W.I.T.C.H. FAN: Hey guys. I am sooooooo sorry for the long wait, and I'm sure most of you want to hang me. Hopefully this very very long chapter will put me back in your good graces. ENJOY!
Chapter 11
Will quickly glanced around at the people gathered at the festival and saw the curious looks on their faces when they saw the Hokage and his best shinobi walking in with six strangers. The fact that people were staring didn't do much to help her confidence, but she had to say what she had come to say now or else it would never happen.
"Guys we need to establish something really quick," she said stepping in front of everyone.
"And what might that be?" Sasuke asked.
Will shot a quick, annoyed glance at him. "It's the fact that you guys need to understand we don't want to fight with you tonight. This is the guardian's last night in the village and we don't want it to end badly. So for this one night could we just forget all the awkwardness and just be friends?"
It was quiet as the men contemplated the request. Naruto was the first one to speak. "That's fine with me."
"Same here," Lee agreed.
"I'm in too," Shikamaru said.
Neji nodded his agreement, as did Sasuke and Kiba, though they did it rather reluctantly.
The guardians all breathed a sigh of relief and they allowed themselves to begin to relax. Maybe, just maybe they could make it through the night.
"Well now that that's out of the way, I say we all go party," Ino cried grabbing Choji by the hand and dragging him off.
Naruto laughed. "I couldn't agree more with her." With a smile he offered Hay Lin his hand. "Shall we dance my lady?"
Hay Lin blushed and let out a small giggle as she took Naruto's hand and they took off. Taranee and Lee soon went to do their own thing almost immediately after them and their remaining friends decided to spilt up too. Before they did however, Neji, shot Shikamaru, Kiba, and Sasuke a look that clearly said 'Don't screw this up!'
As Neji and Cornelia left to find something to do, Irma went over to Ino and Choji, with Shikamaru right behind her, and Will and Sasuke left right after them, leaving Elyon and Kiba alone.
The dog ninja couldn't help but examine Elyon. Her long blonde hair was out of the usual braids and flowed down almost to her ankles, in soft waves, and her long white silk strapless dress hugged the curves at her waist. Even Kiba couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. He quickly snapped out of it before Elyon could catch him looking at her. He didn't really like being in this situation, but he could keep his smart mouth comments in check for one night.
"This festival looks like it should be fun," the queen said, trying to make small talk.
"It is when you're little, but the older you get the more boring it becomes," Kiba said. "I mean they do the same things every freaking year. The only thing that really changes each year is the music."
"You came to these festivals when you were little?" Elyon asked.
"Hana made me come."
The blonde smiled. "I remember Hana. I can totally see her dragging you to these things."
"Well I'm sure the parties you went to when you were a kid were much more entertaining than this, considering you grew up a princess after all," he replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of his tone. He failed miserably.
To Kiba's surprise, Elyon didn't shoot a comeback at him, but gave a small laugh. "Oh I went to parties alright, but not royal ones."
The dog ninja raised an eyebrow in confusion and the girl let out a breath. "My parents died when I was still a newborn and my tyrant older brother took over the throne. Members of the rebellion against him took me away from my home and hid me in another world. The same one where Will, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee lived. I didn't even know I was princess till I was 13 and even then I still missed out on being a princess, because I became queen a few months later."
During all of these Kiba was silent as he processed what he was hearing. Finally he rubbed the back of his neck. "Great now I feel like a jerk for making all those comments about you being royal."
Elyon smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "Don't worry about it. You had a right to be angry with me for keeping that from you."
When she said that, Kiba wanted so badly to hug her and tell her how he felt, but fear of rejection kept him back. He didn't know whether or not Elyon still felt anything for him after the way he had acted. So instead he forced a smile.
"Come on, let's see if we can find something fun to do around here."
"So I heard you're an ANBU member now," Cornelia said as she and Neji walked around. "That must be exciting."
"Yes, but it can be a pain when you're a captain," the prodigy replied. "I assume that being a guardian is just as exciting?"
"I wish," the earth guardian sighed. "We haven't really done much for the past two years so I haven't really been able to use my powers."
