Chapter 13: Blood Cotton Candy

About two months had passed since their first mission. A mission very few of them brought up at all, since it was hardest on Kenji. And while team 9 had a few more C-Ranked missions, it was brutal training. Asami sensi insisted they spend 1 day a week resting. Kenji, Isamu and Yuri all thought it was strange. What else were they supposed to do though?

Asami sensi pulled Kenji aside daily after their first mission. He said it was her checking up on him after the incident. Which… After a week of that Asami sensi stopped asking him and pushed him harder on his training. Claiming he was too slow and sluggish in a fight. She put weights on him when they were fighting. Actually… when they were all fighting against her. Asami would keep all the weights off her and they had to put the weights on Asami until she noticed. They weren't able to… but they tried. Kenji had a scroll with weights so when they ended up fighting, they could slowly slow down their opponiate. It was a way to mess with people and think they were getting tired. They tried it on Naruto once and it was a hoot to watch. Kenji was the best at it.

She placed Isamu in the hands of Medical Nin, who was told to train him hard and to have all his free time. Asami thought his chakra control was the best and they would need a medical nin eventually. Asami would purposly cut Yuri or Kenji in spars and it would hurt, she made Isamu heal them in the middle of it. They couldn't stop, Isamu had to heal them. While it was hard… Isamu learned a lot very quickly.

As for Yuri? She was told to study her scrolls and she was working with Asami sensi in mastering water styles. Asami sensi also had Yuri copy Kenji and Ismau. So she was now proficient in healing and the weird taijustu Kenji was mastering. She could make three water clones, use a water pistol and she was now learning the water prison. She had the chakra control to do it.

All of them once a week had a "playdate" with the other teams. They could kick all their asses, but team 8 always gave them a run for their money. Kiba always got weights on him and Hinata and Yuri were good at fighting each other. Isamu always lost to Shino, but they all always lost to Shino.

Yuri had told Shino, all of team 10 and Sakura about her powers. Choji and Ino agreed to let Yuri copy them. Shino, he was still figuring out if he was okay with her copying him, and she had no issue with it. Though, Sakura was an accident since she and Saskue were training with the Sharingan and Sakura found them. She even fainted. Saskue and Yuri argued for a while about telling Sakura, but what else were they supposed to do? Sakura saw them practicing! Yuri was surprised when Sakura agreed to keep it secret and asked if the two of them could train in secret together. She needed someone else to spar.

Ino and Yuri had one fight, and Yuri managed to win. Yuri never wanted to lose to Ino, and it felt good to show she was still on top of the class. Ino had been hanging out with Isamu though, and she had Shikamaru for a teammate. It was clear Ino was smart, and she was planning moves. Their fight was long and hard, Yuri only used what she knew, but Ino knew she could beat her eventually. Hell… even Sakura was improving on her taijustu. While Ino wasn't a threat to Yuri yet… Yuri knew it was a matter of time.

Even Asuma Sensi knew about it and wanted to have her train with team 10 so they could be swapped out at any moment. Yuri had copied Asuma as well, so she was able to play frontliner a lot with team 10. Sometimes they switched Yuri and one member from team 10. Only when Shikamaru was on the opposite team was it a stalemate. Asami and Asuma learned really fast that Shikamaru and Yuri worked well together.

Yuri was always tired.

Hinata was training with her team, Saskue had D-Ranked missions all day and Shikamaru was hanging out with his team. She didn't have a lot of other friends, and her team was taking advantage of their rest day. Kenji was taking advantage of the day of rest to sleep. Isamu was off doing his own thing. Yuri had bought a bunch of food for herself, she wanted to invite Saskue over and cook. As she was only getting better at cooking.

Walking back to her house, she spots two red heads. Tilting her head, she isn't sure why, but they feel familiar. She pauses for a moment to figure it out.

"Stop it." The boy says, his voice deep and doesn't crack with the boys from her class.

"No." A singsongy voice. One Yuri could listen to it all day.

The girl is behind him as they walk towards Yuri. The girl is pinching the boys cheeks and he seems annoyed. She tilts her head, but she needs to get home so she begins walking once again. She doesn't remember them being in the village before… and they don't look familiar. But they taste like apples… different types of apples though. She looks in her basket. Maybe she has some apples? She does.

