Chapter 35
"Setsuki! Setsuki! Wake up dammit! Tch.. I can barely move like this... SETSUKI!"
My finger twitches. I can hear a voice...
"Damn it.. if I have to push you in that damn river so be it.."
I heard a splash, then suddenly I came conscious, I open my eyes and look around, I'm sinking.. in water. I look up and take a deep breath, swallowing the water. The aching in my muscles began to cease, and I still feel a large quantity of chakra left, it's a good thing I only used Taijutsu.. wait..!
I swim to the surface as fast as I could, the small sting on my head slowly fading as I swim.
I get to the surface, jumping above it, then I stand on it. I look around, I was on some sort of river, around a few large.
"Dude! You need to take it easy!"
"Don't talk to me like that you ba-" The voice broke out in coughing.
"Baka!"
I look over to the two people. One I recognized straight away, the other, I'm not too sure. I run over because Kiba was coughing up blood – not a good sign. "Kiba!" I call, both heads turn towards me. I run the few steps to kneel beside the Inuzuka. "KIBA DON'T DIE!" I shout, shaking him back and forth.
"GAA-AAAGHHH! STOP IT!" Kiba shrieks. "YOU'RE HURTING ME!"
I immediately let go. "DON'T DIE ON ME!" I shout, panicking.
"I'M NOT GONNA DIE DAMMIT!" Kiba shouts back. I blink.
"Gee you two are like cats and dogs." The person says. I had almost forgotten he was there.
"Shut it!" Kiba gushes, then coughs again. That face paint.
"H-hey, you're..." I blink a few times.
"Kankuro. Yes that's me." The guy says. "Remember..?"
"Back at the Chuunin Exams!" I exclaim. Kankuro gives a single nod.
"...! YOU! YOU BETRAYED THE ALLIANCE! YOU'RE AN ENEMY!" I shout, pointing at Kankuro. Kankuro raises his hands defensively.
"N-now wait a minute!" Kankuro says.
"That's what I said!" Kiba says.
"I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN!" I gasp. "YOU BEAT KIBA TO A PULP AND YOU'RE CHALLENGING ME NOW!" I question.
"WHAT?" They both shout.
"BEAT ME TO A PULP!" Kiba snarls.
"Challenging you!" Kankuro questions. "No! You've got it all wrong!"
I tilt my head. "Then why is Kiba dying!" I question.
"I'm not dying you idiot!" Kiba growls. Kankuro sighs. "Sit down dammit!"
"But I-"
"SIT!" Kiba shouts then winces. I quickly plop down on my butt. "Ugh."
"Hey! No need to treat her like a dog you baka!" Kankuro growls.
"Shut up!" Kiba snarls. I was beginning to wonder if it would be more peaceful if we just knock him out – it's what Komaru-sensei, Susumu-kun and I always do to Daisuke-kun. I shrug, it's worth a shot right? I look around.
"Don't you tell me to shut up!" Kankuro gushes. "I'm the one who saved your ass back there!" Kiba went quiet with a grumble.
"Saved..?" I inquire, now interested. I look up at Kankuro with a few blinks.
"If you hadn't of been recklessss yesssterday you could have been of ssssome help."
I look beside Kankuro, Keahebi was coiled up.
"WHAT? YESTERDAY?" I question. 'Man what is with me and being knocked unconscious over night?'
"It'ssss a good thing thisss boy and hissss dog and 2 othersss found you, otherwissse you'd be dead." Keahebi says.
"D-DEAD?"
"Yesss. That wound wasss harshh." Keahebi says. "Blood wasss leaking from your head like a river."
"Tch, you ought to be thankful Setsuki. I saved your ass." Kiba scoffs. I fold my arms, then get a thought.
"Waaait wait wait..! Why are you all here..? Where's Sasuke?" I question. Kiba sighs and coughs again.
"I'll explain on the way." Kankuro says, wrapping his puppet back up and putting it on his back.
