I do not own, nor will I ever own Naruto.

Italics indicate thought.

I do not think I am sane. Do you? No, wait, you have no idea what I have in store for this. Let's just say, this is gonna be weird. Very Weird. And Random. .

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Just Ludicrous: Chapter 5

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"So we're all here? Wonderful!" Ningyo beamed. Sakusen, Neji, and Sasayaki exchanged looks of incredulousness. They had all officially decided that their sensei had gone insane.

Soon they would set off for the Village Hidden in the Mist. They had decided to travel henged, so as not to be recognized by any chance travelers.

"An, Due, Toe, Here we go!" chanted Ningyo, spinning round on the road and setting off at a brisk pace. The group strolled along the dirt road, Ningyo humming cheerfully, the others silently following. The walk was fairly uneventful, except for the occasional random input from Ningyo, and when they reached The Great Naruto Bridge, they had made good time.

Ningyo did yet another of her little pirouettes, and faced her three charges, her pointer finger held up at the end of her extended arm. "We'll rest here, for now."

Sasayaki shrugged. Sakusen sank to the ground, and stretched out his legs. Then her realized. "Where's Naru- sorry- Neji?"

It was obvious even through the mask that Ningyo wore that she was beaming. "she's gone for a little climb."

"What?" Sakusen stared up at the gat of the bridge. At the very top was the blond, eating an onigiri and humming to herself. Sakusen shrugged off his pack and ran up one of the struts. "Neji, what're you doing up here?" he demanded, once he had reached the top.

Neji shrugged. "The bridge IS named after me. And besides, the view's pretty cool."

Sakusen turned to look, while at the same time saying, "What view? This is the village Hidden in the Mist – wow." From the top of the bridge, it was possible to see the bridge disappearing into the mist. From the white expanse, the roves of houses poked up. It almost looked as though it had been buried under white silk scarves.

Neji nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Wow." She pulled another onigiri from her pack. "Want it?"

Sakusen continued to stare wordlessly at the landscape, but held out his hand for the rice ball. Neji handed it over, her heart racing with the thoughts of what she could have done. She could probably have kissed Sakusen right then and not have ended up getting smacked. But she hadn't the courage to try that. She had to take things slowly. From below, Ningyo said, "Isn't that just too cute?" to Sasayaki. The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes, then shouted, "Hey, loser, get down here. We need to go to an inn."

Neji jumped upright. "Sure, y- aaaAAAAAHHHHH!" her foot slipped, and she began to topple backward off of the gate. Sasayaki and Ningyo panicked. Sakusen, dropping his onigiri, flipped backward, caught Neji's ankle, and used his other hand to keep a grip on the gate.

"Dammit, Neji, I used the rest of my chakra to climb that gate post."

"W-well," stammered Neji, "If you can get my feet toughing the gate, I can get us down."

Sakusen heaved Neji up and managed to make contact between the gate and Neji's feet. There they stuck. Neji tested her footing, then grabbed Sakusen and her pack.

"Wow, Watch it, Neji! I don't wanna fall!"

Neji smiled. "Don't worry!" she carefully walked her way back to the ground, carrying Sakusen and her pack on her back. Sakusen only relaxed after he was positive that he wouldn't fall.

"Brilliant, Neji! Absolutely splendid!" cried Ningyo.

Sasayaki nodded, acknowledging the fact that they managed to get to the ground without falling, then turned away.

"Now, we really should go and get some rooms at the inn. Who knows what there will be, considering there's a festival in honor of The Great Naruto Bridge. Who knows, we may have to share beds." Ningyo chuckled mischievously, and winked at Sakusen and Neji.

That was it. Sakusen had had enough. "Ningyo-sensei, HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?!?!?"

Ningyo suddenly became very serious. "Follow me." She waved them away6 form the middle of the bridge, where travelers were crossing at a leisurely pace, and over to the railings. "Now, this is a very serious mission. We are here on the word that there are Akatsuki in the village, namely Kisame of the Mist and Itachi of the Leaf. In order to learn what they are up to, we have been sent. I suggested the transformation jutsu as a way to not only disguise us from the villagers, but also from the Akatsuki. Because I've been here so often, it is doubly necessary that no one recognize me, therefore the act. So no, Sakusen, I have not lost my mind, no, Sasayaki, I will not let you go after Itachi, and no, Neji, I will not let them kidnap you. Okay?"

The three nodded. This was the sensei they knew.

"now then," announced Ningyo, "Let's go see how many rooms we can rent."

The others nodded again and they entered the village. The first thing they noticed was that the village was lively, and that there were smiles on the faces of everyone they passed. They strolled down the main street, searching for an inn, when suddenly an old man bumped into Sakusen.

"Sorry," he grunted, then did a double take.

So did the team. It was Tazuna, the old bridge builder. The old man stared hard at Neji especially. The girl crossed her arms.

"What is it, old man?"

"Oh, sorry. You just look like someone I know."

Neji nodded. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Ningyo waved from up the street. "Hey, you three! I found an inn!"

"Well, see ya, old man!" called Neji, and the three team mates ran to catch up to Ningyo.

"Well?" demanded Sasayaki.

"It turns out that there are two rooms, one bed per room."

The three wilted.

"So, as I said, Sasayaki will take one room with me, and Neji and Sakusen will take the other!"

Sakusen wilted further at the idea. Neji blushed hard. While she may have wanted a relationship, this was too fast. Inside, Inner Naruto rejoiced at the idea of being with Sakura.

Sasayaki maintained her bored mask. She would suffer anything so as to take Itachi down. But she wasn't going to wait for her sensei's permission.

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Another long-ish one. But look! I've updated two in the same week! A miracle, I say.

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