I do not own any of the Naruto characters. Just Akira, Akemi, Hikari, Raiden, Hiro and Jiro.
Enjoy :)
Chapter Two: A New Environment
The morning sun poured in through the tall windows and into the white room. Akira groaned and pulled the covers over her head to avoid the bright light. She was having such a wonderful sleep; she didn't want anything to get in the way of interrupting it. Akemi poked her head into the white room and noticed Akira still snoozing away. A large sweat drop appeared at the side of her head before she let herself in walked over to Akira's bed. Akemi pulled the covers off and shook her beautiful granddaughter to awaken her.
"Akira, wake up, it's 6:45 already," Akemi said.
Akira groaned and rolled away from her grandmother. Akemi continued to attempt to shake Akira to wake her up from her deep slumber but, she had no luck. Hikari had suddenly entered the room, checking up on the current situation. She noticed her lazy daughter still asleep and grew angry.
"Do you really see potential in her, Mom?" Hikari asked, pointing at the drooling 16 year old.
"You were just as difficult in the morning," Akemi chuckled.
Hikari rolled her eyes and walked into Akira's bathroom. She took the cup by the sink and filled it with cold water. A smirk evilly crept on her lips as she walked over the Akira's bed. She lifted the cup and positioned it just above her head.
"And now I'm going to do to her what you did to me," Hikari chuckled then poured the cold water on Akira.
Akira jolted up from her bed and screamed at the water soaking her hair, face and clothes. Hikari and Akemi laughed at her reaction.
"MOM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Akira screamed, hopping right out of her soaked bed.
Hikari folded her arms over her chest after setting the empty cup on the bedside table, "It's 6:55, you're to leave for your flight in 5 minutes and you haven't packed yet."
"Actually, I stayed up a little later last night packing," Akira growled, pointing at her suitcase on the floor. "I even slept in the outfit I was supposed to wear during our trip to Konoha but SOMONE decided to pour water all over it."
Hikari tried to think of a response but, was much too surprised. Akira stuck her nose in the air, and brushed past her mother to her closet to grab a random outfit. Akemi chuckled at her flabbergasted daughter and headed out of the room.
"I'll meet you downstairs in 3 minutes, Akira," Akemi said.
"Yes, grandma," Akira responded, as she quickly stripped out of her wet clothes and changed into her new outfit.
"Okay, Akira, I owe you an apology," Hikari said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a green pouch shaped as a frog, and handed it to Akira.
"What's this?" Akira asked, finishing putting her outfit together.
"This should be enough money for your time there," Hikari responded. "Spend it wisely, and make sure you don't lose it."
Akira smiled and put it in her pocket. She approached her mother and hugged her once more.
"I'll miss you," Akira whispered.
Hikari returned the hug, "I'll miss you too, sweetie."
The hug was then interrupted by Akemi calling out for Akira to hurry. Hikari pulled away then bent down to lift the handle of Akira's suitcase. Akira ran out of the room and Hikari followed. Once Akira reached the bottom of the staircase, she noticed her father and her two twin brothers waiting by the front door. A wide smile spread across her face and she ran toward the three and underwent a warm group hug.
"Don't get eaten by monsters," her little brother, Hiro said.
"And bring us back some toys!" Hiro's twin, Jiro said.
Akira giggled then messily rubbed their heads, "Of course."
"You better not come back with a boyfriend," Akira's father, Raiden said.
"Yes, dad…" Akira groaned then hugged him once more.
"Oh, and I want you to have this," Raiden walked into the common area for a brief moment and came out with some sort of dark blue band with a silver plate attached to it. There seemed to be a strange design on the plate. The design was a small tail attached to one side of a swirl and a pointed edge on the other side, forming the shape of what looked like a leaf.
"What's this?" Akira asked.
"It was my old headband," Raiden replied. "I got this when I graduated from Konoha's Ninja Academy."
Akira smiled and wrapped it around her waist as a belt. She was honoured to be given this opportunity and she wasn't going to let her parents and her grandmother down with disappointment. She took her suitcase from her mother and headed straight for the door with Akemi. Raiden wrapped his arm around Hikari's waist and planted a kiss on her forehead before the two watched their daughter climb into the taxi. Akemi and Akira waved goodbye from the opened window of the yellow cab then disappeared into the sunlight.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Hikari asked.
"I think she'll be fine," Raiden responded. "After all, Kakashi and Akemi are there to look after her."
[ - ]
"Why must Tsunade-sama send me on such useless missions," the grumpy blonde complained.
"You shouldn't complain so much, Naruto," the masked man responded.
"But, Kakashi-sensei, D-Rank missions are a waste of time! She knows I am capable of doing much more than escorting someone…" Naruto whined.
