Chapter 47: Snowdrift Arc - Can You Hear It?

Originally, I planned this to only display stuff about the secrets of the Pure Land and the scintillating orb, but I ended up cutting out a few things. Also, I decided to make the last thirteen or so pages Yukio-centric, since I've come to realize that he seems to be the most overshadowed main character in the story. He was supposed to have an important plot point, but I saved it for the sequel instead, along with Naoki.

Most of this chapter does not happen on the snowdrift itself, but it starts there. I simply wanted to connect the current events with the one that revelas more of Yukio's personality.

I hope you enjoy this filler-ish chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, minus my OCs and the storyline!


"So you returned the necklace to him?"

Yahiko's voice was curious and inquisitive, staring at me impatiently. In response, I nodded.

"I didn't do it, though," I answered humbly. "My brother handed him the present, and Konan placed it around Nagato's neck. I didn't really do anything but watch all of that happen from a distance."

The boy scoffed. "Yes, you did. Wasn't it you who led them to Harumi-san's jewelry store? Didn't you pay for the necklace, even if it was only a few dollars because it was from somebody you knew?"

"I guess that is right," I said, plucking a leaf subconsciously from the linden branch that we were sitting on. "Anyway, I've been wondering for a few minutes: how come I ended up directly at your house, rather than how far away I usually land in this world?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps the Pure Land is trying to tell you something, then. Maybe it might be a clue on how you get the Akatsuki back to their world or something? But then again, I don't know much about this whole 'scintillating orb' deal…"

I shook my head in response. "Maybe. But usually, Kagami is the one who seems to get those dreams from some man named Shisui—"

"Him?" Yahiko exclaimed, visibly surprised. "But...why?"

"You know him?" I inquired, tilting my head to the side. Suddenly, an idea popped inside of my head. "Wait, since you know who he is, perhaps you can take me to see him? I mean, he might be talking to Kagami right now!"

"It's not that easy as you'd think," he drawled, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Because we shinobi spirits don't have the technology you have, it's hard to keep track of each other's locations all of the time, besides being able to sense chakra. But still, the Pure Land has no limits or boundaries — aside from the one that sets the line between this realm and the mortal world. Shisui could be anywhere."

"Is there a forbidden jutsu for it, maybe?" I suggested, remembering that Naoki had once told me that some of them were not to be revealed because of how powerful and deadly they were.

Yahiko shook his head. "I honestly doubt it, though it is possible. I only know of the forbidden one that allows us to talk to someone close to the person we desire to speak to most from the mortal world, but that one was stolen by someone. I'm pretty sure that it was Shisui, if he's talking to your little sister, but he's never really been the type to steal."

"What about normal jutsu?" I asked next. "Forgive me, but I don't know the jutsu from your dimension all that well."

He seemed to ponder about this for a little bit, his fingers resting underneath his chin. "Hmm...well, I've never really tried, for someone who has resided here for twenty years. I'm about eighty-three percent certain that there isn't."

Suddenly, I felt something heavy materialize inside of the pocket of my pajamas, and judging by the weight and size, I could instantly tell what it was. Reaching inside, I fished out three shards of the scintillating orb, gasping on how they had managed to bet there. Even more, they seemed to be glowing much brighter than usual.

"Oh yeah," he said, staring at the shards in my hand. "I completely forgot about the scintillating orb, even though I've been watching all of you for a while. Darn it, my neglect for the past on occasion is taking its toll on my poor brain…"

I giggled. "I thought that you could do anything in the Pure Land without worrying about that kind of stuff!"

"Not necessarily," he responded sternly. "Just because we're in heaven doesn't mean that we'll be happy for eternity, right? Our chakra still has their limits up here. We don't know every single kind of jutsu. Heck, we can't even talk to the people that we care about all of the time!"

My shoulders slumped after that. "I guess you're right, then. Now that I think about it, having limits up here sounds pretty logical. If there were no limits or boundaries to what you could do in the Pure Land, then everybody in your world would be more willing to commit suicide than try to live a normal life."

"Anyway," he continued, staring at the fragments that still sparkled vibrantly in my hands, "why are those glowing so brightly? I don't know a single thing about the Neko Asuka Noroi no Jutsu aside from the fact that it can be reversed using those shards, but they just might be trying to tell you something."

"Tell me something?" I repeated uneasily, tilting my head to the side as I played around with the little crystallized objects in my palm. "Perhaps, but what would they try to say? I seriously don't know what to do with them."

Yahiko scratched his chin for a few seconds, then extended his hand out to me. "Here, let me analyze them for a bit. Maybe it's connected to this realm in some way, since it's glowing the same color as most of the pink clouds here."

Hesitantly, I dropped all three shards in his palm, cupping both of my hands around his had so that they didn't fall to the ground or something. I hadn't dropped any of those shards yet, so I wasn't exactly sure how fragile they were. Nevertheless, I didn't want to take any chances.

