-"Mayumi-chan, you should go check on Naruto..."
"Oh but why?" Mayumi whined.
"Because he went out to train again today... I'm worried..." Kakashi mumbled.
"Man, six days strait... I'm starting to wonder if he has a hot date waiting for him."
Mayumi got up and ran out to were they had been training for the past five mornings. But much to her surprise the boy wasn't there. She growled and walked over to the water's edge. The wind blew slightly but she enjoyed the way that it push her hair back. She looked around quickly before she decided that she was going to go for a swim. Lucky for her Kakashi had told her wear her swimming suit on this mission. Mayumi untied the tie around her waist and pulled her teal dress over her head.
"Hello-"
Mayumi snapped around quickly to see a young girl about her age watching her, "Oh... Hello creeper."
The girl laughed at her, "Creeper? What makes you think I'm a creeper?"
"Well it's kinda strange that you watched me undress."
Another laugh, "Cute bathing suit."
The girls long black hair blew behind her slightly as she laughed. Mayumi blushed, she was pretty. She shook her head, no she took that back, that was a strange thought!
"T-Thanks..."
The blue-haired girl walked knee high into the water and smiled. The sand oozed between her toes suddenly causing to run out of the water. She ran over to the girl, grabbed her arm and pulled her in as well.
"Isn't it feel neat!" Mayumi asked giggling.
"Isn't? You mean doesn't," the girl asked, making a face while she moved her feet through the sand.
"Don't correct my language!"
"Okay," the girl laughed.
Mayumi smiled and ran through the water. Giggles came flying out of her mouth as the other girl splashed her with water. The girl smiled brightly and for a moment almost reminded her of a boy... They picked up handfuls of mud at tossed it at each other. Mayumi's handful landed in the girl's hair. She let out a growl and grabbed the smiling Hatake by her hips and tossed her down in the water. When she finally resurfaced she got a hair full of sand.
"Got you!" She said loudly as she laughed.
The Hatake girl smiled and then tackled her down into the water. She sat on the girls lap and slashed her with more water. Suddenly she felt hands grab her sides and flip them over. One of the hands covered her mouth and she watched as the girl lead down to whisper in her ear.
Mayumi pulled the hand away, "Ummm, Miss you're kinda freaking me out..."
The girl sighed, "Again... I really hoped that you could tell the difference... I'm a boy, not a girl."
"What?"
The boy snapped back and covered his ears, "Ouch! You're right next to me. You don't have to yell you know!"
She shook her head, "Sorry, it's just...you look like a girl."
"Yeah...I know," he said smiling.
They both jumped when they heard screaming.
"Naruto-san..." Mayumi muttered.
The boy looked at her, "Hey, before you go...can I ask you something?"
Mayumi nodded.
"Do you...have someone who is important to you?"
"Ummm... could you restate that please..."
He sighed, "When a person has something important to protect... That's when they can truly become strong."
She frowned, "I'm screwed... The closest thing I have is Naruto-san and Otou-san..." She looked up, "Can I count you?"
The boy nodded. They smiled at each other for a few minutes before the boy got up and started to walk away.
"I'll see you around," the boy told her.
"Okay! Can't wait!"
With that said she turned and ran to were she had heard the scream. When she got there she had to smile; right there was Naruto standing on the underside of the branch.
"HAHA! You fell for it!" Naruto shouted at Kakashi and Sakura.
"You scared me idiot!" Sakura yelled at him.
Mayumi looked over at her, "What's going on?"
Suddenly Naruto's feet came away from the branch and he started to fall.
"Aww! Stupid Naruto! Stop showing off!" Sakura yelled at him.
The two Hatake stared wide eyed. Mayumi pushed herself past her father and teammate and ran towards the falling boy. She wasn't going to make it; she could feel that as she ran quickly towards him.
"GYAAH!" Naruto screamed.
The blue-haired girl stopped suddenly and smiled. Trying to catch her breath, Mayumi smiled brightly.
"You moron..." Sasuke spoke, holding onto Naruto's leg.
"Sasuke-san!"
The Uchiha blushed but tried his best to ignore the female Hatake.
"Yay!" Sakura shouted. "Sasuke-kun! You're the best!"
