I'm sorry mina-san, for not updating faster, but i've been having a lot of school stuff to do, and also this slight block of ideas...
anyway, i hope you all like this chapter, i worked really hard to make it, it was like, writting, erasing, writting, erasing some more and rewritting...
to my dear reviewers, thank you a lot, you inspire me to keep this going!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this plot line!
please enjoy, and please review!!
Thursday, February 28th
She watched as he ate his dinner methodically. Most people would just shove the food in their mouths, munch sloppily and then swallow, only to repeat the process, but him, he wasn't in a rush. He took his time, separating the food in front of him in categories, and then eating calmly. He took small pieces to his mouth, slowly munched and then swallowed calmly. He enjoyed his food. For some reason she did the same thing, as if it was a habit, maybe it was.
Their dinner was rice, tempura and some sushi. For the past week she had been learning new jutsus. But not only that, also how to take advantage of jutsus and new fighting techniques.
Something she had noticed was, when they were training, he seemed to be a complete different person, he was still himself, but more serious and focussed, and at the same time caring, worried and always goofin' around.
"You know senpai." He lifted his gaze to her and tilted his head. "You're a really good sensei." A smile played on his lips. "But I don't consider you my sensei."
"Then what do you consider me?" she looked down and put a finger over her lips, something she had found out she did every time she was thinking.
"Well…" she paused and looked at him. "How old are you senpai?" he tilted his head and raised a brow. "Just so I don't say anything stupid!" she grinned childishly and he chuckled.
"Well…" he paused, as if counting. "I guess I'm 23." He concluded after a few seconds. She nodded.
"Then I'd say you're my aniki!" she gave him one of her most wonderful smiles.
At her words he just stared at her. Sure, he knew they had become close, closer than they should, but for her to consider him her older brother, he didn't know what to say, what to do, how to react.
"Senpai? Did I offend you?" he shook his head.
"No. No, it's just…" she had her head tilted in confusion, and he had no idea what to say. "It's been a long time since someone called me that." He mumbled after a while, his eyes looking outside. She nodded.
"I didn't know." She whispered. He knew she was thinking she had offended him, but she really hadn't, it was just that the word brought back memories, it was nostalgic, but at the same time, it was nice.
"It's nice." He suddenly said, and he knew she was confused. "Hearing it again, it's nice." He faced her and smiled, his hand reached up and put a strand of her hair behind her ear. "So you can call me aniki if you feel like it!" he kept smiling, and a smile adorned her face too.
"Hai!" silence fell and they resumed eating their lunch, the silence being comfortable.
Chapter 17 – Aniki, encounter and feelings
Around 2 weeks earlier, Friday, February 15th
The night was chilly, and the scene before their eyes just made it worse. What used to be a forest, was now a huge clearing, having craters, broken trees, burned ones, holes in the ground, etc, all in all, it was a war scenario.
"He's been here kid, but he never left." The Kyuubi growled, and Naruto knew there was something he was hiding.
They had all met up in this clearing, and the sight wasn't something they were expecting.
"Someone killed him." Sasuke stated, his Sharingan eyes narrowing and looking at what was in front of them.
"The Kyuubi said the same." Naruto confirmed, and they all looked down, already mourning for their friend, except for the Uchiha, who couldn't bring himself to believe that she was dead, because she just couldn't be. Who would save him then?
He walked further into the clearing until he was on the other side, looking at a half destroyed tree, where blood could be seen with the Sharingan.
He lifted his hand and let his fingers trail the blood, it was recent, 2 days tops, and some still stayed in his fingers. He brought his fingers up, close to his face, and the moment he sniffed, he knew it was hers, from what he could see in the scene, she hadn't lost too much blood, which was good. But if she wasn't dead, where was she??
"Ne, Sasuke-teme-" he turned to Naruto and spoke, not letting the blond nin finish.
"She's alive." The mourning face Naruto had brightened and he walked closer to the raven haired nin, holding his collar.
"Are you sure Sasuke?? Are you sure??" he asked desperately, gripping his collar.
"I'm sure." Naruto trembled, and his eyes held blind determination.
"Then let's find her and bring her back." Sasuke gave a curt nod.