I ended up carrying Kiba on my back as we jump through the trees, Kankuro carried Akamaru who was unconscious.
"What..? So what of Sasuke!" I question. Kiba had passed out ages ago.
Kankuro shakes his head. "I really have no idea. That blonde kid, your friend, was chasing after him or something last I heard." He says.
"Blonde.. chasing after Sasuke... Ino!" I question. Kankuro sweatdrops.
"No, he's a guy." Kankuro says, then looks at the sky. "Can't think of his name.. this is annoying, jaan."
"NARUTO-KUN?"
"Yeah that's the on-"
"IS HE ALRIGHT? TELL ME HE'S OKAY!" I shout. Kankuro gives another shrug.
"I don't know!" He implies. I frown.
"If he's hurt..."
"I'm sure he'll be fine." He says. I look towards him. Kankuro gives me a reassuring smile. "I've heard all about how he never gives up and what not." He mentions.
"Yeah, you're right. How naïve of me to forget his best quality." I say, smiling down at the ground.
"Hm? Best quality?"
"To never give up!" I say, looking up. "Nyah!" I stop suddenly and carefully remove one arm from holding Kiba's leg and rubbing my eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kankuro asks, stopping on the same branch.
"Got dirt or something in my eye." I say, making my eyes watery.
"Dirt..?" He inquires, then the light randomly dimmed. "OH CRAP!" Kankuro shrieks, throws his arms around me and Kiba and jumps off.
"WAH! LET GO!" I cry, I then look up seeing.. sand? Floating above us.
"NOT NOW!" Kankuro retorts, jumping faster. "Damn Gaara gets carried away sometimes!"
Kankuro stops after the sand did. As soon as he let go, I reposition Kiba on my back so I could carry him properly. "Gaara... he's here too..?" I inquire with a gulp, remembering the first time we met.
"Yeah..? Why what's wrong?" Kankuro asks. I shiver.
"Nothing..." I then blink. "Why.. is the ground shaking..?" I inquire.
"Wh-" Suddenly white things shoot up from the ground, all different sizes, kind of like horns. We jump up into nearby trees which seemed to be out of range. "What the hell is that?" Kankuro questions. I jump down once they stop appearing and flick one.
"I dunno but they're hard." I say. Kankuro jumps down beside me and touches it with his fingertips.
"Bones..?"
"Bones?"
"They're bones!"
"EW!" I shriek. "That's gross!"
"Hahaha girls are all the same." He laughs. I roll my eyes. "Anyway, Gaara should be around here by the looks of this sand. Come on." Kankuro jumps off, I follow.
On the other end of all these bones, we saw Gaara and..! "LEE-SAN!" I scream. Both of them look in our direction. I land in front of them, drop Kiba and hug Lee, feeling so glad to see him. I felt him tense up slightly.
"A-aahh oww.. S-Setsuki-san.. p-please let go.." Lee stutters. I blink and let go, then see many wounds on him.
"What happened? Why are you hurt!" I question.
"E-er well it was that guy we fought just now." Lee says. Gaara sighs and slides down against the tree into a sitting position, and I notice a drop of sweat fall down his cheek, but not that I cared. Lee is right here! Alive!
"That doesn't matter! As long as you're alive! So the surgery was a success! That's such great news!" I exclaim. Lee's cheeks turn slightly pink.
"Setsuki-san.. thank you." He says, giving a small smile. "You believed in me, that helped a lot." He says. I held myself back, I just wanted to hug Lee over and over. I was bouncing with excitement. Lee's eye twitches randomly.
"What's wrong..?" I question.
"P-pain.. ow ow.." Lee slides down against the tree slowly.
"Setsuki calm down already. I've got a headache from your loud voice." Kankuro complains. I just ignore him.
"Kankuro.. where is Temari..?" Gaara inquires. His cold voice made me shiver so I plop down beside Lee, as if hiding behind him. Lee leans back against the tree, and Kankuro sits down beside Kiba.
