HIIII!!!!!! HERE'S ANOTHA CHAPTAH!! WAAAAAAAAAI!!! (spazz on coffee, don't expect anything sensible from me right now)
Okay, I can practically feel the murderous intent from not updating, ahahahahaa….
Oh!! And Jasmine Hatake is now officially my beta!! She's working reaaally hard, so please be nice to her!!!!
Okay, that's basically it, I guess! Enjoy!
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'Enter! The Not So Scary Cherry Blossom!'
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The third Hokage was not a happy bunny. In fact, he wasn't a bunny at all. Unfortunately, that particular fact didn't make him happier in the least. Not only had he found out about what the Camellia was actually doing, but also the Crane. And he didn't like it one bit. The mere thought that it had been going on in his beloved village right under his nose for god knows how long made him shudder. Battle he could handle, but slave trade with children… that played in an entirely different league to him.
It turned out that the Crane had been selling off the boys as manpower when they reached their teens, camouflaging it as adoption. But still, the boys were far better off than the girls… Sarutobi felt a chill wander up his spine. The girls were lucky if they were sold as servants or even slaves compared to what the majority of them were sold off to do. It would seem that a lot of men liked young girls.
Sarutobi sighed. Now he had to clean this mess up and find homes for the remaining children. Those who were already 'adopted' were impossible to trace as there were no records of who 'adopted' them or when it happened. They had only found receipts.
*****
I didn't have anything against her. Really, I didn't. I simply didn't care for her. Yah, that's it. Just like I didn't care for Miyako.
I sighed. Honestly, how ignorant and trusting could one get? I mean, she didn't even suspect Miyako at all! Think about it! What are the chances that someone takes in a half-conscious kid they happen to find on the streets without even asking questions, just being nice? Let's face it, there's no such thing in this world as being nice and helping others without profiting from it in some way. It could be anything really. Exchange of favors, getting paid for it, leaving a good impression on others making them like you, or your own satisfaction knowing you did something good.
I guess in Miyako's case it was partly loneliness. Anyone with a demon inside of them was damned to be shunned by those who knew of it. Why else would she live so far from the village? But it was only partly loneliness, and that part was not a big one.
Knowing Miyako took in Yuri for her own gain, yet still hearing "Miyako-nee-chan this" and "Miyako-nee-chan that", all the fucking time, and still have to keep up the façade as the caring older brother, it was so frustrating! Her precious "Miyako-nee-chan" hadn't cared one bit!
*****
I looked around the playground for Hinata-chan, but she was nowhere to be seen.
"Ne, ne, Yuri-chan!!! Over here 'ttebayo!!!!!"
Luckily, Naruto was hard to miss. I smiled and skipped over to him by the tree with the swing and sat down on it. It felt like it was becoming more and more like 'our' place.
"Hi, Naruto-kun."
"Ne, ne I saw that you talked with the teme! Was he mean to you 'ttebayo?!" he asked worriedly.
"Eh?" I blinked and cocked my head to the side. "The teme?"
"Yeah, Sasuke-teme dattebayo! He's the one with black hair!"
"Aaah! The grumpy boy with the huge scowl on his face! Nah, I just helped him with the kunai. He wasn't very nice, though." I wrinkled my nose.
"So he was mean to you! I'll beat him up dattebayo!!"
"Oi, oi! Calm down!" I said grabbing his wrist to hold him back. "He was rude and grumpy, but not mean! Calm down!"
"Hm? Oh, okay then." He said, immediately happy as fudge. I sweatdropped. Oi….
"So, how do you like it so far?"
"Weeeell, I think I made another friend!" I said excitedly.
"Wah! Really, 'ttebayo? Who is it? Is it Sakura-chan?" he asked with an eagerness only a six year old can muster. I flinched.
Fear not the cherry blossoms…
I shook it off. Whoever she was, she was no threat to me, right? "No, it's Hinata-chan! She's really nice, she let me copy her notes and everything and she even explained things about chakra really good! Though she keeps hiding her eyes behind her hair for some reason…" I looked down and brought my finger to my lower lip in thought. "I think she's really, really shy, ne?" I said looking up with a smile.
"Yeah, whenever I see her, she kind of hides behind the nearest person. And I think she easily gets ill or something, cause she's red in the face like she's got a fever, and she even passes out sometimes 'ttebayo." Naruto said with a pondering look on his face.