Weeks later, Monday, March 3rd
It had been exactly 20 days since they were together, it wasn't that long, but somehow, in the 9 days he had been training her, he had managed to teach her a lot of what he wanted her to know. She was a very fast learner, she understood everything the first time he explained, and she managed to memorize all the seals he taught her without confusing them with others. She was what most people would call, a perfect student.
He wanted to teach her everything he knew, but he could feel the time running out, he knew he wouldn't be able to teach it to her, but he still hoped he could. Although his gut feelings were usually right.
He had told her to wait for him in the village, he wanted to give her something, he just had to go get it. And so he had, he had woken up early, she had still been asleep, but he had told her the previous day he would be gone the whole morning, and that he would be back after lunch.
So far, so good, he had already gotten what he wanted and was about to reach the village, but he had the feeling something was about to happen.
In the village
She sat on the edge of the fountain in the central square of the village looking at the sky. The day was warm, there were no clouds, and the sun warmed her skin. She giggled when a small golden sparrow landed on her shoulder, it seemed sparrows really liked her.
"Hello little guy!" the sparrow chirped and let her pet him over the head. She smiled, she still didn't remember anything about herself, but she really liked animals. The sparrow chirped again and leaned his head in her cheek, then he moved on her shoulder and spread his wings, to then fly away. She kept smiling, nature was just so beautiful.
Since 'aniki' had told her he'd be back after lunch, she had let herself sleep in, and then she had walked around the village, and while she had done that, she had brought some shinobi clothes, might as well be prepared.
She looked back at the sky, she had been having flashes while she slept, mainly of when she was a child, but she didn't remember much, just a boy, older than her, with spiky raven black hair and onyx eyes, a gentle and playful smile. She tried to remember his name, but she had no luck, yet, she had the feeling she had dreamt about him and had said his name in her dream, but now she couldn't remember, maybe it'd come to her, after all, aniki had told her not to force herself, just let it come by itself.
So she dropped the subject, she'd remember it in due time.
She heard someone scream, and the blabber of the villagers stopped.
"SAKURA-CHAN." It was a boy, screaming someone's name. She looked down from the sky and saw a blond teen, his eyes a deep blue sky and glittering with unshed tears. He screamed the girl's name again, and started running towards her. She looked around to see if someone was meeting the boy, but everyone seemed confused. When she looked back at the boy he was reaching the fountain.
"Sakura-chan." This time it wasn't a scream, it was almost a whisper, and then she was being pulled up to her feet and hugged tightly, the boy whispering how he had missed her and how he was so worried about her. But she couldn't understand, she didn't know him, she didn't knew anyone for the matter.
"I'm sorry, you must be confused." She spoke politely and tried to break free, but he just loosened his hold so he could look at her.
"How can you say that Sakura-chan." She gave him an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not that Sakura person." She saw a few tears leave his eyes.
"Sakura-chan, don't you know me?? It's me, Naruto, you have to remember." she almost choked as he hugged her tightly, almost breaking her thorax.
"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. Can you please let go?" he obeyed but grabbed her arms.
"How can you not remember Sakura-chan." He started shaking her frame. "We were all so worried, you just disappeared, how can you not remember?" she was getting scared, was she supposed to know this person personally?
"Please let me go." She whimpered and looked around, the villagers were just ignoring the scene and looking away. She looked further and saw a group of 5 approaching them.
Something in her head started feeling as if it would explode when she saw the 2 raven haired boys of the group, one with raven spiked hair and onyx eyes, the other with black hair and black eyes, both with poker faces.
Some tears started to fall down her cheeks, it hurt so much.
"I'm sorry." It seemed to be the only thing she could say, and her head was hurting more and more, and the blond teen kept shaking her, and yelling, and she just wanted to get away, but she seemed to be unable to move.
She could only cry and whimper in pain.
The moment he landed on the roof where he could see the central square of the village he narrowed his eyes, anger boiling inside as he clenched his fists. She was there, being shaken by Uzumaki Naruto, crying and whimpering, and he knew she was in pain. She was supposed to remember at her own pace, not being shaken into pain by her friends. He also saw the Kazekage, the Copy-ninja, Yamato, as they called him, Sai, the ex-Root, and Uchiha Sasuke, the survivor.