"Tsunade mentioned that one of the powers you had was the ability to move objects with your mind," Neji said. Then he turned to Cornelia with a small knowing smirk on his face. "And I have the nagging suspicion that you used that power frequently whenever we sparred to try and get the best of me."
The blonde blushed and laughed. "Guilty as charged I'm afraid."
The Hyuga smiled as Cornelia laughed. It had been so long since he'd seen her smile and laugh and he felt a pang in his chest knowing it would probably be the last time he saw it again. His eyes slowly looked over her appearance. Wearing a blue silk dress, the same color as her eyes, with her long blonde hair cascading down her back, Cornelia looked as beautiful as ever.
"You know Neji, I can't believe that we haven't started fighting," the earth guardian said. "I know for a fact that Taranee thought we would."
"Why would she think that?" Neji asked.
"Well you have to admit that out of all of our friends we fought the most.""
The genius shot her a teasing look. "And who may I ask was the one responsible for most of that fighting?"
Cornelia blushed again and gave him a half hearted glare. "Shut up Hyuga!"
Neji only smiled at her in response and the blonde felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. 'Why does this man have to be so gorgeous?' She thought.
The moment was broken by the sound of very loud laughing. Looking around they saw Lee and Taranee in the middle of the crowd dancing. The green beast was repeatedly lifting Taranee into the air and spinning her around causing the guardian to laugh hysterically.
"Well they're having a good time," Neji said with a slight laugh.
"Lee hasn't changed much has he?" Cornelia asked trying to contain her own laughter.
The prodigy smiled again. "No he has not."
Naruto couldn't stop from glancing down at Hay Lin again. The girl hadn't let go of his arm the second they had walked in and he was fairly certain that it had to do from the curious and spiteful looks she was receiving from his fan girls. He was just thankful that the fact he had a date this year kept them from bugging him.
"Ah hello Lord Hokage," an elder said as he made his way over to them.
"Hello," Naruto greeted. Out of the corner of his mouth he whispered to Hay Lin. "I can't remember most of the elders names because they look so much alike."
The air guardian bit her lip to keep from laughing and Naruto smiled, pleased that he had eased her discomfort somewhat.
"My, my Lord Hokage," the elder said once he was standing in front of the two. "I must say you're lady friend here is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. You're a lucky man."
Hay Lin cheeks turned a bright pink at the man's words and she looked down embarrassed. Naruto noticed and smiled brightly. "Hey don't be embarrassed Hay Lin. He's right after all you are the most beautiful woman here. "
The dark haired girl looked up and smiled brightly at Naruto making it his turn to blush a little. The elder seeing their attention was otherwise occupied left leaving the two alone. The blonde's blush deepened as he looked at Hay Lin's face. It had been so long since he had seen those big brown eyes and wanted to just stand there and look at them for the rest of the night. Unfortunately she probably didn't care about him that way anymore.
"Look Hay Lin, I want to apologize if any of this is making you uncomfortable, I just-"
"Hey it's okay," Hay Lin interrupted putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's just a little weird seeing everybody again after so long. Especially Sasuke, who I still can't believe is my cousin."
"Yeah, it's like me and Will being brother and sister. It's so bizarre," Naruto agreed.
"Speaking of brothers and sisters, Irma doesn't want any confrontation with hers. What did you do with the treaty for Gaara?"
"I sent it by messenger hawk earlier today with a note telling him to just sign it and not ask questions so hopefully it will be back in the early morning," the blonde Hokage replied.
Hay Lin breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Naruto." Then the air guardian quickly reached up and kissed Naruto swiftly on the cheek leaving him wide eyed.
Will smiled as she watched her brother and friend talking. It had been a long time since she had seen Hay Lin really smile with her eyes like she just had when talking with Naruto.
"Have you missed him?" Sasuke asked behind her.
The redhead's smile faded and she nodded her head without facing the Uchiha. "Yeah I missed Naruto. It's good to see that his dream came true and that he's happy."
The young man's eyes narrowed. "Are you happy?"
"I don't see why I shouldn't be. I have my friends and my book is about to be published. Everything is going the way I want it," the keeper replied, finally turning around to face him.
