Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Dry Ice ❯ Stealth ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: We do not own any of the Naruto characters, or any other characters and copyright entities mentioned in this story. We do own Vivian, Bibi, and Laura, this plot line, and all the books carried in their backpacks. UFOa is also copyrighted by us, the authors, along with anything to do with it or its members. We don’t own or mean to offend the Amish or any manufacturers of diary products. We also didn’t invent the triangle or any proofs related to it and we did not invent light sabers or the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Whew, this disclaimer is going to be a page long by the completion of this story. We also don’t own physics or the weather, though I wish I did have power over the whole weather thing. We did not invent combat boots, and we can not be blamed for using the word charka instead of chakra because Word automatically corrects it…grrrrrr. The fighting dances belong to Robert Jordan and his wheel of time series, though we might have altered them slightly. We also don’t own the thoughts of meditating to control power, those belong to Tamora Pierce. Some of the sword techniques are also based on the Kendo style, we did not create it, merely researched it and used it in our story. We don’t own Angelina Jolie, or much else.

IT HAS FINALLY BEEN BETA-READ. *hugs beta for finally earning her keep*

Chapter 12

The next day

“Today is our last day on this camping trip, and I have a final group test for you.”

“Oye, another one Kakashi-sensei?” Naruto groaned and whined.

“Hai Naruto, and this time, it’s a test on stealth. I have two bells again,” he tossed them into the air and threw a kunai at them, pinning them to a tree. “Since its 7:00 , you have till 1:00 .”

“But why only two bells, shouldn’t there be five?” Sakura looked as if her world were being turned upside-down.

“I have my reasons for only using two bells.” The mysterious jounin refused to shed light onto his test.

“Are you going to be standing watch by them?” Bibi was trying to piece together what she knew of Kakashi from the show to figure out why he was taking this strange approach.

“Hm..oh, maybe.” Kakashi was distracted by his book that had popped up out of nowhere.

Laura took out her ipod and speakers. It had white casing and a silvery back that was engraved with her name and sweet 16. She slid over the button unlocking it, held down the button to turn it on and rolled her pointer finger around in circles, the ipod producing a clicking sound. She found the song she wanted and smiled as the mission impossible theme song started to play.

“Okay, I’m ready to start.”

“The music will cover your movement and that would screw up the whole point of testing your stealth, baka.” Sasuke thought that her reasoning was almost as bad as Naruto’s.

“It’s mood music,” Vivian pointed out.

“I’ll have to say that it is rather fitting considering that it’s the soundtrack from Mission Impossible.” Bibi figured she might as well put in her own two cents about the music since everyone else seemed to be doing so. She shifted her weight from one foot to another and crossed her arms, this debate was getting them nowhere, but it did giver her some more time to concoct a plan.

“ Mission impossible? Was it unranked?” The mention of an unranked mission aroused the curiosity of Naruto.

“I’d also like to hear the mission details and objectives.” Kakashi turned the page, his eye scanning it with a blasé expression.

“Ah, it was just a movie.” Laura shrugged her shoulders.

“Ohh.” Sakura’s mouth made an o shape.

“I could get into this music.” Naruto started to moon walk and ‘groove’ in a way only he could.

“You look even more like an idiot now dead-last.”

Naruto fell over with his legs in the air twitching in front of Sasuke, the whole scene appearing very anime like.

The music abruptly stopped as the screen of the ipod flashed low battery.

Laura picked up the dying piece of technology as if it would crumble to pieces and slipped it carefully into her bag. “Rats, I didn’t charge the batteries.”

“Ahem.” Kakashi cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “The clock is ticking.” He pointed his gloved hand to an alarm clock that he must have put on the rock when they were all talking about the ipod.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all leaped up into the trees, leaving the three other girls and Kakashi on the ground.

“What are you waiting for?” He peered over his book to look at them.

“Um, we always wondered how you guys did that whole jump thing because at ah, home, we can only jump a maximum of six feet when we’re lucky.” Laura had a look on her face that was just pleading for an explanation. Her eyes were slightly wider than normal and her lips had a small part in them. She nervously danced from foot to foot under his scrutinizing eye. Vivian and Bibi had their heads turned up looking toward the trees. Vivian was trying to figure out if she would fall attempting to jump up and Bibi was pondering the physics behind the tree jumping.

“You just jump, and don’t look down because otherwise you might hit a tree. It’s easy to do and even kids like Konohamaru can accomplish it without much thought.”

“So, you just jump, no moon shoes, no up, up, and away?” It seemed far too easy for Vivian to grasp.

“Bend knees, push off.” How do people get around from where they’re from?

Bibi was still looking at him like he had grown another head, or dare he say it, taken off his mask. Oh , that’s right, they’re visual learners, Kakashi thought sarcastically.

He sped to behind Laura, wrapped an arm around her waist, bent his knees, and jumped up. She latched on to his arm, trying to grip onto something as fear wrapped around her like a cocoon. He landed like a cat, and whispered in her ear. “I would never let you fall.” She stood there, right hand holding a branch, left still on his arm. She cast her glance down to Bibi and Vivian and released his arm to wave to them.

They both jumped up the tree and looked down at the branch they stood on, thinking it might vanish if they didn’t keep their eye on it.

He stayed only long enough to be assured that they were all safely in the tree and then he was gone with a poof.

