Leo: Chapter 43! Before we start I wanna explain a few things. I do realize that Deidara is a boy. I know. But if you take a look at the manga (Chapter 248, page 13) you'll notice that Gaara thinks that Deidara is a girl so that's kind of what I went off of. So no hate. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.

Leo: And one last warning. Deidara says however and yeah a lot so this is my warning. If you have a phobia of those words don't read. Alright, disclaimer!

Akamaru: Woof woof! (Leo doesn't own Naruto. She's too poor.)

Leo: Story commencing!

Misaki's POV

"The rules are the same as before, try to get bells away from me. You have until sunrise tomorrow." Kakashi held up three bells in his hands.

"I remember this place." I breathed in deeply as we got the field where the first bell test happened. "So many memories…"

"That's right this is the place you were first trained isn't it?" Kakashi mused.

"Yup, Team Seven." Sakura sighed.

"The three man team…" Naruto looked down.

"I remember those times..." I mused.

"Sasuke was around too, wasn't he…?" Kakashi said. I instantly tensed up at the same of his name.

Kakashi sweat dropped at the instant gloomy atmosphere between us. "Um, well then… let's start." He put his book in his pocket. I raised an eyebrow.

"You're not going to read your book this time Kakashi-sensei?" I smirked getting into the ready position.

"Really, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto prodded and tightened his headband.

"Don't tell me you've already finished it?" Sakura grinned and pulled her gloves on.

"Maybe I should save that enjoyment for later. Besides I think I should get serious for this…" Kakashi slowly lifted his headband to reveal his Sharingan.

There was a slight breeze in the air as no one made a move we all just observed each other. I heard the faint sound of the bells chinking.

Out of nowhere, Naruto lashed out and threw a pair of shuriken at Kakashi. Kakashi ducked and retaliated with a few of his own.

Naruto jumped in the air effectively dodging the shuriken. Kakashi took this as an opening and threw more shuriken knowing Naruto couldn't dodge in the air.

"Kage Bushin!" Naruto quickly made a clone and used it to pull him out harm's way.

"Clever…" I murmured impressed with how quickly Naruto had thought about that.

"Henge!" Naruto's clone transformed into a giant shuriken in his hands. Kakashi disappeared in a flash and appeared behind Naruto holding unto his head and arm restricting any further movement.

I was surprised when another Naruto appeared behind Kakashi putting a kunai at the base of his spine.

"Well… I see your haste hasn't changed." Kakashi commented

"Hehe. You've used this trick on me before in the first bell test, remember?" Naruto chuckled.

'Naruto's really matured.' I smiled proudly. 'Training must have really worked.'

"Alright, start!" Kakashi chirped cheerfully before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"EH!" My jaw dropped, I really believed we had him.

Right, left, behind, above. I quickly checked my surroundings looking for where he could be.

"If he's not anywhere around us…" I murmured.

"Below!" Sakura leaned back and punched the ground shattering the earth around us on contact. I jumped back avoiding falling into a crack.

"Gyah!" Naruto wobbled uneasily on the ground; luckily, he was on the edge so he avoided falling in.

I laughed, 'That's right Naruto didn't know that Sakura's strength increased.'

I could see Kakashi sitting in the cracks looking shocked. He hadn't known that Tsunade hadn't just taught Sakura medical ninjutsu.

Sakura smirked triumphantly, "Found you."

Kakashi got to his feet on the rock, studying Sakura, "Alright, I guess I should also do something on my end…Get ready."

LATER

I breathed heavily wiping away the dirt smudge on my cheeks, "I've forgotten how fast Kakashi can make seals."

"I knew it already but the Sharingan is really amazing. And his seal-making speed is too fast for me to keep up with." Sakura sighed.

"If we could just get him to stop using both hands we could take the bells from him." I mused.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei is unreasonably strong. He's smarter than Shikamaru, he has a better sense of smell than Kiba, he has a better Sharingan than Sasuke, and better taijutsu than Lee.

"But even he has to have a weak point. We just have to think carefully." I insisted.

Naruto's scrunched his face up in concentration, "Ah! Wait he does have one!"

"Eh? Really?" Sakura piped in.

