Naruto: Tornado of Souls
Sasuke's Cult
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter is very close to the original. It was so twisted that I couldn't figure out a way to twist it any further. Here is Chapter 7. Enjoy!
Last time:
Konoha, Yamanaka Residence
Pyrrha woke up early as usual and was talking excitedly with Inoichi. "…So Mitarashi-san agreed to train all of us kunoichi. We are all supposed to meet at the Dango Shop this afternoon and have a planning session."
Inoichi smiled and replied, "That's excellent news Pyrrha-chan. I think Anko will be a good teacher for you girls. Try to help Ino-chan and Sakura-chan out, would you? They haven't taken their training as seriously as you, Blake and Hinata have. Speaking of which, what was your impression of Hyūga Hinata?"
The redhead pondered a moment and replied, "Well, she isn't Cinder Fall, but I still feel uneasy around her. I guess it's hard to let go of the past."
The Yamanaka patriarch placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and said, "Give it time Pyrrha-chan, give it time. I think you and Blake will eventually become friends with Hinata but not right away. Just try to keep an open mind about things and ease into it. Technically she doesn't know the both of you either."
"That's true." said Pyrrha. "It's strange though, Blake seems more defensive about Hinata than I am."
"Blake had a rough life Pyrrha." explained Inoichi. "She doesn't trust as readily as you do. You and Anko are her best anchors right now. Try to be supportive, okay?"
The gladiator smiled. "Of course, Inoichi-san."
…
Chapter 7
Yamanaka Residence
It was early morning and Yamanaka Ino had a lot on her mind. The idea of being trained by Mitarashi Anko terrified her to the core and kept her awake through part of the night. She was also very concerned about her new friends Pyrrha-chan and Blake as well. They both seemed to be falling away from the enlightened path of the Sacred Faith of Sasukeism.
Ino couldn't help but notice they both were very enthusiastic about watching Naruto of all people. Hinata had also been excited, but Ino was fine with that because she didn't want to compete with the suddenly HOT Hyūga Heiress. 'I don't know when Hinata changed into total vixen but there is absolutely no way I want to compete with her.' she thought. The Yamanaka Heiress pondered both Pyrrha and Blake a bit.
'Both of them have nice bodies and are really pretty. I can't quite figure out Blake though…' thought Ino. "She seems to be a little dark and odd. Blake also always seems to have her nose stuck in some book or other. The most disturbing part is how such an attractive girl seems to be interested in Naruto. Blake seems to be pulling Pyrrha-chan down that crooked path as well. I wonder where she is from originally. That seems to be a dark, weird secret for some reason…' Ino was considering asking Pyrrha-chan where she and Blake were from but then she remembered Anko none to gently telling them it was a closed subject.
Ino pondered for a few more minutes before she resolved to ask Sakura. "I may know more about psychology, but Forehead's super powered brain could be really useful in this situation." thought Ino aloud. "We must rescue Blake and Pyrrha-chan from going down the wrong path!"
…
Anko and Blake's Apartment
Blake was sitting with her black kimono on while having breakfast with Anko. Her ears were prominently on display, and she was thumbing her Icha-Icha book lazily between bites. Anko was wearing a kimono as well with her hair down and was sipping her tea quietly. It was painfully obvious that neither young woman intended to get out at all before noon. Blake's ears flicked about suddenly as if she heard something. She frowned a tiny bit.
"Something bothering you Blake-chan?" asked Anko. "Are you hearing something on another frequency that I can't?"
The feline faunus girl sipped her tea then stopped and shook her head. "No, I'm just under the distinct impression that something truly stupid was just said about me."