He shouldn't show himself to them, but no one, and he meant no one hurt the ones he cherished, and that meant NO ONE.
So, he moved, and the next second he was behind the obnoxious blond teen, his right hand at the back of his neck, his right one fisted at his side.
His fingers tightened around the blonde's neck and he knew the poor kid shivered in fear and stopped, he couldn't say he didn't understand why, his aura irradiated the power and murderous intent that usually couldn't be perceived from him. He also knew that the group of 5 behind them had stopped dead in their tracks.
"Back. Off." He hissed in a dangerously eerie whisper. The blond nin shivered again and the moment he knew he wasn't gripping the pink haired girl anymore, he threw him back by the neck.
Naruto stumbled in his feet until he finally fell on his bottom at Sasuke's and Sai's feet, his eyes wide in shock, fear and sadness.
He looked at his imoutto, because she was exactly like a little sister to him, to see her still crying and whimpering, her hands held together near her heart.
He reached his hand up and took a step forward, his hand cupped her cheek and with his thumb he cleaned her tears while his other hand reached up to clean her other cheek.
"You ok Hayu-chan?" she looked up at his eyes and let out a low sob, even if she told him she was fine, he wouldn't have believed her, her eyes were like an open book, and he could see her pain.
"…aniki…" she whimpered in a whisper and let herself fall forward into him, burying her face in his chest and gripping his shirt in her hands.
"I'm here." He whispered and hugged her, she didn't deserve the pain.
"How can you not remember. EVEN THE TEME CAME." Naruto screamed, having gotten up to his feet. The pink haired girl whimpered and leaned more into him. He gritted his teeth, why couldn't the kid juts leave her alone. "And who the hell are you, you bastard?" he let out a low groan, just great. He glanced back so he could barely see the group and glared at them all.
"Leave her alone." He hissed dangerously. "And stay away." He noticed Sasuke had his Sharingan eyes narrowed, Sai was almost glaring while Yamato and Kakashi were looking down. The Kazekage was glaring murderously, and Uzumaki was glaring, his fist clenched at his sides and trembling.
He turned his attention to the girl in his arms and cupped her cheek, making her look at him.
"Let's get out of here ok?" she nodded and her hands tightened on his clothes.
"I'm scared." She whimpered, and he couldn't help but lean his forehead against hers and close his eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." When he opened his eyes he let a small smile grace his lips, she wasn't crying anymore. His aura also softened and the eeriness and darkness of it disappeared, she just had that effect on him.
He noticed the bags at her feet and, with one hand, grabbed them, while with the other he did a hand seal. He looked back one last time to see the group, Naruto running towards them, trying to catch them, but it was too late, the next second they were completely gone in a twirl of small purple petals.
Naruto fell on his knees, tears streaming down his face.
"She was here, I had her in my arms." He spoke through the tears. "I had her. Sakura-chan." He let the tears fall onto the ground, not caring that everyone was staring at him.
"Naruto." He shook his head as he heard his sensei's voice, he had her in his arms, and now she was gone again.
"Morron." He looked back and glared at the Uchiha survivor.
"She was here teme, and now she's gone." He screamed and got up to his feet, still glaring at Sasuke. "And she's with that guy, and now we may never find her again." He was now holding Sasuke's collar. "Do you have any idea how painful it is?" Sasuke shoved him away.
"Back off Dobe." Sasuke narrowed his eyes with the next comment, that came from the ex-Root member.
"Why would he care about her? He just came because he didn't want to do his job in the village." He twitched and lowered his head, his bangs shielding his eyes.
"Shut up idiot." That came from Gaara directed at Sai.
"Shove it." Sai answered back.
"Stop it, we won't g anywhere just arguing." That was Kakashi, and everyone did shut up.
"What do we do now Kakashi-senpai." Yamato asked, his voice shaking a little.
"We send the Uchiha home and go find her." At Sai's comment he shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from them.
"I'll go alone." He muttered between clenched teeth, who were they to talk like they knew him? They had no idea of how much he blamed himself, of how much he wanted her back, of how he felt and how he hated himself for what was happening.
"Get back here Sasuke." he looked back at his former sensei and raised a brow.