*Later*
"Oh... You guys are finally back," Tazuna said looking up. "What's this? You guys look super dirty and worn out..."
Sasuke and Naruto walked into the house together, both sweaty and dirty. The Uchiha had to help to blonde walk by giving him support.
"Hehe..." Naruto laughed. "Both of us made it to the top."
"All right!" Kakashi praised them. "Naruto, Sasuke... Starting tomorrow you two will also help protect Tazuna-san."
"Okay!" Naruto shouted happily.
"Hehe," Tazuna laughed. "I'm also worn out from today's bridge work. At any rate the bridge is almost complete."
"Naruto-kun, Otou-san, Don't overdo it okay?" Tsunami told the pair.
"Mmhm," her father hummed.
"Ugh!" Naruto dropped his head to the desk and quickly fell asleep.
Mayumi smiled and ran her hand through the boy's hair. He smiled slightly but continued to rest. Sasuke grunted and pulled her away from the blonde.
"Why do you guys bother to try so hard?" Inari shouted, tears running down his face. "No matter how hard you train, you're still no match for Gatou's men! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work when facing the strong, the weak will only end up getting killed!"
"Whatever kid... I'm not like you," Naruto said, not moving.
"I'd hate to be like you! You don't know anything about this country, yet you're being so nosy!" The boy yelled. "What the hell do you know about me? I'm different from you, you're always clowning around and acting so cheerful, you don't know how hard life can be!"
"So it's okay for you to pose as the star of a tragedy and cry all day?" Naruto asked, suddenly his head shout up and he shot a hard glare at the boy, his eyes wide and his teeth clenched together. "Just keep on crying forever you idiot! You little sissy!"
"Naruto! You're said enough!" Sakura snapped at the blonde as he walked away from the table.
After diner Mayumi followed Inari outside. The boy sat on the side of the dock allowing his feet to hang over the edge.
"Can I sit next to you?" Mayumi asked, standing behind him.
Her violet eyes stared out across the water, taking in the look of the moon's reflection she took a seat next to him, "You know Naruto-san didn't mean any harm by what he said. Sometimes he just doesn't use his head." She giggled and looked over at him calming down. "Tazuna-san told us about your Otou-san. Did you know that Naruto never had a Otou-san?"
Inari's head snapped up and he looked over at her, "What?"
"Well actually he's never known either of his parents, and he's never ever had a single friend...except for me... The truth is, he's had a rougher past then you... But I've never seen him cry or complain." Mayumi looked back out at the water, a blush painting her cheeks causing her to smile slightly, "He's always... Trying his best to get people to acknowledge him... For that dream he'd risk his life at anytime... He's probably sick and tired of crying... He knows what it really means to be strong, I'm sure of it. Just like your father did. Naruto may understand your feelings better than anyone else."
"What?" The boy asked.
"He worries about you..."
Inari blushed and looked away from her, "And I thought you were the stupid one..."
"What?"
"Nothing!" The boy got up and started to walk away from her, but stopped and looked back, "You like him don't you?"
"What? No!"
"Are you sure? You seem to care about him a lot more then you do the rest of your friends."
Mayumi looked up at the moon, the wind lifting her blue hair from her shoulders, "I never really thought about it before, guess my mind wonders to much..." She bit her lip, "Well... I don't like the gay guy...he's just a friend..."
Inari nodded and walked away from the female Hatake.
She didn't leave her spot but instead continued to sit and think to herself. What Inari had said was true, she did care about the Uzumaki boy, but did she like him was a whole other question. She supposed that there was a possibility that she did, but it was hard to say. She stood up and let out a loud yell as she fell into the cold water.
She swam to the surface quickly and mumbled a few choice words. Feeling arms wrap around her waist she assumed the worst and flung her arm back to hit the person. Being as unlucky as she was the person grabbed her arm and stopped her.
She felt them shiver, "It's okay Mayumi I got you..."
She snapped her head back, "Got me? Y-You pushed me in Sasuke-san!"
"...How could you accuse me of something like that?" The Uchiha asked, smirking slightly as he pulled her back towards the dock.
"Ummm, I don't know, open up my mouth and accuse you? S-Sounds k-kinda self-explanatory to me," she mumbled.
"Hmm... That's a pretty big word..." He told her, pulling her up onto the dock.