"Welcome to the story of my life." said Anko in a flat tone. Deciding it wasn't worth worrying about the two kunoichi shared a mutual shrug and went back to quietly eating their breakfast…
…
Haruno Residence
Sakura had an unexpected early visitor. The rosette had always been an early riser but Ino…? "Are you absolutely sure you didn't leave your brain in bed asleep at home Pig?" asked Sakura. "I mean, you being out of bed before 10 AM is the sign of an impending disaster!" Sakura peered out her window. "Well, I don't see a swarm of locusts blocking out the sun or a river of lava spewing across the town square…"
"Laugh it up Forehead." growled Ino. "I'm concerned here. It's just not natural for Pyrrha-chan and Blake to not be into the Sacred Faith of Sasukeism. All kunoichi our age adore him (even though he'll end up marrying me) and I feel like Pyrrha-chan and Blake are getting totally shafted because they were impressed by Naruto. Poor Hinata is doomed to never follow the enlightened path (and I sure as hell don't want the competition from her now) but it's not too late for Blake and Pyrrha-chan! We owe it to them as fellow kunoichi to show them the greatness that is Sasuke-kun!"
Narrowing her emerald green eyes, Sakura asked, "You're serious aren't you Ino-Pig?"
"I'm serious as a heart attack!" declared the blonde. "Besides, we want to be able to talk about clothes and cute guys when we hang out with them. Consider this; you and I are discussing the lofty heights of Uchiha Sasuke-kun and their minds are stuck in the street gutter level of Uzumaki Naruto or Inuzuka Kiba! It's terrible!"
Sakura got a look of revulsion on her face. "Alright, point taken. But it could be difficult because Sasuke-kun isn't even in the village. He's out training with Kakashi-sensei and no one knows where they are."
"What about pictures?" asked Ino. "Surely you have some in a scrapbook Forehead."
"All of my good pictures are enshrined in my closet." said the rosette. "The few I have of Sasuke-kun outside of that don't show off his best features that well -not that all his features aren't good. I guess there is my Team 7 photo though…" Sakura said motioning towards her nightstand.
Ino picked up the framed photo and said, "It's a good picture of Sasuke-kun but Naruto kind of ruins the shot. He looks like he ate something bad in it." 'It also has Sakura in it ruining the shot, but I won't mention that. I don't want Pyrrha-chan and Blake to get the wrong idea that Sasuke-kun is together with Forehead or anything. That would be a tremendous backfire.' thought the blonde.
"What about you Pig?" asked Sakura. "You had a lot of pictures of Sasuke-kun too. As I recall you have them sealed in your photo albums."
"Hmmm…Most of them I keep on my Sasuke-kun Altar but I'm sure I have a few duplicates in my photo albums." replied Ino.
"We'll need to see how many duplicates we have that we can share with Blake and Pyrrha." said the rosette.
Ino got a gleam in her eye. "That reminds me; where do you think Pyrrha-chan and Blake are from Forehead? Judging by their clothes Pyrrha-chan seems to dress okay but Blake dresses kind of dark and wears purple eye shadow. Where could she be from?"
"I've wondered the same thing, but Anko-san said it was classified." said Sakura. Seeing Ino's pleading look the rosette added, "I guess we could research that at the restricted ninja section library. If we found out accidentally then we wouldn't be breaking any rules."
"I knew I could count on you for help Forehead!" exclaimed Ino. "Let's start hunting!"
With their minds made up the two best friends/worst rivals set about gathering information and more importantly gathering their pictures of Sasuke-kun…
…
The Hyūga Compound
Meanwhile, Hinata bid her little sister Hanabi farewell and set out to find her sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai. 'I need to see if Kurenai-sensei will train with us. I also need to talk to Hokage-sama so I can explain the situation with the soul merger to her. Sensei and my teammates really should know. I feel bad for hiding it, but some things must be done.' Moving along at a good pace, Hinata was soon out in front of the apartments where Kurenai lived. Using her byakugan, Hinata saw her beloved sensei was indeed home.
After heading up two flights of stairs Hinata knocked on Kurenai's door gently and the genjutsu mistress soon answered the door. "Hinata-chan, I wasn't expecting company. I'm doing a little cleaning."
Hinata smiled. "Let me help sensei. I wanted to talk to you about some extra training." Kurenai raised an eyebrow but was happy to have some help and the two got to work quickly…
…
"…So anyway Sensei, I was hoping you would be willing to help give us genin kunoichi some extra training. If you are too busy, I understand though." said Hinata as she slipped some water.
