A/N:
So, I am excited. I am writing and I love it. I am actually putting these chapters out and doing well. It feels good to put my ideas on paper. This chapter took a little bit to put out because I was drawing again (WooWoo!) Hopefully I would have them uploaded for you all by the time I post this chapter 3 That being said, I am excited for this chapter. It's going to be a lot of story in this one versus show filler. That's my favorite part: writing my own story X3 Also, I've been trying to watch Naruto beginning to end officially so that might put a damper on things as well 🙁 But, I'm doing it so I can write the best story possible and not have to rewrite chapters. Anywho, stay on lookout for new drawings. Onto the new chapter!
Also. I just want to say thank you to Arabella. I was going to announce that I was going on hiatus this week. I found out that it's gonna take me an extra 2 months at least to finish school, I'm up to my ears in debt, and I am just overwhelmed and depressed. I figured nobody was really into it but that review you gave me, Arabella. It cheered me up better than you will ever know. It was small but it meant the world to me. Thank you 3
Onto the story!:
Ellainna met her team outside in a cheerful mood.
"C'mon you guys!" She smacked Kakashi on the back a little too forcefully, knocking him over. She put her foot on his back and pointed towards the sky. "Adventure waits for no man!"
Team 7 watched Ellainna in confusion. Why was she this hyper? Did they all not just survive a battle against a dangerous foe who, turns out, may not even be dead. Kakashi groaned in pain.
"Hel may uff," he said muffled, his face in the ground.
Ellainna hurriedly removed her foot and helped Kakashi stand back up. He swallowed his pride and leaned on Ellainna and his crutch. He was now in too much pain from his tumble to the ground and having to hobble from the room outside the front door to walk on his own. For now, anyway. Ellainna hooked Kakashi's arm over her shoulder in joy before asking her teammates, "Don't we look so cute together?!"
Kakashi groaned in annoyance and everyone ignored Ellainna, turning their back to her and Kakashi began directing them through the forest. Ellainna leaned her head next to Kakashi's and whispered to him "I guess you are stuck with me, hunh?"
She winked at him and he sighed, continuing to hobble with her through the forest.
Kakashi had led Team 7 to a clearing a little deep into the forest before telling them to stop and announced that they were going to train there.
He had Sakura reiterate what chakra was, more for Naruto's benefit than anyone else's, but it annoyed Ellainna nonetheless. She tuned Sakura out, her voice just sounding like an annoying buzzing in her ears. After Sakura's speech, Ellainna ditzly twirled some of her hair around her finger and mocked Sakura.
"Finally hand signs focus and unleash the chakra." She giggled annoyingly in an exaggerated manner to get her point across. Naruto burst into laughter while Sasuke and Kakashi both stifled a chuckle. Sakura turned red from fury and turned to round on Ellainna when Kakashi spoke, praising Sakura for her knowledge. This soothed her enough to avoid a real confrontation and she made a face at Ellainna, who gestured rudely with her finger in return. Sakura, outraged, began to complain to Kakashi. She had hoped to get her in trouble. Kakashi, however, put his hand over Ellainna's and pushed it down to her side as he spoke over Sakura's whines, moving the lesson along and back on track.
Naruto, now finished laughing, complained about the tediousness of the task. He didn't understand why he had to learn the basics of chakra to learn new jutsu. Sasuke agreed with Naruto, for once.
"No," Kakashi said as a matter of fact. "You have not mastered this power, you have barely scratched the surface of it."
"What do you mean," Naruto asked astonished.
"Calm down and listen," Kakashi replied. He alluded back to Sakura's explanation of chakra: the combination of physical and spiritual power being concentrated to use jutsu. He went in depth on chakra and its relation to performing jutsu: the different kinds of chakra, the different ratios, and how they have typically been winging it with chakra ratios, hoping it would come out properly. He explained how inefficient and wasteful of their energy it was to do that.
"Then, you're just a target," he concluded.
"Uhhh..." Naruto began. "So, how do we change that?"
"You train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes like second nature."
"What do we have to do," Sakura inquired.
"Climb a tree," Kakashi said, simply.
Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were shocked and confused. "Climb a tree," they asked in perpexed unity.
Ellainna, familiar with the training technique, nodded her head.
"Yup!"
