Hey!! Ok, the metaphorical 'ice' in the title refers to some of the characters. It's based around the pairings… I know that I paired Choji and Ino together but I'm going to take votes for who else people would like Ino to go with, I had someone voting for Ino/Sai, but I'm sorry Sai's going to stay with my OC. Now in this chapter I think you'll find out who the masked person is!! Lol oh and to Christina I couldn't reply to you review sorry!!
OMG I realized I made a BIG BIG BIG mistake!! KIBA WAS NOT CALLED INTO TSUNADE'S OFFICE!!
Enjoy this chappie!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! But this new person is my own original character! So please ask before using lol if anyone will be using her... lol hehe.
Chapter 2: Kizuna (-bonds-)
"Sakura. This is your final member." Tsunade said, somewhat glowing with pride.
"Kakashi-sensei had that mask before!" Naruto exclaimed.
"When Kakashi-sensei rejoined ANBU with us, he was appointed the captain…" Sakura trailed off piecing together the facts.
"Yes, I've being captain for three days exactly, so I haven't gone round to checking on your floors yet, Gomen ne." her voice sounded so tranquil, that laugh that accompanied that statement was like a bird singing in the forest outside Tsunade's sunlit window.
"Kakashi-senpai had a red line close to the edge of his mask on the right." This statement startled everyone. Seeing the shock settle in, the girl continued.
"I only noticed when we were signing the hand over paper work. He does have a gorgeous face though don't know why he wears that mask." She finished off contemplating that thought. Sakura and Naruto remembered their fruitless attempts to see beneath their silver haired Jounin sensei's mask.
"It's a secret!" their new ANBU captain said, reading the expression, you could hear the cheek bouncing off her words. Walking to the start of the line, she counted off each person's name.
Beginning in front of Naruto, she cupped his chin with a rather tiny hand. She stood just below the height of his one meter seventy seven.
"The Jinchuuriki…" she whispered. Naruto tensed at this and Hinata's chakra level flared. The veins that signaled the appearance of the Byakugan started to crawl across her face.
"No Byakugan, then you can see under my mask. I want it to be a surprise Hinata-sama." She said brightly, but the warning was clear. She chuckled slightly, turning back to the tanned face in her hand.
"But I suppose you and others prefer Uzumaki Naruto. So do I." she paused before moving on, passing Hinata. "Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino." She continued nodding at each of them. "Akimichi Choji. Hm… Hyuuga Tenten." She said teasingly then moved on again.
"Neji and Sai." She breathed out solemnly. The mood in the room darkened as everyone noted the non-existent last names and lack of suffixes at the end of their names. Neji's violet tinted pearl eyes widened as he recognized her faint magnolia scent and the hairstyle, including the pink ribbon, he was still doubtful however. Sai's artist hands subconsciously went to the hip pouch that contained his painting necessities. He fingered the ribbon tied to the end of his favourite wolf haired brush.
The nice atmosphere was disrupted.
"Shizune! I bet you a week's worth of Sake that she had to look at them twice! If I win I get double this week." Tsunade challenged.
"And I bet once! If I win you go with out for the week!" Shizune accepted. The two looked at her expectantly.
The still unknown kunoichi shook her head with a laugh and said:
"Gomen ne Tsunade 'baa-chan." She apologized. Everyone laughed at the expression that dawned on the older women's face. No Sake for a week. One word; utter disbelief. The masked person turned back to face them and noticed three extra people.
"Oh Sumimasen Kazekage-sama. Temari-san. Kankuro-san." She apologized then greeted. They each nodded in response.
"You know you can take your mask off. No strangers here." Tsunade said after a pause, having regained her posture.
"Hai" the younger kunoichi said complying with the order.
Her hand reached and drew away the piece of metal that disguised her as a wolf. Gasps rung through the room. Naruto breathed out in a stage whisper:
"Haku."
He was almost right. They looked facially identical, except this 'Haku' standing before them had the top section of her onyx hair tied back with a pink ribbon that a few in the room recognized.
She wore the usual ANBU uniform shoulder-less top. But hers was decorated and adjusted with pale cobalt ribbons. The skirt and black tights resembled that of Sakura's pre-ANBU attire. Over the knee length black tights that hoisted a slit on the two outsides. The slits were bounded back up with the same ribbon used on her top, finished down the end with a butterfly bow. Then a wavy length skirt dominated the view from mid-thigh up. The most important difference was, her eyes.
This 'Haku's' amber eyes were specked with odd grains of a pearly mauve.
"Actually-" she begun, "-its-"
"Hyuuga Yumeko" Sai said, in a voice barely more than a whisper.
Silence followed that announcement. All of the younger generation was surprised.
"Hyuuga?" Sakura asked turning to Hinata. Hinata stared at the newly revealed face; she shook her head in reply to her pink haired friend's question. This girl was vaguely familiar, but nothing of specific detail came to mind.
"NANI? What are you? You can't be any older than us!" Naruto burst out.
"No." she said with a easy smile and laugh.
