Last time Will came up with a plan to defeat Nerissa, a plan involving a mirror that reflects the truth. However, in order for Will to use the mirror on Nerissa, Will must look into the mirror herself first. While Tibor began to search the archives for the mirror, Hay Lin and Eric left Candracar to once again recruit help from Naruto Uzamaki and his fellow Shinobi. Irma and Martin also left to find Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Crew. On with the show!

Chapter 6: Waiting for Naruto

Having arrived in Konohamaru, a.k.a. The Village Hidden in the Leaves, Hay Lin and Eric were waiting in the main Ninja training building for Naruto. "I hope he's available," said Hay Lin, "We don't have a lot of time to wait." "One thing my grandfather taught me," said Eric "Was that everything happens when it is supposed to happen. If we have to wait an hour or two for Naruto and his friends, then so be it."

Just then a boy of about 16 entered the room. He had a green outfit with spandex leggings. His hair was black and he had very bushy eyebrows. "Lee!" exclaimed Hay Lin. "Miss Hay Lin!" exclaimed Rock Lee as he embraced Hay Lin. "Oh it's so sweet!" exclaimed a female voice from behind Rock Lee. Hay Lin saw that the voice belonged to a girl of about 15 year; she has black hair done up into two buns, wore a pink top and black pants, she had the symbol for Konohamaru on her headband. Standing next to her was a boy of about 17; he had long brown hair in a ponytail, wore a gray top and pants, and had very pale eyes.

"Look Neji!" exclaimed the girl, "Our Rock Lee is in love!" "Ah, oh, yes," said Rock Lee, sounding rather embarrassed, "Miss Hay Lin, these are my teammates; Neji Huyga and Tenten. "Are you related to Hinata Huyga?" asked Hay Lin. "I am," said Neji, "She is my cousin and blood sister. We are both part of the Huyga clan, and with it, heirs of the Byakugan technique."

"Rock Lee's told us a lot about you," said Tenten, "He can't seem to stop talking about how wonderful his life has been since meeting you." "What's your ninja style, Tenten?" asked Hay Lin. "Weapons," said Tenten, "Any and all; from simple throwing knives to two-handed swords; from spears to axes; from bow & arrows to crossbows, I can handle anything."

"So you're the one who's brought the smile back to Hay Lin's face," said Eric as he shook Rock Lee's hand, "I hope you take good care of her." "Believe me," said Rock Lee, "I would die before allowing any harm to occur to Miss Hay Lin." He smiled and one of his teeth 'pinged.' "That's just disturbing," whispered Eric. "You'll get used to it," whispered Neji, "I did."

"So where's Naruto?" asked Hay Lin, "My friends and I need his and your help more than ever now." "Well," said Rock Lee, the smile fading from his face, "That might be a problem." "What kind of problem?" asked Hay Lin in a concerned tone. "Well it's kind of a funny story," said Tenten, "As a prank, Kiba dumped hot sauce into Naurto's ramen last night, and I mean a lot of hot sauce, five-alarm grade, the really nasty stuff. In an act of desperation, Naruto grabbed the nearest container of liquid he could find. He thought he had a jug of milk, but it was a jug of more hot sauce, this time seven-alarm grade. Naruto was then rushed to the hospital to have his stomach pumped, but he should be out and ready to go in an hour, assuming he's human."

"Oh he's human alright," said a dark voice from behind Hay Lin. There stood three ninjas, two boys and a girl. The girl had medium length blond hair and was dressed in gray and light tan. She had an extremely large fan strapped to her back. The first boy was dressed all in black. He had light purple tattoos on his face, and strapped to his back was something wrapped in bandages, with a mop of shaggy black hair sticking out from the top. The second boy, the one who spoke, had short red hair, no eyebrows, and the kanji symbol for love tattooed above his left eye. Strapped to his back was a large clay gourd full of what Hay Lin knew to be sand.

"Naruto has to be human," said Garra of the Sands, "No other creature in the universe is capable of making such an ass of himself." "I see you've fully recovered from being poisoned, Garra," said Hay Lin. "That I have," said Garra, "May I present brother Kankuro," he indicated the other boy, "And my sister Temari," indicating the girl with the fan on her back.

"You three don't look related," said Eric, "I mean no disrespect. "None taken," said Temari, "We get that a lot." "I can guess from the size of that fan," said Hay Lin, "That you use it to blow your enemies away with it. What I don't know, or maybe I'm afraid to know, is what is on his back."

"This," said Kankuro, "Is a puppet that I can control with my chakra. I can use it to attack my opponents and force them to attack it." "Sounds cool," said Eric, "I'd like to see that in action." "You might just get your wish," said Garra, "Tell me Hay Lin," he said in an anxious voice, "the reason you've return for our help, is it Pai-Mey Matoya?" "Yes," said Hay Lin, "The Empress is still alive. I'll explain everything once everyone's here. But why do you sound so anxious?" "I missed my chance to fight her due to the fact that I was recovering from being poisoned," said Garra, "I have every intention of fighting and killing Pai-Mey this time around."

Over the next hour everyone who went with Hay Lin the last time they went up against Pai-Mey showed up: Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Saske and Sakura. Hay Lin could see that Ino and Shikamaru were arguing over something, the next minute they were locked in a passionate kiss. "They've been like this ever since we came back from helping you," said Chouji as he was chomping down on a bag of 'salt and vinegar' chips, "One minute they can't keep their hands off each other, the next they can't stand the sight of each other, back and forth, back and forth."