"Let's see…" he mumbled, poking each of the glowing shards with his fingers. "They all glow at the same time, and not in some pattern or sequence. And they seem to be doing it once every five seconds….wait, is it getting faster?"

Yahiko was right when he had stated that the shards were glowing in a certain fashion. Sure enough, as he had played around with them at first, they glowed normally. However, when he had lowered his arm towards the serene pond, the shard glowed more often than they just had.

"I think that the pond has some sort of effect on them," I noted, watching as he moved his arm around to see if he would see the pattern again. "Try placing your arm near the surface again."

Nodding, he gently lowered his arm towards the water, his sleeve barely grazing the surface. A small ripple vibrated underneath the palm that held the three shards, making some sound that was very similar to that of a heartbeat. Then, another ripple appeared, about the same time the shards started glowing again.

"They're...in sync," I muttered in slight shock, watching as the water rippled simultaneously with the shards. "What is it telling us?"

He shrugged lightly, before giving me a stern look of realization. "I think...the shards want us to drop them in the pond."

At that suggestion, I panicked slightly. "But we can't! We need those shards in order to get the Akatsuki back to their world, before they lose their chakra!"

"Maybe it just wants us to use a small chunk in order to get what we want," he said, preparing to drop in the shards despite my argument against it. "We could wind up talking to other mortals or spirits this way somehow. Why else do you think they appeared in your pocket at this time?"

I opened my mouth to disagree, but at the last second, I swallowed my words and simply nodded. "I guess we're going to have to drop them in the pond, then. Who knows what will happen?"

"A miracle," Yahiko whispered, though I could still hear his words. Slowly, he began to turn his palm, allowing the shards to gently drop into the surface of the rippling pond. Like pebbles in a stream, they dropped to the bottom, trails of glowing light coming out from behind them.

We waited for a few seconds to see if something would happen, but alas, nothing did.

"All of that for nothing?" I grumbled, disappointed that we had potentially wasted three shards that we could have used to help the Akatsuki. "I can't believe—"

Suddenly, the once-serene pond began to ripple violently. And when I said rippling violently, I meant that it was actually throwing strong waves over the banks, even slapping a higher part of Yahiko's linden tree. Quickly, both of us climbed up the tree again and scurried inside of the house like mice that had just seen a cat, though he continued to poke our heads out to observe.

"Yahiko…" I stammered nervously, "what's happening?"

His eyes were still wide, showing that even he did not understand the situation. "I don't know, Kaiya. I don't know."

We stood there, aghast, for about a minute until the pond calmed down, the waves dying down to nothing but ripples. However, when I looked down at the pond to spot the reflection of the tree branch we were sitting on, I realized that it no longer existed.

"Where did the tree's reflection go?" I asked, jumping off of the tree to observe. To test my theory even further, I waved my hand in front of the water, and once again, no reflection appeared. "It's not working!"

Yahiko slid down the trunk of the tree, padding over beside me to see what was going on. He bent over towards the pond to check his own reflection, but he too, was unable to see it.

"Hold on," he mumbled incoherently, spying a gradually growing ripple in the center of the pond. "Something's coming."

I froze, my gaze fixed on the ripples that grew larger...and larger...until it stopped completely.

Abruptly after, I heard some strange voice that seemed to be coming from the water itself. In fact, even the ripples seemed to be bending to match the pitch of the sound.

"Are you sure that they would be there?" an all-too-familiar voice asked, causing me to yelp in surprise.

"Kagami-chan?" I panicked, a shiver traveling up and down my spine. "Is she...having another dream here?"

The boy standing next to me looked like he was about to answer my question, but he was cut off when a different voice — this time more masculine and mature-sounding — vibrated through the water.

"Most likely, they are," the voice said, which I quickly identified as belonging to a teenage boy around my age. "I can sense a little bit of Deidara's chakra coming from the resort, so both he and your older sister are still alive."

My eyes flew wide open, expanding to the size of alarm clocks. "They're talking about us!" I realized with a jolt, remembering what I had done on the previous night, before I had woken up in the Pure Land with Yahiko. "But how...wait, if she's talking to Shisui now, shouldn't my imouto be asleep?"

Yahiko nodded. "Well, that must mean that your family and the Akatsuki are looking for you, then. Kagami probably fell asleep on the way because I believe it's the middle of the night in your world. And that's definitely Shisui, by his voice. So he did steal the forbidden jutsu…"

We sat there, waiting patiently for a response from Kagami after Shisui finished his speech. However, it was not Kagami who spoke next.

"I'm sure that you'll be able to find your sister, Kagami-chan," the voice came, more feminine and definitely older than my little sister. "I think she was planning to return home all along, but got snowed in during the blizzard and had to wait it out inside of a building."

I tilted my head towards Yahiko curiously, twitching slightly because of her use of the honorific after she had said my sister's name. "Who in the world was that?"