"I dunno, probably still fighting." Kankuro answers. "And you, you look pretty beat up, jaan."
"Yeah.. I'm at my limit.." Gaara says, looking at the ground. "And I completely lost." He sighs.
"... That's not true." Lee says, spreading his legs out, sitting in a lazy position. "My sensei taught me, that luck is part of your skill."
"That meddling fool?" Gaara inquires, still staring at the ground. Lee sits up suddenly grimacing at Gaara.
"He's not a meddling fool! At that time.. it was because I was too cowardly. I am grateful for your help, but do not speak about my sensei that way!" Lee growls. I sat there nodding my head in agreement with Lee.
"You too, huh?" Gaara says. "When you feel that the name of the one you admire is disgraced, you are terribly hurt as well and become enraged. The more precious the person you worship is to you... Fighting for those important to you.. it's the same as him.. Uzumaki Naruto."
Lee leans back a bit and I had to admit since that time in the hospital when we first met, Gaara has become a lot less bloodthirsty, and a lot more wise.
"But just because someone is important to you doesn't necessarily mean that person is good." Gaara says.
"Do you think so?" Lee asks. "I don't think anyone would consider a bad person important." I bring my knees to my chest and hug them.
'I do Lee. I do..'
"No. Even if you knew that person was evil, people cannot win against their loneliness.." Gaara says. He couldn't have said that better. I close my eyes with a sigh through my nose.
'I know Kabuto-kun is evil.. yet.. he's still important to me..'
"Is.. is that true..?" Lee inquires.
"Yeah.. it's true.." I reply.
"Setsuki-san..?"
I open my eyes to stare at the grass, not saying anything further. Daydreaming about my childhood.
"Kabuto~~ Wake up teehee.." I giggle. He groans. I hide the blue permanent marker in my pocket. "Kabuto~ teehee."
He opens an eye. "What..? I don't trust that tone." He says, rubbing his eyes. I laugh. "What's so funny huh?" He fixes his glasses and stands up.
"Nofing!" I reply.
"It's not nothing!"
"Yeah 'tis!" I exclaim.
"Yeah right! I'm telling dad! You did something didn't you?" He says.
"Nah uh! Uncle Takashi is out fishing remember..? He's gonna catch a shark!"
"Wha..? Dad catching a shark? Hahaha as if! I think mum would be more likely to do that." He says then laughs hysterically, I join in. Aunt Megumi can always be fierce at times, she scares the both of us all the time.
"Yeah!" I concur.
"Hey.. what's that..?" He inquires. I blink.
"What...?" He puts a finger on my chest. I look down to see what he was pointing at, he then flicks his finger upwards hitting my nose. "Nyah!"
Kabuto laughs. "You fall for it every time. It never gets old!"
"Neither does your face!" I say, then laugh.
"What? What about my face?" He questions. I snigger and take a step backwards. He touches all around his face then looks at his hands, seeing some blue ink he wiped off some of the pretty shapes I drew on him. "SETSUKI!"
"AHAHAHA!" I run away laughing. "Get back here!" He shouts, chasing after me. I run down the dirt path leading to our village – Kikyo Pass. It's a small town, possibly a population of 500 or more. "I'm going to get you back!" Kabuto shouts angrily.
"Never!" I giggle, running around avoiding the few people on the quiet streets. I run home and trip over the door frame on my way in, while laughing. Kabuto pounced me two seconds later. "Ahahaha!"
"Ha! Got you now!" Kabuto exclaims.
"N-no! Haha! Don't tickle! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Heh! Can't escape the tickle torture!" Kabuto says, tickling my sides. I thrash about, my very ticklish self, laughing uncontrollably.
"NO! K-KAORI! HAHAHAHA!"
"Don't call her!" Kabuto says, and stops tickling. I slide out from under him and wipes the tears of laughter from my eyes.
Kaori comes down the stairs. "Someone call me..?" She inquires, strutting around in her purpleness.