Sasuke was silent as he looked at her and Will felt a shiver run down her spin at the intensity of it. After several seconds of silence he finally spoke. "Just because things are going the way you want them to, that doesn't make you happy. I should know what better than anyone."
"You know what everyone has been asking us questions, but I have one for you Sasuke," the keeper said. "Why didn't you tell me that you had once tried to destroy the village?"
"I didn't want you to think I was some kind of monster," the Uchiha replied quietly. "But even though I didn't tell you about that, everything that I ever said to you was the truth. What we had wasn't a lie."
Feeling her heart start to pound Will quickly turned around so her back was once more to the Uchiha. "Good to know. And to answer your question Sasuke, yes I'm happy. I have everything I could possibly want," she said.
"I see," was all Sasuke said in response.
"Ugh why can't they add something fun to this festival?" Ino cried throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.
"It's not like the people in charge of this thing live to serve only you, Ino," Irma replied with a cheeky grin. She had decided to stay with Ino and Chouji to avoid any awkwardness with Shikamaru and so far it had gone pretty well and the shadow ninja had stayed on his best behavior.
Ino shot a playful glare at Irma. "Oh like you aren't bored to death?"
The water guardian put her hands on her hips. "Honey you have no reason to be bored when you're with me. I'm the life of any party."
The blonde arched a delicate eyebrow and looked around the party around her. So far only a small group of people were on the dance floor and the rest were just wandering around trying to find something to do. "Well you've certainly done a great job with this party," she said sarcastically.
"Ha ha that's very funny Ino," Irma said with a smirk.
Choji shook his head in amusement as the two women continued to tease each other. 'Irma hasn't changed at all I see.' Glancing at Shikamaru he gently nudged his friend. "How're you doing?"
"I don't know how I'm going to make through the night without saying something stupid," the genius replied quietly so Irma and Ino wouldn't hear. "Just look at her Choji. How am I supposed to let her go tonight?"
The husky man put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. "It's like you always say Shikamaru, what's meant to happen will. We'll just have to wait and see."
Shikamaru sighed. "I know you're trying to help, but honestly, that didn't really do much for me."
Choji shrugged. "Worth a shot."
Suddenly Ino squealed with a delight as a new song began playing. "Oh I love this song! It's the most romantic song I've ever heard!"
'A romantic song?' Irma thought her smile fading. 'Well that's just great!'
"Oh Irma you'll love this, it's just so cute. You have to listen to it!" Ino cried as a male singer began the song.
Waiting here underneath your window
Hoping for some kind of sign
Every move, every tiny gesture
Only proves that you're not mine
'Oh you've got to be kidding me,' Shikamaru thought with a groan. He dared a glance at Irma and saw her listening to the song like Ino had demanded, but there wasn't even a hint of any emotion on her face. 'What a drag.'
Across the room Kiba, who had nothing better to do then listen to the song, glanced at Elyon as she brushed hair out of her eyes and shook his head. There was no way a poor ninja like him could hope of being with a beautiful young royal.
I could write you a thousand love songs
Search the world for the perfect tune and rhyme
But what good would it do when it seems I'm out of time
'Well this song is definitely hitting home," Naruto thought as he looked at Hay Lin, who was seemingly oblivious to the words of the song. Hay Lin, the beautiful girl who had his heart in her hands, and would be leaving tomorrow morning.
As Taranee went over to talk with Cornelia, Lee looked after her a sad longing look on his face. Ever since he had seen her face again he had just wanted to pour his heart to her, but the bushy browed young man knew that it was too late.
If I told you all the words I've yet to say
Would they matter?
Or would you simply turn and walk away
If I hold you, will you tell me I should go?
Do I chance it or would it just be better not to know
Out of the corner of his eye Neji watched Cornelia as she laughed at something Taranee had said and gave a bitter smile as he continued to listen to the words. He wanted to tell Cornelia that he still loved her, but for all he knew she didn't feel that way about him anymore.
Sasuke clenched his fists in an attempt to stay in control and not do anything stupid. But as he watched Will's every movement it became clearer that he didn't have much control left. He wanted so badly to reach out and pull her to him, but he wasn't sure how Will would respond.
All the while the girls had been listening to the song and didn't dare look at any of the shinobi, afraid of what emotions they might see on their faces. All of the guardians inwardly cringed when a female singer took over the song.