"That's Rin," stammered Yahiko, definitely shocked at this point. "The whole time, she knew about the stolen forbidden jutsu and didn't tell anybody? That's quite odd…"

"Really?" came Kagami's voice again. "Great! Can I wake up and tell everybody, then?"

"Not yet, Kagami-chan," answered the girl that Yahiko had referred to as "Rin". "Shisui-san and I have to deliver yet another message to you regarding the Neko Asuka Noroi no Jutsu. But as always, remember to include only Shisui's name when you deliver the message to everybody, alright? Nobody is allowed to find out that I can talk to you."

"Why so secretive?" I inquired curiously, though I instantly felt the urge to continue eavesdropping after Rin had said that. "I don't see a reason why a spirit needs to keep their identity a—"

"Shh," said Yahiko, putting a finger to my lips. "Listen. I think this is exactly what the three fragments wanted us to hear."

Silently, I obliged, listening to Shisui speak again. "Indeed. You don't want anybody to find out about er, especially him."

Not one part of me liked the way he had placed extra emphasis on the last word.

"And even more," Rin continued, "I'm still quite shocked that none of the spirits up here are frantically searching for the forbidden jutsu scroll that I stole a while back. How long has it been...four months in your world's time?"

Yahiko looked as if he was about to explode in shock after that confession. "Wait, Rin was the one who had stolen the jutsu all this time? That's even worse than the possibility of Shisui stealing it! She isn't supposed to be deceitful!"

"She must have a good reason, then," I defended, crossing my arms. "Was she close to any of the Akatsuki members before she died?"

He shrugged, unsure. "I don't recall, if there are any. Rin and I don't talk as much as we used to, so I don't really remember if she was close to an Akatsuki member or not."

"Listen," said Shisui, and I followed his instructions, even though I knew well that they weren't for me. "You've collected a lot of fragments throughout the course of Christmas, which is amazing. However, you still don't have enough to complete the orb yet. Based on how many you have as well as the approximate size of the theorized scintillating orb's completed form, I'd say that you need a hundred shards to complete the entire thing."

"A hundred?" Kagami gasped. "How many do we have now, then?"

"I'd say roughly about seventy," Rin answered, her voice taking on a more serious edge to it. "You all are pretty close, but everybody is beginning to lose their chakra. I noticed that while he rescued your brother on the double black diamond, it hurt him a little bit to summon his chakra threads. In addition, he only seems to be able to make up to ten, with one for each fingertip."

My sister gasped yet again. "Oh no! I'm a bad caretaker...I never noticed that!"

"It's alright," reassured Shisui. "But just be more careful when the Akatsuki use their chakra from now on. The less they use ninjutsu, the better. Over time, even the Henge no Jutsu will begin to weaken, and if it does, then that will spell trouble for everybody."

"What will happen to them?" Kagami asked, her tone clearly displaying panic. "Will they be alright?"

"We don't know," the two spirits answered simultaneously. "We don't know."

Suddenly, their voices turned into nothing but a ripple of sounds, telling me that the connection had broken. Yahiko and I backed away from the water as the ripples grew back into powerful waves yet again, sending us fleeing up the tree.

"What...just...happened?" I breathed, curious about what had just gone down.

Yahiko stared at the water with wide eyes as it calmed down again, as if nothing really had just happened at all. "Looks like we found out a few things that we weren't supposed to hear," he answered, still stunned.

But before I could say something else, I saw it: the wave of darkness that was beginning to blanket the Pure Land, signifying that my time was up in the realm. Yahiko didn't notice it until seconds later.

"I'll talk to my sister about it in a little bit," I promised, though a pang of uncertainty stabbed me as I declared that. "Oh yeah, and Merry belated Christmas, Yahiko."

A small smile returned to his face after that, and he waved at me as the shadows clawed at my feet. "Merry belated Christmas to you too, Kaiya. I would ask you to tell your family that I hope that they had a great holiday, but like what we just heard, this conversation has to be secret."

Sending him one last wave, I closed my eyes as the darkness swallowed me whole.


"Wake up!" I called frantically in Kaiya's ear as I attempted to shake her awake. "Get up, Kaiya! We've got to vacate this place, un!"

Instantly, her eyes flew open in surprise. "Huh? W-what happened, Deidara?"

"No time to talk," came the voice of Sasori behind me. "The manager of this cabin will be here soon. Everybody else is outside, where Itachi is stalling him with a brief genjutsu. He says that he can't hold it much longer, though."

After hearing that, her gaze turned serious, and like a flash, she swiftly returned all of the jackets that she had laid upon back on the shelves, dusting off any snow that she had possibly gotten on them. "We need to hurry, then," she declared sternly. "Itachi shouldn't be using the power of the Sharingan in public like that."

Akane flew up to my shoulder, the scarf still stuck around her body. Quickly, I removed it and returned it to Kaiya, and I received a protest from the shivering bird as a result.

"Patience," I told her, stroking her back, which was still quite damp. "We're getting out of here right now. Everybody's here already."