"That's right," Kakashi said. "But, there's just one rule: no hands."
Sakura looked at him, unimpressed.
"What? You're kidding."
"Am I," Kakashi asked in response. "Let's see."
He made a hand sign and focused some chakra into his feet. Then he hobbled over to a tree and 'climbed' it with his feet until he was dangling upside from a high branch. Ellainna trailed behind him worriedly.
The rest of Team 7 watched on in shock and awe.
Kakashi explained the training task and how to do it. Sakura, once again thinking she was catching on to a hidden catch, asked what the training had to do with fighting Zabuza. Kakashi explained just how this training was supposed to help in a scolding tone. He then tossed a kunai to each of his students and explained the specificity of the assignment. They were to mark the highest point they climb without their hands onto the tree with the kunai, trying to get past it each time they climbed.
Naruto boasted confidently that he could easily ace the assignment before he, Sasuke, and Sakura began focusing their chakra. Ellainna stood under the tree was Kakashi was hanging and swung her kunai around her finger.
"Do I really have to do this," she asked, uninterested.
"Not really," Kakashi called out. "We could always talk about your drinking habits instead."
Ellainna turned red in embarrassment again and growled before she ran up the tree and hopped on top of the branch Kakashi was dangling from. She began jumping on it in fury.
"I don't care if you're injured! I hope you fall! I hope you fall and break an arm! You jerk! I already told you!"
Ellainna continued her tirade and torture of Kakashi while he tried his best to stick the swinging branch.
"Okay! Fine! Just stop!" They continued to interact like this while the rest of Team 7 began their training exercise.
Naruto charged at his tree, got two steps up, and immediately came tumbling down, hitting his head. He rolled around on the ground, clutching his head and shouting out in pain as Sasuke took his turn. He made it about one third the way up the tree before his chakra flow became too strong and pushed him away from the tree. Me made his mark in the bark and landed gracefully on his feet. Sakura, however, had made it to the treetops before she sat on a branch and called out to her team.
"Hey! This is fun!"
Naruto and Sasuke looked up in surprise and Ellainna stopped shaking the tree branch to look up at Sakura. Kakashi, happy that Ellainna was now worn out and done with her torture, praised Sakura for her proficient ability. Naruto followed suit and cheered her on as well. Sasuke, however, was uninterested and went back to his training. Ellainna attached herself to the branch by means of her chakra and swung so that she was now upside down and facing Kakashi.
"What about me?! Didn't I do well too?!"
"You're a chunin. You're supposed to know how to do this."
Ellainna crossed her arms and hmmp'd, upset, but didn't say anything more. Kakashi attempted to use Sakura's skill to motivate Sasuke and Naruto, but Sakura lashed out at him, thinking his insults would turn Sasuke against her. The boys, however, did take this as motivation and charged at the tree again.
After a little while, Kakashi and Ellainna climbed back down the tree and watched Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura train. After the genin started to get worn out, Kakashi decided it was time to leave them to their own devices and go back to Tazuna's house. He leaned back on Ellainna once more and announced that he was leaving but expected them to continue training until they could reach the top of their respective trees.
Kakashi hobbled back to the house on Ellainna's shoulder in silence. She helped him back to the guest room and down to the bed. She laid his walking stick against the wall next to him and sat on the other side of him, her legs crossed. Kakashi pulled out his copy of Make Out Paradise and picked up where he left off, attempting to ignore Ellainna.
Ellainna sat quietly and watched Kakashi in interest for ten minutes before she tried to get his attention. She stood up and over him so that her feet were on either side of his legs and bent over at the waist so she could peek at him over the top of his book. He continued to ignore her, however, and turned the page to signify that he wasn't going do anything different. Now annoyed, Ellainna put her hand over the book, blocking him from being able to read it. He continued looking straight ahead, defiantly not making eye contact with her or addressing her.
"You've already read this book about a thousand times," Ellainna said. "We get it. You're a pervert. Let's move on."
"To what exactly," Kakashi responded. Ellainna pushed the book into Kakashi's lap so he was now making eye contact with her. "I don't know what you want."
Ellainna looked away in embarrassment, turning red in the face, and she mumbled to herself.
'I don't even know...'