"Hehe…Sakura-chan if you really think of how Kakashi-sensei's been until now you'll understand!" Naruto giggled sinisterly.

"Stop being such a know-it-all Naruto! What's his weak point?" Sakura yelled impatiently.

Kakashi's POV

'They've grown so much maybe I should stop being so nonchalant and watch out for how they'll approach next.' I thought as I hid behind a tree in the field.

Misaki's POV

"Of course! I can't believe he has a weak point like that!" I exclaimed.

"And when we force his hands up, if we're clever, maybe we can be protected from his Sharingan too." Sakura smiled.

"If we take that chance…" Naruto grinned.

"Naruto you really are the number most unpredictable ninja!" I gave him a fist bump.

"If we prepare like that we can win with the initiative!" Naruto grinned.

"Then let's go." I grinned and we dispersed into the trees.

We snuck around hopping from tree to tree until we found Kakashi.

"Now. Go!" Naruto said and we all jumped down at once.

Kakashi spun around, "A direct attack is never gone work."

"Now Naruto!" I ignored Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! The last joke in Icha Icha Tactics! The truth is that the main character…!" Naruto shouted.

"NO!" Kakashi covered his ears instantly. He quickly shut his eyes when he realized that he still could read Naruto's lips because of the Sharingan.

We landed and each snatched a bell from his waist. Kakashi felt the tug and spun around the face us each holding out a bell in his face.

I flashed a peace sign, "Heh, a ninja should look underneath the underneath, right sensei?"

LATER

"Hehe you certainly have become strong, haven't you?" Kakashi finally conceded.

"Maybe I've even surpassed you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto held up a fist triumphantly.

"What are you saying? Such conceit…" I laughed boisterously.

"Haha but anyway I'm still young, and recently… I developed a brilliant new jutsu…" Kakashi started.

RUMBLE.

I looked to Naruto hearing the loud growl his stomach just made.

"Ah! Yeah you haven't gone home or to Ichiraku Ramen have you Naruto?" Sakura remembered that he came home yesterday that we went to straight to training.

Kakashi sweat dropped as Sakura and Naruto went into an excited spiel about going to Ichiraku Ramen and agreeing that Kakashi would treat them.

"You guys used to react to every single little thing that happened back then. You used to be so cute…" Kakashi mumbled glumly.

I smiled wistfully, "We really have changed a lot. But we'll always be the same genins Kakashi."

"Misaki…" Kakashi teared up; I chuckled at the nostalgia in his eyes.

"Kakashi! You'll treat us right!" Naruto finally turned to Kakashi to confirm it.

"…Sorry. I have to create and submit a list of the new teams, so I guess it's goodbye for now." Kakashi made a seal and disappeared into thin air.

"Ahh! He ran away!" Naruto's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Eh, he's probably going off the read the book Jiraiya gave him. Old pervert." I snorted.

"Hehe, well Sakura, we could just turn this into a date, if you wa-" Naruto started.

"Ok, but you're paying." Sakura interrupted.

Naruto turned away and looked into his frog wallet, I could see the depression written all over his face and I just knew he had no money. I laughed in amusement before I caught a flash of gold out of the corner of my eye.

I turned to see two familiar faces, "Shikamaru! Temari-san! Who do you think it is?!" I excitedly pointed to Naruto.

"Hey! If it isn't Naruto!" Shikamaru smiled obviously happy to see him.

"Oh. The little runt." Temari sighed thankfully quiet enough so that Naruto wouldn't hear her.

"Did you just come home then?" Shikamaru walked up holding up a hand in greeting.

"Nah, I came back yesterday." Naruto point his hands behind his head nonchalantly.

"Heh, so has any of your idiocy left you?" Shikamaru teased.

"Yada." Sakura and I waved our hands simultaneously. Naruto slumped dejectedly "He hasn't changed at all."

"Oh…really?" Shikamaru sweat dropped.

"Sakuraaa-chaaan, Misakiiiiii!" Naruto whined in embarrassment.

"It's your fault." I scoffed.

"Hmph…So Shikamaru, are you on a date too?" Naruto quickly recovered and turned back into his usual goofy self.