Naruto was the last to arrive. He was looking rather pale, due to the fact that he had spent the night having his stomach pumped. He caught sight of Kiba and a look of mild rage came over his face. "My friend," said Naruto as he glared daggers at Kiba, "My dear friend Kiba. You lousy, no good, backstabbing creep!" "I'm sorry Naruto," said Kiba, "It was just a joke."

"A joke?" said Naruto, "A joke he says! I had to have my stomach pumped! All because you put hot sauce in my ramen, then you placed a jug of even hotter hot sauce where I thought a jug of milk would be. This is way more than just a joke, believe it!" "I said I was sorry!" exclaimed Kiba, "What else do you want me to say?" "I want you to admit that you did it so that I would miss out on my date with Hinata!" said Naruto.

At that Hinata, who was already blushing, blushed even more. So Naruto and Hinata are dating, thought Hay Lin, and if what I think is going on is going on, then this could get ugly. "Now why would I go and do something like that?" asked Kiba. "Don't beat around the bush with me," said Naruto as he began to move towards Kiba, "You're jealous because Hinata likes me and not you."

"Me!" exclaimed Kiba, "Jealous of you? You're even dumber that I thought!" "You are jealous!" said Naruto as he stopped within arms reach of Kiba. "You're jealous and don't you deny it," said Naruto, "J-E-A-L-O-U-S!" With each letter Naruto slapped Kiba across the face.

"Alright it's true!" exclaimed Kiba as he held his hand at where Naruto slapped him, "I do have feelings for Hinata! She deserves better than an imbecile such as you!" By now Hinata was blushing five shades red. "Please don't fight over me," she mumbled. Of course neither Naruto nor Kiba heard her.

"What did you call me?" asked Naruto. "You herd me," said Kiba, "You are an imbecile!" Kiba then began to slap Naruto across the face. "I-M-B-I…" "Wait, there's no I after that," said Naruto. "You're right," said Kiba, "I'll that that one back." He then rubbed at where he slapped Naruto, and then continued to slap, "E-S… wait, there's no S." He again rubbed at Naruto's face, "C-I-L-E!"

As Naruto held his had at where Kiba slapped him, Hay Lin guessed he was trying to think of a long word to retaliate with. "You know what you are Kiba?" asked Naruto as he readied his hand. "What am I?" asked Kiba. "I'll tell you what you are," said Naruto, "You're Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Believe it!" "I'm what!" exclaimed Kiba. "You are Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" replied Naruto. "How do you spell that?" asked a confused Chouji. "S-u-p-e-r-c-a-l-i-f-r-a-g-i-l-i-s-t-i-c-e-x-p-i-a-l-i-d-o-c-i-o-u-s," answered Sakura.

"Scrabble freak," muttered Ino. "Sex addict," muttered Sakura. "I am not addicted to fornication!" exclaimed Ino. "Not from what I've seen when you're alone with Shikamaru," said Sakura slyly. "You've been watching us!" exclaimed Ino with burning rage. "And I have videos," said Sakura, "You've done some rather amazing positions, I wonder where you learned them?"

At this Ino pulled out two kuni, one in each hand. "I'll kill you!" Ino raged as charged at Sakura. Sakura already had her kuni ready, when Hay Lin sent a blast of air at both her and Ino, sending them both crashing into the nearby wall. "Impressive," said Temari. "Thanks," said Hay Lin, "Now, as much as I hate to end the Soap Opera drama, we have a bigger problem. So put aside your hate for a few minutes and listen! That goes for both you and Kiba as well, Naruto."

Hay Lin then spent the next ten minutes explaining the present crisis. "So Pai-Mey Matoya survived," said Saske, "And she has joined forces with your enemy, Nerissa." "And to make matters worse," said Sakura, "Nerissa has The Heart of Candracar." "I speak for everyone here," said Naruto, "when I say that this sucks, believe it!"

"Oh I believe it;" said Hay Lin, "Will and the others are back at the Temple. She has a plan to get the crystal back form Nerissa, but Pai-Mey is a different matter. She's got a new arm made out of the same stuff that the Behelits were made from. It's got some sort of power, but we don't know what it is yet. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

"You can count on all of us!" exclaimed Rock Lee, "No matter what new powers Pai-Mey Matoya has, no matter who she picked as her ally, we'll stop them, no matter what!" "Just hearing you say that," said Hay Lin, "Makes me believe that it's already true."

Meanwhile Ino and Sakura had come to somewhat of an understanding. "I'm willing to stop if you are," said Sakura, "That is, if you are." "I'll stop if you stop," said Ino, "Until the end of the present crisis." "Agreed," said Sakura as she shook Ino's hand. Billboard browed bitch, thought Ino. Bleached haired whore! raged Sakura's inner ego.

One hour later everyone was ready to depart for Candracar. "Does everybody have everything?" asked Naruto. "We have everything we need except the kitchen sink," said Sakura. "I think I have that packed somewhere," said Shikamaru. "Okay then," said Hay Lin as she held out the teleportation stone, "Here we go!" With a bright flash, they all left for Candracar.

The end of chapter 6. Next chapter, we look in on Irma and Martin as they search for The Straw Hat Crew. See you next time!