I am so sorry I didn't upload Monday or Tuesday ;-; there was a terrible wind storm that knocked out my internet. I would upload at school, but it blocks the website… so no. At least I published today, and you can have all of my chocolate if you want! I am so sorry; there won't be a double upload, because I am emotionally dying right now…

Enjoy!

Chapter 16

Hammer Time!

Asuka waited at the gate of the Hidden Leaf village with her wolf companion, Hatsuharu. Her team was given a C rank mission like Lee predicted yesterday. Asuka was feeling mostly emotionally drained from last night, causing her to only have a few hours of sleep in. She was a few minutes early to meet up with everyone, always was a bad habit of hers. Wanting to make sure she was prepared before the mission, she went through her weapons pouches, one strapped to her right thigh, both ankles just in case she gets pinned, two on each side of her hips, and the last one resting on her butt.

Let's see here... All ten Kunai Claws accounted for, six in the back, two on each sides, good.

She put the Kunai Claws back in their pouches and emptied out the rest of her pouches.

Twenty shuriken, ten kunai, two spare in each ankle holster... I'm good to go now.

She put her weapons back in their pouches and stood up again, looking at her partner then at her wristwatch.

"Gah, only five more minutes and they should be here... what to do?" She tapped her chin, looking back at her partner's satchel strapped around his chest. "I should make sure you have all you need too, you know?" She kneeled down next to him and took off the satchel then emptied it.

Hm... yup! Has all the medical supplies we need just in case I mess up again.

She put everything back and strapped the satchel around his chest and secured it, making sure it won't fall off during combat... again.

"Looks like you're already here, just as expected." Neji acknowledged.

"Hey Neji..." She covered her mouth as she yawned and lay down on Hatsuharu's belly.

"Are you tired?" Neji questioned.

"Yah, I had one heck of a day yesterday." She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to hold back the tired tears slipping out.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"Um... It's not that I don't mind, it's just that... I don't know..." She scratched the crown of her head and tilting it back to see Neji upside down. She sighed and looked back at the greenery of the forest outside the gate.

He gave her a questioning look, "What do you mean?"

"It was an accident, but Lee made me feel like I have no purpose... You know how I feel about that, right?" He nodded and let her continue. "Well, Lee took me out on a great date; and before you ask, we are not girlfriend and boyfriend, got it?"

"Got it." He confirmed.

"But, he bought everything for me, even got me a beta fish and a teddy bear at the fair. Then when he took me to dinner, I wanted to pay for my half of the food, but he wouldn't let me." She looked down, messing with her headband that was still tied around her neck.

"Don't you hate it when people do that though?" He asked.

"Yah... I do, but he made up for it, plus he's my friend. He learned, so I don't mind." She snuggled into Hatsuharu's warm, soft fur.

"Better get up, Guy and Lee are coming." Neji warned her.

She quickly got up and so did Hatsuharu. Asuka blacked out for a moment, losing her balance but her partner helped her stay up as Guy and Lee came to a halt to their group.

"Is everyone ready to go hunt the bear?" Guy asked cheerfully.

Neji and Asuka nodded as Lee saluted and said, "Yes sensei!"

"Good youth Lee! Let's head out." Guy exclaimed proudly as he pointed outside the gate.

The team headed out on a steady pace to the area the bear had been attacking the passing merchants. The bear has been reported to kill humans, after it started killing, it was made a problem. Guy's team was assigned to simply kill the bear and take it back to sell the hide along with the meat.

"You guys are slowpokes, you can't even keep up with your sensei." Guy happily shouted. "Asuka, I expect more out of you."

She sighed and looked at Hatsuharu.

He gave her a queered look and stayed by her side.

She looked over at her teammate Neji.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and quickened his pace.

She followed behind and kept formation. Neji quickly got in front with Lee to his right and Asuka to his left with Hatsuharu in between Lee and Asuka. Guy kept to the back just in case anything goes wrong.