While she was looking down she bumps into them.

"Watch where you're going!" The boy yells.

"Sorry, I thought I forgot apples. I just had a craving for them." Yuri looks up and smiles.

She is glad she bought apples, she could make something with them. Maybe she can carmalize them. That would be good. Or… she could just eat them! That would be really nice as well. Maybe Yuri is just hungry.

The girl gives her a smile. "Don't mind my brother, he tends to be cranky."

This pulls Yuri out of her thoughts.

"Of course. I… I don't reconize you two though. Are you here from another village?"

The two look between each other. The girl holds up a note. Yuri looks at it a little closer and notices they are from the land of Waves. The hidden Mist village. How on earth were they here? She knows the Hidden Mist is far away, she even sees their headbands.

"We are. We are here for the Chunin exams. I'm Isesu and that is my brother Izugi." The girl smiles once again at Yuri.

The Chunin exams… Yuri forgot they were coming up. They came around twice a year if she remembered correctly, and it wasn't hard to miss, since the genin of the village all ended up leaving at times. She didn't know why, but something about the Chunin exams being here bothers her. She wonders if the exams being here means the leaf is putting forth a larger number of genin. And a few things are beginning to fall into place for her.

Is that why Asami sensi was pushing them so hard?

It seemed like after their first mission Asami sensi upped their training. It seemed strange to throw them so hard into training they were always tired and doing missions all the time. Even with Master Jirya… he was drilling her a lot.

"What are you still a school kid?" The boy asks.

Yuri shakes her head. "No. I'm a genin. It's my day off though. I didn't realize the Chunin exams were so close."

The girl smiles. "I would stay out of everyones way. Some of the teams aren't as nice as we are."

There are many things Yuri would like to say to them. She would love to learn about the other villages, but she knows they might not have time for it right now. She should get home as well, she needed to find Saskue so she could inform him as well!

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." Yuri nods. "I should head home. I wish you luck."

Yuri walks away and makes it a few steps before realizing she needs to find Naruto and warn him before he does something dumb. Knowing Naruto… he was going to do something dumb with new people walking around the village. Especially since they didn't have to state why since they had their passes.

She looks around, while she copied Naruto and showed her how to make shadow clones, Yuri had to act like it was a struggle. It wasn't something she was happy about, but she managed to fool him and showed him after a week or so she was able to do it.

Where would he be? She knew Saskue wouldn't be an idiot and would train with his team, but he still hated training with them. After their mission Saskue and Narutos rivalry seemed to have gotten worse. Even Sakura was hating training and going on missions with them. It didn't make for a very… good team to work with.

Saskue still thought Sakura was useless… but he was immune to her genjustu. And she wasn't the best at her taijustu, but Kenji was helping her with that. But secretly placing weights on her when they trained. She wasn't good at ninjustu though, but Sakura was improving, so was Naruto. Saskue wasn't improving as quickly, but still improving. Which ticked him off to no end.

Yuri manages to find them but Sakura is looking away from them, seeming to be pissed off. Almost soulless… and she wonders what they did to piss her off.

"I don't even think she's human. Did you see how wide her forehead is?" Konohamaru mumbles to Naruto.

But it's loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Sakura freezes and slowly turns around to them, making them all run as she runs towards them. Making Yuri shake her head, if she had only gotten here a little earlier… maybe she could have stopped them from being so dumb. But Konohamaru runs into a weird boy in a jumpsuit and purple paint on his face. He even has cute little cat ears! What a strange jumpsuit to have on. Who is she to judge, and she glances at his headband. Not Mist… and he has a weird thing on his back. Tasting like peppermint, and the girl with four ponytails next to him tastes like spearmint.

A sibling duo? How pleasant. The girl even had something on her back. Why do they carry things on their backs? It seems annoying.

"Do you need something?" Kitty guy asks.

Yuri jogs up behind Sakura as they gasp, she sets down her groceries to help if she needs to. She likes the nickname, Kitty boy. He looks like one, and maybe he is feisty, like a cat? Yuri can only guess. But in her mind… that's how she likes to think about it. The kitty boy picks up Konohamaru by the scarf and holds him up in the air.