Mayumi clung to him enjoying his warmth but blushing from the fact that he was soaked and that she could feel his arms. He ran his hands through her hair and down her back before he pushed away and started to leave.
"Hey wait! You have my god damn necklace!" She snapped at him, realizing that it hand gotten caught on his shirt collar.
He tossed it at her, "Don't cuss Mayumi, it's a bad habit."
She bit her lip, "Shit, wait, crap, ummm, fuck! Ah god damn-it! Wait, what the hell! AHH!" Mayumi tossed her head into her hands realizing that she couldn't get past the cuss words.
Sasuke huffed and walked away from her, leaving her to put up with the cold feeling from her cloths on her own.
*The next morning*
Mayumi waved at her father and teammates as they left. Turning back she walked back into the small house. Apparently Naruto was still asleep and Kakashi wanted her to wait there for the boy to wake up. Humming to herself she grabbed her bath room items and walked out to the trees and found her way to the water's edge.
*With Naruto*
"I over slept!" Naruto shouted.
He got up quickly and pushed the door open, "Hey! Hey! Where's everyone?"
"Oh! Naruto you're already awake?" Tsunami asked, looking away from her knitting to look at the boy. "Sensei said that you should rest..."
"I knew it! I knew it! They left me behind!" Naruto shouted as he quickly got changed. "I'm off!"
*With Mayumi*
"I'm back! Is Naruto-san up yet?"
Tsunami smiled at the girl as she walked into the room, "Yes, he already left though..."
"Son of a bitch! I'm going after him!"
"Language Mayumi-chan!" Tsunami told her.
Mayumi ran for what felt like forever but eventually she caught up to the blonde boy, "Naruto-san!"
The boy hopped off of his branch and to another before he looked over at her, "Mayumi-chan?"
"What are you doing? Otou-san said you should rest!"
"You guys should have woken me up!"
"Naruto-san they made me stay behind, besides, who wants to spend all day with Sakura?"
Naruto opened his mouth to say something but stopped. They both looked down when they heard a strange noise.
"What the..." Mayumi mumbled.
*At Z-bridge!*
"Kakashi-sensei this is... This is his Hidden Mist No Jutsu right?" Sakura shouted.
The three leaf ninja stood around the bridge builder. Sasuke's body shook violently.
"Long time no see Kakashi..." Said a voice from within the mist. "I see you're still with those brats... He's shaking again... poor kid..."
Suddenly a hole bunch of Zabuza appeared around the ninja. They kept their formation easily.
"I'm shaking from excitement!" Sasuke explained, smirking.
"Do it Sasuke," Kakashi said, smiling.
The Uchiha boy pulled out two kunai and cut the clones so fast that it was hard to tell that he had even moved from his spot. He shot a hard glare at them, almost as if telling them that they couldn't fool him anymore. In front of the team stood two people. The boy who had "killed" Zabuza, and the Mist-Nin himself.
"Hmm... He saw through the water clones. That brat has grown," Zabuza told his counter part. "It looks like a rival has appeared... Eh Haku?"
"It does indeed," the boy agreed.
Suddenly the boy was knocked to the ground causing them all to stop and stare. Mayumi stared wide eyed down at her unknown opponent.
"Opps! Sorry! Didn't see you there, you really should take off that mask by the way, I bet it's hard to see through that..." She said, reaching for said item.
The boy pushed her away quickly and stood back up to his feet. Mayumi stared at him. There was something there but she just couldn't put her finger on it...
"I know you!" She yelled looking at him again.
Zabuza looked back at the boy then back to the female Hatake.
"You're that guy that killed Zabuza-san!"
She a laugh and looked over, "You're so kind, you even greet your enemy with a san!"
Zabuza laughed loudly, "I can't wait to cut that pretty little neck of yours!"
Mayumi frowned and looked back over at the boy, "I think you failed... He still looks alive to me... Hey! Quick! Try again before it's too late!"
Sasuke pulled the girl back quickly and held her to himself protectively, "No one will touch her!"
"We'll see about that..." Zabuza laughed.
Okay this chapter sucks like raw eggs... Okay that didn't make any sense... Anyways please review and vote on the poll because I shall be taking it down soon... But I would like to thank those of you that have review because it makes me really excited and happy when you do review!