Soon, they had the ‘hang’ of jumping through the foliage like tree frogs or even monkeys.

Kakashi stood behind the tree with the bells attached to it. He had this itching sense, a sort of intuition honed by ANBU, that someone was watching, and with more stealth than any of his students could hope to muster in the years to come. And that chakra, mostly concealed, but enough was let to seep through so that Kakashi would be constantly on edge looking over his back. Whoever it was, was very good, and that could only mean a few people. He had hoped to get all the girls into the trees, but as soon as he got down after depositing Laura on a branch, the chakra signature was gone. Its rapid disappearance only made him more nervous.

Sasuke lurked behind a large rock grouping, watching as Laura, Vivian, and Bibi bound from branch to branch aimlessly. He thought that he saw a flash of a person and the glint off something shiny, but it was probably Kakashi, he reasoned. Now the concept of stealth was attractive and a must for his plans of killing his brother, but what was the point of the two bells. Was it to pick out the two best and make it so that the rest looked up to them, respected them, but still considered them an outcast? Was it all psychological or just plain psycho? And how was he going to get his hands on one of those bells? No matter what his plan, he was going to have to use the sharingan.

Naruto used chakra to climb to the top of a tree that overlooked the position of the bells. He figured that’s he’d have a chance of getting the bells if someone approached them first and distracted Kakashi as he fought them off. He had to get a bell this time, and it would make his day if he got the first one before Sasuke. His hands formed fists as he clenched and unclenched them, creating half moon impressions on his skin from his nails digging into the soft flesh of his palm.

Sakura came up close to the trees surrounding the prize one with the bells. She created a simple genjutsu to counter the one that Kakashi must have put on the tree.

Sasuke saw her doing this since he had activated his sharingan. He was going to use her opening and take it himself. He was faster than she was anyways.

Naruto didn’t take notice of either of his teammates and charged in with a few clones by his side. His charged in, throwing kunais all around himself as a shield as he tried to retrieve the bell. He reached for it, but grabbed thin air. That was when he knew it was an illusion.

“Damn it.”

Sasuke never saw Naruto go for the tree in the genjutsu since his eyes were focused on the real bells. He attached wire to shurikens with nimble fingers, laying a trap for anyone who came too close to his claimed position in the tree and by the bells. He jumped towards the bells from his position in a neighboring tree while Naruto came from the other side. His foot caught on one of Sauske’s lines, causing him to trip and collide with a surprised Sasuke.

“Watch it dobe,” Sasuke snapped gruffly.

“Stop going for my bell bastard.”

Kakashi watched from a distance, he had thought about intercepting both of them and fending off the bells, but they seemed to be caught up in their own fight. He leaned back against the tree, its trunk cradling his back as his legs stretched out on a limb.

This is physically easier than ANBU was, but almost more mentally taxing and it tests my patience. Sometimes I wonder how they passed my initial test, but I’m proud of them none the less. When are they going to learn the meaning of stealth? I can see them on a mission, tied up and getting laughed at by some goons because they started to bicker about who would get to carry the rescued artifact home. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision to submit their names for the chuunin exam, but then something always comes up and they prove themselves to me and I realize that they all have great potential.

He rolled up his sleeves, the heat starting to seep through to his bones. He knew that Sakura had already dissipated his simple genjutsu, at least for her eyes, and he also knew that Sasuke had used his sharingan to see through it. Naruto was the only one to experience it first hand. So far, the stealth factor has been non-existent, but Sakura hadn’t gotten the chance to do anything yet, and neither had the other girls for that matter. Speaking of them, where had his other charges wandered off to?

“Wahoo!” Bibi let out a cheer of excitement as she rushed from one tree to the next, the air running its invisible fingers through her hair, separating it into trundles. It was an indescribable rush that couldn’t be put into words understandable in any known language for someone who hadn’t experienced it firsthand.

She put her fist up to her side, parallel to her shoulder, signaling for a stop. She landed with a gentle thud on the ground, followed by another two produced by Vivian and Laura. They straightened themselves up to a full upright standing position.

“Now that we’re hopefully out of hearing range, let’s discuss a plan.” Bibi motioned for them to sit down, everyone being so diplomatic you’d assume they were discussing international relations.

“I think that we should work together to get a bell.” Laura continued, keeping eye contact with them both as she laid out her mental mapping of the situation. “Statistically, the three of us working together has a higher probability of retrieving the bell, assuming that by the time we get back there’s still one there for us to acquire. Plus, it would be easier to fend off and distract Kakashi and coordinate a multi-front attack with more than one person.”

Bibi was amused and proud, all their late night study/tutor sessions had paid off. “We need a distraction.”

“I can think of one.” Vivian had a devilish smile on her and it made Laura nervous.

“Do I want to know what you have in mind Vivian?”

“Oh, I think you’d just love my idea.” If it was possible, her smile grew even wider. “Here’s what you’re going to do. Strut, not walk, up to Kakashi. Then, make out like wild rats!” She tapped her fingers together with a devious wide smile as she rolled her eyes in one of those attempts to look like an evil insane character from a movie.

“Oh god, you just had to use that visual.” Bibi fiercely rubbed her eyes, in essence, trying to erase the image conjured in her mind. That was going to be engraved in the stone of her brain for a long time.

“YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!?” Laura’s voice rang throughout the forest, startling animals and birds alike. If she had been standing, she would have tripped and fallen over. As it was, her mouth could have only gotten wider if it was unhinged from her jaw like a snake can do. To say that she was surprised was an immense understatement. Who would have thought that quiet Vivian would fashion such a plan? Certainly not Laura.

“Shhhh, Laura, keep it down.” Bibi was teetering on the verge of laughter and her chocolate eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Well, you said you liked him when we were at home watching anime, and he is still a guy no matter how old he is.” Vivian put out her two hands, pretending to hold the two reasons in her hands to show Laura.

“But we don’t know how old he is since Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are four years older compared to the anime show. That could make him forty!” Laura was trying her hardest to scrounge up an alternative.

“Didn’t you say that you saw his face and everything when you woke up with him?” Vivian was still pushing her plan, and even had Bibi backing her.

“Well, yes.”

“So, how old did he look?” Bibi was carefully prying the information, which was more like pulling teeth.

“Come to think of it, I’d say early to mid 20s, but that doesn’t make sense.” Laura’s brows knit together in confusion.

“Well, my other plan was a preemptive strike of kunais and skurikens launched at Kakashi by Vivian while I use the wires attached to my boomerang to secure him to a tree. Vivian will keep watch with her bow and arrows from long range while I will cover with hand to hand combat when he escapes the wires. Laura will try to get the bell, and if she runs into anyone else, she will have her sword, but also has flexibility in her favor if she has to dodge attacks from Sasuke or Naruto’s clones.”

Vivian and Laura bobbed their heads like doggies on a dashboard in acceptance of her plan.

Laura didn’t admit it to them, but she didn’t altogether detest Vivian’s plan for distraction.

As they were walking back from their camping trip, the sight of buildings caused Vivian to sigh in relief. She flexed her hands, trying to relieve her aching joints and pads of her fingers, unused to using her bow and arrows in quick succession. Laura leaned her head on Bibi’s shoulder as Bibi’s arm was slung over Laura’s shoulders to support some of her weight. Her ankle hadn’t appreciated when she had missed Kakashi and ended up slamming her foot into a tree.

A boy with a chuunin vest on approached Kakashi, “Hatake Kakashi, a message from the hokage.”

“Thank you.”

With that, the boy was already part way down the road, trying to deliver all the messages in his bag a little early so he could hang out with friends before dinner.

Kakashi slid a finger under the wax seal of the note, unfolding it to read the scribbled writing.

“Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, go on home. You guys will meet me tomorrow at the bridge at 7:00 . Sakura, thank you mother for letting the girls stay before we went on our mission. Her hospitality is no longer necessary.”

Sakura nodded, and then followed after Sasuke, asking him on yet another date.

“Vivian, Laura, Bibi, we’re to see the hokage about your housing at once.”

They were all sitting outside the hokage’s office in chairs.

“Bibi, let me see your ankle.” Laura patted her lap, implying that Bibi should rest her throbbing foot on it. With gentle hands that were cool to the touch, she rubbed the inflamed ankle in circles, relieving some of the taunt muscles.

The hokage had been standing there, watching them from his doorway. “Ah, welcome back. I’m sure you’re glad to be back after what I’m sure was a few challenging days worth of testing if I know Kakashi. Come in and have a seat, the chairs are far more comfortable in my office.”

Kakashi held the door open for all of them to walk through. At the rate they were visiting the hokage, they might as well set up cots in his office.

“I figured that you three needed a place of your own to stay since we don’t know how long you’re going to be staying for. There is only one apartment open, so you’ll have to share, but there should be enough room. Here is your address and an allowance for necessities.” He handed over paper currency and an official document of the apartment rental. His hands showed lines and wrinkles, similar to those that adorned his face, making him seem old and frail. But they knew that his frailty was only a façade.

“I think that they should attend the jounin meeting today.” Kakashi spoke to the hokage in a serious tone that he didn’t normally take on.

Saratobi adjusted his paper hat.

“You are right Kakashi, and I also give you three top clearance.”

“Top clearance?” The bemused Kakashi just sat there, visible eye wide and eyebrow raised.

“I have been thinking about this while you’ve been gone, and I believe it is best. They already know what is going to transpire, and because of that, I think they should be kept in the loop of all occurrences.”

The girls heads went back and forth, like watching a ping pong match, they were merely spectators as the two men volleyed in conversation.

Bibi, hesitant to interrupt, raised her hand, unsure of how to make her statement heard.

Sarutobi’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I apologize for not including you three; it is your lives after all. Go ahead Bibi.”

“We do know many events of your future, but what we do not know is how our being here will affect the flow of time and resultant forces of nature pressed upon your world.”

“I don’t follow; can you explain it in more detail?” The hokage put a hand on his chin in thought, rubbing the hair on it.

“For every decision you as a person are faced with, there are an infinite number of possibilities, each with their own outcome. Each outcome either directly or indirectly affects your life and that of everyone’s around you, something like a giant chain reaction or domino effect. Us just being here is most likely enough of a change to effect your world as we knew it from our home. Some events will still occur, but the conditions in which they occur in and their results may be changed. We are like a rock dropped into a perfectly calm and placid lake, and even if we do nothing more than drop in and sit at the bottom of it, we still created ripples that reached the shore on all sides of the lake.”