"Hatsuharu, do you smell anything?" Asuka asked.

He tilted his head up and sniffed the air as they jumped through the trees. He let out a deep bark and got all jittery.

"Neji, let Hatsuharu take the lead." Asuka ordered.

Neji nodded and slowed his pace as Hatsuharu took the head and sniffed the air more. They took a sharp right and abruptly stopped as he leapt to the ground and sniffed it.

"You got anything boy?" Asuka questioned.

A few silent seconds pass, then he pointed with his nose to some bear tracks that were near twice the size of Guy's hands.

"They did tell us the bear was big, even though it's a grizzly bear, it's still big for its size." Neji stated as he stared at the bear tracks.

Hatsuharu growled and clawed at the ground.

"Oh boy..." Asuka rasped.

"What? What does that mean?" Guy queered.

"It means we might be dealing with something more than we thought, look, human tracks." She knelt down and brushed away the leaves to show boot tracks near the size of the bear tracks.

"It could have been somebody the bear was hunting." Lee stated.

"Could have, but if the bear was hunting this human, then why do they have the same sent?" She asked as she stood back up with Hatsuharu by her side.

"We don't have all the clues we need to answer these questions," Guy stated, "let's follow these tracks." They all nodded in agreement. "Formation three, go!"

Neji, Lee, and Guy took to the trees as Asuka and Hatsuharu stuck to the ground and followed the tracks.

If what I'm thinking is true, then this mission just turned into a B rank. Keep calm Asuka, you can do this.

She took a deep breathe and exhaled calmly, keeping her focus on her surroundings. The tracks ended unexplainably, she looked at her companion to see he's whimpering and digging at the ground. Her eyes shot wide and grabbed a hold of Hatsuharu by the scruff of the neck. "Jump!" She shouted as her and Hatsuharu jumped back and the ground quaked, showing a bear claw reaching out to them.

They slid back on the loose dirt and came to a halt as they used their chakra to help them. The bear clawed it's way out, showing it's filthy light brown thick coat and his mouth stained with blood.

"That's our bear..." Asuka stated. "But where's the human?" She asked as she quickly took in her surroundings.

"Agh!"

Neji came flying through the trees and stopped after he crashed through a few trees.

Guy and Lee jumped out of their hiding places as a tall, big man came out with a hammer and a smile on his face. "It's too bad you couldn't have fallen into my trap, now you will only suffer more."

"Just stand still, and this will all be over soon." The bear spoke up.

Well, I have seen weirder things... Asuka thought as she went over to Neji.

"Neji! Are you ok?!" She helped her teammate up and took a look at the back of his head. "Are you able to use your Byakugan?"

"Gah! Augh... After a few moments, I think I can, that guy with the hammer got me pretty good back there." He said as he seemed to struggle to point at the husky man.

The bear came charging at them, the earth quaked beneath it's giant paws, causing Asuka to accidentally drop Neji.

Neji tried to get up, but the earth wouldn't quit shaking.

Asuka pulled out a Kunai Claw and prepared for an attack. The bear stood on it's hind legs, it stood nearly 15 feet high, towering over Asuka well over ten feet.

She still kept her ground, seeing a chance to attack and she took it. Grabbing her altered kunai and lunging to the bear, sinking the kunai into the bear's stomach and clinging to the bear as she repeatedly stabbed the bear; making him stumble backwards.

"Get off stupid girl!" The bear scolded as he grabbed and clawed at her back.

Hatsuharu came from the back and jumped onto the bear; his mouth full of flames as he bit and clawed at the bear's head and neck.

The bear let out a roaring growl, fire blazed in his eyes as he started to run around and try to shake the stragglers off of him.

"Earth style: Rock Spire justu!" The bear shouted, the earth cracked and out came jagged edges of the earth's crust. The bear charged to the edged earth and ran over it, trying to scrape her off.