"That's not it." Shikamaru nonchalantly denied it.

"You're joking, why would I go out with such a…" Temari shook her head in exasperation. "There's another chuunin exam coming up soon. I'm the ambassador for Suna so I'm going back and forth."

"And it's troublesome, but I'm an examiner so I have to see off the messengers from Suna." Shikamaru explained.

"A chuunin exam…? That brings back memories…" Naruto gave a weary smile.

"Yeah…and Naruto what are you planning?" Shikamaru prodded.

"What do you mean?" Naruto furrowed his brow.

"Oh, you didn't realize?" I smiled.

"Realize what, Misaki?" Naruto asked me impatiently.

"You're the only one in our class who hasn't become a chuunin yet." I deadpanned.

"EHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto yelled. "Then, then, you're a chuunin too, Sakura?"

"Yup." Sakura flashed a peace sign.

"Plus, Neji, Kankuro from Suna, and Temari here are already jounins." Shikamaru added.

"HUHHHHH! Wait. Then Gaara! What about Gaara?!" Naruto asked.

Third Person POV

"Hm…well done. You remembered me?"

"Yes, sir, Sasori-sama, Deidara-sama!" The chuunin quickly got on one knee. It was only proper respect to Deidara and Sasori of the Akatsuki.

All around were the dead or unconscious bodies of fallen Suna ninjas. Sasori surveyed the areas carefully checking their chakra presences. All clear.

"Alright. If you'd forgotten, I might've had to use my jutsu, yeah." Deidara smirked under his attire.

"Since your memories have returned you are my faithful servant." Sasori commented.

"Alright then, here we go." His red cloud cloak and straw hat shifted gently as he tightened his hand and opened it creating a clay bird in his palm. "We'll attack the village from above."

Deidara made a quick seal and there was a large puff of smoke as his clay bird transformed into a large white bird. "How is this artistic modeling, yeah?"

"I can't wait." Sasori grumbled. The blonde gave him a small smirk before taking off into the sky.

"The One-Tailed Shukaku's 'power of human sacrifice', Gaara of the Desert, yeah. Well then…what kind of person is he…?" Deidara mused as he moved his hair to the side revealing the binocular attached to one of his eyes.

"1, 2, 3, yeah." He counted out three guards on the Kazekage tower easily. "However this village's artistic design isn't too shabby. It's definitely worth running it, yeah. I guess I'll make a sneak attack here."

Out of the mouth on his palm crawled three clay spiders. He tossed them out into the air watching them land gently on the building.

Inside the building, the Kazekage, Gaara, looked up noticing a disturbance in the sand around him.

Outside, the spider quietly crawled unto the guards on the building. One of them lazily looked down feeling a small weight on them. His eyes widened when he saw the clay spider crawling up his arm. "Wha-what the hell is this weird thing?!"

"Hmph, weird thing? You've got no taste. I guess stupid people can't comprehend art, yeah." Deidara smirked and formed a seal. "I'll physically teach you…art is a bang."

With a flourish, the guard's head exploded. Deidara smirked and flew down gently jumping off his bird and touching down. "Infiltration successful."

Deidara looked up and was momentarily shocked to see Gaara himself had materialized before him and was standing in all his glory in front of him.

"Hmph, how-" Deidara didn't have time to finish his sentence as two tendrils of sand snuck around behind him. He jumped in the air just barely dodging the sand. His bird swooped down and carried him into the air.

Deidara's POV

I watched as the jinchuuriki thrust his hand out in front of him making a wave of sand appear on me trail. He easily jumped on it.

"Hehe…however, you knew it was me, yeah." I smirked down at him, the mouth on my palm already chewing the clay.

"In this desert, no bird like that exists." He deadpanned.

"Heh, seems like my sneaking in was a failure, yeah. Thanks to that I don't need to search for you, yeah."

Gaara didn't reply, instead he raised his hands there was a hissing as all the sand on the ground behind him came up in a giant wave.

I quickly maneuvered my bird away, "Heh, as one would expect he has the biological advantage…it's risky, yeah."

