(A/N: Finally done. I'm starting to get the hang of 3rd person so I'm happy. Maybe slightly upset that 1st is a lost cause on me but what ya gonna do, right? Anyway I worked as hard as I could to develop your characters a little more so I hope you guys don't mind, but if there's something you think I'm missing, don't be afraid to speak out and (if you want) murder my friends in cold blood... That'll teach me.)
Thank you for reviewing; RuTakasheryuu, Tsubaki Takara, Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble and Hidan's Little Riku. It means alot to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I only own Vaskar and the story, Riku belongs to Hidan's little Riku, Shiro belongs to Sanbi's Faeble and Koto belongs to RuTakasheryuu. Other OC's belong to their respective owners.
"Did you just say 'the Akatsuki'?" Vaskar asked.
Shiro turned to him, silently wondering why the boy would ask that question? "Yes, I did. Why?"
Vaskar turned his eyes away, an embarrassed look could be seen on his face. "Um… well, I was thinking maybe we could help… I mean, we're after the Akatsuki too 'cause Riku's been tracking them for a while now, and I was gonna help her."
"And so now you want to come with us, right?" Shiro stated, forming a hand sign that made the icy tendrils release their hold on the spiky haired boy. Her 'Ice palace' jutsu crashed to the ground.
"Yeah."
Riku quickly stood up, obviously less than pleased, and fixed Vaskar with a look that made him flinch. "Vaskar! What the heck are you doing? We can't join the enemy!" Riku shrieked, stumbling a bit from her injuries.
"Sure, why not?" Shiro said, ignoring Riku's outrage. "But I need to speak to Koto first. She get's really upset when decisions are made without her." Vaskar nodded. He looked at Riku with a desperate expression, but Riku narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.
"Why are you letting us join you, anyway? It's not like you'll get anything out of it." Riku asked.
"You really wanna know?" Shiro replied, with a small smile on her lips. Riku nodded, looking at the blue-haired girl curiously.
Shiro looked at Vaskar… then hugged him! "W-what the-" Vaskar stuttered, blushing from embarrassment.
"It's because he's so cute!"
Riku raised her eyebrow and shook her head. I'm glad I'm not him…
Koto came back and stopped in her tracks when she saw Shiro squeezing the life out of the boy. "Oh great! I knew you'd act like this sooner or later the second we saw him!" She walked over until she stood in front of the two. "We need to go now Shiro, release him." Shiro grinned and released her hold on Vaskar. She didn't move away though.
Koto waited with her arms crossed for a second as she stared at the two, "…Well? Isn't there something we should be doing?" Shiro stared back at her friend with an iron resolve.
"They're coming with us Koto." Her tone made it known that there was no room for argument. Koto's eyebrow twitched.
"And what makes you so sure they are?"
The two girls stared at each other for well over a minute. Neither side was showing signs of weakness until Riku loudly cleared her throat, which caught both the passive and aggressive girl's attention.
"Look, Shiro was it? I don't really like your friend there, but I have to agree with her. We're off, come on Vaskar!" Riku made to grab Vaskar's wrist but the boy easily pulled his hand out of her reach. "Vaskar?" Vaskar couldn't meet her eyes.
"Sorry Riku, but I want us to work together. We're all after the same thing, right? Why don't we just help each other out?"
Riku looked furious, "What!!! You little traitor!"
"Hey, leave the kid alone. He's only saying what he thinks is right!" Koto growled. Her green eyes seemed to flash with malice as she glowered at the purple haired girl. Riku swiftly turned around to look at Koto and stomped over to her. Shiro immediately wrapped her arms around Vaskar and led him away.
"I think they agree, lets go."
Vaskar turned to look at her incredulously, "Shiro! They might get into a fight! We have to stop them!"
"Relax, they won't kill each other. Koto's smarter than that… I think." They heard a shriek, Vaskar gave Shiro a dirty look, "What!"
"Forget it… Where are we going then? How do we track the Akatsuki?" Shiro stopped moving and the smile she had on her face instantly disappeared. Vaskar stopped next to her and looked up at her with an eyebrow raised. "Something wrong?"
"Well, Koto and I have been searching for the Akatsuki for awhile now and we haven't had any leads…"
"Hey, Riku said she's been tracking them for awhile now. Do you think she might know?"