I frowned. Hinata-chan was ill? If she passes out it must be pretty serious…
"Ne, is it serious, Hinata-chan's disease I mean?"
"I don't know, I'm not with her much. I just see her in class, really."
"So ka…" then it hit me. "Naruto-kun! What if she's passed out somewhere and no one knows where she is!? She could get really hurt!!" I said frantically.
"AH! You're right 'ttebayo! We have to find her!" and with that, he dashed off and disappeared at anime speed.
"Eh? Where'd he go?" I blinked and looked around confusedly.
"Oi! You like Sasuke-kun, right?" came an irate voice from behind me. I turned around and came face to face with angry green eyes.
*****
'Waah!! Gotta find Hinata 'ttebayo!! She could be hurt!! Hm?' he stopped his mad dash to look around in confusion. ' Ara? Where'd Yuri-chan go 'ttebayo?! Ah! Maybe she went on ahead of me!! Wow, she's fast! Better catch up 'ttebayo!!' but before he could speed off again, he found Hinata sitting by herself next to one of the thick tree trunks they used to strengthen their kicks and punches. She was twiddling a daisy in her hands, and she looked like she was having an inner argument. Of course, Naruto didn't register any of this, all he saw was 1) Hinata's over there and 2) she's not passed out.
"Oi, Hinata! I've been looking for you 'ttebayo!" he yelled animatedly as he ran over.
Hinata looked up with a start and turned into a vibrant shade of red that would make any radish jealous.
"N-N-N-Naruto-kun's been looking f-f-f-f-for me?" she stuttered, twiddling the daisy even more.
"Yeah, Yuri-chan and I were worried that you had passed out again, so we went looking dattebayo. Have you seen her, by the way? I thought she ran ahead of me 'ttebayo."
'Naruto-kun was worried about me…' Hinata felt a glint of happiness inside.
"Ne, Hinata, you're all red! You've a fever 'ttebayo?" Naruto said and put his forehead to hers to check her temperature. As anyone (safe Naruto) can figure out, Hinata passed out in a heartbeat.
"Ack! Hinata 'ttebayo!"
*****
Green eyes… just like oka-san. I felt a cold shiver go down my back. I brushed it off. This clearly wasn't her; she had pink hair with red ribbon in it (I shuddered at sight. Red and pink don't go together people!) And she was my age.
"Oi! Are you ignoring me?!" she exclaimed.
"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What did you say?" I asked honestly.
An anime vein popped out of her forehead. "I said, do you like Sasuke-kun or not?"
I took in her angry posture, the anime vein, her through-gritted-teeth voice and answered.
"Ne, you have a short fuse don't you?" seeing another anime vein pop out, I came to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to answer her question. Yeah.
"No, I don't like him," I said hurriedly. Seeing her relax visibly, I thought, hey, why not add more to the pile, maybe she'll cheer up and become my friend? I mean, she clearly doesn't like this Sasuke-person.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, I really don't like him! I hate that person's guts!" I continued chatting away happily. "I've only just met him, but he's sooo grumpy and rude, doesn't accept help even though he clearly needs it, and what's up with that face he keeps making anyway?" I looked at her expectantly for her reaction. It didn't really come out like I thought it would. Frankly speaking, she was pissed.
'HA! Can't wait to see how this turns out!' Touki tittered. 'Ooo, what's this? Ne, imouto-chan, it looks like she's got a spirit too! Well, either that or she's bipolar.'
'Huh? How can you tell?' I asked, ignoring his previous remark.
'A woman's intuition.'
I sweatdropped. 'Oi, nii-chan, you sure you're not a nee-chan?'
That aside I could see what he meant. What I was looking at was the terror we know by the name 'inner-Sakura'. A fearful sight indeed.
SMACK!
I didn't even have time to blink before her fist landed on my cheek pumped with inner-Sakura power. I rubbed my cheek to get rid of the stinging sensation, and glared at her.
"Oi! What was that for?" I demanded in an angry low voice.
"That's for talking about Sasuke-kun like that!" she yelled back. "You don't even know him!"
"Yeah, I don't know him, but he didn't really try to be nice either!"
"Why would he be nice to you?" she shot back loudly. Ugh, even her voice was as unpleasant as her eyes… just as shrill as oka-san… is this some kind of sick joke, huh?!
"Why wouldn't he?" I calmly pointed out. God, did she have to yell? Others were starting to look! "And did you really have to slap me just for that?"