Behind me, Gaara shaped his sand into three hands of the Shukaku all reaching for me. I rummaged around in my clay bag grabbing a fistful of clay that I quickly shaped into two more birds. I threw them back at him and made a seal increasing their speed.

He quickly maneuvered his sand so that it came up to block him from the bombs.

"Too late." I smirked. I made a seal and detonated them. There was a huge explosion, I waited for the smoke to clear and was surprised to see a sphere of sand perfectly in tact. "Impressive."

I was even more surprised to realize that while I was waiting for the smoke to clear the sand had rushed up behind me and was close to engulfing me. "This is bad!"

I quickly flew towards a gap in the almost sphere, I just barely made it threw using my giant bird as an explosive to create and opening. I felt a weight weighing me down and when I looked back my entire arm was engulfed in sand. My eyes widened as I turned to the jinchuuriki. I watched from a hole in the sphere as he closed his fist tightly. There was a hideous cracking and a sudden incredible pain in my shoulder and arm. My arm was crushed.

I ignored the pain and used the clay in the palm of my hand to create a tiny owl. I made a seal and it enlarged. I flew gently unto the bird, the sand quickly slid off my arm. "You're good, yeah."

'I see the sand he uses to attack is different from the kind he uses to defend. His defensive sand is extra hard and it's the sand he keeps in that gourd, made from a ton of old chakra gathered up. And that hole in the sphere he created is a result of him using his sand to crush my arm' I smirked having finally figured it out. 'The only explosives I have left are number 18 and this homing bird, yeah.'

Third Person's POV

"Judging by that shape I assume Kazekage-sama's opponent is a member of the Akatsuki." Baki explained, "Hurry, prepare for battle! We're going to back up the Kazekage! Medical teams set up a barrier and guide the civilians out of danger!"

"Sir!" Kankuro saluted.

"…Kankuro…" Baki called.

"Yes?" The painted ninja turned in answer.

"Consider what would happen if Gaara went crazy again. Also, what would happen if Shukaku leaked out?"

"That…that won't happen. Gaara won't hurt the people of this village." Kankuro tensed up. "I promise you that…Gaara once told me 'I wish to be needed by the Sand not as a scary weapon but as their Kazekage'. He's never going back there again."

Baki smiled assuredly, before turning up to the sky. "Do your best Kazekage-sama!"

Deidara's POV

"That's it; I'm going to destroy this city. To be stopped from below would put me in such a bad mood. Plus, I'm tired of looking at your expressionless face."

I lifted the exploding bird, number 18, containing my highest level chakra C3, and dropped it over the side of my owl. "My greatest artistic creation."

"…!" His eyes widened and his brows furrowed as he watched the bomb fall.

"EVERYONE SPREAD OUT!" I could hear the ninja from before yelling out.

"Too late! Hehe…" I smirked and made a seal. I looked down triumphantly at the explosion as the clay detonated.

"Eh…?" I said as the smoke cleared and I realized the jinchuuriki had created a huge shield over the village.

"Th-this is Kazekage-sama's sand! To be able to make a shield like this…amazing!" I heard a ninja shout out with relief.

I turned to see the jinchuuriki panted heavily his brow furrowed in exhaustion, "Ok, within shooting range." I grinned manically as my clay bird flew past the hole in his sand sphere. I grinned even wider seeing his eyes widen before I detonated it.

There was a bang I wasn't that surprised to see that he had managed to repair his sphere just in time to prevent the blast from reaching him.

"As you'd expect your defense is impeccable, yeah." I smirked because making a seal, "However that might be a disadvantage, yeah." I detonated the clay I had put inside his sand when he crushed my arm.

I grinned as I watched the sand slide off of him as he plummeted towards his viallge.

"Hmph, typical Kage, using the last of their strength to protect the village. It would've been so much easier to just let it fall on them."

I swooped down and used my clay owl's tail to catch him before he hit the ground. "Not killing him was harder than I expected but I've finished my job."

"Mission complete."

Leo: Ugh, I hate this arc because Gaara dies and it just makes me so emotional. I just can't i

Leo: Excuse my break down but I love Gaara so much. Ahem, nect chapter will have more Misaki probably. Ok, review please. Bye!