Hello everybody! Thanks for the reviews! Well...except one...flame.
IMPORTANT TO ME: Flames are funny thing, really. I don't really think of flames as flames as long as they give me constructive criticism. However, it seems that I received for the last chapter that stated:
this story is
overused
mary sue filled
retarded
and poorly written
Yeah...I wasn't very happy. And just because this'll haunt me for a while if I don't answer these comments, I'll type it here. Of course, you GRATEFUL readers don't need to read any of this and you may scroll down to the story. Thank you.
Overused: Big deal. So other people use this idea. The fact is that it's a fun idea to write and people can build around it. It's not like all of these "Narutoverse" stories are written the same.
Mary Sue Filled: If someone pays attention, you'd see that Midori can be bossy, Nami is mean and snappy at times, and Kyoko is hyper and loud sometimes. If you're referring to them as Mary Sues, you're referring to my friends and I as Mary Sues because they're based off of OUR personality. So thanks a lot.
Retarded: Great reason to flame, isn't it? sarcasm
Poorly Written: If its so poorly written, why not give me some pointers? I reread my work and I don't see how its so poorly written. Does it lack discription? Paragraphs? Plot? WHAT?
So, if anyone ELSE wants to flame me, I'd like it with some tips or pointers so I can fix my problems. If not, then its just garbage to me. I'm not one to delete any review, though. So that will probably stay up as a reminder to those who want to submit a productive review. DON'T review like that.
I'm proud of my work, so please don't try to tear me down unless its REALLY bad. Which even I know its not. Of course, some people can't be satisfied, and if its that bad, I'll know when a waterfall of flames appear in my inbox.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
The next morning at the crack of dawn the girls were at the site with their ninja gear. Kyoko was slowly nodding off on the spacious ground. Midori sat on the log, her hands propping up her head and a sleepy look on her face. Nami was laying on her back, staring at the sky, her eyelids dropping.
Kyoko yawned. "AH-ah…" She rubbed her eyes. "Do you think Marieke-sensei's like Kakashi?"
"She does have pretty much the same mask," Nami shrugged.
"I hope not," Midori said. "Kakashi-sensei's not exactly the most reliable person when it comes to teaching and helping out sometimes."
"You girls know about Kakashi?"
The three jumped and turned around.
Marieke stood behind them. "Good morning, girls."
"Morning," the girls said.
"So, what about Kakashi, huh?" Marieke said.
"Er…" Midori said. "He uh…is teaching…Team Seven, right?"
"That's right," Marieke nodded. "How do you girls know Kakashi?"
"Uh…who doesn't know about Copy Ninja Kakashi?" Nami said quickly. "We heard he lives in Konoha, so…yeah."
"Uh huh…" Marieke said. "Anyway…" She pulled out a piece of red cloth from behind her back.
"What's that cloth for?" Kyoko asked.
"It's a flag for your test," Marieke said. "This test will judge whether you're skilled enough to become an actual genin team…or if you just got lucky when passing the academy exams. The point is, if don't complete this test then you'll be sent back to the academy to start from scratch."
The girls were silent.
Marieke expected them to groan or complain, but when they didn't she continued. "I have another flag set somewhere in this area. The boundaries are one hundred yards out at all sides. You have until noon to retrieve the flag together, that's six hours. Oh, and when I say together…" She pulled out a long rope. "I mean together."
The team exchanged nervous glances.
A few minutes later the girls were tied together. Midori was on the left side and her right leg was tied. Kyoko was in the middle with her right leg tied. Nami was on the right side and her left leg was tied. There was a space about three feet long between each girl.
"Okay," Marieke said. She set a timer on a stump and pushed it down. "Start when you're ready." With that said, she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Yosh!" Kyoko cried, pointing a finger in the air. "Let's GO!" She started running energetically…for two seconds.
WHUMP.
"So where do you think the flag is?" Midori asked Nami.
"Beats me, it could be anywhere," Nami shrugged.
"Well wherever it is, we just need to stay focused," Midori declared.
Kyoko angrily stood up. "HEY! We're supposed to be looking for the flag here! We only have six hours!" she fumed.