She looked back at Kakashi and smiled before sitting back on the floor, this time shoulder to shoulder with Kakashi. She crossed her legs and rested her hands in her lap. Kakashi sighed and rubbed his eyes tersely.
"Ellainna..."
"Kakashi," she responded back, mocking him.
"Look-"
Ellainna rubbed Kakashi's cheek tenderly and leaned her head so that she was looking at him from beneath his chin. Kakashi looked down at her, unsure of what to say or what she was going to say.
"Ellainna you can't just-"
"I'm not...I mean...You..."
Ellainna's face turned red and she sat back up again. She looked down at her fiddling hands in her lap and remained quiet. Kakashi watched her again, not wanting to be interrupted once more. He gave up trying to converse with her and picked up his book, going back to rereading it. After sitting in silence for a while, Ellainna hopped up and stood at Kakashi's feet.
"Are you okay? Need anything? Any pain," she inquired quickly as though she was interrogating him. Before he could respond, the door slid open. This caught Ellainna off guard, causing her to jump. It was Sakura at the door! She came by to announce her completion of the tree climbing exercise, check on Kakashi, and inquire what training she should do instead while Naruto and Sasuke were out. Ellainna rolled her eyes, annoyed by Sakura's brown-noseing, and stalked out of the room.
"I'm going to go train," she said, annoyed.
"I can come train too," Sakura offered, not wanting to be by herself, bored.
"Alone."
Ellainna pushed by Sakura, leaving her in the doorway of Kakashi's room to watch her walk off.
"What's her problem," Sakura asked, now equally irritated.
"Just keep an eye on Tazuna and his family," Kakashi answered, not looking up from his book.
Ellainna stalked off into the woods, mumbling angrily to herself, until she felt she was far enough away. She fell to her knees and screamed out in frustration before punching the ground.
"Idiot. Idiot! IDIOT," she chanted in anger. "He's so stupid. This is so stupid!"
She sat back on her butt and huffed, out of breath.
"Ugh! This is...so..STUPID!" She put her head in her hands and groaned. "Why do I even...He's just a guy. A stupid guy. I don't even like...I never got...Just a stupid joke."
Ellainna sat there for what felt like an eternity to her, mentally (and occasionally verbally) chastising herself, her feelings, and her situation. Then she got an idea in her head and made her way back to Tazuna's house. She snuck inside, grabbed her bag, and rushed into the bathroom unnoticed. She removed her clothes and changed into a long sweetheart neck-lined, red dress with a slit on the left side that fell down to her ankles. She removed her ninja headband and shoved it into her bag along with her clothes. She fluffed her hair up, freeing it from having been so flat against her head under her scarf. She then applied a candy apple red gloss to her lips and some black liner around her eyes. She expertly smudged it to create a smoky affect and stepped back to examine herself. She fluffed her hair again until she was satisfied. Then she put on a separate thigh holster than the one she normally carries around to double as a purse and put her makeup, some money, and ninja tools into it. She posed in the mirror and blew kisses at her reflection, checking that she looked her best. Now completely changed, she snuck back out the bathroom, replaced her bag upstairs, and crept out the door unnoticed.
She traveled uneventfully to the town and easily found a few vendors and shops that sold Sake. She used her charms to woo the owners into selling to her, despite their doubt in her legality to do so. She made sure to pay them extra for their trouble and out of guilt. The town wasn't exactly the destination resort it used to be.
When she was content with the number of bottles she had acquired, she sat between building and drank as much as she could stand. She had downed about a quarter of her supply of alcohol before she was pleased with the effects. She hid the small bottles in the lining of her dress and carried the larger ones in her hand as she cheerfully (from the affects of the alcohol) made her way back to Tazuna's house.
On the edge of town, she was approached by a shadowy figure with a dagger gleaming in his hand.
"Hey doll. You've got some nice clothes on and I saw you drop some major cash on that Sake you've got there. Why not share with me and my crew?"
The man looked her up and down, hunger in his eyes. "I'm sure you've got enough to go around..."
In the blink of an eye, quiet as a feather, Ellainna had appeared behind the man and one handedly held a kunai to his throat. She giggled as she used the point to cut a mark into the man's face.
"I don't know...Is this something you think your crew could keep up with?"
The man looked at her in terror and dropped to his knees.