“I understand what you mean now, but you can rest assured that I want you to do more than just sitting at the bottom of the lake. Now, as for the matter of your training, Iruka has volunteered to give you a crash course in chakra training, ways of the shinobi, foreign relations, and other related subjects that you will need to be caught up to speed on. You three are dismissed, I will have a jounin help you find your apartment and show you around.”

“Thank you sir.” The three bowed, remembering formalities.

After they had walked out the door and closed it shut behind them, Sarutobi got a ‘down to business’ expression on his face.

“What did you learn about them?”

“They are more proficient than I had anticipated with their skill of fighting and weaponry. Laura is flexible and can wield a sword to the point that it seems it is almost an extension of her arm. Vivian has some powerful kicks and has long distance accuracy with her bow and arrow. Bibi is a skilled taijutsu user and seems to be the strategist of the group and, well, she can throw her boomerang, but I still think it is a rather odd weapon.”

“This is interesting, but what about the other test?”

“I had tried to test them in the elements, but something happened that I’ve never heard of before. I tested Bibi first, and I found no traces of any element that I know of which is unusual, but it got stranger after her. Both Vivian and Laura seemed to pull the chakra out of me, which gave me almost no reading but also strained my chakra. I didn’t know what to make of them. I believe that someone more powerful and qualified should test them all over again.”

“I have an idea for whom to test them in the elements, but I will have to see if I can contact them and then convince them to help. Make sure to introduce Bibi to Gai at the jounin meeting. He will train her eventually in taijutsu since you claim she is practically

a prodigy in it.”

“I also wanted to let you know that while we were in the forest, we were being watched. They were discrete but purposely let out impulses of chakra when I got close enough. I tried to keep the girls away from it since I knew they were in the most danger, but it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.”

“Do you have any clue as to who it was?”

“My guess would be one of Orochimaru’s followers. I’m not sure as to who exactly it was, but it could have been someone from another village even spying on me.”

“We’ll have to proceed as usual due to the lack of specifics known about this situation. Just make sure to be on the lookout and we’ll have to inform all their teachers that they should be on high alert.”

“Do we tell anyone else about their unique situation and background?”

“No.” The hokage’s rough voice barked.

“They are in danger as it is and we don’t need word getting out as to their real identities.”

“Yes sir.”

The girls walked behind Ebisu as he pointed out random landmarks and adjusted his sunglasses. He took them up a flight of steps leading to their apartment.

“Doesn’t this look familiar?” Vivian turned to question Laura.

“Yeah, but we’ve seen the general area once before.”

“You probably saw it when Kakashi took you for your training.” Ebisu reasoned. “Here is your door, I’ll wait till you get in and look around before I leave, but I must talk with Naruto first, I’ll be right back.”

Bibi shrugged and flourished a key from her pocket. She opened the door and they all rushed in, anxious to see their new home. It was a bare apartment that could do with some decoration and feng shui.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU CLOSET PERVERT!” A nearby voice yelled.

“Didn’t that sound like Naruto?” Bibi peered out their open front door and stepped out onto the torn welcome mat that she hadn’t noticed when they had arrived. She looked down to the next apartment on the right of theirs. Ebisu was being shoved out with a nosebleed by a furious pigtailed girl with whisker scars on her face. *Poof* Naruto appeared in place of the female.

“I just want you to stay away from Konohamaru before you teach him any other perverted jutsus.” Ebisu was a rather odd jounin and took great pride in training the hokage’s grandson.

“Konohamaru is the one who keeps following me around closet pervert.”

“Naruto?” The three girls had their heads all stuck out the door ways in height order.

“Cool, you guys are my new neighbors. Do you guys want to come over and have ramen?”

Ebisu left, taking out a handkerchief from his vest pocket and wiping the remnants of his nosebleed, mumbling about horrible jutsus that should be banned.

“I’ll leave you all to Naruto, you can see me if you have any other questions.”

“We’d love that Naruto.” They practically ignored the departure of the jounin.

“Come on inside.” He led them in, watching them as they looked around his house.

“It’s not much, but I have enough to survive on.”

There was a couch, bed, small kitchen, random jumpsuits, and a picture of team 7.

“I’ll make up some instant ramen for all of us. Why don’t you ah, sit down wherever you can find room. Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting company.”

They looked at the torn couch with his pjs on it and opted for the floor, it was probably as clean a spot as any.

He set different size and colored bowls, all chipped in places, down in front of the girls and chopsticks. “Do you guys want some milk to drink?”

“No thanks.” Laura remembered the episode of Naruto when he drank the milk that had gone bad. She didn’t quite trust him to throw out food after it passed the expiration date or even know if it had gone bad.

“So tell us about your past and why you live alone.” Even if they knew his past from flashbacks of the anime series, nothing could replace hearing it from his own mouth. Showing their support, curiosity, and care of his feelings that he so desperately craved and his struggles to fit in.

He didn’t know if it was because they were the first to ask about their past or if it was because they had never contributed to his hurting like so many others of this town, but he felt compelled to open up to them as a sort of release.

“I grew up as an orphan with no one there to love me, pack me lunch when I went off to the academy or go to family festivals with. Parents didn’t want their kids near me.”

But I don’t know why.

