Chapter Fourteen: The Wind stirs the Leaf!
Still without internet. Uploading when I can visit my parents or my friends who have internet. Living on a strict budget is hard. :(
Also writing comes and goes for me, so I'm not writing every single week.
Enjoy?
Disclaimer: If I owned it, then I wouldn't need to write fanfiction.
...
"Ahhhhhhh! ….It's so good to be freee!" Akina cried cheerfully, stretching her arms in the air.
"You've been saying that all month." Shikamaru chuckled.
The two friends were sitting on the ledge outside of Shikamaru's window. Watching the sunset. Shikamaru's big lazy cat hopped onto the purple haired girl's lap. She giggled. "Sorry. I'm just so happy to be home, to be alive!"
He sighed again. "Well, I suppose I can't complain…"
The girl gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "You, Nara Shikamaru, not complain?"
He glared at her lazily. "At least the Uchiha isn't constantly watching you like a stalker."
She looked down at her now healed legs; she was at least able to walk on her own again, though the doctors said she might still have some trouble if she over exerts herself. "Well... mostly. He's practically moved back into the house."
"That guy is so obsessed with you." He grumbled, laying back against the wall.
Akina's face flushed. "He's not obsessed! He's just...worried." She absently pet the cat in her lap. "He doesn't want to be alone like before."
Shikamaru snorted, rolling his eyes. "Sounds more like he just wants you all to himself again."
She huffed at that. "Well, you don't have to worry about me, Shikamaru. I'd much rather hang out with a complaining, lazy bum like you!"
He rolled his eyes again, but was actually quite happy to hear her say that.
Akina just smiled and watched the sun fall beyond the trees. "It's getting late. Guess I should go home." she picked the cat up, placing it in Shikamaru's lap, then stood.
Shikamaru yawned, now petting the cat. "See ya."
"And I guess you'll be going to bed, then?"
He glared lazily at her. "Some of us actually went on missions today."
She smiled and waved her hand up and down dramatically. "I know! I know! I was only kidding." She climbed inside and walked to Shikamaru's door, waving to the boy. "Well…see ya!" Then she left, taking the stairs down.
...
"I really need to stop staying out so late." The girl was only half way home and it was already completely dark out. Akina stopped suddenly and looked around slowly, watching for movement in the shadows; she'd felt the presence of someone following her. After a moment of silent observation she spoke. "I know you're there; show yourself!"
Suddenly a boy around the same age as Akina stepped out of the shadows. When he walked into the light of a nearby street lamp the girl took in his appearance; he had short, messy red hair and pale green irises. He wore thick eyeliner which barely masked the dark circles of sleep deprivation under his eyes, making him look kind of like a raccoon. He wore strange clothes and had what appeared to be a large gourd strapped to his back.
"Hmm… you noticed my presence… I'm impressed." He spoke in a low, drawling voice.
For some reason the look in this boy's eyes and the tone in his voice scared her. "Ah…yeah…" She took an instinctual step back. "Sorry, but I should really be going home." But suddenly the girl couldn't move another step; it was as if something had taken hold of her legs. She looked down and there was indeed something keeping a hold on her; it was sand, climbing up around her shins like an army of snakes. "S-sand jutsu?"
The boy slowly stepped closer to her until he was only a few inches away. "I find it odd." He stared directly into her eyes, unnerving the girl quite a bit.
Akina then took hold of her fear and glared at the redhead. "Let me go!"
He ignored her shouting and walked a slow circle around the girl, causing her to become nervous again.
What does he want? And who is he? He's obviously not from Konoha.
She was shocked out of her thoughts when he spoke next. "I see… you are the same as me." He took a hold of her left hand and traced the kanji of mist with a finger from his other, unoccupied hand. The purple haired girl shivered at the touch. It was so light, like a feather was being dragged across her skin, not at all like what she would've expected. How had he even seen the old scar? No one ever seemed to noticed it.