"I didn't think so," Ellainna said. She turned and stumbled drunkenly through the forest, her Sake bottles in one hand and a kunai swinging on the index finger of the other. The sun was setting by the time she started drinking so it was long dark by the time she had made it back to Tazuna's house. Her trip was elongated by a few misturns and turn arounds but eventually she had made it. When she entered, everyone was sitting at the table and dinner was about to be served. She tried to sneak by upstairs but was caught fairly quickly.
"Ah, Ellainna! There you are," Kakashi exclaimed. "We were just talking about you, wondering where you had gotten off to. Come! Sit! We're about to eat!" He gestured to a spot next to him. She hid the big bottles of Sake by the door and entered the dining area. She did her best to walk routinely to her seat and not noticeably tipsy, but failed. It was painfully clear to all the adults at least that she was intoxicated as she stumbled multiple times to her seat. She plopped down unceremoniously and teetered side to side. She was unable to sit still at all. Her eyes felt heavy and she alternated from closing them completely to opening them halfway. She kept her head down so her bangs would cover her face. Amused, none of the adults said anything but Kakashi made it a mission to pick on her.
Sasuke, however, was entranced by Ellainna's outfit. He had not seen her in anything other than her regular, every day, run of the mill outfit. Nor had he seen her with makeup on. He eventually tore his gaze as Tsunami began setting food onto the table.
Kakashi clapped Ellainna firmly on the back, startling her out of her half-sleep, drowsy stupor.
"So," he said loudly and amused. "Where have you been? We missed your company all day."
He rubbed her back to rouse her as she was having trouble staying conscious and focused for more than a minute or two at a time. He wasn't going to let her live this down easily. It was the perfect opportunity to get payback for what she did to him earlier that day on the tree branch.
"Ouut," she responded, her speech slurred.
"Ouut where," he inquired, mocking her speech.
Everyone started fixing their plates and Ellainna began to nod off completely. Kakashi chuckled and began eating. Ellainna's unconscious body began to teeter towards Kakashi and he let her snooze on his shoulder uninterrupted as everyone ate and conversed at the table quietly.
Naruto and Sasuke seemed to get into a nonverbal 'who's is bigger' contest by scarfing down food. They both asked for more before barfing onto the floor. Sakura scolded them for wasting the food and competing in general. Kakashi followed suit as well and lectured them as he rubbed Ellainna's shoulder. Ellainna roused slightly during after dinner tea but was still mostly out of it.
After Tazuna finished his story about Kaiza, Naruto was renewed in his ambition to finish his training and show Inari that heroes do exist. Kakashi warned Naruto to take it easy and rest but he declined, determined to train as hard and as fast as possible. Sasuke, not wanting to be shown up, went with him to train as well. Kakashi then decided that everyone else would do well resting since it was getting late. He put Sakura on guard duty and roused Ellainna enough to get her to walk. He tried to lead her to the guest area where she and Sakura were supposed to be resting but Ellainna wouldn't let him leave after dropping her off. She clung tightly to him and refused to let go.
He tried his best to shove her off without hurting her but found her grip to be impressively strong in spite of her inebriation. He momentarily debated if it were her normal strength or just an unnatural occurrence due to her intoxicated state. He decided it didn't matter as either way, he could not pry her off his body.
"Ellainna. Let go. You have to let go." Kakashi tried to speak in as quiet and forceful a tone as he could muster, hoping it would make her listen.
"Nooo...'Kashi...You have to-have to stay. I-I-I-I can't sleeeep...Not without-without you here." Ellainna's speech was even more slurred than before and just barely coherent to Kakashi. Even though he had healed significantly throughout the day, he was still in pain and relented. He figured if he sat next to her and waited until she had passed out completely, he could leave and sleep in his own bed.
"Fine. Come on. Lay down. No! Here. On the bed."
Kakashi had to coach Ellainna to the proper bed and helped her lay in it. He sat next to her and she snuggled up to him and was fast asleep. He tried numerous times to leave over the next two hours, but each attempt was unsuccessful. Each time, she had snaked her way around his body moreso and tighter. He fought the urge to fall asleep but lost that battle an hour later. He fell asleep sitting up with Ellainna resting on his chest and both her legs tightly wrapped around one of his.
