The Sacred Forest Whispers

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By Flight

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Disclaimer: Dude if I wrote this, why would it be on ffnet! Anyways, Naruto does not belong to me blah blah blah but THIS STORY DOES! TAKE THIS STORY AND YOU DIE! Thank you.

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The Pain of an Ant

By Aburame Daisuke

(The scene opens with a cheerful grassy background. The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and the ants are all getting to work.)

Bugsy: Man, this is hard work.

Mila: Better get to it, Bugsy, or else the Boss will get mad.

Bugsy: You know, have you ever imaged life outside the hill?

Mila: (snaps) don't talk of that or you'll be put in jail! (She hurries off)

Bugsy: You know, (he's talking to himself) I've always felt like there was something in me that was not quite ant. I can't explain it.

(He starts singing the 'Over the Rainbow song'. This part has been cut out for your convenience)

Bugsy: (drops all his wood) I know! I'll run away and become a city ant! (He scurries away from the other ants and walks out of the grass) Mm, what's this place? Ooh, this place is all war—

(SPLAT)

(…and so ends the life of Bugsy the ant)

The End

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The wind brushed the edge of my face suggestively, pulling my sort of dirty golden locks down from behind my ear into my eyes. I blinked, irritated.

"…Ow…"

It was a rather fine day to be out; the sun was shining bright enough for it be warm while the breeze kept the heat at bay. I was barefoot, in the grass, while Daike had his tanned calves stuck halfway into the freezing running stream. He'd rolled up his jeans so they were a little above his knees, pushed up his glasses so his full and dark black eyes could be shyly seen from behind his golden bangs, and in his left hand was a small, almost transparent, fishing net. He stood poised above the water, totally immobile. I watched, amused, from my position in the grass, my arms crossed.

"One… two… three… HYAH!" He pounced on an innocent looking minnow, which hopped up in the air once and shimmered away as quickly as it had been seen. Daike threw the net back onto land and pouted. "Argh! That's got to be the tenth one that got away!"

"Twelfth."

"Oh, just shut up!"

In class, we were almost inseparable and almost impossible to tell apart. But, when we were alone on days like this, our unique personalities seemed to surface up in obvious and rather blatant ways. Daike is a much more open person then I am, but that is possibly due to the fact that he keeps a much lower amount of bugs in his body than I do and goes out on Thursdays every week to eat Oden with his friends in some restaurant somewhere. He laughs and smiles a lot, especially in situations like this, and isn't that afraid to talk to people.

I, on the other hand, find myself cold, silent, and altogether not-get-along-able. I'm often hidden in Daike's shadow most of the time, and until recently I haven't really cared all that much.

But ever since we've been placed into three-man genin cells, I found it hard to not grow fond of my teammates. Kizune's sort of stoic, but amusing and weird at the same time. I have to admit; when I first met her face-to-face I had a full-out crush on her for the longest time. It wasn't until last year that I realized that she only thought of me as a friend and I really only thought of her as a friend, and that the prospect of me and her getting together were null to zero. Of course, Taka doesn't know I've gotten over my crush, and he still glares at me from the corner of his eye, like he's saying 'I'm watching you' or something.

I think Taka's kind of cute.

He used to have standard Hyuuga hair, which flowed to a little below his shoulders, but then he seemed to have gotten bored of the style and just hacked it off one day. Now his hair falls just a little below his ear, but it's still as chocolate-colored as ever. I want to eat his hair sometimes.

I tell this to Daike, who just turns around and looks at me funny. Hey, there's as limit to what a twin could understand about his other, right?

I'm thinking this while Daike's finally waded out of the stream, dirt all over his feet and probably in-between his toes, yelling at me even though I'm only two feet away, "Hey Daisuke, Auntie wants us to go inside to get some cider! Do you want some cider?"

I growl at him, but he just ignores me and, hands pulling up his now-muddy pants, waddles onto the hill. I stifle a laugh and follow him

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Cell 3

Profile Reports by Aburame Daisuke

Jounin Instructor:

Name Nara Shikamaru

Nicknames: Shika-sensei

Age: He won't tell us, but because he's the same age as Kizune's mom, he's around thirty-seven.

Birthday: I have no clue

Height: 5' 8"

Hair: Dark, dark brown, a little tinged with gray (even if he won't admit it)

Eyes: Black

Married: Yes, to Yamanaka Ino. All I know is she's loud and kind of bossy and doesn't seem to like me much, like I'm going to infest her with bugs if she touches me or something.