"Konohamaru!" Naruto yells.

Of course… he has to yell. It's Naruto's thing.

"So does this hurt, punk?" Does Kitty guy get a kick out of this?

Who does this? It seems like a cruel thing to do, and it doesn't have any gain to it. If there is one thing Asami taught her is that there should always be something to gain from doing something cruel.

"Put him down, Kankuro." The ponytail girl. "Or you know you'll pay for it later."

What does she mean by later? And will their sensi be the one who makes them pay? He seems like someone who doesn't listen to his own sensi. He isn't someone who likes to be out of power. It's rather… annoying. It was a peeve of Yuri herself.

"Hey, I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault." Sakura says.

Yuri puts a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Its not-"

"You better take your hands off him right now!" Naruto yells.

She shakes her head. Not now… she was coming here to warn Saskue and Naruto to not be dumb. And here was Naruto… being dumb. But Kitty guy has a problem. Anyone else might have been a little less aggresive.

Kitty boy, Kankuro smiles. "We got a few minutes before he gets here. Let's mess with these punks, huh?"

"Let go of me, you jerk!" Konohamaru yells, trying to kick the boy.

Yuri steps forward. "Play dead Konohamaru… he'll lose interest. Seems to have a kitty brain."

The boy looks at Yuri. For a moment their eyes meet and she sees a spark of amusement coming across his face. While Yuri just insulted him, it doesn't seem to hit until a second later when his smile fades into annoyance. Cementing her thoughts of him. Kitty, he is a kitty.

"You're feisty, but not for long."

Before Yuri is able to open her mouth Naruto yells something and begins to charge forward. Typical Naruto, has to try to play the hero. He isn't there yet though. Letting out a sigh, she shakes her head and gets the two young kids behind her. Might as well protect the younger ones of the group, she needs to be smart about it before Naruto causes an all out fight. She watches as the boy moves his fingers and Naruto is sent crashing to the ground. Which… Yuri finds it funny. She even begins to laugh.

She catches the girl's eyes and shrugs. This whole situation is dumb in her mind.

"What… What was that?" Naruto yells out.

"You're a leaf genin too? Looks like your village is full of wimps." Kitty boy says.

"And seems like your village is too weak since you'r picking on someone half your size." Yuri comments loud enough for kitty boy to hear.

She knows the girl heard her and she snickers a little. Kitty boy frowns deeper and glances at Yuri. She would like to know the girl, but she seems to be keeping out of the whole thing. Which, Yuri doesn't blame her for, she seems to listen to their jonin. Unlike her brother.

Thus begins the three idiots of the group calling out Konohamaru's name. Like that will do anything. But she tastes Chicken broth and glances in the tree, spotting Saskue watching. Saskue notices Yuri notices him and gives her a smirk. He was watching how Naruto and Sakura were going to handle this. He was the most level headed of their team, she knew that. Rolling her eyes, she knows this could turn into a fight.

"Hey! Cut it out! It hurts." Konohamaru yells, pulling her attention back to the scene in front of her.

Yuri steps forward. "I think you had your fun Kitty, pick on someone who matches your skill level, you only look weak right now."

"That's it! Drop him now or I tear you apart, you got that fool?" Naruto speaks over Yuri.

But Kitty's eyes go to Yuri. Kitty boy can tell Yuri is a threat, and she thinks that's fun. Meaning Naruto needs to catch up to her and Saskue. With his seals he might, but he is still too childish to do anything about it. She can tell Moody emo boy is amused by this whole exchange. Probably thinks Kitty boy is below him. But Yuri can taste him, meaning? He is strong.

Sakura puts Naruto in a headlock. Making him shut up and try to fight her.

Team seven is a mess. There is no way Kakashi can do anything with them. Shikamaru might win their bet after all. And she wasn't about to lose that one. Not when he was going to pick out a date for her.

"You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help Naruto!" Sakura yells at him.

The boys face changes when he sees Yuri being calm and the two loud ones being… well loud. Saskue was amused and the girl also seemed to be amused by the whole thing. Yuri would be too if she didn't feel like the Leaf was getting a name of being loud and uneducated. Which would be a thing for team seven, minus Saskue.