Kakashi awoke early that morning and found that he had slid down in his sleep and was now lying on his back and his legs bent upward at the knee. Ellainna also had climbed on top of him sometime during the night and was snoozing soundly with her head on his chest. He looked around the room and for once was thankful for Sakura's obsession with Sasuke. She was not in the room. He hoped she had slept elsewhere so the compromising position he appeared to be in would go unnoticed. He quickly shoved Ellainna off of him and was surprised that she had not stirred. He stood and composed himself before he quickly rushed out of the room and into the bathroom.
Ellainna awoke to the sun painfully shining in her eyes and her dress twisted around her uncomfortably. She blinked and squinted her eyes as she sat up. She looked around the room as she tried to remember last night. She didn't even remember how she got back!
"Oh good, you're awake," a voice said. Ellainna, startled, jumped and looked to the corner where the voice came from. It was Kakashi.
She looked at him defiantly, determined to eliminate the growing feelings she had towards him. She figured faking it until it was true was the best tactic.
"What," she asked tersely. "You stay here all night just to creep me out and lecture me?"
Kakashi didn't want her or anyone else to know that had indeed slept in here with her and he overcompensated in his attempt to assert otherwise by means of stutter and babbling.
"I-no-No-What-No...I couldn't have-It's highly-no-innappropriate-uhh...No...You, uh...You're...mmm..."
Ellainna, pretending that she couldn't have cared less, stood and scoffed in irritation. She grabbed her bag and made her way to the door.
"I get it. I'm on a mission. I can't be so irresponsible. The big bad is still out there. Blah de blah de blah." When she got to the door, she turned to Kakashi, who had long stopped babbling by now, and said sarcastically, "I won't do it again. How's that?"
She didn't wait for an answer and left, closing the door roughly behind her. Kakashi sighed in annoyance and rubbed his eyes.
"A handful."
Ellainna went into the bathroom and locked the door before she began to undress. She tried desperately to remember what happened the previous night but could only think of bits and pieces here and there.
Did...did he rub my back?! Or was that a dream...?
She groaned in frustration and decided to put it out of her mind. She had to focus on the mission and keep Tazuna safe. She had pulled on her mesh armor, then her leotard, followed by her skirt and her ninja scarf. She tied it firmly and flattened her hair. She grabbed her ninja tool bags and attached them as she walked out of the bathroom. She pulled her gloves out one of her pouches as she went to the dining area to see Sakura sitting alone. She informed Ellainna that Sasuke was gone again but it seemed as though Naruto had never came back the previous night so it was just them that day. Ellainna shrugged and offered to take point on guard duty to let her rest or train. Sakura declined and countered that two heads were better than one. Ellainna rolled her eyes but agreed.
When Kakashi came down for lunch, it became evident that Ellainna was ignoring Kakashi. At the very least, she wasn't up to her usual round of jokes and teasing. Sasuke, having come back from training for lunch, was pleased of course. Kakashi was surprised to find himself uncomfortable with the loss of attention. He had grown accustomed to her antics apparently and missed it.
The next few days went by quickly as they all got into a rhythm. Sakura and Ellainna stayed on guard duty, Kakashi recovered and helped with guarding, Sasuke trained hard but came back periodically for meals and rest, and Naruto stayed out night after night, exhausting himself.
On the fourth morning, Tazuna remarked how Naruto was absent once again over breakfast. Sakura bashed Naruto for his dedication for training, suggesting that he had overdid it and killed himself. Tsunami worried about Naruto's safety but Kakashi quelled her fears.
"There's nothing to worry about. Naruto's a goofy kid but he's also a full-fledged ninja. He can handle himself."
He pretended to be fiddling with his gloves but really just flicked a rock at the back of Ellainna's head, looking to elicit a reaction from her. He succeeded as Ellainna immediately turned around and furiously flicked him off and tossed the pebble back at him. He cooly tilted sideways out of the way and it bounced off the wall next to him and landed on the ground. He'd been doing various things the past few days to antagonize her and it was working. Ellainna turned back to the table and started eating her breakfast as Sasuke spoke.
"Sakura's right. Naruto's such a loser, he's probably out there lying dead somewhere."
He rose from the table and left, announcing that he was going to go for a walk. Sakura called after him but he ignored her and left. Kakashi inconspicuously flicked another rock at Ellainna and she stood up and announced that she was joining Sasuke on his walk. She kicked Kakashi's leg as she walked by him and left.