Nami and Midori were blown away by her volume momentarily but then jumped back.
"Now that's the kind of focus I'm talking about!" Midori said, laughing. "Okay, let's start."
"THAT WAY!" Kyoko, Midori, and Nami shouted, pointing in various directions. They all started running in their direction.
WHUMP.
"Okay, I'm getting really tired of that…" Kyoko groaned.
A while later, the girls started making progress. They jumped through the trees skillfully, Nami in the front, then Kyoko, and Midori in the back.
"Keep your eyes opened for the flag!" Midori called. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something thin reflecting off the tiny sunlight that had crept through the trees. Huh? What is that? She squinted. Thread? THREAD! "Guys, stop!"
"Huh?" Nami looked back.
"A trap!" Kyoko shouted.
Nami stopped abruptly, but fell as Kyoko crashed into her.
"AH!"
A barrage of kunai and shuriken attacked from the front, heading straight towards Kyoko and Nami. Midori accelerated off the branch behind and careened in front of her teammates. With the Hikari Shuishou glowing, she waved her hand swiftly in front of her. A light green shield appeared.
TOK! TOK! TOK! TOK!
"Phew…" Nami and Kyoko breathed.
"Nice job, Midori," Nami said.
"Heh…" Midori sighed.
"Wait a second…" Kyoko said, glancing down at the rope that connected her right leg to Midori's.
The rope snapped at Kyoko's legs, making her trip and fall into Nami once more. Nami tripped and fell into Midori.
TOING.
Another thread was placed in front of them. As the girls toppled towards the ground,
"Ah!" they screamed.
"I've had enough of this!" Nami shouted, performing hand seals. "Growth no Jutsu! Growth Technique!"
Kyoko whipped out a kunai in one hand and a handful of needles in the other.
Midori held onto her crystal and made a hand seal. "Shield of Light!"
Several tree branches started to grow above the falling Nami. The weapons stabbed the wood noisily. Nami touched the ground lightly on one knee.
Kyoko threw the needles at several targets, knocking them into other weapons and steering them off course and away from her. She brandished her kunai, ricocheting even more weapons off the cold metal. She followed after Nami and landed easily.
Midori waved her hand in front of her, a bright light leaking from her wrist down. A transparent shield appeared in front of her. The weapons bounced off the surface and away from her. She made contact with the earth next to Kyoko.
Weapons clattered around them onto the soft grass.
The three collapsed in unison.
"Well, that was pleasant," Midori said, standing back up and brushing herself off. "It's a good thing we reviewed these things before we went out…" She took out her ninja info card. "We should have known Marieke-sensei would have traps set. It was too easy."
"That was totally awesome!" Kyoko exclaimed, jumping up. "Danger and the feeling that you may be killed in a second…it's so…invigorating!"
"I'm surprised you could use the word 'invigorating' correctly in a sentence," Nami said, standing up as well.
"I'm too pumped to care about your rude comment, Nami!" Kyoko said. "Come on, let's go find that flag!"
"I think we should continue on foot from now on," Midori said. "At least, for the next few minutes or so. We need to be able to walk in sync."
"Yeah, that jumping through the trees thing didn't work too well, did it?" Nami said.
They started walking, looking from left to right for something red. Besides Kyoko's constant humming, everything was silent. After a while, Kyoko's humming turned to soft singing. "Mr. Sandman…bring me the guy…with a love kanji above his left eye…"
"Kyoko, can you…not do that?" Midori said quietly.
"Give him two lips like roses and clover…and tell him that his lonely night are over…"
"ARGH! Will you please shut up?" Nami shouted. "You're Gaara worshipping is driving me crazy!"
Kyoko stuck her tongue at Nami. "It's a free country. It's not my fault that you don't have anyone to love."
"Uh guys…" Midori stepped in front of Kyoko in case Nami felt the urge to kill.
"He doesn't love you, he has no idea you even exist, so give it up!" Nami said irritably.
"Guys!"
"Take that back!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"GUYS! SHUT UP!"
Kyoko and Nami stared questionably at Midori who had turned red from annoyance.