"I'll go back when I'm done." He kept walking away from them, and when he heard steps and a 'get back here teme' he did a hand seal and disappeared in a twirl of black smoke. He would find her and he would bring her back, or his name wasn't Uchiha Sasuke.
Days later, Friday, March 7th
After that little encounter in the village, he'd gotten everything they had and they had moved away, they were now in a village near the ocean in the south of the River Country.
It was currently the middle of the night, and he was looking at the ceiling. Ever since the encounter in the other village, the pink haired girl had been having constant headaches and was always waking up in the middle of the night, sweating, trembling, crying and sometimes moaning in pain or even screaming. He always stayed up, watching over her and making sure that, if she woke up troubled, he was there to calm her down.
Since yesterday, she had asked him to do what he was doing now, she said it made her feel safe, and he believed her, because she was sleeping peacefully, mumbling something once in a while, but sleeping peacefully, and he knew he should be sleeping as well, but he couldn't stop thinking about what happened next. What should he do now? He had no idea, he hadn't counted on incidents like previously.
So, there he was, laying on his back, staring at the ceiling, his new found little sister snuggled against his side, her head on his chest, her right hand next to her face, her left arm over his waist, his left arms wrapped around her waist in a protective manner. He could hear her even breathing, her left hand fisted over his T-shirt (even if he did consider her a sister, he wasn't just gonna sleep half naked with a 17 year old), and her torso pressed against his side (and no, he wasn't thinking about dirty things, he wasn't a pervert).
He looked down and looked at her, she looked peaceful, and he was glad that his presence gave her the peace and safeness she needed to sleep like this.
Leaning his head against hers he sighed, he should really get some sleep, but he couldn't, for some unknown reason, he couldn't. It's not that he didn't want to, he was tired, but he couldn't.
"…mama…" she whimpered lowly and he felt some tears fall on his T-shirt. He frowned, that's why he couldn't sleep, if he did she may wake up troubled and he may not notice, and he didn't want that to happen.
"…papa…" she whimpered again, more tears sliding down he face. He shifted his position and hugged her, one of his hands running over her hair.
"You're safe, I'm here." He whispered and felt her snuggle closer.
"…aniki…" he smiled and closed his eyes, even if he couldn't sleep, just soothing her while she slept was good enough for him.
Days later, Monday, March 10th
He walked through the forest calmly, he could feel her, her fragrance, it was so unique, unmistakable and addictive that he just couldn't miss it.
Her scent mixed with the smell of the ocean, and he knew he was getting closer.
He didn't care that he had left everyone behind, even if they reported it to the Hokage, he didn't care, he needed his sanity back, and his sanity had pink hair and bright emerald green eyes.
A few more steps and he stopped, having reached a cliff. He could see the forest below and then, vaguely, far away, the ocean.
For some strange reason, when they had seen her in the village, his seal had pulsed, as if there was a connection between him and her, as if they were magnets. He supposed it was because of the seal she had, since it had been his, that must have been the reason.
That's how he knew where to go, but no one but him knew that, he wasn't about to tell it to everyone.
Days earlier, Saturday, March 8th
Onyx/purple eyes fluttered open to come face to face with a pillow. He blinked a couple of times, the last thing he remembered, he had been hugging the pink haired girl, not alone in the bed.
"Morning!" came a cheerful voice from behind him. He quickly turned around to see his little sister sitting in the other bed in the room, peeling apples. She was smiling.
"Morning." He sat up on the bed and looked around, everything was in place, no enemy chakra patters nearby, everything was fine, but it seemed to be around 1 p.m., he shouldn't be asleep so late.
"You were so peaceful while sleeping that I didn't wake you up." She said with a childish grin, he looked back at her and tilted his head, she was extending the plate with small apple slices to him.
"Thanks Hayu-chan." He took the plate and put it in the bed, then stretching to wake up fully.
"You're welcome!" she seemed in a really good mood today.
"Are you feeling ok?" he asked and took an apple piece to his mouth, she smiled at him and nodded.
"I'm feeling perfect!!" she grinned and he smiled, that was good. "Thanks to you!!" she added. He looked away and shrugged.
"It's nothing." He waved a hand to dismiss the subject, he wasn't very good at these things. She giggled.
