Chapter 19
His eyes widen in shock and I smile happily emphasizing the truth of my statement. "R-really?" He asks.
I nod. "Yup." I reply.
"I-I do not really know what to say.." Lee says, scratching his arm in thought. Ino folds her arms and huffs, looking away from us.
"It's true, every word." I say, smiling slightly bigger.
"I did not expect that.." Lee says, looking down in thought, then looks up again moments later. "I would never have guessed that Sakura-chan likes Umeboshi." I smile more.
"I believe that if you offer some to her, she'll surely like you a lot more!" I exclaim. Lee smiles hugely at me.
"Thank you Setsuki-san!" He says, getting anime tears. Ino huffs again. I give Lee a thumbs up, I believe it's something easy to pick up. Ino gives me an irritated look and I stick my tongue out at her making her walk away. ".. um, Setsuki-san."
"Hm?"
"What did Tenten mean by Gai-sensei making 'this' more weird?" He asks. I sweatdrop.
"Uhh.. I don't know.." I reply.
"Oh.. odd."
"Very. Well, I'll go find him if you want." I say, smiling.
"Really? Thanks Setsuki-san." He says. I quickly salute and jump off to find Gai-sensei.
I found him and Tenten speaking in the next street and jump down beside Tenten, making her jump.
"Setsuki don't do that!" Tenten gushes.
"Heh, sorry." I say, scratching the back of my head.
"Setsuki!" Gai-sensei exclaims.
"Hai?... uh.. something wrong?" I ask, noticing tears rolling down his face.
"You are in love with my beloved Lee?" He asks, sniffling.
"Ehh? N-no! We're just friends!" I exclaim. He blinks and his tears disappear and his 'proud' expression disappears and his face becomes straight.
"Then why did you say she was Tenten! I thought it was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard!" Gai exclaims.
"Err, well I heard-"
"NARUTO I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" I hear Sakura shout, then I notice Naruto running for dear life away from Sakura who was on his tail with a large anime vein. The three of our heads follow them as they run past.
"... As you were saying Tenten?" Gai asks, turning back to us after they run out of sight.
"Er, I heard that kid singing it so I assumed that Setsuki did actually.." Tenten explains.
"Tenten. Lesson number one about Naruto, you can't always trust what he says." I mention.
"Lesson?" She mutters to herself.
"Yup, now come on Gai-sensei!" I say, grabbing his arm. He blinks.
"Where are we going now?" He asks.
".. Back to Lee-san." I reply.
"Oh! Off we go!" He exclaims then jumps off, leaving us there.
"You coming?" Tenten asks.
"Of course!" I reply. We both run after Gai-sensei.
Two days later the village was blanketed in a thick coat of mist, and it was very cold. I lay in bed cocooned in my blankets shivering.
"Setsuki, come on, get up." Takashi says, coming into my room.
"It's too cold." I reply.
"The mist wont last all day, it'll disappear once the sun comes out." He says.
"But it's too cold. Can't I wait until the sun rises?" I whine.
"No. Come on, I thought you were the one who said you wanted to be more healthy."
"I am healthy!"
"Healthier."
"I can't possibly become any he-"
"Ramen, ice cream.." He says. I get anime tears.
"But I love them.."
"And do you see my point now?" He asks.
"Yeah... but it's still too cold.." I say. He sighs.
"Fine. At least I'll get to eat my toast today." He says then leaves the room.
I lay in bed until 7am when the sun was rising and the mist began disappearing and it warmed up. I jump up and get dressed, run downstairs and grab a muffin on the way out of the door.
I notice many people rebuilding and I decide help them with carrying a few wood planks to replaces the roofs.
I did this until about midday when I became worn out and covered in sweat. Who knew rebuilding could be so tiring? I was headed home along the stream kicking a small stone along when it rolled off the side and into the water. I pout slightly looking at where it fell when suddenly I bump into someone. I immediately take a step back and look at the person. "Er sorry." I say, but I was left unheard. There was a woman standing next to him, and I could recognize them both as Kurenai and Asuma. They were facing away from me, and I look at what they're facing. Two mysterious people in black cloaks with a red cloud pattern and wearing big straw hats with cloth hanging down, hiding their heads. I blink a few times. They seem to have noticed me, but did nothing, and Asuma and Kurenai didn't seem to notice me.
"You're not from this village, are you?" Asuma growls. "Why did you come here?"
"It's been a while, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san." Says the shorter of the two mysterious people.
"If you know us, you must be a former ninja of this village." Asuma says. They were silent for a moment then the shorter one lifts his hand up and grabs the front of his hat and lifts it up, revealing red eyes. Both Kurenai and Asuma gasp.