Who's that girl with the perfect future
Her reflection says it all
Trying hard to pretend she's eager
Searching for some way to stall
Will swallowed as she again thought about the gaze she could feel burning a hole in the back of her head. Sasuke's earlier question still lingered in her mind and she let out a small sigh. She should have been happy, but she was starting to doubt it.
Irma, like Will, knew Shikamaru as staring at her as the song played and bit her lip. The words were, unfortunately, her exact thoughts. She was trying very hard to want to leave, but something was holding her back and she was pretty sure who was causing it.
So unsure of the road she's chosen
Faced with feelings her heart should not allow
One thing's certain it seems that she just can't turn back now
If she can tell her how
Hay Lin took a deep breath in an attempt to keep her heart from pounding. Being at the festival with Naruto had reminded her how alive she felt around him, but she was so confused. She had a life back in Heatherfield and her parents and grandmother. She couldn't stay in the Leaf Village, could she?
Elyon struggled not to look over her shoulder at Kiba, knowing he would he looking right back at her. She still wanted to be with Kiba, but wasn't sure if a relationship could ever work out between them. She was a queen after all, and she didn't know if her people would accept someone outside of Meridian.
If I told you, all the words I've yet to say
Would they matter or would you simply turn and walk away
If I hold you will you tell me I should go
Do I chance it or would it just be better not to know
Not to know
Taranee smiled bitterly and shook her head as the song finished. The fire guardian still cared about Lee, and she knew that he still cared about her. A part of her wanted to jump into his arms and never leave him again, but another part of her was scared of what would happen if she did.
Crossing her arms, Cornelia tried to suppress the knots that were beginning to form in her stomach. Her whole life she had always done what she said she would do and never rethought her decision, but now that she had seen Neji again she was wondering if leaving him again was really the right choice.
An hour later the festival was still going and more people, mostly teenagers were on the dance floor while others were bored out of their minds. Irma was one of them.
'This party is not as fun as I hoped it would be,' she thought.
Suddenly she felt a presence behind her. "You look like you're about to die of boredom," Shikamaru said.
"Oh believe me I am close," Irma retorted.
The shadow user smiled slightly. "Well luckily for you, I have the cure for that."
The water guardian looked up at him curiously. "What do you mean you have the cure?"
"Come with me and I'll show you," the genius said holding out his hand. "And don't worry, this won't be awkward," he quickly added when Irma raised an eyebrow.
After a few seconds the girl placed her hand in his and Shikamaru began to lead her away from the rest of the festival. Ino noticed them leaving and smiled softly. Seeing the two of them together again was something she never thought would happen and she could only hope that everything would work out so that both of her friends could be happy.
"Shikamaru, where are you taking me?" Irma asked with a smile as they walked up a hill.
"When Ino, Choji, and I were kids we used to sneak out here during the summer and look at the stars to see how many shapes we could find. We eventually stopped because those two could never find more than me. I figured you would be a bit more of a challenge," the young man said.
Irma's smiled widened as she lay down on the soft grass and put her hands behind her head. "Challenge accepted! My mom and I used to do this all the time when I was little so I have no doubt I will easily find more than you."
"You think so huh, well we'll see about that," Shikamaru said with a smirk.
"You have no idea, how relieved I am, that you wanted to leave," Kiba said as he and Elyon were walking away from the festival.
"Honestly, I wouldn't have lasted another minute in there. Why does Naruto still let those bore fests go on."
The dog ninja rolled his eyes. "Who knows what goes on in that man's head? I actually still can't believe he became Hokage."
The blonde laughed. "Yeah, I'm surprised that he lived long enough to earn that title. I would've thought for sure you or one of the others would have killed him by now."
Kiba snickered and ran a hand through his hair. "You know it's been really nice being with you tonight, Elyon."
"Right back at you, Kiba. You know I just realized that I never apologized for slapping you a few days ago."
"Yeah well, I kinda deserved it. I mean I did call you a wench after all," Kiba said rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Don't worry about," Elyon said taking his hand in hers.
For a few seconds, but what felt like hours to Kiba, they stared at each other until the queen quickly looked down, dropping his hand, a light blush on her face. "Sorry I don't know why I just did that."