Kurenai nodded in understanding and sipped some of her own water. "Well, I think I could help out. Shino is training with his clan for the Chunin Exams and Kiba is helping his big sister Hana at the Inuzuka Veterinary Clinic, so the entire team is busy except for you and me. Besides, I could help to keep Anko from getting too overzealous." said the red eyed jonin with a wink. Hinata giggled softly and Kurenai said, "You've changed so much Hinata-chan, it's like you are a whole new person. I'm proud of you but…what exactly happened?"
The Hyūga heiress sighed softly. "I knew you would catch on sensei, but I need to get Hokage-sama's permission to tell you. I'm really sorry Kurenai-sensei."
Kurenai looked very perplexed and said, "The Hokage is involved?"
Hinata nodded. "Very few know, and I'm sworn to secrecy. I hope you still feel you can trust me. I've changed a lot more than you realize sensei."
"Are you still the loyal Konoha kunoichi that is my disciple Hinata?" asked Kurenai as she looked directly into Hinata's eyes.
"I will always be your loyal student Kurenai-sensei." said Hinata without hesitation.
Kurenai smiled. "Then there is nothing to worry about Hinata-chan."
Hinata quickly hugged her Mother figure and whispered, "Thank you sensei."
The red eyed jonin returned her hug and said, "Let's see about Anko and getting in some training. Where did she want to meet us; which training ground?"
"Actually, she wanted us to all meet at the Dango Shop at 2 PM to have a planning session for some reason." answered Hinata.
Kurenai sweat dropped. "Of course, she would want to meet there…"
…
Training Ground 53
Naruto and Jiraiya broke for lunch. "I sure wish Hinata-chan was training with us today Ero-sennin." said Naruto. "It's a lot more fun training together. Not to mention the great food she makes."
"You just liked having all those young and pretty kunoichi all around you yesterday." said Jiraiya with a chuckle that caused Naruto to blush. "Hopefully they'll get started on their own training soon. I know Anko-chan prefers Training Grounds 52 and 44 best."
"Why those two?" asked Naruto.
"Well, Training Ground 44 is obvious, but Training Grounds 52 is like this one Naruto." explained Jiraiya. "It's great for practicing large area, destructive jutsus and summoning. She is a Snake Summoner just as you are a Toad Summoner."
Naruto looked surprised. "She summons snakes…like Orochimaru? I thought she just liked snakes."
"Don't mistake Anko for being anything but a loyal kunoichi of Konoha Naruto." said Jiraiya seriously. Seeing Naruto nod, Jiraiya said, "Back when Orochimaru was still a Konoha Ninja, Anko-chan was his apprentice. When he betrayed Konoha he betrayed her as well. It's a touchy subject with her so don't bring it up. Just know she hates my former teammate Orochimaru with a passion and wants him dead more than anybody."
The blonde ninja nodded slowly in acceptance. "What was Orochimaru like when he was still a good guy?"
Jiraiya looked thoughtful and said, "Orochimaru was a genius and a prodigy. He was the kind that only came once in a generation. He always strived to be the best no matter what he did…but looking back Orochimaru was always a little distorted. I'm not saying it was his fault really. Orochimaru was an orphan and had a sadistic streak because of losing his parents, I guess. All the signs were there but I refused to see them because he was my best friend, and I didn't want to believe he'd gone bad. I've regretted that a lot to this very day."
Naruto said in a hollow voice, "…That sounds so much like Sasuke and me it's chilling. Ever since Sasuke got that curse mark, he's acted more and more…twisted. I feel like I should talk to him, but he won't listen…and Sakura-chan is in love with him so she won't listen to me either. What should I do Jiraiya-sensei?"
Jiraiya patted Naruto on the shoulder. "I'm telling you this in confidence so don't repeat it Naruto. Uchiha Sasuke is already considered a flight risk by the Hokage. Part of the reason Kakashi is training him exclusively is to keep an eye on the Uchiha in case he snaps. I know it's hard Naruto, but I can't sugarcoat this for the sake of your feelings. I don't know Uchiha personally, but he is showing all the signs of doing what Orochimaru did. I hope I'm wrong, but you need to bear in mind that we are ninjas. He could be your enemy tomorrow. I want you to be careful around him for your sake my apprentice."