Suddenly she felt the pressure move away from her legs and watched as the sand returned to the gourd where it had originally come from, but he didn't release her hand. "What is your name?" He asked quietly; she almost hadn't heard him even from their close proximity.
"A-Akina. Mizuto Akina." She replied without thinking, still preoccupied by the finger that continued to trace the pale scar on her hand.
He appeared to mull over her name for a moment, his finger stopping it's motion. "Akina." He spoke her name softly, glancing back up into her eyes. There was something in his gaze she couldn't quite place. "I'm Gaara of the desert."
She nodded, only to show that she had been listening. His burning gaze was so pale, like sea foam. "You're from Suna?" She finally managed to speak.
"Yes." He reluctantly dropped her hand, tilting his head to the side to stare at her from another angle.
"Um... then what are you doing here?" She motioned around her.
A small, barely noticeable smile appeared across his lips. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." Gaara then turned around and walked right back into the shadows he had appeared from.
Akina stood there a while, her brain trying to process what had just happened. "Gaara of the desert, huh?"
Akina awoke the next morning with a killer headache. "Ow… Today is bound to be fun. Woo." She mumbled while climbing out of bed. The girl took her pain pills and headed to the bathroom to get ready. It was her first day back on duty and she was glad to have something to do besides lay around the house all day, despite how early she had to wake up for it.
"Though it's not like Kakashi sensei will be there on time." She mumbled along her way down the stairs. Ugh! And I couldn't sleep at all! All she could think about were a pair of pale green eyes staring at her in the dark.
She crashed into Sasuke at the bottom if the stairs, her thoughts having been elsewhere.
"Hey! Are you okay?" The boy held her shoulders, steadying her. "Are you sure you are ready to go back on missions?"
"I'm fine!" The girl snapped, pulling away and backing up against the wall. "I don't need people treating me like a baby, Sasuke. Especially you!"
He didn't say anything in reply, just sent her a hurt glare.
Akina huffed. "We have a mission, right? Let's go." And pressed past her cousin, heading for the door.
Sasuke quickly followed her outside and down the road, hands in his pockets and looking grumpy. "You look tired."
"I'm fine."
"You're limping."
"I'm fine!"
"Akina."
She stopped suddenly, spinning around to face him. "I said I'm fine!"
He merely stared back, his expression serious. "You don't look fine."
"Well, thanks." The girl hissed back before starting down the road once again. Sasuke followed with a sigh. Akina's headache felt like it was getting worse and her legs itched where the sand had rubbed into her skin. What had been that guy's deal anyway? He was so creepy. And boy did he not understand personal space.
The two soon reached the meeting point and found Sakura there waiting.
"Hey, Sakura." Akina muttered with a half-hearted wave.
"Oh…Hi, Akina." Sakura spoke, staring past her to where Sasuke stood. "It's... good to see that you are well enough to go on missions with us again."
Akina glanced down at herself. "Oh…yeah. The doctors say I'm good to go so long as I don't over exert myself."
"You look tired… are you sure you're okay?" Sakura asked, true concern in her eyes.
The purple haired girl nodded and gave a half-smile-half grimace. "I'm fine. I just stayed out too late last night."
Sasuke had opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a shout called from down the alleyway. "Good morning, Sakuraaa!" The blonde waved franticly, running towards them. "Oh! Hi, Akina! Feeling better?"
"Hello, Naruto." Akina replied with a small smile, waving to the blonde. "And yes, thank you. I feel much better."
"That's good. The missions have felt kinda strange without you, ya'know?" He scratched the back of his head, laughing. "But now team seven is back to full strength!" He pumped a fist in the air.
Suddenly Naruto caught Sasuke's eye and the two girls watched as the two boys stared each other down venomously before both turned away with angry grunts.
Jeez…they're even worse than before. Akina stepped over next to Sakura and leaned in so the other two wouldn't overhear. "Hey Sakura, what's with those two? Did something happen?"
