CHAPTER 26

New Rivals
(新しいライバル Atarashii Raibaru)

The bright sun was shining brightly in the sky and the soft breeze caressed the world with its sweet yet calming sensation. It has been almost a week since Sasuke had came back and brought all of his partners with them. Team Hawk had been recuperating in the hospital as well as the two girls, Nariko and Miyuki. Nariko was in the ICU for a few days, but she was later released and was put in a normal patient's room. It was also around that time that Nariko been had reunited with her baby sister after being away from her for so long.

When they had seen each other for the first time in three months, Miyuki and Nariko had ran to each other and embraced one another like they haven't seen each other in years. It was a beautiful moment for them and ever since, the two were always hanging out with one another...with Nariko sneaking into Miyuki's room at night to talk.

In her room, Karin was just waking from her relaxed slumber and she had saw Ino walking in with her clipboard, ready to write down all the reports concerning Karin's health and recovery. The redhead had turned away from the blonde in annoyance, not wanting Ino to even bother tending to her duties. Of course, the blonde ignored her scowling face and continued to proceed with what she came there to do.

"Good morning, Karin-san..." Ino greeted, trying to be polite.

"Morning...umm...what was your name again...?" Karin said, completely forgetting her name on purpose just to upset the medic nin, but it wasn't working.

"It's Ino, Karin-san..." the blonde answered exasperated. It was clear that Karin was trying to start something between her for no good reason. "Didn't I tell you that yesterday?"

"Yeah. I guess I just forgot." Karin said with an innocent smile...even though it was nowhere near innocent. Ino saw right through that and she shook her head in amusement.

Ignoring her own thoughts, Ino continued with her procedure. "So, how are you feeling this morning...? Or are you feeling more chagrined then you did yesterday?"

Karin smirked from the blonde challenging her. "I feel fine to be honest. My neck is 100% healed thanks to Sakura. There is something I would like know, though. Is this standard procedure or are you doing this to make yourself seem smarter?"

Ino felt her forehead veins throbbing and wanting to pop. The blonde haven't dealt with someone like her in a very long time. Ino asked herself why did she have to take care of this patient, but she didn't dwell on it. In fact, she just simply smiled at the redhead kunoichi. "You my dear...are a piece of work..."

"The same could be said about you..." Karin said as she adjusted her glasses.

Things around here were really getting interesting in more ways than one.

XxX

On the other side of the hospital, haughty laughter and sweet giggles filled the air as two people were eating lunch together in one of the rooms. For the past two hours, a girl and a young man were having the time of the lives and keeping each other company. Right now, they were playing a little game...to help them get to know each other...

"You seem so nice and sweet, but you also have a fierce disposition during certain situations. So I gotta know...what kind of guy do you like? As a friend or...something more...?" The water nin asked with a smirk as he ate some of his yogurt. Suigetsu was glad that they didn't give him any hospital food, since he really didn't like food with any seasoning on it. Sakura was gracious enough to bring him a tray full of yogurt, ice cream, and gelatin. God, he loved that stuff!

Miyuki blushed slightly from when Suigetsu had smirked at her. She didn't know if he was being flirty, playing around, or being serious. It was kind of hard for her to tell, but she shook the thoughts away and answered his question.

"What I...like? Suigetsu-kun, where did that question come from?" Miyuki asked, looking at him with a look of suspicion and worry. She didn't know why he had asked the question from the start, but she wouldn't back down from it either. So, she challenged him. "Are you pulling a joke on me or you just asking me that out of curiosity...?"

Suigetsu chuckled from that answer. I guess a little bit of him had rubbed off onto her, which was pretty cool in his opinion. Miyuki was starting to fully open up and talk freely with him. It was crazy how some things could change in the short time span of three months. "Nah, kitten. I consider us friends and yet we still don't know that much about one another and it would be good to know some of those things. I just wanna know...because I want to get to know you more. Besides, I'm bored as hell and I need something to do to kill some time while we're prisoners in the hospital."

Miyuki laughed from his explanation. He made a good point. Even though they knew each other for only three months, it never hurt to sit down and try to learn more about the person that you're friends with. But then again, she knew that the two of them can't be too close, either. Plus, she knew that being in the hospital for a while would grate on people's nerves at some point.