"Even Kagami-chan?" Kaiya asked suddenly, wrapping the scarf around her neck and zipping up her puffer jacket.

Impatiently, Sasori attached his threads to us and began dragging all three of us out the door. "She also set out with us to locate you, but she fell asleep midway. Tobi's carrying her right now, but without her, we probably wouldn't have guessed that you would be in the cabin, brat."

"What do you mean?" I inquired. "I thought you said that she fell asleep, danna."

My partner opened the door, ushering both of us outside while retracting his chakra threads. "She woke up and told us some message about the scintillating orb, then said that Shisui theorized that your chakra was coming from this building. We didn't really need the last bit, since Zetsu could sense your chakra perfectly fine, but you might want to hear what she had to say in the first part."

"Tell me later," I said, carrying Akane out of the ski cabin as I spotted Itachi out if the corner of my eye, his gaze penetrating that of the poor manager's. "Right now, let's get out of this place, un."

"Agreed," responded Kaiya, waving to the group. "We'll also miss our flight back home if we don't hurry. There's other flights that will take us back home, but this one had the cheapest airfare price out of all of them. Hurry."

Nodding, all three of us raced back towards the group, who — upon acknowledging our presence — began sprinting back the way we had come from, though for the first time, I noticed that they were carrying all of the suitcases with them.

"Since we figured that you were going to get snowed in," explained Kisame, "we all took down the Christmas tree and packed up everything else for you. We got the presents, stuffed animals, and all of your clothes already, so there's no need to return to the house."

She flashed him a smile, but continued running. "Great work, otouto. But let's continue our way to the airport as fast as we can! Good thing that it's pretty close by to the ski resort!"

We all continued sprinting off towards where I was pretty certain the airport was located, with some of us alternating between simply running and carrying the suitcases. Five minutes later, we ended up in the airport's parking lot, where the siblings immediately stopped us.

I already knew what was going to happen before they even pulled the feathers out of their pockets.

"Alright," announced Kaiya, grinning again, "it's time to turn you back into cats for now!"

The majority of the Akatsuki groaned after that, but everybody simply obliged to her words, even me. One by one, she poofed us all back into kittens as soon as she was sure that nobody could see the random smoke columns amidst all of the shiny cars.

After that, we continued running towards the airport, then followed the siblings inside, trusting them with directions on where to go. This time, we were not late to head to the correct terminal and plane at all, and we were all able to board the ting without being reminded by an announcement.

This time, the plane was much smaller than before, and nobody was present on the plane when we came in, other than the pilot, of course. I was extremely glad that he was, since I did not feel like flying a plane, especially after all that had happened the night before.

"Sit still this time, until I say that you can get up and move," Kaiya instructed us. "I don't care where you all choose to sit, but stay silent throughout the entire plane trip, okay? This should take less than half an hour, if we're lucky."

Kisame and I nodded, shuddering as we recalled our past ordeal with the dogs a week before. Hidan just grinned before leaping on Kagami's chair, perching there without her noticing at all.

Well, she's the least likely to kick him off, I mentally said, shaking my head. That peace-loving, mischievous girl.

The ride was pretty much the same as before, just without the drama. I pitied my poor ears, which still popped despite me flattening them against my head. Looking around, I noticed that some of the other members of the Akatsuki were experiencing the same problem.

But if something did happen on the plane, I must have forgotten it, since the feeling of rising thousands of feet high was enough to lull me back to sleep.

When I woke back up, I was no longer inside the plane, nor was I lying in the snow, like I had the night before. The necklace was still around my neck, telling me that somebody had changed me back while I had been asleep.

"So you're finally awake," mumbled a voice coming from directly above my face. "It's about time...I've been waiting for so long!"

Very much like Kaiya had in the ski cabin, my eyes flew open, and on pure instinct, I zipped a few feet away, glaring at the intruder who had interrupted me. However, my expression calmed down as soon as I realized that it was just Yukio, looking at me with his hands on his hips.

"Ugh…" I groaned, rubbing my eyes and sitting up groggily. "What do you want, Yukio?"

Yukio's expression widened into a smirk. "Onee-chan and I made a deal today, since she felt pretty bad about canceling the ski trip on us because of...well, me. She said that as soon as you woke up, then you can take me to the skatepark so I can show off my inner teenager!"

I cocked a brow at him. "Are you sure about that, un? I don't really want to worry your sister anymore—"

"And why's that?" Yukio countered, his smirk only widening by the second. "Is it because you still owe her a kiss and believe that she's forgotten about it already? Is that it, Deidei-chan?"

My face blazing bright red, I jumped away from him, only causing him to snicker in amusement, much to my chagrin. "Will you please stop reminding me of that embarrassing time? And who taught you about using the nickname?"

"Blame both of my sisters on that one," he chuckled, placing a hand over his mouth. "Pfft! Kagami-chan was a genius when she came up with that one! Besides, onee-chan calls you that whenever you two are together, right?"