She shrugged in exasperation. "I don't know. They've been acting this way ever since we returned from the land of waves. It's so embarrassing!"
The purple haired girl sighed. "I get the feeling my headache is about to get even worse."
Three hours later Kakashi finally made his appearance, walking up to the genin, waving cheerfully as if he wasn't more than three hours late. "Good morning, everyone. I'm afraid I got lost on the way here…"
"Your nose is growing, Sensei." Sakura shouted while pointing at the silver haired man accusingly.
"As ninja deceptions go…that one sucks!" Naruto gave the thumbs down.
Akina sighed. My headache is most definitely getting worse.
"Hey, Kakashi sensei! Any new missions for the 7th cell?" Naruto shouted. "We want action! A challenge! Something where I could use my skill! Like this… and this… and-" Naruto began punching around in the air.
"Oh, really? I see where you're going with this…" Kakashi sighed.
I should've stayed home...
After a moment the rest of team seven started walking away, leaving Naruto just standing there, lost in his own little fantasy world.
"Hey, Naruto! Wake up! We're heading out on our mission!"
"Yessir!"
"Would you chill?!"
...
The first mission was to pull the weeds from a woman's yard. Simple enough, right? And everything was going just fine until Naruto started pulling up every plant he could get his hands on, including the herbs that the woman was growing. When she came out and saw what he'd done she chased Naruto down and gave him a good beating.
Akina sighed. Honestly…
For the second mission the four genin were all out in a river, with tongs and basket, picking up trash. So simple. And, once again, everything was going just fine before Naruto suddenly tripped, sending the blonde down the nearby waterfall.
"Naruto!" Sakura and Akina shouted in fear, both too far away to help the boy.
Luckily Sasuke was quick on his feet and swung down on a wire, catching the blonde before he fell to his death. As they hung there, while Sasuke was trying to pull the other boy up, the contents of Naruto's trash basket spilled out over the falls.
Akina turned away in exasperation, continuing her own work.
Team seven's final mission for the day was to walk dogs. Really, super simple, right?
Sakura was walking a little brown and white puppy.
Akina had the mild tempered Shiba.
Sasuke had chosen the little wiener dog.
And Naruto, being Naruto, took on the big brown bulldog.
"Are you sure you can control him, Naruto?" Akina asked, concerned for both the dog and Naruto's wellbeing.
Naruto gave a cheesy grin. "Of course! Piece of cake!"
She sighed. "Okay, whatever you say…" the girl had just begun walking over to see how Sakura was handling her dog when she heard screaming.
"Ahhh! No! Stop! You don't wanna go in there, doggie!"
Akina turned, and Naruto was being dragged by the dog through a hole in the fence to the practice minefield.
"Naruto! What do you think you're doing?!" Sakura shouted at him.
"It's not me!" He yelled back desperately.
"Oh, no..." Akina winced when multiple explosions burst from the ground that Naruto was being dragged across.
"You think he's okay?" The purple haired girl asked no one in particular.
All the while, Kakashi was just sitting around reading his stupid book.
By the time the missions were over Naruto was battered and bruised with Sakura and Akina helping him walk; Sasuke had refused to help the blonde idiot.
"You'd have been fine if you hadn't overdone it." Sakura scolded.
"We don't exactly enjoy having to carry you around, you know." Akina added, still in a bad mood herself. Naruto sighed in defeat.
"You're a real nuisance." Sasuke muttered from behind them.
Hearing that made the blonde snap; he pulled away from the girls and started after Sasuke. "That does it!"
Sakura held him back, while Akina moved away to the sidelines with Kakashi. "If you start anything more I'll bury you!" The pink haired girl shouted.
Sasuke walked away with a huff of laughter.
"Hmm… Lately your teamwork has been almost non-existent." Kakashi mused.
"You tell him! You're always messing up our teamwork, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted at the Uchiha's turned back.