"Well...the one thing I like most about a guy is that he is caring and understanding. There's just something about that quality that draws me into a guy. When it comes down to something more...I like a guy who is willing to show tenderness with his mesmerizing eyes. That alone...is what makes the guy I care about the most...more beautiful than anything..."

"Is that right...?" Suigetsu inquired as he ate some more yogurt. That was an interesting answer. He wasn't expecting from her at all.

"Okay then, Sir Swordsman. Time to throw the question right back at you. You are funny and you have a great personality to boot, but you also have a killing intent and you love to kill during certain situations. So I gotta know...what kind of girl do you like? As a friend or...something more...?" The blonde kunoichi asked in a serious tone, scooting a little closer to him.

"One thing I like most about a girl is bravery. Nothing turns me on faster than that and also a girl who's a free spirit and likes to have fun, too. But when it comes down to something more, I like a girl with a nice shape..." Suigetsu had brought his hand up to caress the softness of Miyuki's hair. "... a pretty face..." The water nin's hand had went to her face and he let his fingertips grazed the side of Miyuki's cheek. "...soft lips..."Suigetsu tilted his head to the side and started to lean in.

"Suigetsu-kun?" Miyuki was so entranced that she didn't even acknowledged the fact that his face was slowly moving closer to hers. The closer he got, Suigetsu's eyelids became heavier and Miyuki's eyes fluttered closed.

As quick as lightning, a flying red about object was hurdling towards the two of them. With a loud clunk, the red apple had collided against Suigetsu's head, making the water nin fall onto his side. Miyuki had opened her eyes and she seen a familiar person leaning against the doorway, taking a huge bite out of an apple that she had in her hand.

"Nariko..." Miyuki said and she laughed weakly as a sweatdrop had formed on the back of her head. 'Oh no...Sis, don't do this again...'Nariko and Suigetsu had met each other two days ago and Nariko did not like him at all. It had something to do with Suigetsu tickling Miyuki until she landed on the floor and Nariko walked in on them, assuming that the water nin was trying to take advantage of her baby sister. Nariko had literally thrown him off of her and called him a perverted shark for trying to making a pass at her. Even since then, those two have not been on good terms.

"Okay, shark boy. You got 15 seconds to explain to me what the hell you were trying to do? Were you trying to take the first kiss of my baby sister?" Nariko said, rolling up the sleeves on her hospital shirt.

"Nariko, please stop acting that way around him! He is my friend, you know! What happened two days ago was purely an accident!" Miyuki explained.

"Chibi-chan, you need to pump your breaks, all right? You keep acting like that and you'll never get a boyfriend...or anybody for that matter..." Suigetsu spat back.

The water nin had remembered meeting Nariko for the first time. It took him by surprised that Nariko had resembled Sasuke so much. It was almost scaring, but the thing that he noticed that the raven did not act like Sasuke at all. She was loud, rude, and somewhat arrogant. Suigetsu guessed that he should be grateful that Nariko really didn't act like him.

"For your information, fish boy, I don't care about that! And another thing, I like ti-"

"Noooooo! Nariko, please don't finish that sentence..." Miyuki pleaded, shaking her head back and forth. The blonde loved her elder sister dearly, but that was something she did not want to hear...

"Know It All!" Suigetsu yelled.

"Prick!" Nariko shot back.

"Smartass!"

"Dumbass!"

"Blackhead!"

"Whitehead!"

Nariko and Suigetsu were now growling at each other in fury and a dangerous staredown had started between them. It became so bad that electricity emanated from their eyes and clashed with each other, making it almost unbearable for Miyuki to not get scared from it.

"YOU MAKE ME SICK!" Nariko and Suigetsu yelled at the same time.

"Stop it! Stop it right now!" Miyuki yelled, hoping that her older sister and the guy that she considered a friend would not really fight each other. From the look that Suigetsu was giving to Nariko, that logic was quickly thrown out the window. She only hoped that a certain someone wouldn't come near the room. But when she sensed said someone at the doorway, Miyuki realized that it was already too late and their were in big trouble. The blonde trembled in fear and blue lines began to form under her left eye as she gripped the blankets under her.

The raven and the water nin had stopped arguing and they noticed that Miyuki was acting strange. Her lips quivered and they even saw perspiration rolling down her face. Basically, she was scared out of her wits. "S-S-S..."