"Look," Midori said, taking a deep breath. "Just…just be quiet for a few minutes, okay? Concentrate on the mission."
Nami and Kyoko just turned away, crossing their arms.
"I'll just…walk in the middle of you two for now," Midori said gently.
"Fine by me," Nami said.
"Whatever," Kyoko said.
Midori sighed.
Everyone was silent, not looking at one another and trying to contemplate where the red flag was.
"Geez, she gets so mad whenever anyone disses her lover. I mean, come on. They guy has no idea she exists, and besides…he's like, this homicidal psycho, I swear. Actually, she's a Short-tempered Psycho herself."
Kyoko's eyes widened. What the heck was Nami saying? And why wasn't Midori doing anything about it? Her fists shook. Short-tempered Psycho, huh Nami? Well…
WHAM!
Midori stared at Kyoko in shock. Kyoko had run almost as fast as Lee past her and towards Nami, body-slamming her forward.
"Whoa!" Midori fell forward, the rope tugging at her ankle.
Kyoko was angrily throwing punches at Nami.
"Ow! Ow! What the heck are you doing?!" Nami shouted, shielding herself. She kicked Kyoko off of her, but it backfired on her. The rope pulled her slightly. "You freak! What was that for?"
"You don't think I would get mad after what you said?!" Kyoko demanded angrily. "Take it back!"
"What? About telling you to shut up?" Nami said, confused.
"Don't play dumb, Nami!" Kyoko hollered. "You know what you said!"
"Hey, I didn't say anything for the past ten minutes!" Nami argued impatiently. "You're delusional!"
"What? Yeah right! Midori, you heard it, didn't you?" Kyoko asked, confident that her friend would be on her side this time. Why wouldn't she?
"Tell her what happened, Midori!" Nami said. "You know I didn't say anything!"
"I uh…" Midori stuttered. "I actually…didn't hear Nami say anything for the past ten minutes, Kyoko."
"See?" Nami said triumphantly. She turned around forcefully and started walking again. "Short-tempered Psycho…"
"See? That's what you said!" Kyoko yelled angrily. She lunged forward, but Midori held her back.
"Stay in line," she ordered. "This isn't the best time to act like a…crazy person," Midori said carefully, side-stepping the word "psycho". "You probably just fantasized the whole thing. Keep going." She released Kyoko and followed Nami.
Is she deaf or something? I didn't just imagine Nami saying that, Kyoko thought irately. She just decided to bypass what had happened as best as she could. She took a deep breath and continued.
Marieke chuckled quietly from behind a tree. Time for Phase Two.
Shortly afterward, Nami heard Midori talking.
"I have no idea why she hates Sasuke so much. Sure, you could say he's 'bad' or something, but he isn't that bad. Every girl had the impression that he's this great, good-looking genius, but not Nami."
Nami tried to tune Midori out. What was Midori saying and why was she saying it?
"I even liked him at first, but Nami just seemed to hate him. Sometimes I think it's all a front, like she's hiding a secret infatuation with Sasuke, you know? Sometimes I think she likes him. It's possible."
"WHAT!" Nami stopped abruptly, and whirled around to face Midori.
Midori was surprised and almost ran into Nami. She stepped back to avoid standing within her personal space. "Uh…is something wrong? Why did you stop?"
"Is something wrong?" Nami repeated dangerously. "Is something…wrong? What do you think? I can't believe you said that!"
"Uh…" Midori said blankly. "You stopped…so I asked if anything was wrong? It's a…force of habit."
"Not that!" Nami looked like she was about to blow her top. "I hate Sasuke, and you know it! From the deep depths of my heart, I loathe him! I want Itachi to finally kill him and then let me burn his remains!"
"…I know…" Midori said slowly.
"ARGH!" Nami screamed. "Do you have short memory lapses or something? Because you just said that you think I liked him! WELL I DON'T!"
"I said no such thing!" Midori exclaimed. "You know, you guys are acting really strangely, what's with you?"
"What's with you? I heard you!"
"I didn't say anything!"