The blonde looked down sadly. "I kind of knew that already but I didn't want to believe it, -ttebayo."
Jiraiya nodded and said, "Sometimes life isn't very fair is it Naruto?"
Naruto nodded and the two sat in silence for a while. No more words needed to be said…
…
Konoha Library, Restricted Ninja Section
"Just look at the clothes from this village! They are just like what Blake wears!" whispered Ino loudly as she pointed out a particular picture to Sakura.
Sakura looked at the pictures of a ninja and a kunoichi mainly wearing black, white, and purple. "Are they emos or something?" asked the rosette. "They look like their clothes a designed to block out the sun."
Ino nodded emphatically. "I know right? Blake's uniform looks like a more stylish version of these. I guess if she is from this village then Blake has pretty good fashion sense. It would make sense as to why she's so fair skinned though."
"Hmmm…Put a bookmark in that page Ino." said Sakura quietly. "What number is that picture?"
"It's number 105." said the blond as she put a bookmark in that page.
Sakura nodded and got out the index to The Encyclopedia of Identifying Ninja Uniforms. "That uniform would be in the last book…" grumped the rosette. Thumbing several pages, she came to the 100's. "Here we go...100, 103…105. (GASP) It's…it's the Village Hidden in Mascara from Land of Makeup! They export cosmetics but their ninjas are all…Goths! This is terrifying! Dark lipstick and eye shadow, jet black hair, pale skin, dark clothing…The list goes on. By the gods, that's where 80% of cheap B-Horror movies come from! What kind of living hell did Blake go through before she escaped?!"
…
Anko and Blake's Apartment
Blake growled, "There's that feeling that something colossally stupid was said about me again…"
…
Konoha Library, Restricted Ninja Section
Ino could barely hold in her horror at the revelations of the Village Hidden in Mascara. "Poor Blake! No wonder she seems so shy and introverted. She's been socially repressed her entire life. The unfortunate girl is a refugee from a fashion nightmare!"
"That's not all. It gets worse." said Sakura grimly.
"What could be worse than that?" asked the blonde in disbelief.
Sakura closed her eyes and said, "War; that's what's worse Ino. According to this, the Land of Makeup is an island nation that has been locked in battle with a neighboring island for decades called the Land of Fashion. The Land of Fashion has its own ninja village as well, the Village Hidden in Trends. They have been diametrically opposed to one another since the Era of Warring Clans."
"Do you think that Pyrrha-chan is from the Village Hidden in Trends?" asked Ino. "Friends on opposing sides that escaped together?"
"It's possible." said Sakura turning to the section on the Village Hidden in Trends. "It looks like everyone there dresses so Avant-garde that the stresses of keeping up with the latest fashions are positively soul crushing!"
Ino gasped. "…And Pyrrha-chan is fairly conservative in her style of dress! She must have been socially ostracized or been considered a rebel. The two of them must have met and escaped together!"
"No wonder Anko-san wanted this dark secret kept under wraps." said Sakura gravely.
"We have to support our fellow kunoichi!" declared Ino passionately.
"Through the joys of Sasukeism!" cheered the two young kunoichi as one.
"Shhhh!" whispered a librarian harshly. "Be quiet you noisy brats! This is a library!"
…
Yamanaka Residence
Pyrrha took off her Yamanaka Flower Shop Apron and said, "I'm going to take a quick shower before I head over to the Dango Shop Ayano-san. If Ino and Sakura show up, please tell them that I'll bet right out."
Ayano smiled. "Go ahead and wash up Pyyrha-chan. Ino-chan shot out of here in a rush this morning and ditched her shift at work. I can't thank you enough for helping."
"I don't mind; it's the least I can do for you since I'm staying with you." said the redhead. "I do have to wonder why she took off just before breakfast though."
"She's probably on another crash diet knowing her." said the Yamanaka Matriarch. "I worry about Ino-chan's eating habits. They just aren't healthy."