"I think it would be a great idea if we all went and fetched Naruto, don't you," Kakashi asked Sakura as he stood.
"Uh..sure," Sakura replied. She stood as well and followed Kakashi out the door. The duo quickly caught up to Ellainna, much to her dismay, but she said nothing and they walked in silence. Kakashi occasionally held his crutch out to try and trip Ellainna but he was mostly unsuccessful. When he finally did, Ellainna growled angrily and pushed Kakashi. Having recovered enough to only use one crutch, he was far too steady to tip over but he did stumble. All this went unnoticed by Sakura who was oblivious to anything but Sasuke as she called out and looked around for him. Ellainna moved out of reach of Kakashi's crutch as they kept walking through the forest. Kakashi wasn't sure why he was acting as immaturely as he was the past few days, or why he found it so amusing. Nonetheless, he didn't hesitate to reach into his pouch for more pebbles to throw at her.
Having trekked the path plenty of times now, the trio reached the clearing where they were training soon after and looked around. It appeared to be empty and Sakura stated the obvious while Ellainna silently mocked her from behind again.
"Naruto isn't here. He could be anywhere. And Sasuke hasn't come back from his walk either. I wonder where they are..."
A kunai came seemingly out of nowhere and landed at Sakura's feet. They all looked up to see Naruto waving down at them from atop a branch high up on the tree he was training on.
"Woah," Sakura exclaimed. "Naruto can climb that high now? That's great!"
Kakashi looked on impressed and Naruto began boasting about his progress.
"What do you think?! High enough for you guys? I mean, it's a long way down. Hunh?"
He hopped onto his feet, self-assured, and lost his footing. As he started to fall, Sakura started screaming like an idiot and Ellainna started to reach to catch him. Naruto caught himself by attaching his feet to the branch so that he was now standing upside down, just as Kakashi had done day one.
"Haha, gotcha! Just kidding."
Ellainna, already ticked off by Kakashi, threw a kunai at Naruto.
"You idiot!"
The kunai missed, of course, and stuck in the branch next to his feet.
"You guys really fell for it," Naruto exclaimed, laughing proudly.
"We were worried about you, Naruto," Sakura yelled.
"Why do I think this is going to end badly," Kakashi wondered out loud.
"You're gonna end badly," Ellainna muttered to herself in annoyance.
Suddenly, Naruto's hold on the tree broke and he started falling, head first, towards the ground.
"You just had to push it, didn't you," Sakura scolded.
She, Kakashi, and Ellainna looked on grimly as Naruto fell.
Quickly, Sasuke appeared, running up the tree, and caught Naruto by his ankle.
"You really are a total loser, Naruto," he said.
"Oh! All right, Sasuke! You're the best," Sakura exclaimed.
"Oh, Sasuke, you're the best," Ellainna said, mocking Sakura once more.
"If I'm still sane by the time they finish their training, it'll be a miracle," Kakashi mumbled to himself.
Kakashi felt a pebble hit the back of his head and he turned around to see Ellainna standing, threateningly tossing another pebble up and down.
"You're not sane as it is," she remarked.
"Oh, so you're talking to me now, are you," Kakashi asked flatly.
Ellainna tossed the pebble she had into the dirt in front of her feet and spun on her heel.
"I'm going back. I'm bored." She began to walk away and Kakashi made to call out after her to tease her some more when he stopped himself. He suddenly realized...
Oh noo...
The reason he was teasing her so much lately...
It can't be...
He facepalmed and put the thought out of his head.
There's just no way...
Kakashi and Sakura stayed behind for an hour to watch and occasionally encourage the boys to train and offer support or guidance. However, they grew tired and left back to Tazuna's house.
When they returned, Kakashi made his way to sit on the floor next to the dining area like he had earlier that day, when he noticed Ellainna fast asleep on the couch in the living area. She had one arm lazily draped over her eyes to block light from shining in them. She was clutching her ninja scarf in her hand and she snored softly as her chest rose and fell with each inhale and exhale. Her auburn hair was strewn about. He hadn't noticed until then but her hair had grown from just barely touch her shoulders to now a little past them. And her bangs; they were different too. Did she cut them? His eyes traveled down to her nose. It was small and protruded very little from her face. It was more round than pointed and flared out adorably. Her mouth was slightly open, showcasing the fullness and curvature of her lips. Something about her two front teeth peeking out from behind her upper lip seemed irresistible. His eyes traveled from them to her small, protruding chin, to her sternum that sat right between two beautiful...