Crossing my arms impatiently, I glowered at the boy, but succeeded in merely making him explode in another fit of laughter. "How I feel about your sister is none of your business, okay? Wait—" My eyes widened in sudden realization, then returned to an even more murderous glare than before. "Kagami...you conspired with her about the whole mistletoe thing, didn't you? Huh?"

"So what if I did?" he countered, flipping his hair back arrogantly in an attempt to annoy me. "I don't care about who onee-chan ends up with, but your reactions whenever you two interact...are simply priceless!"

"How often have you been spying on us?" I growled at him angrily. "Seriously, is this some sort of silly joke to you two?"

He shook his head rapidly, but continued to giggle. "No, but I just think it's so funny how literally everybody else but you and onee-chan know that you two have feelings for each other! It's like you can't even see into each other's hearts, and yet you've dedicated your own hearts to each other already!"

I waved my hands in front of my face to slow him down. "Alright, alright! I'm not completely in love with Kaiya right now, un! Do you know how much of my pride that would damage? And besides, let's face it: she doesn't like me back...yet. If she did, then we would have told each other already.

Yukio scoffed in response. "Says the cocky idiot who has been stalling on his confession for over two months already and argues with his crush on a daily basis."

"Oh, shut up!" I roared at him. "Honestly, you're just as bad as your sister!"

"Anyway," Yukio started, thankfully changing the subject, "can you please take me and Ricky to the skatepark so that I can train with him?"

"Hold on," I said, raising a brow, "who's Ricky?"

He grinned, then lugged in his skateboard, which he had left at the bedroom door. "Why, it's my trusty skateboard, of course! Hidan was mad at me for not naming it after him, but who cares? That guy's a bigger idiot than anybody in the entire house. If anything, he should be feeling rather lucky that I didn't kick him where it hurts."

Sighing, I led Yukio out of the room, preparing to head out. Quickly, I used the Henge to alter my appearance slightly as well as my hair color. "Why name a skateboard, though? It's not like it's going to show any feelings or emotions like a normal human would. Besides, the only reason why I gave Akane a name was because let your older sister pick out one for her."

He shrugged. "Hey, might as well. I really like naming things for some reason. Plus, onee-chan says that I'm good at it."

The name he had chosen was quite odd, but yet at the same time, it proved to be rather...fitting in a way that I could not comprehend.

But before we could even take a step out of the house, both Kaiya and Naoki were upon us, though I didn't understand why they had moved to apprehend us until Kaiya handed a spiked helmet to Yukio.

"Aw, come on!" Yukio whined in protest as he grabbed the helmet. "But onee-chan and nii-chan, all of the cool gangster dudes skate without helmets and end up perfectly fine! Why must I wear one?"

Kaiya placed her hands on her hips. "Look, Yukio. I know how excited you are to show off and try to get the teenagers to accept you, but you must remember to keep yourself as protected as possible, especially because you are still eleven years old. Remember when you used to ride your bicycle? You had no problem with wearing a helmet back then."

"Oh, that?" Yukio huffed in a derogatory manner. "Pfft! I'm too old for that little thing, onee-chan! Those things are for babies! And that's eleven and a half, thank you very much!"

She shook her head, mumbling something that I couldn't pick up to herself. "Better safe than sorry, Yukio. Yesterday, Sasori and Deidara had to rescue you from the snowdrift on the double black diamond that you accidentally skied down."

Naoki nodded in agreement. "Onee-chan is right, otouto. None of us wish to see you injured, especially since Kagami-chan will be turning eight in exactly five days from now. And if there's one thing I know from experience, she hates the sight of blood."

Immediately, Kaiya shook her head. "Detests, Naoki-chan. Detest, not hate. That word is also taboo for Kagami-chan to say, and I've never heard her say it unless she lectures somebody about it, which doesn't really happen. But other than that, you are correct."

Yukio crossed his arms and turned away, pouting childishly. "Fine, then! Be that way! Come on, Deidara, let's go!"

Sighing, I followed the boy, though Kaiya shot one last glare at me as if she were to say, Take care of my otouto or else. Swiftly, I nodded, not wishing to know what the "or else" part meant.

We crossed the street and took a left turn from there, though I allowed Yukio to guide me throughout the entire way. Although I would have largely preferred to spend time doing something else — most likely with Kaiya or myself — I decided that I should at least try to get to know Yukio a bit better. After all, I had never really conversed that much with the boy.

"You know," I began, "we haven't really talked too much. Do you want to tell me anything about yourself?"

At that, he grinned, puffing his chest out with pride. "Sure thing! I absolutely love talking about myself! I mean, who doesn't love me? I love me just as much as you love me! Actually, I think I love me more than onee-chan and nii-chan love me combined! I love me so much, I'd marry me!"