“I would sit alone on the swing outside the academy and watch as parents gathered up their kids and told them how proud they were.”

It was especially hard during our graduation.

“Iruka was the only person that seemed to care about me when I was younger. He would treat me for ramen and was really kind to me, even if he always yelled at me during school for slacking off.”

He was the closets that thing to a saving grace that I’ve ever had.

“I like to joke around, but I was always at the bottom of my academy classes no matter how hard I tried.”

It wasn’t fair to have everyone laugh at me when I messed up and couldn’t create even one clone.

“I want to become Hokage. It is my dream, my goal, my future. I would be the most powerful and revered in our history. I would be acknowledged by everyone for my strength and kindness. I could protect everyone in dire times.”

It’s all because you believed in me Iruka.

“I even have a bridge named after me, that’s cool huh?”

It is the first step towards my dream.

“I became teamed up with Sasuke and Sakura. I hate Sasuke and all his skill that comes so easily to him.”

But he is still a brother to me. Both of us alone in this world, filled with anger, passion, and a dream.

“Sakura is amazing and beautiful, and one day I’ll go out with her.”

But she’s always yelling at me and hitting me.

Sure, the girls knew of his background, but seeing the loneliness and pain in his eyes and the raw emotion construed in his voice was too much as they almost sensed his thoughts that had gone with his spoken words. Their eyes were tearing up not in sympathy, but in happiness for Naruto. He was strong in so many ways that he didn’t even see, but they knew and that was all that mattered right now. They all set their empty bowls down and crushed him in a giant hug while trying to lift the weight of his life off his shoulders ever so slightly to make it just a little more bearable for him.

The hug was a strange feeling, the only person that had ever hugged him was Iruka and now three girls he’d only known for days managed to drag out his memories and still accept him and go as far as caring enough to hug him. They truly were different.

“Thanks Naruto, for everything. We’ll see you tomorrow, but we need to go fix up our place some. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to knock on our door.” Laura ruffled his hair. Geeze, he must be 5’7”. When did he get so tall?

Bibi unlocked the door to their apartment as the door groaned and squeaked open. The barren apartment might as well have been a desert with nothing but floors and walls.

“We need some decoration or something in here.” Vivian though of ways to make it feel more lived in.

“I have an idea.” Laura pulled off her bag and rummaged through it. She plucked something out of it and tacked it to a wall with a nail that she had found still left in the wall. “Perfect.”

They stepped into a hall filled with folding chairs in the front and open space to mingle with people in the back. Kakashi streeled through the crowd of jounins with Laura, Vivian, and Bibi on either side of him.

“Ah, Kakashi, my eternal rival, I am jealous of your harem. Why do you get a fan club of three young girls, and even get permission for them to attend a jounin meeting. It’s not fair.”

“We’re not his harem.” Vivian glared at Gai, and then mumbled, “but Laura would like to be.”

“Gai, I want to introduce you to Laura, Vivian, and Bibi. Bibi is very skilled in taijutsu and might benefit from some of your training.”

“Wait a second.” He whipped out a lime green spandex jumpsuit, his quick motions sending his bowl cut hair slightly out of place. “We could be matching!” He held out the jumpsuit in one hand while he gave a thumbs up with the other and had a blinding shine off of his teeth in his nice guy pose.

“No thanks.” She stared at the offending outfit in disgust that she tried to hide from Gai.

“It does wonders for your curves.” He raised his eyebrows a couple times suggestively.

“And you know, Angelina Jolie wore a silver one for the Tomb Raider 2 movie, so you might look great in this green one.” Laura was going to hang this over her for months.

“Die.” Bibi said pointedly at Laura for all of her ‘help’.

People were whispering about who they were and they were at a jounin meeting, luckily the hokage chose that moment to stand behind the pedestal on top of the stage. “I call this meeting to order, will everyone please take their seats.”

He waited as the crowd settled and quieted down before continuing.

“Rumors have reached my ears of a missing-nin organization that is rapidly gaining influence in many of the hidden villages. We are not sure yet of their existence, members, or objectives, but do not take this rumor lightly. I want all of you to keep your ears open on missions and tell me of any mentions of this organization.”

“In sand, there was a rogue cabinet member that tried to influence the people to overthrow the government and replace it with a new leader.”

Asuma raised a hand. “Should we send in some political ambassadors into sand to see what was behind the revolt?”

“No, I want all of our ninjas to be stationed here for the chuunin exam that is coming up. I am also raising the threat level due to unsubstantiated mission documents mentioning Orochimaru’s increased activity level.”

Everyone’s face grew more sullen at the mention of the Sannin.

“On mention of the exam, I have the list of examiners for this year’s chuunin exam. The first test will be given by Ibiki.” The mentioned jounin and torture specialist got a sadistic smile on his scared face. “Anko will be in charge of the survival forest portion. Gekkou Hayate will be overseeing the preliminary matches. Genma will be the one in charge of the final matches that occur a month after the preliminary matches are completed.”

The three girls looked at each other with knowing smiles, yep, everything was still going according to plan.

“Oh, and as a random comment, Naruto has been defiling the hokage monument again with pink spray paint.”

“How do you know it was him.” Kakashi, though not arguing the participation of Naruto in this act, was curious as to how he was proven the culprit.

“I ran into him and he had pink paint on his face and hair.”