Her weighted jacket provided as good armor on her upper back, but her lower back was unprotected, her black dress was in shreds now as she tumbled off the bear and tried mustering her senses back to stand up. She saw no use for her shredded dress and ripped the dress off. Revealing dark purple short-shorts and a black corset with a nice lace job. Her jacket, somehow, was still intact, so she didn't tear that off.

She silently laughed to herself and smiled at the bear who was struggling to get Hatsuharu off. "That was my favorite dress, you'll pay for that." She wiped away the blood on the corner of her mouth and showed a toothy grin as she sped off, only leaving dust behind.

The bear was now enraged, not able to get the giant wolf off it's back. Asuka did some hand seals and placed her palm on Hatsuharu neck as she cart-wheeled over him and landed on the other side. His mouth filled with icy hot flames and burst out of him all over the bear. The bear's fur now looked patchy and singed.

"What did you do?!" The bear shouted and continued to buck wildly and run into trees.

"I merely transferred the jutsu, the wolf on your back cannot perform more complicated jutsu like the fireball jutsu, which he just did. I, myself cannot do fire based attacks well on my own, Hatsuharu, the wolf on your back, can though. So, I perform the hand signs needed for the jutsu, and transfer the chakra containing the jutsu, to him. He uses his fire chakra to trigger the jutsu and add the power needed for it." She patted her hands and smiled evilly. "Pretty handy huh?"

The bear was now enflamed with anger, "Lang! I need help!" The bear shouted to the tall, husky man who seemed to keep missing Lee and Guy with his giant hammer.

"I'm on it." He took out a kunai and sliced his hand, then placed it on the ground. All sorts of seals surrounded his hand on the ground, a puff of smoke appeared and showed two more bears smaller than the first.

One was black, and about less than half the size as the Grizzly bear, about the same size as Hatsuharu. The other one was a bit more 'pretty' looking, it's coat was more silky looking with dark brown fur and honey colored spot on it's forehead and another spot covering the underbelly.

"Hozuki, brother" The female honey bear looked to the black bear. "You ready?"

"Yes, sister Hani," Hozuki agreed as he looked back at his sister. "Looks like brother Gurizuri needs our help." He smiled devilishly as he looked at his bigger brother.

"Oh just shut up and help you worthless hides!" Gurizuri, the Grizzly bear scolded as he slammed up against another tree, knocking Hatsuharu loose, but didn't completely shake him.

"On it." Hozuki said as Hani nodded as she charged to Asuka, and Hozuki charged to Hatsuharu.

"This battle's getting intense..." Asuka whispered as she performed more hand seals. "Going to have to do this... Water style: Water dragon jutsu!" water came from the green life around them and formed into the shape of an Eastern dragon. It was nowhere near as big as Kakashi could form, but it was a decent size for the charging bear.

The water dragon surrounded the bear and formed a hovering sphere, keeping the honey bear in the middle and spinning her around. The bear tried swimming, but it was no use, the current was too strong for the honey bear to handle.

Hozuki saw this and left Gurizuri to fight off the wolf to help his little sister. He let out a giant roar and charged at Asuka.

Crap! I can't handle two of these!

She frantically looked back and forth from the honey bear to the black bear.

If I move too much, the jutsu will release, and all that chakra will go to waste!

The black bear advanced to her, just merely ten yards away from her now.

Please trip and fall. Please trip and fall. Please trip and fall...

She tensed up, ready to take the blow, but right before it happened... it didn't happen. She opened her eyes to see Neji in front of her, using his chakra filled palm to stop the bear and make him vomit right before her.

Neji turned his head to look at her with the corner of his eye.

"Your ok! And your Byakugan is working!" She stated happily.

"If it wasn't for you distracting them long enough, I probably would be seriously injured, it's the least I could do." He smiled at her as his eyebrows furrowed. "Hold that honey bear a little longer and it'll be the end for her." He tipped his head to the side to show that the honey bear let out a bubble of air and kept spinning.