For a few awkward seconds, I gawked at the boy, then shook my head in irritation, realizing that he was only kidding. "Well, I guess that tells me one thing about you," I grumbled, earning a laugh from the boy. "You're sarcastic, stubborn, and you love to get people, mainly yourself, to laugh. Also, you tend to talk excitedly whenever it's your turn to speak."

"That's right!" responded Yukio, before scratching his head and quickly correcting himself. "Well, I'm not vain, even if I do look at myself in the mirror a few times. I just really want to be like one of those stereotypical teenage boys, since they act pretty cool and everybody in their age group knows their name! Sometimes, being the middle child doesn't get you enough attention...I want more of it!"

"I get it now," I responded, fully understanding why he had made that odd remark earlier. "You love receiving attention and admire those who get it. Is that why you like being a daredevil, being a loudmouth, and performing so many dangerous stunts?"

He nodded in confirmation, swinging Ricky over his shoulder. "Yup! I have no career in mind, but I'm fine with anything, just as long as the world will end up screaming my name! If anything, I want to become a celebrity that isn't known for his looks, but for being a hero to everybody!"

A hero, eh? I thought to myself. With that personality, I think he'd be pretty good as a villain as well...not that he'd probably try to be. Even though he can be such a mischievous, loud, and stubborn boy in his own way, he's still a goody-two-shoes Hoshiyume, and a happy child at heart.

"Well?" said Yukio, grabbing my hand and tugging me along impatiently, "what are you waiting for? The skatepark is calling our name right now! Just listen, Deidara! We've got to get there as quickly as possible!"

My expression changed into a smirk, though it was slightly forced because I kind of admired Yukio's determination, as much as I hated to admit it. "Alrighty then, let's head on down. But you lead the way, since you're the one who's lived here for many years, un."

Resignedly, I allowed him to pull me along to wherever he wanted to go, since it was kind of his day, after all. Plus, I wanted to see the teenage gangsters that Yukio admired so much as well, since the idea of everybody knowing your name was definitely something intriguing to me.

Like Yukio, I had desired to be noticed and known for my art all across the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Yes, I was currently known for my art, but not exactly in the way that I had hoped anymore.

Now that I think about it, he does seem a bit like a mini-me in many different ways, I noted, the thought of potentially turning him into a personal apprentice filling my mind. Just like him, I'm arrogant, stubborn and somebody who wanted to be noticed by everybody else.

"Look!" he exclaimed, pointed in the direction of a nearby park. "There it is! Let's hurry before teenagers come and take over the skatepark!"

Nodding, I raced over to where Yukio was heading, trusting the boy to figure out where we were headed. Sure enough, we ended out at a fenced off area where there were many ramps going up and down, perfect for riding skateboards. Even better, nobody was there...except for two teenage boys.

I was about to ask Yukio about how we were supposed to get inside before realizing that he was no longer standing next to me. Whipping around frantically, I finally spotted him, but somehow, he had managed to find his way inside the fenced area, with Ricky in his arms.

"Come inside!" he invited, motioning towards a chain gate that I had never noticed before as he stepped up to the top of a ramp. "You're an expert on daredevil stuff as well, so try to teach me some new moves!"

At that, I couldn't help but raise a brow in confusion. "What do you mean, teach you some new moves? I've never ridden a skateboard before, let alone have seen one! I thought that you were supposed to be the expert on this stuff, since you didn't even want to ride with that helmet on!"

Yukio frowned, tapping the spiked helmet on his head with disdain. "Very well, then! I guess I'll just have to practice by myself!"

My eyes widening, I reached out with one hand to restrain him, but he had already gotten on the skateboard and had gone over the ramp. He let out a whoop of excitement as he attempted to maintain his balance on the skateboard, causing me to sigh in exasperation.

And just as I had predicted, he fell right off.

"Ow!" he yelled in protest, gritting his teeth together. The two teenagers, who had been watching us the whole time, simply laughed at him, before getting on their own skateboards and proceeding to skate up and down the ramp.

Instead of watching Yukio, who continued to struggle to get back on Ricky, I decided to focus my attention on the teenagers as they skated. Out of the two of them, only one of them had a helmet on, which was probably why Yukio was even more ticked off about wearing one.

I watched in interest as one of them violently pushed off with his foot to increase his speed, so when he reached the base of the other end of the ramp, he zoomed right into the air. I half-expected him to slip and fall like Yukio had, but instead, he did a midair flip and turned his skateboard around, allowing him to land on the ground with ease and continue in the other direction.

"Interesting," I breathed, even though I could clearly see Yukio continuing to struggle with being able to gain speed on his skateboard. Suddenly, an idea popped inside of my head, prompting me to rush inside the gate and head on over to where the boy was practicing.

As soon as I approached him, he stopped his movement by getting off Ricky and slamming his foot on the skateboard, which flipped backward in the air before he caught it with his left hand. "Got anything?"

I simply shrugged. "I don't know," I admitted, "but I think I kind of have an idea to get you to go faster. Now do me a favor and stand on the skateboard again, un."