"Her skipping out on work and shirking her chores is just as important." said Inoichi coming into the shop in a disgruntled tone. "I'm glad you are here and take things seriously Pyrrha-chan. When I see Ino-chan, she and I are going to have a long talk about her responsibilities." Then he patted Pyrrha on the shoulder and shooed her off to shower.
…
Anko and Blake's Apartment
Blake and Anko had their combat gear on. "To the Dango Shop Blake-chan! Lunch awaits us!" trumpeted Anko as she led Blake out the door and locked the place up.
Blake raised an eyebrow. "I still say we should have met at that sushi place. Fish is much healthier."
Anko narrowed her eyes and said in a scheming tone of voice, "I will convert you to the Dango side Blake-chan. It is the food of the gods!"
The faunus girl shook her head. "Pffft! Tuna is the food of the gods Anko. You just don't realize it yet."
"Nonsense my apprentice in the way of foods!" said the eccentric jonin. "Haven't you ever heard; sweets for the sweet?"
"In that case we should both have vinegar for lunch Anko." said Blake in a flat tone.
Anko paused and took a thinking pose. "You have a point; allow me to rephrase: Sweets are for those with the power to take them! The gods help those that help themselves!" she declared.
"Well, I can't argue with that logic." said Blake with a soft smile.
"You should listen to your nee-chan more often Blake-chan." said Anko. "I am a fountain of knowledge."
Blake shook her head and chuckled. "Let's just go feed our faces Anko nee-chan."
Anko got a big smile and led her 'little sister' towards the Dango Shop…
…
Yamanaka Residence
"Well, I guess I'll see you all later." said Pyrrha. "I'm off to the Dango Shop to meet the others for training. I hope Ino and Sakura show up."
Inoichi and Ayano waved goodbye as Pyrrha left. Inoichi growled, "Where the hell is Ino-chan? That little girl is being even less responsible than usual."
Ayano sighed. "Well, Ino-chan is a 16-year-old girl. Let's not be too harsh on her Inoichi. Still, I have to wonder where she has been all day. It's kind of worrisome."
"No doubt she's out playing in the village somewhere." said Inoichi. "She's probably running around shopping with Sakura."
"At least Ino-chan and Sakura-chan are friends again and aren't fighting over the Uchiha." said Ayano with a smile.
Inoichi nodded. "Yeah; I'd just as soon they avoid that boy. He's a very troubled young man…"
…
Haruno Residence
Two young kunoichi dashed out of the Haruno home in a cloud of dust. "I can't believe we lost track of time Forehead!" whined Ino. "We're going to be late at the Dango Shop and Anko-san will have our hides!"
"Shut up Pig!" retorted Sakura. "You were the one that got carried away looking at my pictures of Sasuke-kun!"
"What about Pyrrha-chan? We were supposed to pick her up!" said Ino in a panicky tone.
Sakura said, "Pour on the speed Porker! Let's roof hop to your place to pick her up Pyrrha. Then we can run to the Dango Shop. We're going to be late regardless so we might as well make sure Pyrrha makes it there."
The two young kunoichi hot footed it up the side of a building and darted towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop…
…
The Dango Shop
Blake and Anko arrived and saw Kurenai and Hinata already at a table big enough for all of them. Blake frowned slightly at the sight of Hinata but remembered that Hinata was not Cinder Fall. 'Old habits are hard to break.' thought the faunus girl glumly. Looking beside Hinata she saw a beautiful woman with long curly black hair and red eyes. 'Is this Hinata's sensei she mentioned?'
"Hey Kurenai-chan!" said Anko with a wave. "Glad you made it."
Kurenai waved back and said, "It's good to see you too Anko." She turned to Blake and smiled. "You must be Blake; I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. It's nice to make your acquaintance. Hinata-chan and I got a table, but the others haven't arrived yet. Please join us."
Blake warily sat down across from Hinata and Anko plopped herself down across from Kurenai. "I'm glad you could make it Blake." said Hinata kindly. "With Kurenai-sensei and Anko training us we should get stronger quickly"
The faunus girl nodded and said, "I'm surprised no one else is here yet."