Kids: Kuniwara. They're alike, but not alike at the same time. Kuniwara's a pretty easy-going guy, though I think he thrives on competition. His hair is extremely pale, almost white, and hangs ragged a little below his chin. He likes to zone out in class, but I've never actually seen him fall asleep on his desk, though I know he likes sleeping everywhere else—his bed, his table, the bench, my feet…

Personality: Shika-sensei seems pretty lazy and easy-going at first, but he's actually pretty strict. We start out our day with fifty push-ups, eighty curl-ups, kunai and shuriken throwing, then some activity that Shika-sensei planned for us beforehand. It's just when it gets to sparring that he starts falling asleep.

Other: He used to part of the ANBU, but was taken out to start training cells. I know that Naruto-san had escaped this fate by giving the Hokage the excuse that he had too many responsibilities to take care of three more brats (he's kind of right, I'd be kind of tired out picking up after Kizune and Gaara all day…) Note: This was before Naruto-san was promoted

Teammates

Name Sabaku no Kizune

Nicknames: Kittling

Age: 13

Birthday: June 4

Height: 5' 3"

Hair: A rich, sun-kissed blonde color that splashes down beneath her shoulders, her hair is probably one of her best features. I heard Taka saying she never cuts it, and I just might believe him. It's totally straight too, except for the right half of her bangs—it's sort of puffed up and, when bending down, it totally covers her right eye.

Eyes: Sort of pale, emerald-like green. A little darker then Gaara's green and a little less crystalline then Naruto's blue.

Mother: Uzamaki Naruto, current Hokage, wonderful cook, totally insane. He's lean, strong, and still young and pretty. I don't totally understand myself, but something about how the demon keeps him from aging beyond twenty, or something like that, so he looks really young still. I doubted his abilities before, but now, I'm glad to say, even though he's still pretty crazy, insane, and totally out of wack, he's an awesome ninja. That's all I'm going to say.

Father: Sometimes I wonder who's more insane: Easy-going, ecstatic, spasmodic Naruto, or cold, heartless, homicidal Gaara. After thinking about it after a while, the whole cell seems to agree that Naruto is definitely the scarier one of the bunch. But Gaara's not one to mess with either. He's pretty decent, though; if you don't tick him off too badly. Or at all, if you want to be safe. He's got a big soft spot for triangular cut watercress sandwiches with a hole cut out of the middle. Don't ask why he likes it with a hole cut out of the middle, even Naruto-san doesn't even know. He's an ok Kazekage, though he has a habit of either ditching his work altogether and causing his secretaries to have a heart-attack or staying up till 5 AM in the morning working on it then suddenly falling asleep flat on his face onto his work. There was a rumor that he didn't sleep at all when he was little, but now since Naruto's around he could sleep in all he liked. I don't know why. I need to do a little more investigating.

Siblings: NONE. I cannot imagine Naruto and Gaara having another kid. No. Way. Besides, it was an arranged marriage in the first place, its not like they're willing to have another kid just for the fun of it (since the first time was due to some universal problem that would've caused all existence as we know it to collapse and all this other scientific stuff that doesn't seem to make much sense…)

Personality: Kizune's like this most of time: She's really warm and funny when she's with her friends (Michiru, Lana, and Kourochi) but she gets all cold and stony when she meets someone new. She's kind of quirky, in a way, because she's got a temper like the devil herself but almost never shows it most of the time. She's never killed a ninja in her life.

Other: She feels like she's responsible for her parent's arguments, though in my opinion Naruto and Gaara are the world's most perfect lovey-dovey parents compared to Taka's mom and dad, so I don't know what she's worried about. Besides, the fights they get into (with Naruto leading most of the fights) are normal old-married-couple related things (if you count fighting over why Gaara had just murdered that ninja on the kitchen table and how Naruto had cleaned it just Yesterday and that he wants Gaara to drag the body downstairs so it can decompose with the others normal) and it isn't Kizune's fault. But she doesn't really listen to me all that much anymore, so she just totally ignores me anyway.