"You're annoying. All of you. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings." He balls up his fist as Yuri shakes her head. "So when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth I just want to break him in half."

She weighs her options in a moment. Save Konohamaru and reveal she is stronger? Or let them handle their own mess? It would be troublesome if she jumped in to help at this moment. Besides… Naruto and Sakura seemed to think they had it under control. Which, they don't. Yuri might not be helping, but at least she can match her skill level, she might be able to fight them, but she didn't want to.

Judging by Saskue being in the tree, she'll let him get them out of this mess. Why else would he be here if not to show up Naruto? He loved doing it, it made him happy to feel like he is better than Naruto. He knows he is better than Sakura, but again, he might not be for long. Sakura was jealous of Isamu learning medical ninjustu.

Naruto and Sakura gasp and the two younger ones whimper. Causing her to roll her eyes. Everyone is so dramatic.

The girl sighs, "Fine. I'm not involved in any of this, okay?"

"I agree with ponytails. Not involved." She was more saying it for Saskue… but the others hadn't noticed him yet.

Seeing him smile, she was giving him the go ahead and be the hero. Let his fanclub grow a little more. She didn't care though, but Naruto would. Maybe he would focus more on seals, and his training. Anything to wipe the smile off Saskues face. Which Yuri would pay to see.

"First, I'll take care of this little squirt. Then I'll waste the other one." Kitty boy smiles.

Kankurō pulls his fist back as Naruto begins to sprint forward. Naruto wouldn't get there in time to save Konohamaru, who she realizes now the two don't know is the Hokage's grandchild. It would be messy if they hurt him, but it doesn't matter much. They have permission to be here for the exams. But harming the honorable grandson is a big no in this situation, though, maybe their sensi will show up.

The girl looks at Yuri and tilts her head. But in the blink of an eye, Saskue throws a rock at the fist and Kitty drops Konohamaru. Causing Yuri to smile as Konohamaru falls to the ground and scrambles to Naruto. Everyone looks up to where the rock could have come from and they see Saskue sitting in the tree.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." He tosses a pebble up and down.

Making him look cool.

Gross, in three, two…

Cue all the girls looking at Saskue and swooning over him. Making Yuri roll her eyes. Not everything Saskue does should make people swoon all over him! It is annoying, as she crosses her arms and sees Saskue only glaring at Kitty boy. Not even noticing all the girls being… well dumb in the whole thing.

But Yuri feels an awful taste coming into her mouth. Like a lot of blood and a hint of cotton candy. It's almost overwhelming in her sense, like it's all she can see. Her eyes glance over next to Saskue and see a boy hanging from the tree. Red hair like the others… but he doesn't have the same taste like the others.

It leaves Yuri frozen in place, his chakra is a lot.

She can even only look at him and he notices her as well. He even stared at her. Seeming to know he has been spotted. He looks too young to be their sensi… but he has the chakra for it.

"Oh. great. Another wimp to tick me off." Kitty says.

Slowly Yuri shifts her attention back to the scene in front of her, seeing Saskue crush a rock, even though she has to admit… It's cool.

She shakes her head a little.

No, she shouldn't be thinking anything about Saskue is cool. She might get poisoned from the fanclub and have a crush on him. How embarrassing would it be?

"Get lost." Saskue tells them.

But of course there is more fangirling from everyone. Minus Naruto and Konohamaru, who look a little sad. But her attention goes back to the red head.

His chakra is overwhelming her sense of taste. It's a lot of chakra… like a lot a lot… and it reminds her a little of Narutos. Maybe… maybe they are related? She needs to focus on the cotton candy… but she can't. Not when the blood is so overwhelming.

"Hey, punk, get down here. You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up." Kitty tells him, reaching up and tugging on the thing on his back.

He takes the thing off his back and she and the redhead stare at each other. She can't fully watch what is going on… but she had to only stare at the boy. No one else noticed him, and he didn't show any emotion by her noticing him.

"What? Are you gonna use the Crow for this?" The girl asks.

This is going to get bad. A fight between a moody boy and kitty boy should be fun to watch, but being out here isn't the time for them to be fighting. It would be a really bad idea, and she should figure out how to stop it… though she doesn't know how to.