"Y-You're..." Asuma stutters. The person pulls his hat off and holds it down beside him, then using his other hand, unbuttons the first few buttons on his cloak. He looks strangely familiar, yet I've never seen him before. "No doubt about it, it's..." Asuma says. "Uchiha.. Itachi."
My eyes widen as I remember being told about the Uchiha clan massacre. 'Th.. that's Itachi!'
"You know these people, Itachi-san?" The other mysterious person speaks. "Then I should introduce myself, too." He lifts his arm and pulls his hat off too and chucks it on the ground. "Hoshigaki Kisame. Nice to make your acquaintance."
'Is he a walking shark?'
"You're not making any acquaintances here.." Asuma says. "I'm going to eliminate you two right here, right now."
"Itachi-san, it seems like you're hated in this village." Kisame says.
"I also know you." Kurenai speaks. "Hoshigaki Kisame, former Kirigakure ninja. You're a renegade ninja wanted by numerous countries, including the Country of Water, for assassinating a feudal lord and sabotage as well as various other crimes..."
"You're S-rank felons in the bingo book." Asuma says. "Itachi, you came back to this village after what you pulled.. you've got a lot of guts coming here."
"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san.." Itachi says. "Please don't get involved with my work. I have no intention of killing you."
"That's not something that a guy who killed his own clan members can say." Asuma says. "I know that you wouldn't come here without a reason... What is your purpose?"
Kisame suddenly grabs the handle to the thing on his back and slams it to the ground, making me jump slightly. "This person is quite annoying. Shall I kill him?"
"It looks like we cannot leave this village without a fight.. but don't overdo it." Itachi says. "Your moves stand out too much."
"Then it's settled." Kisame says in a ghostly voice, making me shiver. He looks at me with fierce eyes, completely scaring me. He picks up the sword and sits it on his shoulder. Itachi lets his hat fall and it was like it fell in slow motion. I take a step back not wanting any part in this fight. As soon as it touched the ground Kisame swings his sword at Asuma, but Asuma jumps backwards just in time, then Kisame jumps forth and slides behind me and holds the sword in front of me near my neck. I tense up and gulp from fear. His movements are so fast.. I heard him sniggering. "A small girl such as yourself shouldn't be in a place like this."
"Kisame. Leave the girl, she's not of any priority." Itachi says.
"Aw that's no fun.. heh, Samehada likes her chakra." Kisame chuckles.
"Setsuki!" Asuma exclaims, taking notice of my presence. Kurenai clenches a fist out of panic but faces Itachi to keep an eye on him.. I could feel my energy disappearing, and I wasn't even doing anything.
"Get away from her!" Asuma growls jumping towards Kisame, however Kisame raises his sword and Asuma flips backwards so he doesn't get hit. I close my eyes for a moment.
'Mizu Kawarimi..'
"Heh heh, we can't let her go and tell anyone, at least let me knock her out Itachi-san." Kisame says.
"... Fine." Itachi replies. Kisame sends a punch to the back of my head, however it turns to water just as he hits it, causing my head to disappear into water for a moment. "What's this?"
Asuma sighs of relief. "Setsuki! Get away from here now!"
Quickly, I reform my head and elbow Kisame's stomach in attempt to make him move but it didn't seem to affect him because he stood there laughing out of pity.
"Lets try this again." Kisame says, clenching his fist again. I prepare to do the same thing again when suddenly I see vines reach up from the ground and grab Kisame's feet.
"Kurenai.. it's about time.. Setsuki! Go now!" Asuma calls. I nod and jump away while he was distracted.
As I jump I see my hands shaking.. fear? I find a group of trees a fair distance away and hide behind one panting heavily. I felt so weak and drained of energy. I slide down against the tree to my butt and lean my head against it panting. That was probably the second scariest.. third scariest moment of my life. The first being the war at Kikyo pass, however I was young then and can't really remember much.. the second time when those two Sunagakure Jonin tried to kill me.. then just now. I close my eyes trying to calm my breathing down and sit there.
Slowly, drifting off...
After a while, I felt two fingers touch my neck for a moment then be removed.
"What is it? Is she okay!"
"Yes. She has a pulse."
"Does she have any injuries!"
"I don't think so."
"You need to be sure!"
"Lee, calm down! Stop getting worked up and just calm down!"
"Neji! I do not want to see her hurt like this!"
"We'll take her to the hospital then."
"Right."
I feel an arm slide under my legs and one behind my back. I try to open my eyes but my energy was somehow gone. I was then lifted off the ground and my head rests against someone's chest. I still felt tired and drift off again.