Kakashi turned away and felt his cheeks grow warm.
Damn.
Tsunami made dinner as Ellainna rested and Kakashi welcomed the distraction, even offering to help her prepare it. Once it was made, everyone came to sit at the table, except Ellainna who nobody bothered to wake up. Sakura commented on Naruto and Sasuke's absence, wondering why Sasuke was so late. Not even a second later, the door opened and Sasuke entered, carrying a weak Naruto on his shoulder. Tazuna inquired about their whereabouts while also managing to insult the way they looked. Granted, they did look worn out and beat up.
Naruto proclaimed their training achievements proudly.
"We both made it," he said. "We climbed all the way to the top."
"Good," Kakashi began. "Now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you're both bodyguards for Tazuna."
Naruto cheered triumphantly, falling backwards and accidentally taking Sasuke with him.
"You are such a loser," Sasuke said.
Everyone giggled as they both got to their feet. Naruto made way to wash up for dinner and Sasuke took a moment to look for Ellainna before he did the same. He found her slumbering peacefully on the couch and smiled, albeit it was a small one. He quietly walked over to her and sat on his feet beside the couch. He gently rubbed her cheek to rouse her from dreamland without startling her.
"Hey," he whispered. "I'm back...I did it."
Ellainna raised her arm from her face and turned her head to look at Sasuke.
"Did what," she whispered back, groggily.
"I climbed all the way to the top."
Ellainna smiled warmly at Sasuke.
"Congratulations...now go wash, you smell!"
Sasuke frowned but complied. He got up and went to the now vacant bathroom and washed up. Ellainna, smelling food, sat up and breathed it in. She got up and entered the dining area as tsunami was putting the food on the table. She sat down excitedly as she retied her ninja bandana on her head, hungry after a long day of doing nothing.
After everyone was finished eating, Tsunami collected plates and Tazuna thanked them for their help.
"In a few more days, the bridge will be finished. I have you all to thank for that."
"You've all done great," Tsunami said. "But you still have to be careful."
"I've been meaning to ask you this," Tazuna said. "But I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me even after you found out I lied to bring you here?"
"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage," Kakashi says plainly. "But under the wing of a strong leader, cowardice cannot survive."
When Tsunami voiced her confusion, Kakashi elaborated.
"That was a quote from the First Hokage..."
Inari became upset and shouted about the futility of fighting Gato.
"He's got a huge army of men! No matter what you say or what you do, the strong will always win and the weak will always lose!"
Naruto, who was awoken from his slumber by Inari's cries, nonchalantly told him he wasn't going to lose to Gato or his thugs. Inari fired back, chastising Naruto for getting involved in his village and being so upbeat despite the gravity of the situation. They went back and forth until Sakura scolded Naruto for getting upset and he walked off to calm down. Ellainna, sitting next to Inari, wanted to reach out and comfort him. She ultimately decided against doing so, unsure of the kind of reaction it would elicit from him.
She instead left the room and called Sakura to follow her.
"Don't make a big deal of this," Ellainna said when she appeared. "It's just...Birthdays should mean something and...and I know what happened the other day in town and...just...here."
Ellainna thrusted a box into Sakura's hands. She opened it and was surprised to see an assortment of umeboshi.
"They obviously don't have a large selection in town but-"
"Thank you," Sakura replied sincerely, looking up at Ellainna.
"Don't mention it."
Ellainna walked away in the direction of the kitchen/dining area. After some idle chat, everyone dispersed their own ways. Ellainna decided to take a walk and Sasuke offered to join her. She didn't respond but he took that as a yes and went with her anyway. They walked side by side in silence for a while before Sasuke playfully elbowed her. She giggled and elbowed him right back. Sasuke smiled and decided to stop beating around the bush.
"So what's up?"
Ellainna looked at the ground as she walked. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean."
Ellainna looked up at Sasuke and gave a blank expression, trying to play dumb.