He gave me a puzzled look before nodding and following my instructions, getting on the skateboard. Steadily, I grabbed one end of the skateboard, then began focusing energy into my hands.

Channel my chakra… I thought, as a thin, blue aura shrouded both of my hands, luckily too small for the teenagers to see...not like they were watching us, anyway. Channel my chakra…

A huge amount of energy instantly began traveling to my palms, though I had to admit that it hurt quite a lot as they did so. Shaking it off mentally, I grasped the skateboard and pulled it back like a slingshot, taking Yukio up the ramp.

Once we were at the top, I shoved him off as hard as I could, discharging all that chakra in the process.

Yukio looked as if he had the urge to scream, but if he had tried to, I couldn't tell, since he was pretty much speeding down the ramp at the speed of Akane as the two other teenagers watched him, intrigued. As he neared the edge of the ramp, I nearly received the urge to close my eyes, but instead, he zoomed upward and right into the air.

"Yahoo!" he cried, raising a fist in the air, while sporting an excited grin on his face. The teenagers, now very amazed, simply clapped for the eleven-year-old, not knowing anything about the chakra channeling...I hoped.

Realizing that he was about to fall from a high height, Yukio turned Ricky around instinctively, preparing to stick the landing. However, once he realized how high he was, he proceeded to do three front flips just before landing on the ramp and zooming off towards me.

Getting out of the way, I grinned as Yukio flew up the ramp again, but this time, he did not ascend as high as before. Nevertheless, he seemed to be enjoying it, based on all the cheers and whoops he let out every time he flew up the ramps. Occasionally, he also performed flips, but ultimately, he made sure to keep himself steady with the skateboard.

Finally, after going like that for ten minutes, he decided to do a flip in the middle of the ramp, then stomped his foot on the end of Ricky and caught the skateboard with one hand, as if it were a silver platter. A large, confident smile was plastered on his face.

"So?" he said, smirking at me in a sassy, teenage manner. "How's that, for starters?"

Nodding in approval, I returned the smirk. "Astounding, actually. I don't think that I can do that."

Though I can certainly try...if Kaiya lets me. But still, discharging that chakra through my hands hurt a whole lot…

The two teenagers rushed over to us — well, to Yukio — and began grinning at him. At first, I stood in a defensive position, but returned to normal as soon as I realized that they meant no harm.

"That was very impressive, kid," the first one said, patting Yukio on the head. I swore at that moment, Yukio's eyes were sparkling with bits and pieces of his growing pride.

Another boy — the one without a helmet — nodded in approval, giving the boy a thumbs-up. "Can you show us how you did that, kid?"

His smile faded, and Yukio turned his head towards me as if he was asking what to do. In response, I shook my head, and he nodded in quick understanding before turning back to the teens.

"As much as I would love to teach you," he answered, crossing his arms in a sassy manner, "a magician never reveals his tricks!"

We all had to laugh at that one. Thankfully, the teens seemed to take this well and instead gave Yukio both of their numbers, something which pleased him even more. Carefully, he placed both slips of paper in his jean pockets before both of us exited the park, exhausted.

"That...was...awesome!" Yukio exclaimed, offering me a high-five. Not knowing what else to do, I returned the gesture, and he winked at me.

"Still," I grinned, "will your sister be happy that you flew about fifty feet in the air on Ricky, especially since it's just your first time training on one?"

He shrugged, crossing his arms proudly. "Who cares if onee-chan finds out? Besides, you're the one who pushed me so hard with all of that energy from your chakra! Who knew that one ninja could be so strong?"

"Why else, un?" I teased, pointing to myself in a more or less arrogant way. "I'm a ninja, that's why!"

Both of us continued laughing as we traveled along the perimeter of the park...until Yukio's stomach suddenly growled.

"I guess it's lunchtime, then," he declared, scanning the area around us for any restaurants. Suddenly, his eyes landed on a nearby ramen shop, and his gasp made it sound as if we had just won the lottery or something.

"Look at that!" he cried, pointing at the shop. "That's the spicy ramen place that okaa-san and otou-san used to go to all the time! Can we go there?"

As he pulled on my sleeve, I calmly shook my head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how your sister would respond to that. Besides, isn't that a warning sign next to the—"

"But Deidara," Yukio protested, tugging on my poor arm even harder, "I've been wanting to try spicy food for about a year! I don't care if they're trying to drive everybody away by putting a warning sign up!"

I opened my mouth to argue against him, but seeing that I had no way out of that one, I simply shook my head. "Very well, then. I guess I'll treat you to those spicy miso noodles, then. But don't say that I didn't warn you beforehand, un."

He instantly cheered, but didn't bounce up and down like Kagami, thankfully. Otherwise, I probably would have thrown him into the store out of pure irritation. "Awesome! Let's order before the dreaded line begins to form!"