Kakashi ignored Naruto's comment and stopped in his tracks. Naruto hadn't realized and accidentally bumped right into him.
"Oi Kakashi!" he yelled angrily.
"I guess this is the border," Kakashi said, analyzing the huge cement wall with a large, secured gate that seemed to be the only way of getting through.
"Wow," Naruto elongated.
Kakashi analyzed his surroundings then spotted a bench nearby, "Let's take a seat while we wait for them."
"How long are they going to take?" Naruto yelled.
Kakashi took a seat and shrugged, "I'm not sure but, it shouldn't take very long."
Naruto groaned as he dragged his feet along the cobble stone path and planted his bum next to Kakashi on the bench. Kakashi was very curious as to what Tsunade-sama meant when she mentioned that this was a "special" mission fit only him and Naruto. He understood that Naruto hasn't been given any difficult missions for the past few months but, him too? His thoughts were immediately interrupted by a loud creak of the doors slowly opening. Both Kakashi and Naruto stood from the bench and walked toward the gate.
Kakashi's eyes widened at the sight of the individual walking with his home town neighbour, Akemi. 'Hikari? That can't possibly be her… she hasn't aged since she left!' he thought, as the two approached him.
Akira was excited but also very nervous. She was usually very outgoing and loud but, this new environment completely changed that. Once she spotted the two escorts, she stuck closely to her grandmother. The one with silver hair looked quite strange… with the majority of his face covered in a mask. She's never seen anyone in America look like that before. Then, she noticed the handsome blonde boy next to him. Akira couldn't help but blush at his dreamy blue eyes. 'GAH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME TODAY?' Akira thought.
"Good afternoon, Kakashi, Naruto," Akemi happily greeted. "How are you today?"
"We're fine thank-you," Kakashi replied. "How was your trip?"
"Quite tiring," Akemi sighed, then placed her hand on Akira's back to push her closer to the two. "Anyway, this is my granddaughter, Akira. She's visiting Konoha for the next few months for training."
'Wow… the resemblance is uncanny.' Kakashi thought before he greeted the young girl with a smile.
"Hi, my name's Naruto, the future Hokage." Naruto smiled and stuck out a hand for her to shake.
Akira recognized the term Hokage as she returned the shake. 'What determination…' Akira thought as she admired his pearly whites from that wide grin of his. Naruto released the shake and turn, "Now let's hurry back to the village, I'm starving for some Ichiraku!"
Naruto began to walk with Akira, Akemi and Kakashi following. Kakashi slowed his pace to walk with Akemi for a little chat. Akemi smiled and nodded.
"They are fine, Kakashi," Akemi read his mind. "They're happy."
"That's good," Kakashi sighed. "But, may I ask you one question?"
"Yes, dear," Akemi replied.
Kakashi ripped his vision from the kind old woman and stared at the back of Akira's head, "How did you manage to get her to tag along with you, Hikari would never have allowed it."
"You know how stubborn Hikari is," Akemi chuckled. "But, I had my ways."
Kakashi smiled from underneath his mask and nodded.
"You miss her, I can tell," Akemi whispered.
Kakashi's heart skipped a beat, and he jumped at the sudden statement. He stared at her wide-eyed, then frantically shook his head in disagreement. Akemi shot him a look that had a large sweat droplet appear at the side of Kakashi's head. She knew him well enough to see through his calm, cool, and collected façade when it came to that topic.
"Just so you know, I am still favouring you over Raiden," Akemi said.
"Ehehe, don't be ridiculous Akemi," Kakashi laughed nervously. "She's a married woman now, it's much too late."
Akemi shrugged before watching over Akira walking silently behind Naruto.
"So, Akira, how is it over there in America?" Naruto asked, folding his arms and placing his hands behind his head.
"Uh, it's okay, kind of boring," Akira stuttered.
"Well, it's good that you're visiting Konoha, it's never a dull moment!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air.
"Ahaha, thanks," Akemi smiled. "I hope to be as good as my parents."
"Your parents?" Naruto asked.
Akira continued to smile and went on about the story her mother had recently told her about their special team and departure from the village. She was proud of having such cool parents. Naruto seemed very impressed and amazed as he listened.
"C-Could I maybe join your training?" Naruto asked, scratching the tip of his nose as he began to blush.
"I'm sure it'll be fine with grandma," Akira smiled. "Why not?"
Naruto grinned, "PERFECT! We better walk faster if we want to start training sooner!"
He grabbed her wrist and started running. Akira's eyes widened in shock as she struggled to keep up with his fast pace. Her face began to burn, and the color changed from beige to bright red in a matter of seconds.
To be continued!
Hope you liked it :D