"Worth a try. Your so smart," Shiro smiled and ruffled Vaskar's hair, messing it up. "Come on, we need to stop those two from murdering each other."
"Are you sure that's a bad thing?" Vaskar muttered, trying to fix his hair. The two walked back to the flailing girls to see Riku pinning Koto to the ground. Riku was strangling Koto whilst Koto was kicking back with her legs. The two girls suddenly rolled over, with Koto above Riku, and punched her in the stomach. The purple haired girl growled and they rolled over again.
Vaskar and Shiro stared at the two in silence for awhile before Shiro burst out laughing. Riku and Koto looked at her with a look that said 'We-will-tear-out-your-spleen-if-you-don't-stop-laughing-within-the-next-five-seconds'.
When Shiro managed to finally stop laughing, she wiped tears from her eyes and frantically gasped for air. She looked at Vaskar by her side and he raised his eyebrow at her but she giggled nonetheless, once again ruffling his spiky hair.
"What's so funny?" Riku asked, standing up and dusting her shorts and Akatsuki cloak off. Koto stood up next and rolled her shoulders, plastering a perplexed look at her long time friend.
"Shiro, you've flipped." Koto said simply.
Shiro looked a bit hurt but her eyes flashed with amusement as she stared at her friend. "What's that supposed to mean Koto?"
Koto rolled her eyes but answered, "You've been round that kid too long," while pointing at Vaskar. To some extent… she was right.
"Well enough about my love for the cutie. What are we going to do about our little, big if you will, problem?" Shiro smirked.
"Okay, she's turning into you," Riku said, turning to Koto, "In a weird, creepy, demented kind of way." Koto tilted her head to the side then nodded solemnly.
"Anyway. I know a couple of people that can help us. But I don't actually know where they are… they could be in Kirigakure, village hidden in the mist, for all I know." Koto shrugged, she glanced at Riku to see her with her arms crossed and just generally not paying attention. Koto shook her head at her.
Riku turned to look back at Koto in time to see her shake her head and scowled at her. "Well where was the last place you saw them?"
"Suna. What's it to you?"
"Well, miss sunshine, did it ever occur to you that we could check with Suna's Kazekage and find out, in the reports the Kazekage has, where exactly they may be…?"
Koto scowled but didn't say anything, crossing her arms and turning away. Shiro smiled while saying, "Lay off her, she's only a Chunin."
"Oh, well that completely explains why she didn't come up with that… she's a lesser life-form." Koto snarled and lunged at Riku, resuming in the scuffle they were having before. Those two definitely don't like each other…
Shiro, once again, grabbed the silent boy next to her and dragged him off. "At least we know where were heading, right?" Vaskar nodded his head then suddenly stopped, which made Shiro turn to look at him. "What?"
"What about them? Shouldn't we wait for them?"
"Nope, they'll follow sooner or later." Shiro pulled Vaskar into the trees and they started tree jumping at a breakneck speed, with Shiro in front.
Koto looked around quickly, realizing that she was alone with Riku. She tore her hand away from Riku's throat and walked a small distance away before coming to a complete stop. Riku pulled herself away from the tree she had been pushed up against and watched the black-haired girl calmly.
"What's the matter? Run outta juice?" Riku asked, a sneer plastered on her face.
Koto lazily rolled her head to look at Riku, looking completely calm despite the insult she just received. "Says the person who had been held up against a tree just three seconds ago." Riku glared at Koto, but let her continue, "Shiro and the kid left already."
"Don't say that to his face too much or he'll use his favourite wind jutsu on you…" Koto looked at the purple haired girl with questioning eyes. "Don't ask…"
Koto gave Riku the 'once over' before asking, "Why don't we get along?" Riku shrugged, "Well, do you wanna try?"
"Whatever." Koto nodded and stretched out her hand to the girl and Riku took it. A strong alliance had just been formed…
"Let's catch up to Vaskar and that girl." Riku said, walking past Koto. Koto nodded and followed but grumbled.
"Okay, but call her that again and I'll murder you in cold blood then castrate your body and insides separately before putting you back together."
Riku froze in mid-step and turned slowly back to Koto with a cold look. "Bite me." Koto shrugged before walking past Riku. The two walked deeper into the forest, eventually lifting themselves into the trees and started tree jumping after the other two. Towards the village hidden in the sand…
I'll try and have the next chapter up by this friday, till then, see ya. And let me know what you think.