Name Hyuuga Taka

Nicknames: None that I can think of

Age: 13

Birthday: November 29

Height: 5' 4"

Hair: His hair's short, cut a little below his earlobe. It's this dark, swirly shade of milk chocolate that sort of rises up and down every time he walks. I would even say that it wasn't exactly very Asian-like hair, as it was more in little locks than all straight and thin, but I think it's cuter that way. Shit, Daike saw what I wrote and he's trying to strangle me right now for thinking about another boy that way… Daike, get OFF…

Eyes: Dark brown, though light enough that it sort of sparkles in the light. No more comments beyond that. NOTE: He doesn't have the Byakugen

Mother: Tenten. I don't really know her last name. She's just… Tenten. She has her hair all tied up in one bun, always looks sort of thin-lipped and angry all the time, and she likes shouting at people. Well, she does when Neji-san's around, at least, which was often. I'm sorry to say this Taka, but I think its best for your parents to split up.

Father: I like Neji-san better than Tenten. Most people view Neji-san as a cold, arrogant bastard that's both sexist and racist and hates anything that doesn't follow tradition. Ok, so maybe their half right. He is cold and kind of sexist, but he's not arrogant and I've never seen him be racist before. He acts all high and mighty in public sometimes, but that's because he's got a reputation to keep as the captain of the Elite ANBU (even though now he's pregnant that reputation might go down the drain). He fusses over his kids like a mother hen, though, and it's kind of creepy the first time.

Siblings: One. Er, two, I guess, if you count his dad being pregnant, but it's an unborn kid so I can't say much about that. He has a little five-year old sister named Miki (short for Tamiki) who Tenten loves to pamper. She is kind of cute and all, with her hair tied into two warm brown pigtails that curl inward in this soft, bouncy fashion that look so adorable! According to my mom, by the way. Taka swears she is the devil, with all her temper-tantrums, wicked smiles, and evil plans she cracks up to solely trip up her older brother and ruin his life forever. I think she's how all little kids are at this age: obnoxious, crazy, and downright mean, and that the only reason Taka feels so iffy about her is probably because she's got the Byakugen and he doesn't, but don't tell him I said that…

Personality: He tries to act all punk and mean, but, face it Taka, you are the worlds' nicest, kindest, and neatest boy I have ever met. And he complains that Neji's too neat. In my opinion, it's like Father like son. Seriously. If Taka had the Byakugen and hadn't cut his hair he would probably look exactly like his father. He's kind of arrogant when he meets someone he can't stand, he's an expert at staring-people-down, and he hates messes. Also, he gets really ticked off by stupidity. If he caught someone doing something that is downright dumb, he'd probably go overboard and declare war on the guy or something. Also, I quote him he 'believes that fate may not always poke a stick into your side, but it doesn't mean its not there'. Or something. I don't really know what he means. He confuses me when he says stuff like that.

Other: He was always kind of segregated from the other Hyuuga kids, since he doesn't have the Byakugen and all. The only one that seemed to still love-him-anyways was probably Neji-san, even if he was a more of an aggressive type (come on, he's a guy, he can't just go all lovey-dovey on him). That's why even if his dad's pregnant; I believe that Taka would stand up for his father, no matter what happened. I can't say the same thing for his mother though…

Report Ended.

Signing off….

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I got a phone call from Kizune today. It went something like this:

Kizune: Dai-chan!

Me: Hm, Kizune… (I was still in bed, and Daike was covering his ears with his pillow, trying hard not to wake up)

Kizune: How's your vacation?

Me: Fine, until you interrupted.

Kizune: Har, har, har. Very funny, Aburame. Just you wait, when you come back I've got a surprise for you.

Me!

Kizune: Do you notice the screaming noises from behind me?

Me: Yeah, sort of (there's this weird screeching noise—sounds like someone's talking but its too far away for me to hear the words clearly)

Kizune: If you're wondering what's that all about, last night at about three in the morning Mom caught a ninja spying on me from my window. Actually, Mom was more like 'scream and wake up Dad who's going to frickin' kill him for waking him up from his beauty sleep!' Anyways, Mom and Dad fought for about two hours until Mom was so worn out he just flopped onto the (red) couch and just fell asleep, snoring. And since Dad couldn't sleep without Mom in the same room and still be completely sane, he was forced to either sleep on the table, the ground, or on the couch huddled up with Mom. He chose the table at first, but then he decided to move in with Mom.

Me: Er, and how do you know this stuff?