Akina rolled her eyes. "I would hate to argue with you, Naruto, but-"
"He was talking to you, pinhead." Sasuke suddenly interrupted. "If you're so sick of being in my debt..." The raven haired boy turned to glare at Naruto. "Why don't you just get better than me?"
Naruto glared back, and, for the second time that day, they were having a glaring contest. Kakashi merely stood there, reading his book, as usual. Naruto pointed at Sasuke and began to say something, but Sakura quickly bopped him on the head, stopping the fight before it could even begin.
Akina sighed, looking up to the blue sky, and noticed a hawk flying overhead. Kakashi seemed to notice it as well.
"Okay, that's it. We'll call it a day right now." The jonin spoke up. "I've got to hand in my report on today's mission."
"Have fun with that one, sensei." Akina snorted, earning and annoyed glance from their teacher.
Sasuke turned away and began walking off again. "Then I'm going home."
"Oh, hey! Sasuke, wait up!" Sakura quickly ran after him. "I…I was wondering if…" Naruto held a crushed expression on his face and Sakura had a sickeningly sweet, lovey-dovey one on hers. "If we, you know… you and I, just the two of us, could work on our... um…our teamwork?"
Sasuke turned to look at her, an annoyed expression on his face. "You're as bad as Naruto."
Now Sakura was crushed.
"Why waste your time flirting when you should be practicing? Even his skills are better than yours!" the boy clarified.
Scratch that, Sakura looked like she was about to die. And Sasuke just walked away, without a care for how much he'd hurt her.
"What's your problem, you jerk?!" Akina seethed. Even if it is true…
The Uchiha boy merely ignored her as he continued to walk around the corner, out of sight.
"Forget Sasuke. You and I can train together!" Naruto cheered and waved happily to Sakura.
Now Sakura just looked mad.
"Even though you mean well, Naruto, that's not helping…" Akina sighed.
Kakashi took this opportunity to disappear, clearly not wanting to stick around for any more teenage drama.
That's nice… just leave us all here. No goodbye. No "See you tomorrow." Nothing.
"Whatever! What matters is I'm done losing! There's only one thing ahead of me, and that's…training!" Naruto shouted suddenly.
"Great, Naruto, now how about training your senses to detect an ambush?" The purple haired girl pointed to a box that was quickly moving up behind him.
"Huh?!" Naruto turned around, causing the box to stop moving; he then turned his back and started walking away, the box following slowly.
"Psych! Faked you out, Rock!" Naruto shouted as he quickly spun around and pointed at the box dramatically.
"That doesn't even remotely resemble a rock, Naruto…" Akina mumbled, rubbing her head with her palm.
Naruto stopped for a second as if in thought. "…R-right!" He pointed back at the box. "Little hint, no rock has perfect angles, perfect corners…and eye holes. Kind of a big clue."
Akina sighed. The box lifted up, and three little kids crawled out from underneath. The first was little Konohamaru, the third Hokage's grandson. The second was a little girl with orange, gravity-defying pigtails. And the third was a little boy with glasses and a runny nose. All three of them wore goggles on their foreheads.
"Leave it to the man I have acknowledged as being almost my equal! Your skills rival my own!" little Konohamaru shouted with crossed arms.
"Oh, it's you guys." Naruto put his arms behind his head lazily. "Uhhh…what's up with the goggles?"
Konohamaru laughed. "You're our idol, right? We're copying the style you used to wear."
First he says Naruto's his "almost equal" and now he's their idol?
Naruto gave them an odd look. "Oh-kaaaaay…"
Konohamaru pointed at him. "What do you mean okay? Suddenly too cool for school, big guy?"
"What do you want from me?" The blonde asked a little too bluntly.
"He's looking down on us!" Konohamaru whispered to the other boy, who nodded in response.
The girl stepped up. "We'll show you, boss! Can you come now?"
"Nope! I have to train!" Naruto answered simply.