"Is this getting me back for playing around with Kyoko? Huh? Is this some twisted way of teaching me a lesson or something?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Argh! Never mind! Don't talk to me!" Nami stormed off and the other two were forced to follow.
"Whoa…that…was weird…" Kyoko said.
Marieke smiled underneath her mask. Next…the tranquil one. She made a few hand seals, faced Midori, took out a small device, a tape recorder, and played it.
Midori had no idea what was going on with her teammates. She let Kyoko walk past her so that she was at the end of the line again. What was Nami talking about? She shook her head. Maybe she was trying to just find a reason to explode…but than again, that didn't really make sense. This was really too much. If her friends decided to joke around again, she'd explode. There was no way they would be able to find the flag. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice. It was Kyoko's.
"She really flips out when she's annoyed enough. It's actually kind of funny…if you're not the one being pummeled. It seems like she's calm like…all the time and never gets mad. But when she does, you wish that she was calm all the time."
A vein bulged in Midori's head. Funny? When I flip out? She thinks it's funny? Calm down…calm down…don't give her what she wants. She's just trying to psych you out. Just pretend you didn't hear anything.
Marieke frowned. Hm…this one will be a bit tougher than the other two…she doesn't seem to get wound up too easily…
"Like this one time I kept bugging her while she was doing something and she practically attacked me! After a while she calmed down and seemed to try to forget anything happened, but it was so hilarious. I was really freaked out."
Why is she telling Nami thatMidori thought.
This isn't good enough, Marieke thought. Plan B. She made a few other hand seals and started talking. Her voice sounded exactly like Nami. "Hey Kyoko, you'd better not stalk Gaara when he gets here. He'll totally hate you and he'll kill you without even knowing your name. Oh, and you know what? Haku's a girl."
"That's it!" Kyoko shouted. She tackled Nami to the ground.
"What the--!" Nami scrambled away from Kyoko. "You crazy freak!"
"I'm gonna make you take that back!"
"Take what back?!" She held Kyoko back with her foot. "What's wrong with you today?!"
"Stop it!" Midori ordered. "Kyoko!" She tried to pry her teammate off of Nami, but she had a tight hold.
"Get off me!" Nami ordered furiously.
"RAH!"
"ARGH!"
"HEY!"
Kyoko and Nami started rolling, for the trail had started going downhill. Midori got caught in the scramble, and the three of them spun down the trail. The rope started to get tangled within the three girls, making them one big angry, confused, and annoyed cluster.
When the ground leveled, a disheveled Midori propped herself up on one arm. She watched shockingly at her teammates. Kyoko was still beating Nami with all her might while Nami tried to hold her back.
"Guys!"
Nami broke free and jumped back up on the tree branches, but slipped down. She concentrated the chakra towards her feet and stood as high up as she could on the trunk of a tree.
"Guys!"
Kyoko followed Nami, pulling Midori along. Nami reached a tree branch and hopped on while Kyoko was two steps away.
"GUYS!"
The two were arguing loudly, making birds fearfully disperse.
Midori had had enough. She heatedly ran at her teammates and pinned them against the tree with her fists.
Kyoko and Nami gasped.
Midori was breathing hard. She looked beyond mad. She was ENRAGED.
"M-Midori…?" Nami and Kyoko said softly.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Midori slammed them against the tree again. Her chakra seemed to be circulating through her arms intensely, making her usually flimsy strength fortify. The tree almost cracked. The girls had made an indent in the bark.
CRACK.
"Unh!" Kyoko and Nami grunted under their breath. They clung onto Midori's wrists with both their hands desperately.
"Why can't you guys just get along? You have to fight every single day, don't you? Nami!"
CRACK.
She held Nami higher and smashed her into the tree again. "You have to get Kyoko started! And Kyoko!"
CRACK.
She did the same with Kyoko. "You have to be so vulnerable to her insults! You guys are…ARGH!"
CRACK.
The tree finally gave way and the girls started tumbling down once more. By this time, they were pretty high up with several branches underneath them.
"AH!"
Midori snapped out of her rage. She was awfully tired from her strange outburst. Her eyes shut and she waited for impact with the ground. It never came. She opened her eyes. "...Huh…?"