Finally the redhead speaks. "Kankuro, back off."

Even he catches Saskue off guard. She sees the flicker of surprise from him as she looks back to the redhead. Something that isn't easy to do. Saskue can normally tell when someone is around them. It was a surprise when people snuck up on him. He glances at Yuri and sees she is the only one not surprised by the redhead.

She slowly shakes her head, the redhead turned his attention to kitty boy fully and was no longer paying attention to Yuri.

"You're an embarrassment to our village." He continues.

Yuri couldn't agree more to that… What person picks on a little kid? Maybe this redhead has some morals? Though… if he is from the same village she doubts it. Messing with a child though? Doesn't that go against something? Did kitty boy like being in power? She couldn't understand it, but she would as the event unfolded she felt.

Everyone gasps.

"Um… ah… Hey, Gaara." Kitty stammers out.

Gaara… What a name. Saskue is side-eyeing Gaara. She doesn't blame him. He was silent and normally Saskue could catch people around him. Someone sneaking up on him is rare, especially people around the same age. But again… Gaara could be a jonin for all she knew, hence why Kitty boy was listening to him or seemed to be nervous around him.

"Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here?" Gaara asks.

Clearly Kitty boy has to answer right away. "I know. I, I mean, they challenged us. They started the whole thing, really."

"Seems Kitty is a liar…" Yuri mumbles loud enough for Kankurō to hear, earning her a glare.

But of course, he has to go back to his story. And maybe look like he is the one defending himself. Which is crap… but who knows.

"See here's what happened."

"Shut up."

Only two words and it seems the whole land has been frozen over. She doesn't know this style of teaching… or how it is in their team. Seems like a weird way to talk to his genin.

"Or I'll kill you."

Seems harsh to Yuri… but she can't get a read on the guy. While she thought he was the jonin… the way he spoke made her wonder about her choice.

Kitty boy puts up his hands. "Ah, right. I was totally out of line. I'm sorry Gaara. I was totally out of line."

No wonder he has a complex… This Gaara kid puts them in their place fast. She does think he is a kid.

As she glances back at Saskue she can tell he is thinking about it. He doesn't know what to make of the exchange as well, everything seemed to be off. She doesn't like it, and she should talk to Saskue about the things she has seen today, it might be important for team seven to keep a low profile. Maybe Kakashi could take them on a mission.

"I'm sorry for any trouble he caused." Gaara turns to the others.

Yuri notes how he didn't include the girl in it. Yuri knew he was there, and knew the girl didn't do anything. She even said she wanted nothing to do with it. Even saying how Kitty boy would pay for it later.

Gaara vanishes into the sand as Saskue stands up. Landing on the ground, Yuri watches. He can control sand. What a cool thing! She wishes she could copy it, but it would be a poor choice to try that now. She wonders what the others could do.

"Let's go. We didn't come here to play games." Gaara turns and begins to walk.

"Alright, sure. I get it." Kitty boy says, following him.

The girl turns and begins to walk as well.

Of all the times to speak up, Sakura decides now is the time. And Yuri feels like she shouldn't allow it. She steps up in front of Naruto and tries to look strong. Maybe Sakura will be smart about this and not be a loud mouth like the idiot Naruto is.

Maybe Naruto was rubbing off on her… and it wasn't a good thing.

"Hold on! Hey!" Sakura calls.

This is where Yuri has to step in. She has to tell them they are here for the Chunin Exams and they are fine being here. Will Sakura listen to Yuri? No. Sakura still blames her for Saskue not liking her back. She felt Yuri was hogging Saskue.

"Sakura…" Yuri tires.

Yuri notices Saskue shaking his head. He knows this is going to end badly.

"What?" The girl answers as they are walking away.

But… Sakura doesn't listen to Yuri… as usual and keeps going. The three Sand Genin pause in their steps. She wishes Sakura would listen to her. Even Ino was seeing that she should listen to Yuri sometimes.

"I can tell from your headband that you come from the village Hidden in the Sand. Of course the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies. But no Shinobi can enter another's village without permission."