"But…but you promised to play ninja with us! Right?" Konohamaru shouted with an accusing finger pointed in Naruto's direction.
Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Oh, yeah…was that today?"
Just then, Sakura walked up to them, with a dark cloud hanging over her.
Yikes! Akina quickly stepped back out of the way, predicting what was most likely about to happen.
"So…just what is a ninja doing "playing ninja", hmm?" the pink haired kunoichi asked.
Naruto continued to scratch the back of his head. Sakura just stared at him oddly.
Konohamaru suddenly pointed at the two girls and asked "Hey, big guy, who're the babes?"
Babes? …Does he mean me, too? Akina wondered, blinking in confusion.
Konohamaru seemed to think for a moment before he slapped his fist into his other hand and had a look on his face like he'd just figured something out. "Hey, big guy, seeing as how you're so smart and suave and all…the hotties…I can tell…you and they are…" He smirked and held up his pinkie finger in the sign of "girlfriend" "…You knowwww! Right?"
Sakura glared viciously.
Excuse me?
Naruto grinned like the idiot he was and laughed. "For little guys, you catch on quick."
EXCUSE ME?!
"WRONG!" Sakura punched Naruto square in the face, causing the blonde to tumble back into a wooden fence.
"You deserved that one." Akina huffed, crossing her arms.
"Big guy!" The three kids shouted and ran over to Naruto's aid. "You're our leader! You can't die!"
"Wh-what did you do that for?!" Konohamaru shouted. "You total witch!"
Sakura cracked her knuckles and walked over to beat both Naruto and Konohamaru to a pulp; once she had finished with the two boys she quietly stormed off.
Akina knelt down next to the two boys and whispered. "That was really stupid, you know that, right? She's already in a bad mood because of Sasuke. And by the way, I'm not your girlfriend either, Naruto. I'm a girl and I'm your friend, but I'm not your girlfriend." She bopped the blonde on one of the bumps Sakura's fist had created and moved away.
They both sat up after that, quite obviously in pain. Konohamaru rubbed his banged up head. "…Jeesh! Forget what I said. The purple haired girl is WAY prettier than that broad-browed, firebreathing hag!"
"Me? Really?" Akina blinked thoughtfully from a few feet away.
Naruto was already looking frightened for his life as the words came from the child's mouth. Sakura stopped dead in her tracks at hearing what he'd said and, before they could react, she turned and charged at Naruto and the three kids, causing them to run for their lives.
The purple haired girl sighed. "Better go make sure she doesn't kill anyone…" with that she walked off after them.
Once Akina caught up with the group she saw that Konohamaru had bumped into a big guy who was dressed in a black jumpsuit and had weird face paint on. He also had some weird wrapped-up… thing... strapped to his back. There was a girl standing next to him. She had blonde hair tied up in four pigtails and a giant fan strapped to her back. They were both wearing headbands from Sunagakure.
Is there just something with people from the sand village and strapping huge things to their backs?
"That's gotta smart!" The guy in black spoke before he picked Konohamaru up by his shirt collar.
"Konohamaru!" Naruto and the other two children all shouted with worry.
"That hurt, snotface!" The guy in black smirked.
"Knock it off, Kankuro. You're gonna get it as it is." The blonde girl warned him.
"It was my fault. I was fooling around…" Sakura spoke up nervously, trying to take the blame off little Konohamaru.
"Put him down, you big ape!" Naruto shouted again.
"That's not helping, Naruto…" Akina quietly growled at him.
The guy in black, Kankuro, glanced at the three genin. "I just want to play with him a little…while we're waiting for the nuisance to get here!" He tightened his hold on Konohamaru.
Just then Naruto charged at him. "You sonofa-" But, for some reason, Naruto tripped and fell backwards before he could even get close to the guy.
Akina blinked, not sure if she had seen what happened correctly. What?! All he did was flip his hand. What happened?