With that, both of us headed on over to the spicy noodle shop, though I was quite wary about the warning sign that I had just seen. There were no words inscribed on it, but from the universal warning symbol as well as the fire symbol engraved next to it, I assumed that it definitely had something to do with the spicy food.

As soon as we approached the shop, Yukio had already decided on his order, even before the chef came up to him. "Can I have a spicy miso bowl, please?"

The chef gave him a look. "Are you sure? You look quite young for someone who likes spicy food. Besides, we make the ramen really spicy here—"

"It's my first time trying it today!" he corrected, his expression confident. "Bring on whatever spicy miso bowl you have! I'm ready for it!"

Shaking his head, the chef turned to me next. "What would you like, sir?"

I shrugged. "I'm not really that hungry. Do you have any dango or takoyaki, by any chance?"

He nodded in reply. "I do have a few sticks of dango ready right now, as well as a spicy miso bowl. I'll get those for you right now."

Yukio cheered, and I simply rolled my eyes at the boy as the chef went back into the kitchen to retrieve our food.

"By Alfalfa, I'm ready for spicy food!" Yukio sneered, raising a fist in the air. "I don't care how many people try to drive me away from achieving my goal...I'm still going to complete it, no matter what!"

Hearing him say the name of the seemingly almighty character reminded me to ask him a question that I had not had the chance to ask him. "You know, why do you say Alfalfa instead of God or Kami?"

"I came up with my own almighty figure because I didn't like how people were trying to force each other to believe in the ones that were already theorized," he explained. "I still say those two from time to time in the heat of the moment, but usually, I'll just say 'Alfalfa'. When I first heard the word around five years ago, I thought that it was just everybody's way of saying, 'The Alpha of all Alphas', not a plant that rabbits like to eat. But even to this day, it stuck in my mind, and I've always felt rather lucky whenever I see actual alfalfa plants in real life!"

"That kind of sounds a little like Hidan," I commented, earning a slight glare from Yukio. "Just without the violence and killing."

"The Great God Alfalfa does not demand stupid sacrifices like Jashin!" he growled, clearly upset about being compared to Hidan. "And also, I'm not an idiot! Even more, I don't have a problem with profanity!"

Suddenly, the chef handed us our food, nearly causing both of us to jump out of our seats in surprise. Yukio grabbed a new pair of disposable chopsticks from the side, then blew on his food carefully.

"Careful," the chef warned him. "It's really hot."

"That's a good thing, then," Yukio replied, ignoring the chef's obvious warning. "Cold food never tastes good, unless it's dessert!"

Quickly, he dug into his food, slurping up the noodles as fast as he could. I shot him an odd look before proceeding to eat a little bit of my dango, which sat on a rectangular plate as opposed to the bowl that Yukio received.

However, before I had even finished half of one of the dango sticks, Yukio's hands flew to his mouth, his face turning red. Beads of sweat dripped down his face, and he began to shout as if he had been set on fire.

"Water!" he cried, jumping off the seat and running around in circles. "Water! Oh, have mercy on me, Alfalfa! It burns! It burns!"

Sighing, the chef quickly got him a small glass of ice water, which he drank in one gulp before continuing with his complaints, running around in circles while attempting to hold his tongue or something. I facepalmed at the sight, but decided to just sit back and watch the show in pure amusement.

So this is Kaiya's youngest brother and Hidan's biggest little bother in this world, eh? I thought to myself, smirking as I took another bite of my food. What an interesting little fellow indeed. He seems like a mix of me, Hidan, Kaiya, and possibly even the Kyuubi boy — Naruto, according to Itachi and Kisame's observations — combined, but even somebody as loud-mouthed, mischievous, and stubborn as him could be pretty nice to hang out with. But still, all of that...good grief. How does his family handle Yukio?

I shook my head, snickering as Yukio continued to shout and babble on and on about how his tongue had been set aflame, while the chef continued to roll his eyes. Even a few of the passerby stopped to stare at the scene, and one man even took pictures.

Good grief, indeed...


A/N: I loosely based Yukio's character off of Naruto himself, along with the antics of my little cousins. Then, to top it all off, I added a little splash of my mischievous personality, as well as a bit of overprotectiveness towards his family and harboring his own beliefs. In addition, notice how the majority of his sentences end in either exclamation points or question marks.

The subsequent chapters, up until possibly Chapter Fifty, will be the climax and conclusion of the Kagami's Heart Arc. In that duration of chapters, I will also reveal her backstory...finally. I just hope it doesn't end up making her a Mary-Sue, or any of the other characters, for that matter.

Question: What are your overall opinions of Kaiya, Yukio, and Kagami? Be honest. You don't have to tell me your opinion of Naoki yet, since I have not yet written a chapter that effectively displays his full personality.

Also, do any of my OCs seem like Mary-Sues or Gary-Stus to you? Please let me know immediately if a character acts this way too much, because I very much dislike perfect characters, along with most of the other authors on here.

Ja ne!

— Tenshi —