Yuri walks up behind Sakura and covers her mouth. If Sakura runs her mouth more, they might have trouble on their hands. And she doesn't know if they will attack her or what. But Yuri needs to difuss the situation.

"We would like to welcome you into the village. I am sure you have permission? Seeing as you aren't being swarmed with Leaf Ninja?" Yuri offers a smile.

The three sand ninja turn and the girl looks right at Sakura. She hopes Sakura gets her point, she glances at Saskue and sees he seems to understand. If they didn't have permission to be here, Leaf Ninja would be hunting them to take them out. Ninja need permission to enter each other's villages, and all the genin and their jonin have permission.

"Really? Have you guys all been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on do you? We have permission." She holds up a card. "Of course you are correct. We are Hidden Sand Genin. Our home is the Land of the Wind and we're here for the Chunin Exams. Get the picture?"

Yuri lets out a chuckle. Leave it to team Kakashi to be clueless on things going on around them. He has tunneled vision and so is his team it seems. Thinking they are the main people in the village. Which… they could be eventually. But right now? Not helping them.

"These guys have. I have not. I know you are here for the exams." Yuri jokes.

"The Chunin-"

Before Naruto can finish, Yuri kicks him away. She doesn't need Naruto to let the other villages think they are dumb. Only him. Just like all of the Sand won't pick on small academy children. That's only Kitty boy as far as she knows. But they could all think they are dumb just from Sakura not being able to figure out one thing. Naruto won't help in this situation.

The girl and kitty boy seem to be amused by the situation.

"Don't mind him. He's an even bigger idiot." She looks back at him. "Don't you remember nothing from the notes Shika and I made you take?"

"Clearly not…" Konohamaru sighs.

Gaara turns around to walk away and Saskue jumps down from the tree. She thought that would be the end of it. But of course… Saskue has to have the last word. Typical, and annoying.

"Hey, you. Identify yourself."

The girl turns around and Yuri lets go of Sakura and Yuri rolls her eyes. A small blush is on the girl's face, and while Yuri would like to know about the girl, she knows she would only answer Saskue. That's how these things tended to go.

Poor girl, she has no chance with Saskue.

Again, only Yuri thinks she has any chance of dating Saskue.

And the thought makes her nearly gag.

"Hm? You mean me?" The girl points to herself.

"No, him. The guy with the gourd on his back." Saskue brushes over her comment, and the undertext with it.

She can see the girl's disappointment. Yuri can't help but smile. Saskue doesn't give anyone the time of day, not even his own teammates.

The redhead turns around. "My name is Gaara of the desert. I'm curious about you, too. Who are you?"

"I am Saskue Uchiha."

The two boys stare at each other. What is with people and staring at each other? It annoys Yuri to no end. But she was staring Gaara down earlier. Which made this stare down seem to be more of sizing each other up. Saskue liked to do that a lot.

"Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name, right?" Naruto yells.

Yuri facepalms and shakes her head. Some things never change with him. He wants everyone to know who he is and normally Yuri can't blame him… but this isn't the time.

"I couldn't care less."

Causing Yuri to giggle and get a glare from Naruto. She can't help herself. It's rather funny, sad but funny. Everyone knows who Naruto is in the village.

The three turned around and moved away from team 7. Yuri turns and walks away, bending down to grab her things. She doesn't need to be part of this. But she pauses as some new taste fills the air and she glances to the tree. Seeing three other people standing there. None of them noticed she noticed. She can't place their taste as they are weak in her mouth. She can't place them.

She might be getting stronger as she looks at Saskue and motions for him to follow her. She has things she needs to tell him. Even with Naruto yelling and Saskue getting annoyed, she hoped those things would never change.

Notes: Here I am with another chapter. I will warn everyone, I am going to split this up into two parts. Right now we are in OG Naruto, and once I reach a certain point in the story it will switch over to Shippuden. As I approach the end of OG Naruto, I am picking a good spot for it to switch over. And I have some fun things planned during this arch and the retrieval arch. Stay tuned to see what is being planned out! Please, enjoy! Leave a comment to let me know if you are enjoying it! Or simply follow the story. I am trying to update every week, of course some weeks I will miss, but I have the story written out far enough it should be fine.