"Gentle Fist: two palm!" Neji Hit the black bear in both of it's forearms. "Four palm!" He hit the bear in it's hind legs and chest, sending the bear back and knocking him to the ground, struggling to get up but couldn't.

"Nice..." Asuka complimented as she struggled to keep the chakra flowing into the sphere. "Could you take my jacket off for me? It's taking up quite a bit of energy..." She slowly breathed, trying desperately to keep her focus.

He nodded and helped her. She slowly let her left arm bend, so then Neji could slip one side of the jacket off, as soon as the jacket only covered a forth of her body her arm shot straight back up. Some water spilled during the process, but stopped when both of her hands were focused on the sphere. Neji took her jacket off for her and set it on the ground.

She sighed with relief. "Thank you Neji, could you go help Hatsuharu?" She queered as she looked at her bruised and blood covered companion still taking a beating from the Grizzly bear. Neji nodded and headed to him, preparing for another Gentle fist attack.

The honey bear soon after fell limp, not moving one bit to fight the current. Her eyes were closed and mouth slightly gaped. Asuka released the jutsu and breathed more heavily from exhaustion. She went over to Hani and tried finding a pulse. There wasn't one pulse, nor was there any sign of life.

Asuka took in her surroundings again, seeing that Neji and Hatsuharu were now working together to defeat the grizzly, and Guy and Lee were working in sync to defeat the husky man.

Her body was weak as she tried to get up, her chakra near depleted, which also meant her physical energy was nearly completely gone too. She knew if she so much as tried making a simple jutsu such as a single clone, theorized, she could die. If any Shinobi tried using up all of their chakra, there is a chance they could die.

Hatsuharu had the supplies needed to regain at least some of her chakra so then she wouldn't be a burden to the team. But he was busy with Neji. Guy and Lee... were somewhere... but where? She took in her surroundings again. Finally gaining her footing and standing up a bit more strongly now. Her back injuries were still slowing her down, making it hard to straighten up her back to have a better view.

"Asuka!" Lee and Guy shouted from afar.

She didn't know why they were shouting at her, but she felt the ground quake under feet, causing her to fall to the ground again and struggle to get back up but failed trying.

They husky man stood before her, towering over her by a good four or three feet. "If I can't take down your speedy friend, I'll kill you instead!" He swung his hammer toward her quivering, weak body.

She couldn't move and she knew it. All she could do was block and hope for the best. The hammer made a strong contact with her frail body and sent her flying through the several trees. When she didn't hit any more trees but kept flying, she tried getting a grasp of her surroundings and only saw one thing. The earth's edge and the sky. That's when she realized...

She was falling.

Damn... My body is in no condition to try to run on the wall of this cliff... and my strength isn't near strong enough right now to throw a Kunai Claw into the side of the cliff and just hang there till somebody comes. She sighed as her hair whipped around her bloody face. She smiled and laughed silently to herself. If I'm going to die, I'll die smiling...

She closed her eyes and welcomed death with open arms, just waiting for the impact of the hard ground at the bottom. After a few moments, it never came, then she figured out that she wasn't falling, she was in somebody's arms.

She opened her eyes to the person who saved her.

"Neji?... You actually came... thanks." She smiled weakly at him and let her arms hang as Neji cradled her like a baby and stared down at her as his feet clinged to the side of the cliff.

"Your my teammate, plus I'm the leader, I wouldn't be a good leader if I were to let you fall to your death." He stated plainly as he started to run up the cliff.

"Is it over?" She questioned.

"No, it's almost over though, Hatsuharu and I killed the grizzly, and Lee got really mad when that guy hit you with the hammer. I think he even opened up one of the inner gates, I'm not sure, I was too busy trying to catch up to you."

"That's... good, I guess." She smiled weakly

Neji slowed down and started fast walking up the mountain. "My chakra is pretty low right now too, so we won't get up this cliff as fast." He sighed and shifted his arms to a more comfortable position.