The ninja thought over the night and realized that in this past few hours, he had been happier than he had in years. Setting his jaw in resolve, Kiba swallowed his pride and fear of rejection and slowly brought his hand up to gently stroke, Elyon's face, making her look up again. "Elyon you need to know why I acted the way I did. I-" He was cut off when Elyon covered his mouth with her hand.
"You don't have to Kiba, Hinata told me already. Please don't be mad at her, I just wanted to know what I was doing to make you so angry," The queen said.
With a smirk, the ninja gently grabbed Elyon's wrist and pressed a kiss to the palm covering his mouth making Elyon's eyes go wide. "Well Elyon, you know how I feel, so what about you?"
Elyon sighed. "You're not going to let me go until you get an answer are you?"
"Nope," Kiba admitted proudly.
"I…I still love you Kiba," The girl admitted. A smile began to make its way across Kiba's face but faded at her next words. "But I don't see how a relationship would work. I'm not like Will, Hay Lin, and Irma who were born here, I'm from a completely different world and I have responsibilities to me people."
"We could find a way to make it work," said the stubborn ninja.
Elyon reached up and put a hand on his cheek. "How? I can't leave my people, and I won't ask you to leave the Leaf for me."
"Elyon, if there's a way we can find it," Kiba said.
"Maybe, but even if there is, I'm still going to leave with my friends tomorrow and watch over my people. I should go," the blonde said turning to walk away. "Good bye Kiba."
"Goodbye Elyon," Kiba murmured as he watched her walk away.
"Thanks again for putting up with us at the festival," Taranee said to Lee and Neji as they walked her and Cornelia to their apartment.
Neji smirked. "Oh yes because you two are completely impossible to deal with," he said sarcastically.
Cornelia smiled. "Neji, did you really just make a joke?"
Lee and Taranee laughed as the prodigy shook his head at the blonde who giggled. "Is mocking me the only pastime the three of you find enjoyable?"
"Yes," Lee, and Taranee said in unison, still laughing, while Cornelia just smiled.
After that there was a comfortable silence between the four until they reached the apartments. The green beast was the first to speak.
"Are you still planning on leaving tomorrow morning?" he asked.
"Yes," Cornelia replied a hint of sadness in her voice.
"So this is goodbye then," Neji said.
"I guess so," Taranee said, nodding her head.
For a few short seconds the four of them just stood there in silence, until the fire guardian moved to hug Lee. The bushy browed young man immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, resisting the urge to ask her to stay.
Neji and Cornelia looked away from their friends only to end looking at each other. The blonde felt her chest tighten as longing began to spread through her body. She quickly tried to suppress the urge and offered Neji a shaky smile. "It was good seeing you again Neji."
"You too," the man replied quickly.
Taranee soon stepped back from her hug with Lee and tried to make a sincere smile appear on her face. "I hope you do well in Anbu, Lee."
"Thank you, Taranee."
As the two girls turned to enter their apartment, Neji suddenly spoke up without thinking. "Cornelia."
When she turned around, the words 'Don't leave,' filled the Hyuga's mouth, but knowing it would only cause trouble he swallowed them back. "I hope that you and Taranee are happy in your other world."
Cornelia nodded. "Thank you…goodbye you guys," she said. With that she and Taranee quickly walked into their apartment and closed the door softly behind them.
Lee looked over at Neji and saw that his fists were clenched and his jaw was set. "Neji-"
"Let's just go!" His friend cried, walking away.
Meanwhile Cornelia slide down against the wall until she was sitting on the floor and put her head in her hands.
"Are you okay?" Taranee asked gently.
"No," the earth guardian quietly.
The dark skinned girl sat down next to her friend and put an arm around her shoulder. "Neither am I."
Back at the hill, Irma smiled contentedly as she looked up at the stars. She and Shikamaru had looked for shapes for almost an hour until Shikamaru had gotten stumped and suggested that they just sit there and look at the stars for a while. Looking to her side Irma shook her head when she saw that the lazy man had fallen asleep.