Kankuro laughed. "What a wimp! Is that the best Konoha's Genin can do?!"
The purple haired girl growled. Oh, if only I had my Nodachi with me right now I'd show you just what a ninja of Konoha can do, you jerk!
Naruto stood back up. "Hey! You in the black pig suit! Release him now and I'll go easy on you, bonehead!"
Sakura quickly put him in a chokehold. "You're the bonehead! Do you want that guy to kick Uranus?!"
"You're starting to annoy me!" Kankuro stated, his voice no longer playful. Sakura and Naruto froze. "First off, I'm allergic to 'shrimp'!" He shook Konohamaru a bit. "Bad enough that you're a short little kid, you're disrespecting your elders! You make me want to kill him!"
"What?!" Naruto and Sakura both shouted. Konohamaru's friends were crying now.
The blonde girl sighed. "I will not be held responsible for this…"
Gotta do something… Akina stepped up in front of the other two genin and the kids, glaring poison at the older sand ninja. "I've had enough of this! Put him down, now!"
He just smirked at the small girl. "And what're you gonna do about it, ya little brat?"
The girl's glare hardened as she took a step forward; she couldn't use weapons or anything in case Konohamaru got hurt, so she'd have to stick with basic Taijutsu. "I'll fight you if you give me no other choice." Another step, and then another. I have to be careful not to hit whatever Naruto tripped over; this guy probably has some sort of trap hidden nearby.
"What're doing? I thought you were going to fight me?" the sand ninja sneered.
"I will." She then took a chance and jumped, figuring it'd be better if she didn't touch the ground around him, and aimed to punch his jaw. But suddenly it felt like she was being wrapped up by some sort of invisible rope, causing her to be pulled toward the ground in a heap, only a foot from her target. Chakra strings?!
"I'm getting bored." Kankuro raised his fist, prepared to hit Konohamaru. "So I'll finish with this tiny shrimp and move on to the jumbo shrimp over there, then the annoying little brat!" he sneered down at the girl laying immobile at his feet.
As he swung his fist to strike the child Naruto ran to stop him, but suddenly a small rock flew at the sand ninja, hitting his hand and making him drop little Konohamaru in the process.
"Tell me…what are you guys doing in our village?"
They all looked up to see Sasuke sitting on a branch in the nearby tree, tossing a rock in his hand.
"It's Sasuke!" Sakura cheered.
"Woopie..." Akina grumbled, lifting herself from the ground. She stood, dusting herself off. I guess sneak attacks are the only things that work on this guy. She then took Konohamaru's hand and led him back over near the others.
Kankuro held his injured hand as he glared viciously at Sasuke. "Oh, look. Another little brat."
Sasuke glared back. "Get lost."
Sakura cheered. The little kids were also impressed. Akina and Naruto were not.
Konohamaru pointed accusingly at Naruto. "Naruto, you suck! I can't believe we looked up to you!"
Naruto knelt down and patted Konohamaru on the back. "Don't be stupid. I could have handled that loser if Sasuke hadn't butted in!" The little boy merely crossed his arms and turned away. Naruto glared and held up a fist, angry that Sasuke had once again showed him up.
"Come down, little squirrel!" Kankuro called up to Sasuke, ignoring the others for the time being. "Think you're pretty smart, don't you?" He pulled the wrapped-up thing off his back.
The blonde girl stepped forward, moving for the first time since they'd met. "Tell me you're not planning to use the crow!" She shouted with what sounded to be both anger and fear.
"Kankuro... Don't..." A dark, drawling voice came from behind Sasuke in the tree.
Akina froze at the sound, she didn't have to turn or look up to know who it was.
Sasuke also looked shocked, but not for the same reasons as his teammate. He couldn't believe that someone could sneak up on him like that.
Those pale green eyes glared down at the other sand ninja. "You're a disgrace to our entire village."
"G-Gaara…" Kankuro greeted nervously.