"You're only nice to me when you're drunk," he said firmly. "And you haven't been your usual annoying self with Kakashi-sensei either."
Ellainna grinned innocently up at Sasuke but he saw through her ruse.
"Don't try to tell me you listened to me the other day and you're laying off for me. You don't listen to anybody but the one right there." Sasuke tapped her forehead gently.
Ellainna stopped walking and looked up at the moon wistfully. Sasuke stopped as well and faced her.
"I'm just..." she began. "...trying to be a good student. I don't have time to play games anymore...I gotta get serious, ya know? I'm too old to be messing around. What's it matter if what you said woke me up? It was the truth regardless."
Sasuke reached his hand out and touched Ellainna's shoulder, grabbing her attention.
"You want to try the truth now?"
Ellainna smirked and grasped Sasuke's hand as an idea popped into her head.
"Wellll..." she said in false exasperation. "If you must know...it's time."
Sasuke looked back at her confused and she grinned wider.
"It's time. That time..."
As the realization dawned on Sasuke, his face contorted into one of shock and revulsion. He slowly took his hand from her grip/shoulder, spun on his heel, and began walking away.
"You can't avoid it forever," he called out to Ellainna.
She cackled in delight and jogged to catch up with him.
"Yeah, well, you know me. I don't talk about my feelings."
Their stroll turned into a race back to Tazuna's house. They tied and crashed into each other and the door, chuckling gleefully. The door crashed open and they fell. Sasuke tried to steady himself by latching onto Ellainna, but that just caused them both fall over, still in a fit of laughter. Sakura, who was sitting at the table when they fell in, pouted in jealousy and demanded to know what was so funny.
The next morning, Ellainna got up earlier than usual to prepare for the day. She opened a scroll from in her tool pouch and used it to release two katanas. She removed each one from their sheath and ran her finger across the edge to test them out and ensure they were still in good condition. After cutting her finger and achieving satisfaction from their condition, she packed her scrolls back up and placed her swords in their respective sheaths. Then she placed them in the belt loops on her leotard. She went out front to the bordering trees and reorientated herself with the use of her swords. She hadn't used them in about a year, she didn't need to with the slow and easy missions she had, so she was a little rusty but found her skills satisfactory by the time Kakashi announced it was time to head to the bridge with Tazuna.
Kakashi left Naruto to rest with Tsunami after his intense training in the forest. He said his farewell to Tsunami and left with Tazuna and the rest of Team 7 in tow.
"You know he's not gonna like this," Ellainna said in a sing song voice, referring to Naruto being left behind.
"Well, he's going to have to," Kakashi responded. "He's got to rest his body. He overdid it."
Ellainna shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't say you weren't right. I just said he wasn't going to like it."
"So the twins have made a comeback, have they," Sasuke inquired.
Ellainna looked at him and grinned proudly. "Yes they have!" She put on hand on each hilt. "I figured I needed to do more this time around."
The trip to the bridge was pretty uneventful. Their arrival, however, revealed all of Tazuna's men had been injured and attacked. They all were on the ground, moaning and groaning, in pain. Ellainna put a hand on one of her sword hilts, prepared to defend an incoming attack. Mist started to roll in and immediately Team 7 surrounded Tazuna defensively. Ellainna pulled one of swords out, Helios, and held it in front of her. Sasuke and Sakura did the same but with kunai.
Kakashi made note of his correct hypothesis of Zabuza's sentience and Sakura asked if it really was Zabuza causing the jutsu.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Kakashi," a voice called out. "I see you still have those brats with you. That one's trembling. Pitiful."
Suddenly, they were surrounded by Zabuza's. Clones no doubt, but which one's the real one?! Sasuke smirked and declared that he was trembling with excitement. Kakashi cleared Sasuke to attack and he single handedly took down all five Zabuzas. They all turned to water! So none of them were real! Zabuza appeared with the fake Anbu agent from before behind him.
"So you could see they were water clones, eh," he said. "Brat improved. Looks like you've got a rival, Haku."
"So it seems," Haku responded.
Team 7 faced their opponents and stared them down, ready for battle.
A/N:
I'm gonna leave this chapter here so that I can put all the fighting action in the next one. Hooweee I'm tired. I wrote this in one day XD Now to post, take rest, and start the next one. Thanks you guys!