“Any other questions?” He paused to look over the assembly.

“No, then the meeting is adjourned.”

“Why don’t you guys join me and some other jounins at the jounin bar?” Kakashi asked.

“Sure Kakashi, it’s not like we have much else to do.” Laura smiled, “it would be cool to meet some of the other jounins that have teams.”

They walked through the door and noticed the humm of a crowd of jounin scattered throughout the place.

“Asuma, Kurenai, meet Laura, Bibi, and Vivian, new additions to my team.”

Asuma took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled as the smoke curled before his face. “Nice to meet you.”

Kurenai measured up all three of them, her red eyes filled with questions as she stood beside Asuma. What were three gennins doing at a jounin meeting? “Hello.”

Kakashi had disappeared from their side. Bibi turned around in a circle, feeling slightly uncomfortable in the crowded bar.

“Where did that masked man go?” Laura wondered out loud.

Vivian pulled on Laura’s sleeve and pointed to a booth in the far corner where Kakashi was sitting, Genma was across from him.

As they walked over, Vivian reached up on her tiptoes to whisper in Laura’s ear. “Isn’t it that hot guy from the chuunin exam?” Little did she know that his keen ears picked up on her comments.

“Go on Vivian, talk to him.” She gave her friend a gentle shove, trying to get her to talk with Genma before the rest of them sat down.

Vivian took a hesitant step and froze, turning around and motioning with her hands for help as she looked at Bibi and Laura with a face pleading for intervention. Laura shakes her head no and holds Bibi back. She wanted her friend to find the guts on her own to interact with a guy.

Vivian got up the courage to sit down next to Kakashi and smiled at Genma who had a senbon needle precariously poised in his mouth. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but failed miserably. She turned to Kakashi as an escape. “How old are you Kakashi?”

The out of the blue question was picked up by Laura’s ears and she sighed as she took a sat next to Vivian , across from Genma, and Bibi sat on the end.

“Why do you want to know?”

Laura sat next to Vivian, across from Genma, and Bibi sat on the end.

“Because you look really old, and you tend to slump which is a tell tale sign of a bad back. You could be suffering from osteoporosis. Do you drink enough milk?”

Kakashi was looking at Vivian, mentally fitting her into a straight jacket.

“I’ll have you know that my back is fine, and so is the state of my bones.”

Genma let out a small laugh. “Aw, Kakashi’s age is a sore point for him.”

A waitress walked up and asked if anyone wanted drinks. Genma and Kakashi ordered sake.

“This is Kakashi’s first year as a legal drinker.”

“So, you’ve experience those tiny bubbles in the wine quite often and illegally Kakashi. Is that why you’re always so distracted? Always off in your own world of drunken stupor?”

Kakashi made something crossed between a grunt and a groan at the line of questioning directed at him, most of which he’d rather not answer.

“I noticed that you always have that senbon needle in your mouth, why?” Laura inquired.

“It’s my weapon of choice; I’m deadly accurate with these.”

“And considering how easily you talk even with it in your mouth, I take it that you’re also good with your mouth?”

“Would you like to find out?

Laura smiled and winked. She was trying to egg Kakashi on and it was working pretty damn well too.

Bibi jumped in, trying to lead the conversation in a more appropriate direction that wouldn’t get Genma killed. She didn’t think that Kakashi could be sending out stronger vibes of jealousy and hatred. “What is the drinking age here? Where we’re from it’s 21.” Bibi, though not a drinker, was curious none the less.

“Here it’s 19.” Genma didn’t even take the senbon out of his mouth to talk.

“There you go Laura.” Bibi was implying that Kakashi was a lot closer to her age than they had all originally concluded.

Laura glared through the slits of her eyes at Bibi who just smiled back innocently in response.

Genma took Bibi’s comment in a different way, assuming that they wanted to see if it was legal for them to drink or not. He looked at Laura, “So, does that mean you want a drink? I’ll buy you one.”

Kakashi eyed Genma, for some reason wanting to rip the senbon out of his mouth and stab him with it.

“Oh, no thanks, though my friend here would like your number,” Laura motioned towards Vivian, who was past beet red at this point.

The waitress arrived with the sake. She leaned down to place the container on the table, her eyes met Genma’s and she smiled. If she was to concentrate any harder on attempting to seduce the jounin, the sake would have ended up on his lap instead of the table. A voice from across the room called out a name, she blinked rapidly and pivoted, heading towards the impatient customer. Genma lifted his cup, unfazed by the attempts of the woman to catch his eye, and set the napkin aside. Taking out a pen he had stashed in his vest pocket, he wrote his name and number on it. He held it out to Vivian as she stared at him with sparkles of excitement in her eyes. Laura reached out to take it from him, stuffing it into the hands of her paralyzed friend.

“Normally she has full use of her motor skills, but she must be in awe of getting to meet you in person.”

“In awe, of me?” He ran a hand through his stringy brown locks peeking out from under his tied hitai-ate. “I didn’t know I was popular enough with the ladies to be known all through the outskirts of Konoha?”

“Come on Genma, that waitress was about ready to put a leash on you and take you home with her like a puppy.” Kakashi’s posture was more relaxed now that he knew Vivian was the one interested in his long-time friend, but Laura’s flirtatious manner was a whole different story. Why did she have to flirt with him if she wasn’t interested? Then there was the whole matter of the stranger spying on us during training, but they didn’t even bother to attack.I need more sake.