At this she just huffed.
"Well, it's not like it hurt, so I guess I can forgive you. You've got a really weak right anyways, you know that? And you want to be a kunoichi… pffft!" I trailed off with a scornful and pitying smile. I didn't know why, but this girl seriously pissed me off.
Before she could reply, Iruka-sensei announced that it was time for the next class. It was the one I had looked forward to most; Taijutsu.
*****
Meanwhile, Naruto had taken Hinata to the infirmary. The problem was just that every time Hinata woke up, Naruto would ask her if she was okay, then put his forehead to hers to check her temperature. This of course would make her pass out again. Poor idiot never learns, does he now?
*****
We were being paired up against each other; this wasn't a lesson to practice katas. This time we would fight for real. Well, okay not really for real, Iruka sensei had said we weren't allowed to use any jutsus, but as I didn't know any, it really didn't matter to me. I was bouncing around on the spot excitedly, not able to wipe the grin off my face.
'Nii-chan, nii-chan!!! We're gonna fiiiight!!! Ne, ne, did you hear?? We're gonna fiiiight!! Ooo, I hope I'll get paired up with Sakura!!! Kyaaaaa~~~!!!!! 33' I fangirled.
'Mou, mou I get it alrea-... Oi, why you wanna be paired up with that Sakura brat? Wasn't she like really weak? Don't you wanna fight Naruto or Hinata?'
'I don't wanna hold back, and I just can't go all out on Hinata-chan or Naruto-kun. But Sakura… I wanna show her how a punch really is supposed to feel, meheheh...' I tittered evilly.
'... sure, knock yourself out.'
'Will do!' I imaginary saluted him.
"... Ayusawa Ren, you will go against Akiyama Yuu, Yamanaka Ino with Miyamoto Akane and Haruno Sakura with Fuyuno Yuri. Then, please spread out everyone. Remember, no jutsus or weapons allowed." Iruka-sensei finished.
'Lady Fortuna smiles upon you, imounto-chan.' Touki said with an audible smirk.
'Maa, I don't know who she is, but she must be pretty nice, ne? Tell her I smile back. :3'
'Let's show her what a real fight is like, ne? Do you need any help with the swords?'
'Nii-chan, weapons aren't allowed, besides, I don't need any help. Thanks anyway.'
'Awww, but I'm sooo boooored!!! Have you any idea what it's like to be unable to do anything but sit on my arse and watch while you're getting all the fun, huh? Do ya?!'
'…well, too bad.'
'Ah, the cruelty of my sister!' Touki sobbed.
"Are you done staring off into space? Are you gonna fight me or not?" Sakura said impatiently.
At this I removed the ribbon from my hair in one swift motion and used it to tie my hair up in a high ponytail while smiling darkly at her. I narrowed my eyes boring my frosty gaze into hers, unnerving her.
"Of course I'll fight you." I said sweetly. "But before we begin, I have a question."
"W-What?" she said, trying and failing at keeping her voice level.
"Do you want me to hold back or not?"
"As if you could hold back when fighting me! I'm the best girl in our class!" she huffed haughtily.
"I'll take that as a 'no' then." I nodded to myself, and then slipped into a defensive stance. "Go on, then. Attack me." I said as uninterestedly I could to provoke her.
"Hah, this'll be easy. You couldn't even block a slap!" she said triumphantly and charged at me. Her movements were more precise and fluent than Naruto's. However…
The punch she threw at me was weak, waaay weaker than his. I grabbed her wrist with my left hand and yanked hard at it, making her stumble forward and leaving her wide open. I smirked and elbowed her hard in the back and kneeing her gut at the same time, adding a tiny little bit of chakra in the blows. Okay, maybe not so tiny then. Her cry of pain was music to my ears and I smiled dreamily. Oh yeah. I was gonna be a ninja alright.
Disappointed that it had only lasted so long I threw her firmly to the ground, locking her in place by holding her arm in a painful angle behind her back and crouching down with a foot on her head, dirtying her hair.
""Best girl in class", huh?" I scoffed, looking down on her with contemptuous eyes.
She didn't answer; she looked like she was about to cry. I guess I hit her pretty hard, ne…? Still…
I wrinkled my nose in disdain. 'Pathetic.' Well, I certainly had absolutely nothing to fear from the cherry blossoms.
"Since I beat you, I guess I'm the best now, ne?" I said nonchalantly.