"I guess you're happy that I'm not wearing my jacket huh?" She teased.

He sighed, "Yeah, I don't think I could have carried you for long if you were wearing it." He took a quick look of her and stared back up. "You're actually lighter than I thought you were."

She quietly laughed weakly. "Thanks..." She looked at the cliff's wall of earth, then at her feet and tried to focus her chakra.

Neji quickly jabbed chest and held her again. "I know what you're trying to do, and no, you can not climb the wall in your current condition, which is why I temporarily blocked your chakra." He glared at her and quickly focused back onto the wall.

She sighed sadly and just let him carry her up the cliff; seeing as there is no reason to fight her teammates grasp on her.

They got up the cliff and finally got on some 180 degree ground, instead of just being on 90 degree for who knows how long... Then the husky man that was wielding the hammer flew over their heads and down the cliff.

"Looks like the fight's over..." Neji stated.

She nodded in agreement and they both looked ahead to see a green blur heading their way.

"Asuka!" Lee ran up to Neji and Asuka with eyes filled with worry. "Are you ok?! Can you walk?!" Lee continued asking her questions without giving her a chance to answer.

She sighed again and merely just touched his forehead with the tip of her index finger. "Lee, I'll be fine if you just give me time. Some of my bones are only fractured, and no, I can't walk."

Hatsuharu walked up to Neji and stood next to him, looking up at him and tilting his head toward his back. Neji nodded and put Asuka face down on Hatsuharu's back.

Guy appeared behind them and gave them all the 'good guy' pose. "Good work today team! Especially you Asuka, you showed incredible strength and endurance today!" He patted her mid back roughly.

She cringed in pain as the blood started flowing out of the deep claw wounds the bear left on her back. She then tightened her grip on Hatsuharu's fur and grind her teeth.

Neji then put a hand on Guy's arm, stopping him from patting her back again. "She's in pain sensei."

He stopped and looked down at his student to see the blood oozing out of her wounds again.

"Oh... sorry about that." Guy wiped the blood on his hands away and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I would treat you're wounds but..."

She held up her hand "I know sensei, Hatsuharu can do it." She patted her companion's head and he went behind a tree with a wide trunk.

"We'll wait a little further out and scout the area," Guy told her, "When you're done, come find us."

She gave a thumb's up from behind the tree. Then they left her there, but Neji knew to stay behind just in case anything bad happens. He kept his back to the tree and sat down while waiting for his teammate to finish patching up.

"Grrr... I'm tired of getting hurt like this..." Asuka stated from behind the tree.

Neji perked up and listened by closing his eyes and focusing on his hearing.

"I feel so weak... I wish I didn't feel like a burden to Lee or Neji. I know they won't say that to my face... Maybe Neji would say that, but not Lee." she groaned, and by the sound of it, she punched the tree.

Am I really that cold to her... Neji asked himself as he opened his eyes again and gazed up at the tree tops. Surely I'm not that cold. He closed his eyes and focused again.

"Neji even saved me this time! He never does that, he usually lets Lee do that. Then again, I did defend him from that bear... He probably thought he owed me or something."

Am I REALLY that cold to her? Sure the way I see things makes her mad, but does she really think that? He took off his headband and felt the mark on his forehead.

'Caged Bird', since he's a branch in the Hyuga clan, instead of the main branch like his cousins, Hinata and Hanabi, he is destined to protect them. If he fails to show he will protect them... the main branch could decide whether to kill him on the spot or not. Either way, everyone shares one destiny, we all die. He has accepted this path, whether he wanted to or not, destiny for him was already decided for him when he was born.

Asuka though, does not agree with him. She believes with hard work, you can do anything, reach any milestone, and achieve any goal you set. To Neji, she was oblivious to this subject. To be honest, Neji does think that one day she will defeat him. But that was only the little voice in the back of his head speaking, not him... so to speak of.