“We best get going, it was nice to meet you Genma, and maybe I’ll run into you again sometime.” Laura smiled, it was getting late and she could see Bibi starting to nod off only to jerk her head back up in attempt to fend off the workings of drowsiness. They had all had a long day, and it was time for them to go to their apartment and fall asleep.

As they opened their door and stepped foot into their apartment, they felt a fresh breeze on their face. They had left a window open so that it could circulate the stale air in the apartment. Jingling from the two bells tacked on the wall was carried on the wind flowing through the house and out the open window. Proof of their stealth and success.

A/N: We finally got around to responding and thanking everyone! Look for you name and our comment to your review. Thanks for everything, reading, reviewing, and making our writing so much better from your inspiration. We have almost 1,300 hits on mediaminer.org and fanfiction.net just started to have hit counters as of June 20 th and we already have over 630 hits in not even a month’s time. WoOt!

Beta Note : I’m gonna give my beta message now. It’s actually an apology for being a forgetful one but hey I figure with all the work the Frozen Fan Girls do on this fic (I once got a call with them squealing about types of martial arts they’d read up on…it was frightening, interesting, but frightening) I owe them a public apology. The broken collarbone excuse only goes so far, and I can’t claim to be out of town anymore. So congrats on the good job girls, and keep up your spelling (or improve a little, either works).

…This is the spear-chucking beta signing out…

Thanks to the following reviewers from fanfiction.net

shorty
2005-07-12
ch 11, anon.

We’re trying to get things moving faster, don’t worry

M
2005-06-30
ch 11, anon.

Don’t hurt yourself from all the laughing, you’re bound to fall off your chair once in a while, and trust us, it hurts. ^_^

MisSs005
2005-06-30
ch 11, signed

We’re still getting the hang of the action, fluff, and story writing in general, but don’t worry, we’re trying hard.

kayla
2005-06-29
ch 10, anon.

Update complete, and we’re working on the next chapter while writing these thanks

MisSs005
2005-06-21
ch 10, signed

Serious action always ensues the mention of Orochimaru, Itach, and the rest of those nail polish wearing s-class criminals.

Angel Yuriko
2005-06-19
ch 10, signed

Glad you think it’s good, thanks

M
2005-06-06
ch 10, anon.

Now that it’s summer, we’re trying to update in a more timely fashion

kayla
2005-06-04
ch 10, anon.

If you think that was awesome, just keep reading, we hope to blow everyone’s socks off

kayla
2005-06-01
ch 9, anon.

We’re trying to update *ducks as master cracks whip*

kayla
2005-05-28
ch 9, anon.

This chapter is definitely our longest yet, enjoy

kayla
2005-05-18
ch 9, anon.

You’re never a pest, you are inspiration!!!!

kayla
2005-05-06
ch 9, anon.

Wow, *crushes you in bear hug* thank you soooo much for reviewing 3 times for one chapter

short freak
2005-04-19
ch 9, anon.

Don’t you just love our simple reasoning no chakra = dead shinobi. You’ll see in time what all the flashbacks add up to.

short freak
2005-04-15
ch 8, anon.

Team 7 ½ ROCKS!

shortfreak
2005-04-15
ch 7, anon.

Randomness rules the universe, we have learned this the hard way.

shortfreak
2005-04-15
ch 6, anon.

We all have our quirks about us, cheese is just one of Vivian’s.

shortfreak
2005-04-15
ch 5, anon.

We weren’t really sure if there are cars in Naruto, but we hadn’t seen any so we just assumed that there weren’t.

shortfreak
2005-04-15
ch 4, anon.

Oh yes, we pratically put panteen pro-V on a billboard, they should be paying us for advertising for them ^_^ jk

shortfreak
2005-04-15
ch 3, anon.

Yep, Inner Sakura is one of our favorite funny characters

loveable-M
2005-04-15
ch 9, signed

You need a tooth brush and a dentist appointment for some of the fluff we have in mind.

Kayla
2005-04-10
ch 8, anon.

I’m glad you like it no matter what flame we got. Thanks for always being supportive.

Rhythmic
2005-03-20
ch 8, signed

Tents are fun, and yes, we actually made one with hairclips once, but we used sheets instead of raincoats. *giggles at memory*

loveable-M
2005-03-19
ch 8, signed

*hears your chant of update and does a tribal dance to it*

a person(mysterious huh?)
2005-03-18
ch 8, anon.

Thanks for helping us with that detail, and yes there are pairings, matters of the heart take time my friend.

M
2005-03-08
ch 7, anon.

We try, well, not really. Humor and sarcasm comes naturally and sometimes even when we don’t want it.

Rika
2005-02-25
ch 1, anon.

Glad you see similarities with your life and our story, but have you gotten thrown into an anime series, if so, how did you do it because we want to really get thrown into Naruto too! *sighs as we dream*

loveable-M
2005-02-22
ch 6, signed

*bows down to your wishes of more updates*

Rhythmic
2005-02-21
ch 6, signed

Kya actually tried to convince me once that there was a cheese that causes cancer, and I thought that it was really funny.