Kyoko was groaning. She had hit the branch of the tree and was gripping the branch with both her arms and legs. She rubbed her head. "You guys okay?"
"Besides almost getting killed twice by both my teammates, I'm fine," Nami said. She was hanging by the rope upside-down on one side of the branch.
"I'm…okay…" Midori said. She was hanging upside-down as well on the opposite side of Nami. "Sorry…guys…I guess I kind of lost my head for a second there…"
"More than a second, actually," Nami said, chuckling a little. "But…I guess I shouldn't have tempted you guys so much. Sorry. But that's what I do, you know?"
"Yeah, we know," Kyoko sighed.
They were silent for a moment.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Midori asked.
Kyoko stared down at her teammates vacantly.
"Try 'I'm sorry for being such a baby about everything everyone says'," Nami said.
"HEY!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"I hate to say it, but I think that would be a good thing to say," Midori said.
"Okay, okay," Kyoko said. "I'm sorry for being so…easy to get mad all the time."
"That works too," Nami shrugged. "Now uh, how about you get us up?"
"I can't pull you guys up…" Kyoko said helplessly.
"Baby."
"Nami!"
"Fine, I'll get up myself," Nami said. She grunted as she climbed up the rope tiredly. Once she got onto the branch with Kyoko, Kyoko fell.
"Whoa!"
Midori fell farther down.
"Crap…" Nami held onto the branch.
"Hey guys!" Kyoko laughed, while pointing up. "I see the flag!"
"What?" Midori said. "Where?"
"Up there!" Kyoko said, pulling out a kunai. "I'll get it! Unh!" She tossed the kunai, almost skimming Nami.
"Watch it!"
"Sorry!"
The kunai flew through the trees and past the flag.
"Nice job, Tex, you missed."
"Look again, Nami."
The kunai had loosened the flag that was stuck in the trees. The flag started floating down peacefully.
"I er…stand corrected," Nami said.
"Grab it, Nami!" Kyoko called.
"I can't unless you want a cracked head!" Nami exclaimed, adjusting her hold on the branch.
"I got it! I got it! I—" Kyoko made a grab for it…but missed, "—don't got it…"
Midori caught the flag, dropped it then caught it again with the tips of her fingers. "Gotcha!"
"Yes!" Kyoko cheered. "We found the flag!"
"Well that's just great," Nami said. "Now how are we gonna get—uh oh…"
CRACK.
"AH!" For the umpteenth time that day, the girls were sent toppling down from a height.
"Ow!" Midori landed on her backside.
"Umph!" Kyoko landed face-down into the soft grass.
"Erk!" Nami landed on her side.
They groaned together.
"Well…" Midori said, smiling oddly. "At least we have the flag." She held up the bright red cloth.
Later…
The girls hustled back to their original spot where they found their sensei waiting.
"Here's…the…flag…" Midori breathed, dropping the flag.
"Good job, girls," Marieke said. "You're a few minutes early. Now tell me, how did you get it?"
The girls looked at each other then stood straight in line.
"We had a few disadvantages," Midori started. "Like our clashing personalities and of course, the 'sticking together'."
"At first we fought because it seemed like we were insulting each other," Kyoko said. "We still don't know how that happened."
"But in the end, we pulled together and…fell upon the flag…literally," Nami finished.
Marieke closed her eyes happily and smiled. "I see. Well, then I suppose I should tell you the extra trap in my test."
"Huh?" the three said.
"I'm sure that you all remember when I met you the other day," Marieke said.
"Met us?" they said.
"Yes. I met up with each of you, at least, parts of me did. I used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Do you remember what we talked about?"
Midori's eyes widened. "Yeah...you asked me about Nami and Kyoko's weaknesses…"
"And you said I was the best!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"She told me I was the best," Nami accused. "Were you trying to soften us up before asking us our weaknesses? Were you…recording us?"
"That's right," Marieke nodded, clearly amused. "You see, I have a genjutsu technique. I call it my Hidden Speech no Jutsu. This jutsu allows me to take a recording and target one person or more so they're the only one that hears it. In some cases I'd be able to disguise my voice and once again, target one person. That's what I had to do with you, Midori."