He put his headband back on and focused on her conversation with her companion.

"Hatsuharu! Easy, my ribs are cracked again." She raised her voice. "I guess I just need to give Neji more of a chance, he did give me a violet yesterday after all... How did he know I liked violets... unless he actually remembers that one time we talked for a long time."

Yah, I did remember. It was sometime during January that we talked to one another during a D ranked mission of babysitting a three year old. We were bored and she kept asking questions, and then got me when she said "that we're a team, which means the slightest of doubt one another, equals death." That's when we actually connected, and she made me feel... better somehow. He looked down at his bandaged hands, remembering the burden he has to carry everyday for the rest of his life.

"Help me up... fine, I'll ride your back, but when we get back to the village, I'll make it up by intense training." Hatsuharu sighed and came out from behind the tree with a bandaged Asuka wearing a plain black cloak.

Neji got up and gave her a questioning look. "Why are you wearing a cloak?"

"What are you doing here?" Asuka retorted.

"I asked you first." He stated.

"The corset I was wearing proved to be part of the reason why my ribs are more bent then suppose to be. So Hatsuharu took it off and bandaged me, now I'm wearing this cloak. Your turn." She answered.

Neji shook the 'dirty' thoughts from his mind and answered. "I didn't feel like hiding in a tree this time and stayed on the ground, just in case anything else goes wrong." He started to lead the way, "Guy and Lee should be up ahead not too far from here."

He continued to lead the way as Asuka rode Hatsuharu, who was trailing Neji. "So, how much did you hear of our conversation?" She asked nervously.

"All of it... do you really think I'm cold?" He asked.

"I never said-"

"You intended it." He responded sharply.

"Well..." She started nervously, "You never really have any support for me or Lee. We train everyday and try our hardest to surpass each other and you. I give you support, helping you master some of the hardest moves for somebody of your age to learn by yourself. Yet, after all these months, nearly a whole year and you still don't support me or Lee." She looked down disappointedly, just waiting for Neji to come back with something stupid and witty about 'destiny' or something like that.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something.

She gave him a queered look. "What did you say?"

He furrowed his brow and cringed. "You're right..."

"What do you mean?" She asked with a hint of shock in her tone.

"I still believe destiny is set from birth, but, I should try helping you and Lee. I've been a bad leader lately..." He perked up his head and connected a stare with her. "I'll be a better leader for the upcoming Chunin exams, I promise." He smiled that 'competitive' smile of his whenever he was sure of something.

She smiled back at him, "I'll make sure you hold up to that promise Neji."

He nodded and continued to lead the way. Within a few yards, they could tell the difference of their sensei and teammates green jumpsuits from the rest of the greenery environment. Lee saw them and ran up to them.

"Are you guys ok?" He asked frantically.

"Yes Lee, we're fine." Asuka gave him a warm smile. "I'm ready to go home sensei."

"I think we all are to be honest." Guy agreed. "But the sun is going down, and we need to rest, we won't make it to the village before dark if we try going in our condition." He referred to Asuka, but didn't bother to point it out as Lee and Neji both glanced at her. She groaned and face palmed. "Alright, Lee and I already got what we need for tonight, so all is set. Noodles are already cooking, it should be ready in a few minutes."

"I think I'm just going to sleep without eating, I'm not that hungry..." Asuka said as she rubbed her shoulder.

"But, you need to keep your strength up!" Lee implied.

"Lee, not tonight, my stomach has had enough for today." Hatsuharu nodded in agreement and lay down on the soft dirt just about two to three yards away from the fire. Asuka gently slid off him and nuzzled into her favorite spot below his shoulder blades, and formed a fetal position.

Lee tried to advance to her, but Guy put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "No Lee, she's had enough for today. If anything, she'll probably scavenge around here for food before any of us wake up."