Hinata hummed in agreement. "I figure Pyrrha will be here soon unless Ino and Sakura slowed her down."
"Hello again!" chimed Pyrrha as she came in and sat down on the other side of Anko. Full introductions were soon made, and Blake in particular was pleased to learn that Kurenai's specialty was genjutsu and that she was willing to help Blake out.
The five kunoichi talked about what kind of goals they had in training but soon everyone's thoughts mirrored Anko's question.
"…Where in the hell are pinkie and blondie?!"
…
Yamanaka Residence
Ino's blue eyes were as big as saucers staring at her Mother Ayano. "You mean Pyrrha-chan already left for the Dango Shop over 45 minutes ago?!"
Ayano nodded. "Your Father and I wish to talk to you Ino-chan; it's about your-"
Ino and Sakura both shrieked in horror. "Oh, gods Ino; Anko-san is going to murder us for being an hour late!" cried the rosette.
The two genin kunoichi ran away screaming in terror before Ayano could utter another word…
Ayano grumbled, "Really! Kids these days. I swear…"
…
Training Ground 53
Naruto and Jiraiya were working on team tactics. Shadow clones were everywhere in squads of four henged so their jumpsuit colors were different. Jiraiya and several shadow clones of his own were presenting different problems and assigning combat missions to each group. Some were to defend a territory; some were on assault. A few were to capture or assassinate a target; usually a clone of Jiraiya.
The orange loving ninja was practicing his summoning while all his clones were hard at work. He'd already summoned Gama, Gamakichi and Gamakichi's little brother Gamatatsu. Gamatatsu was very excited to be summoned but was more excited that Naruto had snacks, so the little yellow-orange toad was stuffing his face happily as Naruto tried to summon Gamabunta, the Toad Boss.
Gamakichi said, "No Naruto, when I said Pops is big; I mean BIG like a mountain! You're going to need a lot more chakra than that."
"Whew!" said Naruto. "Here I thought I was putting a ton of chakra into it. Looks like I'll have to go full blast!"
"Full blast…?" asked Gamakichi as he and Gamatatsu were sent tumbling by a shockwave of chakra from Naruto.
Naruto slammed his bloodied palm to the ground and roared, "Okay! Summoning jutsu!"
A toad about a third of a meter tall holding a staff appeared. He had his white hair in a short mohawk, bushy white eyebrows and a goatee. He was looking rather confused and had a look around a bit before he saw the shocked Jiraiya standing there. "Jiraiya-chan, what's going on? Did you need to summon me for battle?"
"Oh, damn it!" said Naruto. "I was trying to summon the Toad Boss and I got this little guy!"
Jiraiya face faulted. "Naruto, shut up and show some respect! Fukasaku-sama is one of the Great Toad Sages of Mount Myōboku!" Jiraiya turned to Fukasaku and said, "I'm really sorry about this Pa, Naruto here is still learning to summon."
Naruto was sitting on his rear end looking at Fukasaku. The Toad Sage started chuckling and said, "What is your name tadpole?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, -ttebayo!" answered the orange loving ninja enthusiastically.
The Elder smiled and said, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Naruto-chan. If you can already summon me then you must have enormous potential. To summon Gamabunta-kun use about three fourths what you used to summon me. I'm a little higher up the food chain than Gamabunta. I'll look forward to seeing more of you in the future." Tapping Naruto's head lightly with his staff; Fukasaku smiled and vanished in a puff of smoke.
Gamakichi and Gamatatsu both hopped over to congratulate Naruto. "Aniki, you are awesome!" praised Gamakichi.
"I can't believe you were able to summon Pa!" said Gamatatsu.
Naruto smiled. He was worn out from summoning the Toad Elder.
Jiraiya was standing back beside Gama. 'This kid is unbelievable! He summoned Pa without accessing Kyubi's chakra!' The Toad sannin chuckled, "…Only you Uzumaki Naruto…"
…
The Dango Shop
Sakura and Ino came racing into the Dango Shop looking like they'd run a marathon across the village. "Sorry we're late!" wheezed Ino as she struggled to regain her breath.