"Miyuki, what's wrong?" Nariko had asked and Suigetsu had followed the raven by asking, "Yeah! What's got you spooked?"

Miyuki slowly pointed a shaky finger at what she was staring at and the two of them had looked to see for themselves. When they did, Nariko and Suigetsu had jumped and nearly screamed in panic from seeing a very...very...very pissed off Sakura standing there, gripping her clipboard to the point of almost breaking it. The pinkette's free hand was curled into a tight fist and her eyes were narrowed in anger.

"WHAT IS ALL THIS RACKET IN HERE?" Sakura hollered, feeling completely agitated and irritable.

Then the absolute worst had happened. The two of them had started yelling at each other at the same time, which gave Sakura a searing migraine headache. She tuned out most of their shouting and rubbed her temples in aggravation from having to deal with this. She has had a rough morning and she did not have the patience to deal with the commotion and disruption at the moment. Sakura honestly didn't care who started it, but she was certainly gonna finish it. Plus, some of the patients have been complaining about not being able to rest because of the loud noises that these two made from their arguing. Disturbing her patients in the hospital was a serious pet peeve for Sakura and she was going to neutralize the situation...with brute force.

"He / She started it!" Nariko and Suigetsu finished in perfect unison, glaring at each other with distaste for the other person.

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU TWO!" And the raging medic nin had severely punished the two bickering shinobi by slapping Nariko across her cheek, making the raven spin around until she ungracefully hit the floor with her butt in the air. Then, Suigetsu was slapped so hard that water splashed against the hospital and fell face-first unto the tiled floor. Since Miyuki didn't do anything, she didn't have to worry about getting hit by her scary future Godmother.

Cracking her knuckles and tilting her head to the side to free her neck from stiffness, Sakura had grabbed Suigetsu by the back of his shirt and started to drag him out of the room. "OKAY, SHARK BOY! YOU'RE GOING BACK TO YOUR ROOM!"

"Are you kidding me, Pinkie? She's the one who started it! She threw an apple upside my head! WHY DOES SHE GET TO STAY? KITTEN, SAVE ME!" Suigetsu said squirming as he playfully reached out a hand for the the blonde to grab, but Miyuki was too far away to reach for him.

"Suigetsu, either you be quiet or you will stay in this hospital permanently!" Sakura warned him and she turned to Nariko, who was snickering at Suigetsu. "And Nariko... I will be back for you later, young lady!"

Nariko straighten up and gulped from hearing the venom in Sakura's voice. She meant business and and the knew that arguing with her would be like asking for her to kill you, so she let it go for now. With that said and done, Sakura had closed the door behind her. The two girls sat in silence and what Sakura had said to Nariko didn't dawn on them until a few seconds later, "Sh...She knows?" the finally said.

XxX

The evening had came a few hours later and the sky was full with stars and a beautiful white full moon. The sound of soft meshing on the concrete ground echoed in the dark place where he was heading at. These footsteps belonged to the one and only Naruto Uzumaki as he continued to walk to his destination with his hands in his pockets. In this case, he wasn't going home...he was going to see a certain someone who had been put into a dark place a few days ago.

Inside said place, someone was sitting down and he heard the slow footsteps approaching him. He didn't bother to look to see who it was since he could tell by chakra sense alone. The footsteps came to a halt and for a moment, there was complete and utter silence.

"I can't believe the shit that's going on right now because of you...or should I say 'Welcome back home...Sasuke..."

At that moment, obsidian eyes had met clear blue as the blond shinobi had presented himself to Sasuke outside of the cell that Sasuke was in. He was sitting on a bed and the Chakra Cuffs were no longer on his wrists, giving him some kind of freedom and movement. After pressing the button on the wall, it flashed red and the bars that kept Sasuke in had began to open up from the side. Naruto had locked his eyes on the rogue ninja, making sure he didn't try anything...even though he knew that Sasuke wouldn't because of these circumstances...

Naruto had walked inside the cell and the bars behind him started to close, locking the two of them in from the outside. After the bars were finally closed, the two boys were now alone...

* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *

The next chapter of Changing Fate is:

Our Moment
(私たちの瞬間 Watashitachi no Shunkan)

Naruto visits Sasuke at the Konoha High Ranking Containment Facility and the two boys are finally alone together. What will happen between these two and what feelings would be said on the night before the day that would change everything?