Lee sighed and sat down, waiting for the noodles to be ready. He glanced over to his friend lying on her wolf. Her frail body covered by the black cloak... looked like she was pretty comfy.

ooOoO0OoOoo

Asuka was back in Konoha, but it looked more... vivid. People were walking faster than usual, bumping into her and nearly knocking her down. She took a closer look at the civilians faces, they were scared of something... but what?

"Hey, what's going on?" She reached out and grabbed the nearest person, but her hand went straight through him.

She blinked several times out of shock and looked at her hands. They were transparent looking, yet translucent at the same time. She looked around a bit more and headed up stream of the crowd of people. Somehow she was able to pass through people, but yet people were able to bump into her. Nothing made sense right now...

She finally got to the source of fear the people were running from, to see it was the same person from her nightmare on the night of Lee's birthday.

"Sister..." the tall, lanky white hair boy said raspy, "I was beginning to miss you." He stuck out his tongue and licked his blood covered lips. "Come give your brother a hug." He ordered as he wobbled over to her.

She tried to move, but her legs wouldn't move. She looked down to see nothing was restraining them. "Why can't I move?!" She demanded.

"Isn't it obvious? You missed me too..." He answered with a creepy smile.

She looked around more frantically, seeing her teammates about to run past her. "Lee! Neji! Help me! Please!" She cried out to them.

They both stopped and glared at her.

"Why should we help you?" Lee asked.

"You're the one who abandoned us, and brought that thing to us." Neji stated coldly.

"No! I... I would never!" She tried moving towards them, but her legs still refused to move.

"Would you like it more if we were gone?" Lee asked harshly. "You did leave us, expecting us to die." He walked over to her and took a kunai out of her pouch. "I loved you, which is why I'm doing this," He brought the kunai to his neck. "You need to suffer, as much as I suffered when you left me to die." He slit his throat, splattering his blood onto her face and her clothes.

He fell to the ground and disappeared into dust.

"LEE!" Asuka screeched as she tried reaching the ground, her tears staining the ground as they slid off her face. "Neji! Help me PLEASE!" she yelled to her teammate.

"You deserve to die, but you must first suffer loss." He turned his back on her and disappeared with the wind.

"NEJI!" She wished she could just give up and fall to her knees. But whatever was holding her legs wouldn't allow it. She stared at her 'brother' who was now right in front of her.

"What did you learn sister?" He said as he stroked her cheek and messed with her hair.

"That you're sick! This dream is sick! I wish I could wake up." She chocked on her words as more tears streamed down her face.

"You will... In time." the boy vanished, and everything was filled with water.

Her legs were free, but she couldn't breath. She swam to the top, but was blocked by a wall of ice. She punched and kicked the ice, but it was no use. Her lungs felt like a burning fire that was using up all of her oxygen. She couldn't take it anymore, her reflexes acted and her mouth shot open and tried breathing. Her lungs now filled with water and her field of vision was now clouded as she drifted off and accepted the cold embrace of death.

Asuka woke up in a sheet of sweat mixed with tears as she sat up and held her beating heart. She looked around and saw Hatsuharu worried sick about her. He licked and nuzzled his way into Asuka's arms. She petted and scratched his ears. Taking a look around their temporary camp, she saw Neji sleeping silently as he lay opposite from a snoring Lee.

She crawled over to Lee and stroked his cheek and feeling his hair, then went over to Neji and did the same thing.

Yup, this is real... good.

She sighed with relief and crawled back over to Hatsuharu, snuggling back into his warm fur and going back to sleep.

Alright, weird dreams and Asuka nearly died… what a cliché, I know, but I wanted her to have a few near-death experiences, and this is one of them. So be prepared for a few tight, gut wrenching scenes in the future… In the near future? I don't know ;)

See you in a few days!

March 4

*So Close*

p.s. DUDE! That is the day of my English test! I'm so sad…

plus the 22nd this month was my birthday… so I'm a year closer to death, yah!

Follow the arrow and review please! It helps me out a lot.

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