"We got caught up in things and went to get Pyrrha only to find out she already headed here." said Sakura panting. "We truly apologize for being tardy."
Kurenai gave them a flat look and said, "Have a seat ladies."
"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei." said Sakura as she plopped down beside the red eyed jonin. Ino sat at the end of the table between Sakura and Pyrrha.
Anko propped her chin in her hand and said, "I was beginning to wonder if you two brats had died on us or something." Ino and Sakura got chills down their spines…
Blake had a flat look on her face and sighed. 'Fangirls are the bane of real kunoichi everywhere.' "Well, I guess better late than never. We already ate while we waited for you."
"Well, I guess it's good for my diet." said Ino. "I don't want to get fat. A girl has to watch her figure you know." Sakura nodded in agreement.
"What do you mean, diet? You are kunoichi!" said Anko indignantly.
Kurenai added, "Dieting is bad for your health girls. You are both already too skinny."
"If nothing else think about your bust size." said Hinata with amusement in her eyes. "Dieting impairs breast development. All the dieting you have done may keep you from ever reaching your potential."
"W-w-what?" asked Ino. "Don't you gals all diet?"
Sakura and Ino both looked around the table at Kurenai, Hinata, Blake, Anko and Pyrrha. "Haven't any of you ever gone on a diet to lose weight?" asked Sakura in a tiny voice.
All the other kunoichi shook their heads and Pyrrha said, "If you want to trim off weight then burn off the calories through exercise. Dieting is a bad idea."
After comparing their smaller busts to the particularly noticeable ones sported by Hinata, Pyrrha and Blake, Sakura and Ino both burst into tears wailing, "NOOOOOOO!"
The others just had a collective sweat drop as the entire restaurant stared at the two weeping genin kunoichi…
…
OMAKE:
The Yamanaka Residence, Ino's Room
Sakura and Ino brought out one of the best pictures any member of the Sacred Faith of Sasukeism could possibly possess. It was a framed picture of Sasuke in his ninja gear that showed off all his Adonis like features. "…And this is the glorious, amazing, talented, handsome pinnacle of manhood Sasuke-kun!" said Ino with enough sugary enthusiasm to throw Blake and Pyrrha both into diabetic shock…or make them throw up…or both. Sakura's ooohing and aaahing and the genjutsu sparkles around the picture didn't help them fight back the nausea either…
Blake held up a hand in a 'stop' motion that made the genjutsu sparkles vanish and recalled from Kin's memories what she'd seen of Sasuke. "Ummm, correct me if I'm wrong; but isn't this the sadistic psycho with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal that was running around in the Forest of Death yanking people's arms out of their sockets just to get his rocks off?" Seeing the deer in the headlights look that Ino and Sakura had; Blake said, "M'kay! So very not interested. I'll take a pass on this one."
"He was just having an off day!" explained Sakura. Blake had a flat look of utter disbelief. "You've got to believe me!" pleaded the rosette.
The feline faunus growled, "What part of, 'If he asked me out in a bar, I'd claim to be a lesbian to get away from him,' do your two fangirls not understand?"
"But he's like a handsome Prince! And he's the last Uchiha." argued Ino. Seeing Blake was totally unimpressed; Ino turned to Pyrrha. "Just take a look at this picture of Sasuke-kun and tell me the very first words that come to your mind Pyrrha-chan; like dreamboat or gorgeous."
Pyrrha scrutinized the picture carefully and had a brief flash of memory that Temari had in the first round of the Chunin Exams. "…You mean that duck-butt haired androgynous crossbreed is a guy? I honestly had no idea from what I've seen of it...er, I mean him."
Ino's mind imploded leaving her ears smoking and unconscious while Sakura fell backwards with swirls in her eyes in a dead faint.
Blake got a wry smile. "Wow Pyrrha; that was an epic putdown for the record. I'm truly impressed. You should write that one down for posterity."
"But those honestly were the first the first words I thought of." replied the redhead.
Blake sweat dropped. "Well, let's check on Sakura and Ino to see if either of them still has a pulse."
…
OMAKE END…
…
POSTSCRIPT:
See you next time. Blue out. 11/18/23
