By that point, Naruto and I had decided not to murder each other, though we couldn't help and argue from time to time. It was the apocalypse! So, if Naruto and I were getting along, then obviously Sasuke and I should be getting along, right? Wrong. Not even close. Yea, I know, we had made a peace-offering sort of thing, but Naruto and I were no where near close to forgiving him. So much for the picture perfect team - of course, we were missing two very important people at the moment, but I figured this was the closest this team would ever get to being together again.
Of course, while on the matter of missing teammates, Sasuke had to bring that up. "Where's Éclair?" He asked, later on in the day, as I patted bandages to his nose.
"Why do you care?!" Naruto snapped, getting immediately defensive about his girlfriend.
"Just asking..." Sasuke said, slightly annoyed. I almost couldn't blame him. But, for now, I was siding with Naruto.
"Not here, obviously." I said with a sigh. He was about to interrupt, probably to mention how obvious that was. "I just wanted to go on a mission with Naruto. It's been a long time since we have. We just wound up, stuck in this mess." I said half-heartedly as I worked on being a temporary medical nin. I wasn't a medical nin, not even close, but sometimes, I felt like I got the short end of the stick, and got stuck playing nurse. Was I really that useless as an offensive ninja that I was not only stuck in the typical Nara position of keeping the enemy distracted, but also stuck as a medical nin?
I felt the slight jerk of his head under my hands, the start of a nod, but realizing what that meant for the placement of his nose, Sasuke stopped, and instead muttered a little "Okay."
"Almost had the whole team together again." Naruto said with a slight sigh, looking down at the floor.
"Not exactly... Even if Éclair was with us, we'd still be missing an important detail." I said, staring off into nowhere as I finished up with the broken nose - my beautiful work of art that I had to throw in the trash!
"We'll find him, we promise." Sakumo said from behind me. I had almost forgotten he was still here; he only spoke from time to time, being that he really did not like to speak in the human tongue.
"Of course..." I said, standing up slowly, then stretching sore limbs. "Oh, and Sasuke?" I asked, looking down at him.
My former teammate titled his head back and stared at me with questioning black eyes.
"Since when do you care about Éclair? Of course, except for your pervy, demented reasons." I teased, a slight grin on my face.
Immediately, Naruto started complaining very audibly, cursing and swearing, probably ready to knock somebody's head - I think Sasuke's in particular. It was pretty comical how protective he was of poor Éclair.
Now, the more entertaining reaction was Mr. Uchiha's down here. "What?!" He snapped, his face turning a bright red - almost as bright as his Sharingan. For some reason, he had a weird obsession with our younger teammate. I have no clue if it was just him being a typical, hormonally-driven teenage boy, or if Éclair just got to see the absolute worst they could squeeze out of this screwed up kid, but either way, something clicked in his itty-bitty brain when she came around. Of course, now with Naruto and Éclair dating - and man was it serious! I can't begin to tell you how weird it is to see my teammate and one of my best friends eating each other's faces off - Sasuke had some competition. I wonder what Raidon thought of his unusual behavior.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, very annoyed, and even slightly embarrassed. Score! I got the young Sasuke back.
"Oh nothing." I said innocently. "Was just wondering if you're still a pervert when you think of cute little Éclair." Hmm, I wonder if she would murder me if she ever found out about this.
"No! No! No!" Naruto screamed, his face completely red. His arms were flailing about around him, fingers clenched into tight fists. I think he was too angry to get anything out that made any bit of sense.
"I do not!" Sasuke snapped, jumping up onto his feet.
"Pervert! You stay away from her!" Naruto snapped, advancing towards Sasuke. Opps, looks like a fist fight was about to break out.
"Hey, hey! Guys, relax!" I said, laughing slightly. "'Sides, the perverted ness is only for Kakashi, Lycan, and ..." I almost said Jirayia, then realized I'd probably send Naruto spiraling into depression. Just the thought made me frown too. "And me."
"Yeah, and I don't think you can pull off Lycan or Nikki. So stop stealing Kakashi's job!" Naruto hissed.
"I'm not!" Sasuke hissed back, glaring at Naruto.
"Yeah, you better not, 'cause I sure as hell don't want you as my sensei!" The blond said, crossing his arms, and turning away.
Wow, Sasuke taking Kakashi's job. I nearly laughed out loud, until an ugly thought ran across my mind.
"OH MY GOD!!" I screamed, jumping back as far away from Sasuke as possible. "EWWW!!"
"What?!" Both boys asked, staring at me like I was crazy.
I was still screaming like there was a bug crawling on me or something. I thought I was going to puke.
"Nikki! What the hell is wrong?" Naruto asked, desperately looking around for something huge, hairy and slimy.
"You better not take Kakashi's place! You sure as hell better not!" I snapped, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "Ewww!" I screamed again, a shiver running down my spine.
That's when it hit them. Sasuke jumped backwards and almost did vomit. Naruto on the other hand, busted up laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever thought of. That sick little asstard!
"Naruto, you shut the hell up before I kick you so hard there won't be any Naruto Jrs. or Mini Éclairs!" I snapped, not caring if Éclair would murder me later for damaging her boyfriend. Of course, my threat went in one ear and out the other as he continued to laugh.
"Eww!" He finally said, still laughing. "I do no want to see Sasuke sticking his tongue down your throat like Kakashi-sensei does!" Now the disgustingness of it was creeping in, but he still found it historical.
"Shut up!" I snapped. "Were you spying on us?!" I added, ready to tackle Naruto now. How did he know what Kakashi and I did alone?!
"No, no!" Naruto said, sticking his hands out in front of him to protect himself.
By now, Sasuke and I were both ready to beat him to a bloody pulp, even though the thought had crossed my mind first, Naruto had brought it up. We probably would have until Sasuke and I brushed arms. Then we both jumped backwards, trying to get as far away from each other as possible. Honestly, I wanted to break his nose again, but I was too freaked out to get near him. Damnit, where was Lycan when you needed her to kick Sasuke's ass?!
"Enough you guys!" Sakumo finally hissed. I really think he was enjoying it, but - like always - he had to keep us on task. Maybe sending teenagers out on missions wasn't always the best idea. I'd have to tell Tsunade-sama that later.
"Yes sir!" I said, ready to move on, and out of this conversation. That, and by now I thought for sure I was going to die from separation. Never before did I think I could ever miss somebody so much. Now I felt like I was only half-here. Kakashi had taken the other half with him.
As soon as the three of us had chilled-out from that 'episode' we set off again. I can't really explain how I felt. I wanted to run the rest of the way, without stopping, but only if I knew that he was still there waiting. The other half of me, told me he wasn't. Another inner conflict. The optimistic, outgoing, slightly psychotic side, said, 'Hell, he's still alive, not let's move faster damnit!', while the pessimistic, quiet, and shy side said, 'You kidding? We're way too slow. Why would they keep him that long? What's the point?'. At the moment, I wasn't listening to either side. I was more like a zombie, just following the pack, hoping, wishing, praying, that he was still there, still living on, waiting to kick his captor's ass.