"You'll never change will you?" Irma said, smiling softly. After a few seconds the water guardian pushed herself up to a sitting position so she could see Shikamaru better and she let out a sigh. "You have no idea how much I want to stay here with you, but I have responsibilities as a guardian and I can't leave the family I have back in my other world. You know it's a really good thing you're asleep right now or else I never would have said that."
Irma then decided that she should leave before he woke up. Just before she left though she leaned and gently brushed Shikamaru's lips with hers. "I love you, Shikamaru. I'm sorry." With that she jumped up and ran away from the hill.
Seconds after she left, the Nara's eyes shot open and he jolted up. Irma didn't know, but he had been awake the whole time and had heard every word she had said. When she had kissed him, it had taken everything he had not to kiss her back, but he knew that she would have just been angry with him. Now he couldn't go after her because it was too late to do anything.
"So troublesome," he muttered.
"Are you seriously not going to talk to me at all?"Sasuke asked as he and Will walked back to her apartment.
"There's nothing to talk about Sasuke," Will replied calmly.
"Oh yes there is," the Uchiha said grabbing her arm.
"Sasuke please don't start, I-" Will began.
"No, you're going to listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not," Sasuke said forcefully. "You told me earlier that you were happy, but you and I both know that that's a lie. And we also know that you still have feelings for me or else you would never have returned the kiss I gave you."
Will's heart started to hammer. "Why are you being like this Sasuke? Why do you care if I still care about you? Why is it so important for you to hear me say whether I'm happy or not?"
"Because I love you!" Sasuke cried. There he'd said it. After five long years the words he'd wanted to tell Will had finally been released and he watched her eyes widened as she processed what she had just heard.
"What?" the keeper managed to ask, suddenly finding it difficult to breath.
"I love you Will and I want you to stay. When you first came here I was happier than I've ever been before. I could barely stand it when you left five years ago and now I'm begging you, don't leave me again," Sasuke said, gripping the girl's arms.
Will stood there stunned. Never in her life would she have imagined Sasuke Uchiha begging for anything. Now he was standing in front of her doing just that. She could see the desperation and love on his face and it was almost enough to make her throw her arms around him and kiss him. Almost.
"Sasuke I think you should go now," she said turning away from him.
The raven haired man's eyes widened. "What?"
"Leave Sasuke," Will repeated, in a stronger voice. "You can't seem to understand that I have a duty as a guardian to protect the dimensions and I can't just drop everything after coming back here. I'm leaving tomorrow with my friends and nothing is going to change my mind, so please don't try."
Several long seconds passed and Will could hear Sasuke, taking deep breaths to maintain his self control. "Fine then," he finally said. "Go for all I care. I lost you once and I think I can do it again."
With that the Uchiha turned his back to her and walked away, leaving Will standing in the middle of the road. After she was sure he was far enough away, Will cracked. She fell to her knees her as her body racked with sobs.
"I'm sorry Sasuke," she chocked out as tears streamed down her face.
Naruto tried to keep a smile on his face as he walked Hay Lin back to her apartment, but it coming more difficult by the second. The time he would have to say goodbye to the love of his life was literally moments away and then she would be out of his life forever.
"Well here we are," he said as they arrived to their destination.
"Thanks again for everything Naruto. Will wanted me to tell you that she's going to be at your office first thing tomorrow morning to get the treaty," Hay Lin said.
"Yeah sure," the Hokage replied absentmindedly.
"Well I guess this is goodbye then," the air guardian said. Before Naruto could say or do anything, Hay Lin stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Good bye Naruto."
As she reached for the door knob Naruto started speaking behind her. "Hay Lin I'm going to tell you something and you don't have to say anything, just please listen. The morning Madara kidnapped you, I told you that I loved you and I meant it. That hasn't changed Hay Lin. I still love you and I always will love you."
The air guardian had not turned around as Naruto spoke, too stunned to move. Finally she turned around, only to find that the young Hokage had already left. Hay Lin closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek.
"I love you too, Naruto," she whispered.
END OF CHAPTER
W.I.T.C.H. FAN: Now hopefully some of you see why it took my so long to get this up. This is probably the longest chapter I have written for ANY of my stories. I had to cram everything into this because after this there are two more chapters to go. R AND R my friends!