"Itai! Y-You don't have to be so violent! It's only a spar!" she whimpered.
"So you can be violent for stupid reasons and I can't? " I pondered out loud, honestly bewildered.
"My Sasuke-kun isn't stupid!!" she snarled and actually managed to get free from me and up on her feet. "I underestimated you, that's the only reason you got me! I'm still the best!" she shouted.
"Hai, hai, and still as loud as ever." I deadpanned. "Let me know when you're ready, kay?" I added in a bored fashion. I didn't even bother to slip into a stance, infuriating her further. Meh, what can I say? She pissed me off.
This time, she bit back the comment I knew had to be burning on her tongue and simply grit her teeth and got in a defensive stance. I smiled. Finally she was being serious! This match could actually get interesting…
Hmm. Iruka-sensei never forbade using chakra, did he…? My smile widened considerably. Oh this was gonna be fuuun~~!!! I mentally squealed like a Sasuke fangirl seeing him in the shippuuden arc and shirtless.
'…oi, you're scaring me here.'
I ignored my oh-so brave brother and charged, building up chakra in my legs. When I reached her I dropped to the ground, aiming at her with a low sweeping kick which she jumped over and countered with her own dropping axe kick, which I evaded by rolling to the side. I jumped to my feet and back flipped, landing on my hands I then began to spin my legs around moving towards her rapidly, earning me a surprised cry and a few nice hits to her sides. I leapt back onto my feet, jumped up in the air and did my very first roundhouse kick, sending the pink pain in the neck hurling to the ground where she skidded a good few metres before she stopped. Now, she really was crying. I on the other hand, felt refreshed and better than ever.
'Ahh, feels gooood~!!! Maybe I could get used to being sadistic, ne nii-chan? Didn't the song say 'embrace the darkness within?''
'… Have I ever told you you're weird?'
'Hai. You have.'
'Ne, you know what?'
'Hmm, nani?'
'Yuri-chan, you're weird.'
'…so ka… (-.-);'
I walked over to Sakura, the 'cherry blossom'. I guess I should feel bad for her. Oh well. At least I'm honest with myself.
Anyhow, I didn't feel like looking at Sakura all day, so naturally I look up right? And I shouldn't find something really strange when I do that, right? Right?
It seems Sakura has friends (le gasp!). I eyed the angry group of girls led by a warily. And they're not happy.
I gulped. I had a feeling saying something like "Eheh, whoops?" wouldn't work here.
Oh well. It could be worse, right?
"HI YURI-CHAAN!! I'm back now 'ttebayo!! Hinata's in the infirmary and-"
Naruto's cheery rant came to an abrupt halt when he saw Sakura on the ground, whimpering pathetically while surrounded by her friends. He slowly looked over at me, all cheerfulness completely gone. "Ne, what happened to Sakura-chan?" he asked in a low voice.
Not seeing the problem, I answered casually. "We sparred. I was stronger, so I beat her to the ground. Why?"
Naruto's expression froze for a split second, then it twisted into a furious grimace. "YOU DID THIS TO HER 'TTEBAYO!?" he bellowed.
And it wasn't until then, when I looked into the blazing eyes of a furious Naruto, that I realised the reason I should fear the cherry blossom. She couldn't harm me physically, but on the other hand…
...she could take away my best friend.
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Thank you all who reviewed on the last chapter!! I really, really, really appreciate it!!
PARADES AND CATNIP TO:
Cherry Blossom Haiku
Jasmine Hatake
7th Dwarf
Anomous duckweed
And I'm not sure I thanked all you guys who faved and alerted this story, so I'm gonna do it now!
CAKES AND FUNNY HATS TO:
Black Rift Of Insanity
Jasmine Hatake
KyuubiJinchuuriki
Little Hana-Chan
Missmimi123
NinjaVampirate
Reconix
CherryBlossomHaiku
7th Dwarf
Anomous duckweed, here comes the reply to your review: YAAY!! PARTAY!! BRING IN THE BOOZE!!! Thank you so much!! I'm glad you liked the chapter and I'm especially glad you liked Sasuke's pov!! I was really worried about that one, I didn't want him to be ooc, but I didn't want him to be emotionless and boring either ^.~' thank you for reading and reviewing!!
POLL UPDATE!!!
Currently, there's a tie between YurixSasuke and YurixNaruto. Keep voting, the poll is closing in January! (I think so, anyways. Haven't really decided yet :S)