Akina chanced a glance at the boy, only to find that he was staring at her intensely, and quickly looked away from those piercing eyes. Sasuke was the only one to notice this exchange.
"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a quarrel with children. Have you forgotten why we came here?" Gaara continued to scold his teammate as if no time had passed in between.
"But Gaara…they started it. The little one slammed into me!" The older sand ninja defended as if talking to a parent, all the while pointing toward Konohamaru.
Gaara's glare doubled in intensity. "Shut up…or I'll kill you."
Kankuro shivered visibly. "You're right. I was out of line."
"We're sorry…okay, Gaara? Really, really sorry!" The blonde girl spoke just as nervously.
They're frightened of him? Akina thought as she watched the scene unfold before them.
Gaara turned to Sasuke. "Sorry about my friends." He then disappeared in a swirl of sand and landed in between Kankuro and the blonde girl. "I know we're a little early…but we didn't come here to play around."
"I swear it won't happen again." Kankuro assured.
Gaara turned to leave. "Let's go."
"Wait!"
He turned back. "Yes?"
Sakura stepped forward. "According to your headbands, you three come from the village hidden in the sand. Your country is one of Konoha's allies…but according to our treaty, your ninja are not permitted to cross the border without authorization. State your business! We can't just let you go your merry way."
"…Ever heard the old saying about it being darkest at the base of the brightest lighthouse?" The blonde girl stepped forward and held out a passport. "Ta-da! My travel papers! Weren't you informed?"
"Informed of what exactly?" Akina asked curiously.
The blonde put her passport away. "As you guessed, we're junior level ninja from hiding-in-sand. We're here to take the Chunin selection exam."
The Chunin exams? Is it really that time already?
Naruto leaned forward and had a confused expression on his face. "What's the Chunin selection exam?"
The blonde girl crossed her arms. "You really don't know? Junior ninja are sent from hiding-in-sand and the minor lands between our home and yours to compete against Konoha's own candidates."
"Why test us all together?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Mainly to maintain the skill of all shinobi at the same high level of excellence. Also to foster friendship and understanding between ninja. And, of course, to maintain the balance of power between the lands themselves."
"Hey, Konohamaru! Maybe I should enter this Chunin selection exam thing too, huh?" Naruto and the smaller boy started jumping around happily.
"Listen, you! When you ask someone a question, it's considered good manners to listen to their entire answer." The blonde girl shouted.
Sakura glared at the two boys, understanding perfectly well how it feels to be interrupted during an explanation.
All the while Gaara had been staring fixatedly at a certain purple haired girl, who could do nothing else but stare back curiously. It startled the girl when Sasuke suddenly appeared only a few inches in front of her, blocking her from the sand ninja's view. "Hey! You there! What's your name?"
"Huh? W-who, me?" The blonde girl asked, pointing to herself hopefully.
"No! I was talking to the spook beside you." The raven haired boy answered, dismissing the girl.
Gaara glared at the Uchiha for blocking his target of interest, but answered anyway "Gaara of the desert, at your service. And you are…?"
"Uchiha Sasuke." He answered back with a cocky smirk.
They glared at each other a moment; Gaara trying to stare past Sasuke, with Sasuke purposefully becoming a shield.
"Hey! Hey! Don't you want to know my name?" Naruto interrupted loudly as he pointed to himself expectantly.
Gaara turned away then, giving up on their little staring contest. "No. Let's go."
Naruto just stood there, defeated as the three sand ninja disappeared.
Akina peeked around Sasuke's back, which was only a few inches from her nose, to stare at the place the sand ninja had once stood. She sighed. I hope it won't be like this every time we encounter them; I don't think I'll be able to take it.
It was then that the raven haired Uchiha turned to look at the girl behind him, a sly, victorious smirk plastered on his face; he chuckled at seeing her annoyed expression. "I'll walk you home."
The girl grumbled, but allowed it anyway. She was far too tired to argue.