"I'm-"
"Sixteen" Neji informed. His milky eyes seemed to water. This alarmed everyone and forced him or her to take a step away from the weirdly behaving Hyuuga.
Never. Never. Never before have they seen so much emotion betrayed by his face. Not even Tenten.
"Arigato Kami-sama. You're alive," Neji said into her hair as he eloped her in am embrace. The younger girl pouted.
"I can take care of myself now." Unhappy about been cut off by Sai then him.
Tenten stiffened at their intimacy. Contemplating the facts, she pieced 'Hyuuga', and Neji's sudden display of emotion as, engagement or worse marriage. It was irrational, but then at that time, her mind was working irrationally.
She knew the Hyuuga family tree like the back of her hand. She could recite every name upon sight of that person. Why? All for what purpose?
Neji.
The Hyuuga prodigy. He was just that to everyone else, the cold-blooded Hyuuga prodigy. But to her he was so much more. More than an acquaintance. More than a team member. More that a friend.
He was her world. No, he was more than her world.
On autopilot, she walked out the door. Neji turned to the door as it clicked into place.
He felt guilty. But he had done nothing wrong. He knew that, Yumeko knew that, so did the Hokage and Shizune. But then why did this feel as if he was sleeping with out a blanket. Bitter. Icy. Depressing.
He knew what expression Tenten would be wearing, that utter blank expression, devoid of her usual smile that lit his small world. She was the candle in the middle of his wintry arctic. And he had once made a promise to be the hands that shielded that flame from the wind. That was a mutual understanding between them. An unspoken bond.
Kizuna
"'Nii-chan, go after her." Yumeko said softly. She pulled away gently and shoved him to the door. "She's been waiting long enough for an explanation." Exchanging last minute smiles, he exited the room.
Ino sighed at the irony. If only Tenten stayed just a fraction longer. But no one was going to bring up the subject of Neji or the new Hyuuga around her if they valued their life. They would just have to do it themselves.
The blonde knew how it felt to lose someone you love. Although she knew her and Sasuke been together was never even in question. Hey, it was worth giving it a good try. And even then, the feelings she harbored were only those of a simple crush. It didn't a genius like Neji to figure out Tenten liked, no wait, loved him.
You could see it in her tender hazelnut eyes. The bright smiles she would always cast his way. And also oh so ironically, the Hyuuga protégé was, to put it lightly, extremely retarded when it came to love. Not to mention he has retarded social skills, but Ino will bitch about Hyuuga Neji and his retarded-ness another day.
That Hyuuga boy is so lucky Tenten's a tomboy. And he was lucky for that in more ways than one.
The typical blue-eyed blonde knew that as soon as Sakura was sorted into Sasuke's team that she was out of the running. She played along anyway. Anyone who knew her well enough knew that her saying "I can't let you steal all the glory in front of Sasuke-kun," was just a cover up. Since the day that they were sorted into sannin teams, there had been a mutual understanding, unspoken but stronger than any that had ever been spoken. This was Ino and Sakura's bond as rivals, females, and most importantly, sisters.
Their unbreakable Kizuna.
"Hinata-sama and I will fill Neji and Tenten-san in on the details later, ne?" Yumeko asked turning to the Hyuuga heiress. Tsunade cleared her throat.
"Alright then!"
To be continued…
THIS AUTHORESS NOTE IS VERY IMPORTANT!!
I love it when Fanfiction authors put 'To be continued...' lol I don't know why, its funny. XP
Right now I'm just catching up on the development of different people's developments and the main changes. And as I have either told you or you have noticed I just adore TenNeji!! Lol :P
Next chap will be their little talk (Tenten and Neji)and Yumeko's past begins to be revealed!! Be prepared for a lil' tiny bit of what resembles fluff in the next chapter between Neji and Tenten!!
Please Review!! I'd really appreciate it!! Lol oh and did I mention this is my first Naruto fic?? I'm so into this fic that I'm putting my CCS fic on hold!! -cries- lol.
Don't for get to vote on who Ino should go with!!
Ino/Kiba
Ino/Lee
Ino/Shino (lol they rhyme)
Or
Ino/OC
If you want an INO/OC then you could take a stab at what the title of this fic means, meaning you have to guess correctly what the ice means and at least two names of people the ice stands for. AND you have to guess how you do melt the ice :P who gets it right will get an OC character in this fic!!
Lol and if that person didn't want INO/OC then they can just have a normal OC or can decide something in the story:P
Oh and I had suddenly a really good idea about how to end the three ANBU squad and Sasuke's fight!! Lol so I stayed up for two nights till four in the morning getting down the last half of the fight… or maybe last third…. Some one does die in the fic!! And it appears to be more than one character…and that was five refill pages, that translates into ten Microsoft word pages… this is going to be a long fic by the looks of it… then they have to get back to Konoha for the &$# well those who are left anyway…
Hehe teasing you aren't I!
Ok I'll stop.
I'll only let one character die if you review!! KEKE blackmail gotta love it.
Thanks for reading!
Kawaii-Kunoichi