"Too late." Kabuto groans.
"OUTTA MY WAY!" I scream and run past Kaori, up the stairs.
"Hey! You can't escape my torture!" Kaori calls.
"I need to pee!" I shout, running to the bathroom.
"KUROMIZU SETSUKI! DON'T USE WORDS LIKE THAT!" Mum shouts from the kitchen.
"SORRY!" I shout, not sure if she heard me.
After relieving myself I walk out of the bathroom wiping my hands on my shirt, only to come face to face with evil glances from Kaori and Kabuto. I laugh nervously.
"O-okay guys.." I stutter, but then I see Kabuto's hair looks like a bird's nest, Kaori must have ruffled his hair.
"Ha! I would play around a little longer with you two, but I got a date tonight." Kaori says.
"Eww boys are icky." I groan.
"Girls are icky-er~" Kabuto says.
"Nah ahh!"
"Yeah huh!"
"Oh stop fighting." Kaori says.
"We're not fighting Kaori." Kabuto says. "We're disagreeing."
"Oh yeah yeah, you and your nerdy little brain." Kaori laughs, ruffling his hair again. She goes to ruffle mine when I duck. Kaori struts to her room. Kabuto stands beside me as we watch her.
"Pssst Setsuki, we should ruin her date like last time." He whispers.
"I'M IN!" I concur.
"Shh!"
"Alright mum, I'll be back my 8 o'clock~" Kaori chimes, walking out the door.
"Alright dear." Mum replies. Just as Kaori leaves, dad walks in through the door. "Oh Shou you're home."
Dad smiles and walks over to mum and gives her an icky kiss. "How was your day Sakura?"
"Quite nice, the kids have been up to mischief again." Mum replies with a giggle.
"Ohh..?" Dad raises an eyebrow towards Kabuto and I. We blink in unison.
"With a certain blue permanent marker." Mum pulls out the same marker I had before. I was in awe. "How did you get that!" I question. Mum giggles.
"I have ways sweetheart. And Kabuto dear, isn't my brother getting worried about you by now? It's starting to get late after all." Mum says.
"Nah dad's gone fishing remember..?" Kabuto replies. I nudge Kabuto with my elbow.
"Kaori~" I chime.
"Oh right! Um, yeah! You're right aunt Sakura! Can Setsuki come with me?" Kabuto inquires.
"Oh well of course, I'll send Kaori to pick you up on her way home, okay Setsuki?" Mum says. I nod smiling.
"Yup!"
"Come on then!" Kabuto says, dragging me out by my wrist.
"Where do you think she went?" Kabuto asks as we look around. I shrug.
"But guess what!"
"What?"
I pull out a fake scorpion from my pocket which is attached to a string. "I got this!"
"Cool! Where'd you get that from?" He asks, taking it to examine it.
"I dunno, I just found it." I say.
"Cool."
"You kids are out late."
We both turn around behind us. "Mum!"
"Aunt Megumi!" I exclaim.
"Kabuto it's past curfew is it not..?" She mentions. I look left and right really quickly.
"What's a curfew?" Kabuto inquires.
Aunt Megumi sighs. "We're not up to anything Aunt Megumi." I say.
"Oh you aren't? Well that's good. I heard the Saitou's are coming tomorrow too." Megumi says. Our eyes widen and we look at each other.
"Not Hiromasa!" We whine, hugging each other.
"Yes Hiromasa." Megumi says.
"No!" Kabuto and I gush at the same time, hugging each other tighter. Megumi laughs hysterically.
"I was joking. I was joking!" She laughs. We frown. "Alright come on. Setsuki are you going home or do you want to sleep over tonight?"
"Mum said Kaori's coming to get me." I say.
"Oh..? Well alright then, lets go." She says.
"I wonder what kind of fish dad will catch!" Kabuto says.
"I told you already! A shark!" I exclaim.