Kizune: Well, I watched them the whole time (cue in evil smile; I can't see, but I can totally imagine the edges of her lips curling upwards) and recorded it onto a video disk.

Me: Um… why?

Kizune: Because I'm making a 'Why Mom and Dad like each other and stay together' scrap book to give to them on their anniversary.

Me: ….?

Kizune: (sighs) Ok, ok, it was my Aunt Temari's idea, ok? She said it'd 'reassure me' of their marriage if I just looked at all the good aspects of their fighting and stuff. She said if I paid attention more I can see how much my parents love (gag, choke, choke) each other I'd feel better.

Me: Well, at least they're better than Taka's parents.

Kizune: Oh, don't get me started.

Daike: Daisuke, just hang up, I'm trying to go to sleep?

Kizune: Hey, let me talk to him.

(I hold the phone up to Daike's ear)

Kizune: MORNING DAI-KUN!

(Daike lifts his head up, eyes red)

Daike: I'M GOING TO FRICKIN' KILL YOU SABAKU WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP AT THIS HOUR IN THE MORNING?

(I retrieve the phone and put it up to my ear. Kizune's laughing her butt off, and she's probably rolling around on the floor somewhere)

Kizune: Oh. My. Gosh. I've always wanted to do that!

Me: Great, now you've gotten my twin mad at me. What else do you want to tell me?

Kizune: I saw Taka naked!

Me: O-O! Wha—

(Kizune hangs up)

Me: … ARGH!

Daike: SHUT UP!

Thus ended my conversation at four o'clock in the morning…

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To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

THERE IS NO MORE MILK IN THE REFRIGERATOR! WE (DAIKE AND I) WENT TO BUY SOME MORE! THEN WE'RE GOING OVER OUR FRIEND'S HOUSE, THE PHONE NUMBER IS TAPED BELOW! DON'T BOTHER TO PICK US UP, WE'LL WALK HOME! NEVER MIND IT'S A THREE MILE WALK, WE'RE NINJAS! SEE YOU LATER!

To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

Hey sorry, I was I really rushed last time so the note came out in all caps (since my computer was on caps lock). We got home and you STILL weren't here, so I wanted to correct myself before you got back. We got some milk, and Daike even bought some cereal! It's not the kind you like though. Hope you come back soon! (Now we're going to the park to play a game called 'soccer'. You just kick this ball around, I don't think any of us would be seriously hurt by this).

To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD DAIKE'S DEAD

To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

HE LIVES! We were playing soccer and Daike got whammed in the head really hard by the ball. His sunglasses cracked and everything and there was blood everywhere. I was kind of freaking out, sorry to bother you.

To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET HOME!

To: Daisuke-kun

From: Your Dear Auntie

Had it ever occurred to you that I am home? You've been sending messages to me even though I came home yesterday! I'm in my room!

To: Auntie

From: Daisuke

Oops, sorry, I missed you. We actually searched all over the house for you, and when we even looked for you in your room, where you said you were. Sorry we didn't find you until three hours later. I thought you were the rug.

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Dear Hyuuga Taka,

I don't know how to exactly say this, but I think I am in love with you.

(Too blunt. Scratch that.)

Dear Taka-kun,

I don't know, but every time I look at you I feel my heart beating faster.

(NO! Too cheesy. Throw it in the waste basket)

Dear wonderful Hyuuga god,

Your eyes are deep and wide, like two dark pools of milky chocolate. It doesn't matter that it is not white or blank; I love you for what you really are inside, for that thumping beating heart within you that screams sincerity and kindness, that makes my own cheeks turn red with love for you…

(Ew… too poetic. Next…)

To Taka:

I like you. I can't think of any way else to say it. I really, really, like you. I might even love you. I'm too scared to tell you who I am, so I'm just going to tell you this. We grew up together, went to the same school together, and even know each other to the day. I just wanted to let you know my feelings, so I won't have to keep it bottled up anymore.

From: Your Anonymous Admirer

P.S. I really like your hair cut. Your hair's so dark and silky it makes me want to eat it. Because it looks like chocolate. Tee-hee.

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Authors Note: REVIEW! (Pounces on the single review) THANK YOU! I included some profiles here under Daisuke's musings, so I hope it's easier for some of you! PLEASE OTHER PEOPLE R/R IT GIVES ME MOTIVATION TO WRITE!