"You're childish aniki." He looked back at her and grinned while scratching the back of his head.
"My brother and senpai said that a lot!" she smiled and he ate another piece of apple.
"Can we train today?" he looked at her and nodded. She must have been feeling very good to be asking training. Either that or she wanted to forget the pain, but since she was smiling he would bet on the first.
A week later, Friday, March 14th
He walked through the village, and his only regret was all the attention from the female population he was getting. Girls, teens and even older women were ogling him, and he hated it. His consolation was that he knew he was getting closer, he just knew it.
There was this feeling inside of him, he couldn't name it, but it resembled the feeling he had when he won against a strong opponent… but it wasn't pride. His insides contracted and his nervous system was in a high, also, his seal kept pulsing.
He knew he was close, he just had to find her.
"C'mon, it'd be so cool!!" he could swear it was her voice, so he followed.
"Be reasonable Hayu-chan." A male spoke in a reproving tone. He kept walking, trying to find where the voices were coming from.
"C'mon aniki." The same girl whined. "Please." He stopped when he saw the girl, but it wasn't her. "Aniki." She whined while tugging on the male's sleeve, said male had his back turned to him. "Aniki." She whined again.
He looked the girl over, she had the same emerald eyes as Sakura, but it wasn't her. This girl was wearing black knee length boots, black mid-thigh shorts under a black skirt that had a chain in the left side, a pouch on her right thigh, another on her waist. She wore a black fishnet T-shirt under a purple tank-top (that hugged her curves and was covered in pink symbols and kanji), then she had a black sleeveless vest, unzipped, over the top. On her arms she had leather arm guards that reached her elbows and that covered her knuckles. Around her neck she had a black shocker with a small pendant in some sort of circle with other circles made of a silver metal and some red, dark blue and purple rocks. She also had a katana (the sheath was black and the handle was also black, having something engraved in it and then a small bell hanging from it, like the bells in the Akatsuki's hats) over her waist, held in place by a purple belt, much like he had worn his kusanagi held by the purple rope of his gear.
Then her hair, it was raven black with some blue highlights and blood red, pink and purple meshes spread around her head, she had it held in a high ponytail (the hair in her ponytail reached past her shoulders and had small braids here and there, the braids were made with the red, pink and purple meshes), some bangs on the left side of her face were let loose, framing her face.
But it couldn't be her, Sakura would never dress like that, or have her hair like that.
"C'mon aniki." The girl whined again, and, from what he knew, Sakura didn't have a brother. "It's just a piercing." The male she was whining too snorted. And Sakura would never do a piercing.
"Hayuki, you're not having a piercing." The girl whined again. He noticed the male was wearing all black, a pouch in his right thigh, another one over his waist, a katana over his waist held by a belt, gloves and raven black hair in some spikes.
And another thing, Sakura wasn't called Hayuki.
"Aniki, c'mon." she whined again. "Pretty please?? And then we'll go train the new jutsu you taught me." She made puppy dog eyes, emerald green eyes, like Sakura's. "I'll be good. Just one?" the male sighed and covered his face with his hand.
"Fine, just one, and not in an improper place." She nodded vigorously and started dragging him away, doing small jumps with each step.
"You're the best aniki!!" she cheered and then they disappeared into another street.
It wasn't her, but it felt as if it was her. Was he becoming crazy? He sincerely hoped not, Uchiha's weren't supposed to become crazy.
Can anyone say major change? i can!! XD
I hope you all liked this new chapter, i tried to give 'senpai' a little more importance, so now he's 'aniki' (older brother)!! also, sasuke broke from the group and will be searching alone, he already is --'
then we have 'aniki', has everyone already figured out who he is? if you haven't, then keep reading!!
and who can tell me who the girl in the last part of the chapter was?? and BTW, did you like the girl??
Ne, ne, isn't that little purple button on the bottom of the page just soooooo alluring? doesn't it make you wanna cick it and review??
and people, I LOVE big reviews, with lots of opinions and comments!!
one last info, i was thinking about changing my pen name, but i'm not sure to what exactly, i was thinking about Kimisama or Tsukimi, but i'm not really sure, opinions are welcomed!!