

"Shut up, Lee," said a white-eyed boy, stepping out from behind a tree trunk near the two, "and Shuuji; give her back her things. It's unbecoming to steal from a lady." Tohru flushed lightly, but kept her eyes on the ringlet dangling in the blue-haired boy's hands.

"I don't have to," Shuuji snorted, "She can't make me. If she wants them she'll have to take them, fair and square."

"Oh, no you don't," Tohru said, "You wanna fight? Bring it!"

Neji frowned, ready to put a stop to the entire thing when a hand pushed him to the side. A long-haired girl meandered towards the two grumpily; Neji could clearly read the anger all over her even without his Byakugan. He stared at the grumbling teen as Tohru prepared to attack. The two lunged at each other and DJ grabbed the back of Tohru's shirt and tossed her aside, catching the rushing, wide-eyed Shuuji's shirt instead. She stared him down for a few seconds before swiping her hand out and turning to Tohru.

"Here," she grunted, tossing the bracelet back to its owner and sliding the scrunchie back onto her own wrist. Tohru wass about to say thanks when DJ sighed.

"That's it, we're going home."

Tohru frowned. "But DJ, I have to get this bastard back--"

The long-haired girl grabbed the front of Tohru's shirt and stared her hungrily in the face, eyes narrowed to slits like a snake and mouth in an eerie grin. "You owe me an entire meal," she ground out, eye twitching, "so let's GO." She dropped her friend and began to stalk off in the general direction of their house. Shuuji shouted at their backs. "Chickening out already?"

Tohru turned around slowly. "Don't make me set her on you," she hissed, pointing at DJ, who gave Shuuji a look that rivaled the void of a black hole.

Needless to say Shuuji didn't feel the need to comment on their retreat any more and shut his yap.

Once the two girls were out of sight, Neji and Lee dropped down next to Shuuji, followed by an annoyed Tenten. "Shuuji, you idiot! What kind of a ninja steals? That's totally against moral codes!" Shuuji snorted.

"Ain't got no moral codes," he spat, right before barely blocking a blow from Neji, which sent him spiraling tot he ground, grunting in discomfort. The white-eyed boy's fist radiated heat, and his posture fumed silently. Shuuji stared at him for a moment before looking at the ground.

"The next time you take what is theirs, I won't wait 'till they're gone," Neji warned quietly, Tenten nodding. Lee looked at the blue-haired boy a little helplessly, as Shuuji hid his face. He mumbled something.

Neji's eyes narrowed. "What was that, thief? Speak up."

"I asked who those bitches were!" Shuuji shouted, "I ain't seen 'em around here before, and I ain't seen 'em around anywhere else, either!"

"Gai-sensei said that there were two new gennin admitted to another team today besides you, Shuuji," Tenten offered carefully, "and I hear that they're from the Uchiha clan."

Neji and Lee tensed at this; Shuuji's eyes darkened. The taijutsu expert wanted to fight the girls now, and Neji felt a pang of the same sensation. The four began the search for their sensei as their headed back towards the village.

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00.14

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Rachel held Monica's scrunchie in her hand. 'Monica ... where the hell are you?' she thought to herself. Suddenly, the object in her hands gave off a golden glow, shocking the blonde. Without another thought, Rachel shouted at the hair tie.

"Monica! Jaya! Are you there? Answer me, please!"

The glow receded, even as Rachel yelled.

"Monica? Jaya? ..."

She spoke softly, as though trying to coax the glow back, but it died as she felt tears well in her eyes.

"... damn ..."

She collapsed onto the floor, salty droplets spotting the scrunchie's surface.

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00.15

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When Tohru and DJ had finished their meal, they decided to walk around to digest. A half an hour later, Tohru moved closer to DJ and discretely whispered, "We're being watched. I think it's trouble." She received a snort.

"Tell someone who doesn't know," DJ said before suddenly stopping and jumping to a random tree three feet back. Tohru stared up into the branches, watching silently until a figure fell out, landing head-first on the ground. DJ landed on her feet next to the disgruntled boy, eyeing him unfavorably as he righted himself.

"What the HELL do you want?" DJ asked, pulling out a kunai. Shuuji held up his hands to show he meant no harm.

"Wait a minute," Tohru said, looking up at another tree, "there's more still." She jumped up into the tree, and felt the branch shift as the other gennin dropped down from the tree to avoid being pulled out like Shuuji had been. Neji landed, unlike his teammate, on his feet. Tohru also armed herself visibly, pulling out a kunai from its holster.

"And who are you?" she asked as DJ looked him over with half-surprise, half-recognition. Neji noted the odd combination before addressing Tohru's question. "We were in the area, and wanted to see if the rumors were true."

"And what rumors would those be?" Tohru asked incredulously.

"That there were two new Uchihas in the village," Neji replied.

DJ and Tohru exchanged a wide-eyed glance, and then cracked up.

Stunned at the sudden outburst, Neji and Shuuji could only stare at the girls who, only moments ago, had been staring them down. DJ recovered some breath first and tried to clear the confusion from the two boy's faces.

"We-we're not Uchiha-ha-ha haha! U-Uchihas," she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, "I don't know what Sasuke's been saying, but w-we're not related." She gave a deep sigh and stopped laughing, though a grin still sat on her face.

"Ye-yeah ... It was a joke," Tohru said, still getting over her own case of giggles. Shuuji and Neji both stared at the two girls.

"But ... you show promise! Your skills far exceed any elite ninjas, even those of our sensei," Lee reasoned.

DJ rose an eyebrow skeptically. "How'd'you figure that?"

"We put up our best guard ... and you saw right through it," Neji ground out, slightly embarrassed at having made to admit it. Shuuji piped up. "Even our sensei couldn't sense us ... but you--you managed to pull us right out of the trees!"

"That was just you, Shuuji," Neji snapped, still frustrated at being spotted by some green gennin girls.

"Didja ever think that he was letting you get away with hiding yourself?" DJ input, unfazed, "Maito Gai's pretty sharp."

Neji ground his teeth, then noted something. 'Wait... How does she know that Gai is our sensei?'

"Look, we're really not related to Sasuke in any way," Tohru said, waving it off, "We'll see you later, Neji-san, Shuuji-san." With that, the two girls continued their walk.

When they were out of earshot, Shuuji turned to Neji and growled. "Well? It's pretty obvious that they're from the Uchiha clan. No other clan is that fast, or that good." Neji rose an eyebrow. "I beg to differ," he murmured, "the Hyuugas are second in that line. But neither of them had eyes like ours ..."

He paused, and Shuuji frowned. "What is it?" he asked, slightly curious.

"It's the one with long hair," he said thoughtfully, "her eyes weren't white, but they were very ..." He trailed off, and Shuuji sweat dropped as the Hyuuga left the sentence unfinished, turning back towards the village. First the dark-skinned girl, then her cousin, now Neji ... why was everyone being so mysterious?!

The blue-haired boy ran a frustrated hand through his light blue locks and yelled before running to catch up.

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End . Chapters . 6-10

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Thanks again for your interest and time. : )

Next chapters 16-20