The girls listened, shocked at what had just happened to them under their noses.
"Wait a minute! So you told Marieke-sensei about Haku and Gaara?!" Kyoko shouted, pointing a finger at Nami.
"Eh…heh…" Nami said uncertainly. "Only that you hated when people called a friend of yours named Haku a girl…and that you love a Sand nin Gaara…"
"Hey! You told her about how terrible I get when I get mad," Midori said, annoyed. "Why did you do that for?"
"Tch. You should talk!" Nami said. "You told her that you thought I liked Sasuke! Some friend you are!"
"Eh…"
"The point is, I was testing to see if you all could keep a level head during a mission. It's clear to me that you couldn't. You all fail."
"WHAT!" the three shouted, more or less loudly.
"Ninja need to be calm and tranquil at all times, not to mention have teamwork. I'm sure that if I didn't force you all to be together, you would've split up for the wrong reason. You don't work as a team, and this would lead to poor ninja skills and failure. Back to academy with you."
"Y-You can't do that!" Kyoko exclaimed shakily. "W-We got your flag! You have to pass us! If we got the flag then you said that we'd pass! That's what you said!"
"I said nothing of the sort," Marieke said. "I said that this test would test your skills as ninja. The flag just gave you something to concentrate on." She started to walk away.
"I'm sorry, sensei, but that's just the most messed up thing I've ever heard!" Nami said. "The only thing that matters is that we worked as a team in the end, right?"
Marieke stopped, but she didn't turn around. "Yes, it is. And I can see now that if a certain person was there, then two of you would still be quarreling in the woods." She turned around. "I can also see that only one of you has passed my second test."
"Second test?" Nami said.
"What second test?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes. Only one of you took your failure with a level head. Therefore, Midori will remain a genin and you two will go back to the academy," Marieke said. "And without your outburst, Midori, the other two wouldn't have realized what they did wrong. Congratulations."
"W-What?" Midori said.
Nami and Kyoko stared at Marieke then at each other and then at Midori.
"Sensei, I can't!" Midori said nervously. "I can't."
"Why not? You'll be assigned to a different team, no biggie."
"It's not that!" Midori said, a bit louder. "My teammates…are my friends. I won't leave them behind, and if they aren't going to stay genin, I'm not!"
Marieke raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"We're a team," Midori said, looking from Kyoko to Nami. "The three of us. We'll move up the ranks of a ninja together."
"No way, Midori," Nami said.
"Huh?"
Nami sighed. "You should stay a genin. Kyoko and I will catch up to you soon. You have to take this opportunity to move up a rank, don't worry about us."
"Yeah," Kyoko agreed. "We won't feel miserable about ourselves, we'll feel happy for you."
Midori didn't know what to say.
A laugh cut through the air. Marieke…was laughing. "You passed! All of you!"
"Huh?"
"How?" Nami asked.
"That was a third test," Marieke said. "I can see that the three of you care for each other very much like teammates…and more importantly, friends do. That's what I was truly looking for!"
"YEAH!" Kyoko punched the air. "That's so cool! I passed!"
Nami smirked. "That is…so messed up."
Midori smiled lopsidedly.
"Well, why don't I treat you three to ramen? Do you like ramen?" Marieke offered.
"DO I?"" Kyoko exclaimed. "SURE!"
"Wait a minute…" Nami said. "This…isn't another test, is it?"
"No way, this is for real," Marieke said.
"Okay then," Nami said.
"TO ICHIRAKU!" Kyoko shouted, pointing a finger into the air.
Marieke laughed. "Right away." These girls...are something.
Okay, so I squeezed the whole test in one chapter! Yay! Hope you like it! Oh, and the flame thing still kind of bugs me, (at least, the Mary Sue part). Are the characters really Mary Sue-ish? I'm still not sure. Please tell me in your review! I suppose they would seem so in the first and maybe second chapter, but characters need time to develop and show their actual personalities. Anyway, R&R please!
-HM