Devilz-Fallen
2005-02-01
ch 5, signed

Geeze, you reviewers are slave drivers, but we love you all

loveable-M
2005-01-25
ch 5, signed

*engulfs you in hug* You are one of the most dependable reviewers.

Aka Yuki-hime
2005-01-14
ch 5, signed

You cannot force brilliance to work faster, but you can push us (gomen, that didn’t make any sense)

Cyberwing
2005-01-13
ch 5, signed

I can hear your laugher from my computer

Nettie
2005-01-13
ch 1, anon.

Slutty? Have you looked on TV, music videos, or even at a high school? How are they slutty? There was no cleavage, and their butts were perfectly covered and Bibi refused to wear those clothes because she is more conservative. Though I have to admit that I was pleased to know that you disliked our story soo much that you felt compelled to write about it. As my English teacher who was a writer for a newspaper once said “It doesn’t matter if the comments people give you about your writing is good or bad, it was that you wrote well enough to evoke such a strong feeling in them that they felt compelled to tell you that they either hated it or loved it.” And no, they aren't perfect or anywhere close to it, if they were, then they would be named Mary Poppins instead.

Rhythmic
2005-01-12
ch 5, signed

Did you like the training so far, and do you think the tests by Kakashi were well thought out?

Rhythmic
2005-01-10
ch 4, signed

Or else…..*swallows nervously* “Please don’t hurt us!” *quivers under desk in fear*

Bi
2005-01-10
ch 4, anon.

Rants are fun, and we have them often in real life.

you know who I am
2004-12-26
ch 3, anon.

You’re probably already mentally scared from looking in the mirror, and yes that was a really cheap shot we took at you, but we’re allowed because you’re a friend we’ve known since before we wrote this or even liked Naruto

Bi
2004-12-23
ch 3, anon.

*hands over tissue so that you can wipe your eyes and blow your nose*

Rhythmic
2004-12-23
ch 3, signed

We wish boys would just fall in love with our goddess like beauty, wait we don’t have that, hmmmm, that must be why there are no guys in love with us.

An1m3Pw4ag3
2004-12-12
ch 2, signed

*reaches hand out* Here, I’ll help you so that you don’t fall off the cliffy.

An1m3Pw4ag3
2004-12-12
ch 1, signed

Wow, we rule? Thanks *hugs*

curlysue
2004-12-10
ch 2, anon.

Everyone in the story is a freak, we’re freaks in real life. Freaky and proud of it.

Dattebayo
2004-12-06
ch 2, signed

You hold the record for the longest review, but it is sooo appreciated. *hugs*

firegirlkya
2004-12-06
ch 2, signed

Glad you can review

lorenz
Lorenzo6600@gmail.com
2004-12-06
ch 2, anon.

Strange situations are always fun to read about.

you know who i am
2004-12-05
ch 2, anon.

Sorry you’re so scared, but wait, there’s more.

Rhythmic
2004-12-05
ch 2, signed

Trust us, we wouldn’t pull the kiss thing out in only the third chapter. Plus, you pretty accurately predicted what was going to happen, you must be psychic!

tennis-tensai
2004-12-05
ch 2, signed

That would have been really funny!

Dattebayo
2004-12-01
ch 1, signed

We give you credit for supplying us with Naruto *bows down to your cd collection*

Lee
2004-12-01
ch 1, anon.

No offense taken, we’re just glad you read some of it.

Poptate
2004-11-29
ch 1, anon.

No one in life is sane, especially not after we get our hands on them…mwahahaha

shorty#2
2004-11-29
ch 1, anon.

We love cliffys!

natalia
taliamsilva@hotmail.com
2004-11-29
ch 1, anon.

^_^ thanks

Rhythmic
2004-11-28
ch 1, signed

Continue we will

Blind Kunoichi
2004-11-28
ch 1, signed

Thanks ^_^

Dragonmaiden Bi
2004-11-28
ch 1, signed

Thanks for the compliment

Lara Roberts
2004-11-28
ch 1, signed

We’ll keep writing as long as we’re thinking and have a computer or paper at our side.

Thanks to all you great C2 people for archiving our story in your communities.

1. ..Action Packed..

2. Alternate Adventure Archive: Anime

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*Stares with wide eyes full of excitement and happiness* Thanks to the following people for adding our story to your favorites list.

Name

1. An1m3Pw4ag3

2. blackman

3. Dattebayo

4. Dragonmaiden Bi

5. Fariy Puck

6. firegirlkya

7. Lara Roberts

8. loveable-M

9. lunarmist

10. mappie

11. Marikfan1

12. MisSs005

13. Rhythmic

14. sard0nyx

15. Yokukuri

16. Zapperbug

Thanks and hugs to Angel Yuriko, MisSs005, MTG-Enflame, and Youko Demon for adding our story to your story alert list!

On MediaMiner.org, thanks to

Magerm: See more was written, don’t die ^_^

Aisha18: thanks for reviewing

D.L. Angelgirl: Sakura isn’t out favorite either, but she is needed in the world of Naruto, it just wouldn’t be the same without her. Have you read the most recent manga scanlations yet?

Kinokorox: mwahahahaha, suspense is great like that isn’t it?

Hiroto: Glad you love it

Pandora Black: I’m glad you understand that development is crucial and as you can see, we’re trying to add more action in every chapter

Pandora Black: see, two sets of thanks for your two reviews ^_^