"Don't be silly Setsuki." Kabuto says. I poke my tongue out at him while smiling. He does the same. Then we laugh.
"I'll put it in her bed tonight." I say, pointing to the scorpion in his hand. Kabuto grins and hands it back to me.
"You should film it! I'll lend you my camera." He says. "Just don't break it."
"I wont!" I exclaim with a big smile. Kabuto's awesome because he has cool electronic stuff.
"So how was the date Kaori~?" I chirp.
"Oh it was perfect!" Kaori exclaims, sitting down on her bed. "You can hop out of my room now."
"Oh what's that?" I ask, pointing to a small spec on the wall.
"Hm?" While she was distracted, I put the scorpion under her blanket and get up to leave.
"Night~" I say.
"Good night." She says. I set the camera up perfectly to capture this. I set it to video and press record. Now all that's left is to wait. "!" I smirk.
I grab the camera and run to my room and shut the door and replay the footage and crack up laughing. "I gotta show Kabuto tomorrow!" I put the camera on the beside table and fall asleep, ready for another great day tomorrow.
I zone back in to reality after hearing a loud yawn.
"That's a very big smile Setsuki-san." Lee says, poking my cheek. I jump and my eyes widen, Kankuro stops yawning.
"WAH!" I fall over onto my side and seeing it's just Lee, I let out a sigh of relief. Lee chuckles lightly. I rub my eyes and lay comfortably in the soft grass.
"We should head back soon." Lee mentions. Gaara and Kankuro nod in agreement, Kiba and Akamaru were still unconscious. I stare at the sky, picturing Kabuto's face.
'Why did you try and kill me that day..? Why have you turned evil..? Why can't you be like you used to be..?'
"Kankuro! Gaara!" A female calls, and I hear two people land on the grass. I tilt my head upside down so I could see who it was. Shikamaru and that blond girl from Sunagakure.
"Huh? Hey she has blue hair, hey Kankuro is she that girl you were saying was al-"
"SHUT UP TEMARI!" Kankuro shouts, getting a look of fear. I blink and roll onto my stomach.
"Huh? Setsuki? What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asks.
"Shikamaru!" I sit up. "Did you guys get Sasuke-chan back?" I ask.
"Err, well Naruto went chasing after some guy called Kimimaro. That was the last I saw." Shikamaru replies.
"Kimimaro?" Lee inquires. "Wasn't that the name of that guy we defeated?" Gaara nods.
"Did you see Naruto, Lee-san?" I ask.
Lee nods, "Hai. Naruto-kun was chasing Sasuke-kun I think." Lee says.
"Oh, well in that case he's sure to bring Sasuke-chan back!" I say. Lee nods in agreement.
"I wonder about that.." Gaara says, staring at the ground again. ".. That Uchiha.. his eyes show great hatred.. revenge.. someone with that sort of goal can't be changed easily. Even by him, Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara says.
"Nonsense!" I exclaim. They all look at me. I stand up and point at Gaara. "Naruto might not be the brightest person in the world, but when it comes to friends, nothing, and I repeat, nothing will stop him!" I exclaim. Gaara looks up at me with slight surprise. "And if I don't know Naruto-kun and Sasuke-chan's bond any better, Naruto will absolutely never give up! Sasuke is Naruto-kun's teammate! Comrade! Rival! Brother! There's absolutely no way he'd fail on bringing Sasuke back!" I exclaim. All eyes stare at me in surprise. I suddenly felt awkward, it's not all the time I yell at people, so I quieten down.
"... You know.." Lee begins, looking down. I look at him and he slowly stands up. "You are 100% right, Setsuki-san! Naruto-kun will not fail!" Lee says, giving me a thumbs up. I smile. Just then thunder scared the hell out of me and I cling to Lee in fright.
"Thunder..?" Shikamaru inquires, we all look up to the sky, dark clouds were rolling in fast.
"That's a sign for us to get moving." Shikamaru says. We all nod in agreement and begin making our way back to the village.