InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Rebirth ❯ Arc Two: Chapter Five: Friends Are Like Family ( Chapter 5 )

Title: Rebirth
Author: Passionate Crow Rat
Rating: M
Pairings: Kagome/Itachi/Naruto/Sasuke
Warnings: None
Summary: Uchiha Fugaku was returning from a mission when he stumbled upon a dying woman and her infant baby, but it was only because of his wife that they adopted her. Now instead of two children they have three. At least her brothers adore her, especially Itachi. Naruto/Inuyasha X-Over
Disclaimer: Don't own either series. If I did Kagome wouldn't have ended up with Inuyasha and Itachi wouldn't have kicked the bucket. -weeps-

Ages:

Kagome:12
Sasuke:12
Naruto:12
All Academy Genin: 12

Chapter Five: Friends Are Like Family

Ramen-

Chicken Ramen-

With a little salt, and extra chunks of chicken. Add some basil and an ounce of pepper-

Uzumaki Naruto laid sprawled out in his bed, his body wrapped in a mess of sheets, and his froggy cap nearly falling off. The pre-teen was sleeping so peacefully, having what he would consider to be the greatest dream, but there was one tiny little problem.

A loud problem actually.

In the back of his hazy mind he could hear this aggravating tapping! If it would just shut-up, he could get back to his dream.

Once. Twice. The third time, and finally his irate but groggy blue eyes opened. Slowly, but surely, it dawned on him that someone was knocking at his door. The knocks had a very familiar rhythm to them as well.

Real familiar.

"Damn it!"

Leaping out the bed, he ended up on the floor, tangled in a mess of sheets. With another string of curses the young boy managed to get to his feet. Maneuvering his way to the front door was somewhat difficult, seeing as his floor was a mess; old ramen cups, dirty laundry, several weights, and kunai were scattered about.

A few shuriken were stuck in the walls.

He really needed to clean up.

Naruto scrambled. Reaching out towards the knob, he pulled the door open-

and there with her hand poised to knock once more was Uchiha Kagome, hair pulled into a low pony tail, and lively hazel eyes met his own. He felt his face flush; she was dressed in her usual dark blue dress, white leggings...

He grinned sheepishly, hand resting on the back of head.

"Kag-chan!"

"Naruto-kun!" she squealed, grinning widely.

She was just so small and cute and-

"Dobe."

Well, that totally killed his good mood.

A visible twitch was seen on Naruto's part.

He turned his head to the other... person that had been standing next to her the entire time. Funny he hadn't noticed.

Uchiha Sasuke looked pretty peeved, as always; lips set in a thin line, eyes seizing him up - the air about him seem to radiate superiority.

Naruto scoffed.

The arrogant little bastard.

Sasuke decided at that moment to waltz right into Naruto's apartment as if he owned it, shoving the blonde out of the way and ignoring the blaring protests. His dark eyes observed the small studio apartment with evident disgust. Wandering into the kitchen and picking up a carton of milk that had spoiled over night from being left out, he cringed at the awful stench.

"Dobe. You live in filth." The male Uchiha stated in a nauseated tone, holding up the smelly container. He would have tossed it into the garbage had it not been so filled with trash.

"Yo, teme! Get outta' my house!" Naruto hissed, frantically flailing his arms about. Did he invite him in? No! He most certainly did not!

"Naruto-kun!" Kagome reached out, snatching the froggie cap from his head, "How come you’re not dressed? Today is the final exam!"

She watched, amused, as his face went though a series of emotions before he raced to the bathroom, tripping over a few weights on the way.

The bathroom door shut... then abruptly opened. Naruto peered out, leering at Sasuke.

"Get outta my house, teme!" he howled, than slammed the door.

Kagome snickered. Naruto was always entertaining; that was a fact.

"As if I want to be in here." Turning to his Imouto, he said, "Let's wait outside. It reeks."

While she didn't say it aloud she had to agree. She'd have to help Naruto clean the place... again.

oooooo

Konoha Academy

Females were just so troublesome.

Naru Shikamaru was lucky enough to be seated right next to the door, where four self-proclaimed Sasuke fanatics stood. The girls were spouting nonsense. Nothing that came from their mouths made any sense to him. All he knew was that his ears would eventually fall off if this continued.

He was by no means like his friend, Akimichi Chouji, who sat beside him eating out of a bag of potato chips. Unlike Chouji, who more than likely was tuning out every sound around him, and would continue to do so until his bag was empty, Shikamaru heard everything.

Every annoying squeak.

"Oh Sasuke-kun is so cute!" The girlish voice sung out.

One thing that was certain was that he planned to avoid females at all cost. Simply listening to their chatter was bothersome enough.

Imagine being around one twenty-four hours a day.

"He is so sweet to deal with that guy!"

That guy would be none other than Naruto, who was currently crouched in his seat, poking and probing the Uchiha in an obvious attempt to get his attention... or drive him insane. One or the other, but probably the latter. Said Uchiha seem to be successfully ignoring him. It was somewhat amusing. Shikamaru was sure that he probably would have popped a vein by now.

"He's so hot! I'm going to marry him."

God.

Someone save him.

For a moment he pondered the idea of telling them to go away but that would probably have a more negative effect.

The slightly taller redhead gasped, having just noticed something very important, "I don't see that sister of his." Obvious relief laced her voice. "She's so annoying; she follows him around like a leech. It's not healthy."

It was just so hard for them to talk to their idol. When one of them would gather up enough guts to confront him, he'd simply stare at them with this detached expression and would never speak. To make matters even more difficult, his sister would always be standing inches behind Sasuke, watching them through half-lidded darken hazel eyes that seem to promise something...

Overall, the girl was very creepy and made approaching Sasuke practically impossible.

"Well, I'm going to go talk to him." Yamanaka Ino, who had been silent up to this point, smirked as the other three female gasp at her braveness.

"Really?" One inquired.

"Hai. Might as well since she's not-"

"Hi!" The perky, yet small, voice chirped out from behind them. The girls spun around to find themselves face to face with none other Uchiha Kagome.

Even Shikamaru, who had finally begun to successfully tune them out, had interest piqued. He really had to wonder where the girl had popped out from.

Now, Kagome was certainly enjoying herself. She'd just been coming from the wash room when she happened to stumble upon this.

There were few things that Kagome despised.

One of those few things were fan-girls.

She had begun to notice them a year or two ago. She'd been confused at first, and unable to understand why these giggling, pointing girls seemed to be everywhere.

They would basically trail behind her Nii-kun. She'd spot them in the oddest of places; behind trees, in trees, around every corner and even at their apartment, peering into their window.

The last one irritated her the most.

Who wanted to wake up and see some random girl standing in front of your window, or hiding in the bush by your front door?

Certainly not her!

So, Kagome supposed she'd have a little fun with this.

"Whatcha' all talking about?" she smiled sweetly, hands lock behind her back. Over all, she was giving off an air of blissful innocence and they could only hope she hadn't heard anything.

There was a long pause - too long for Kagome's taste. She wanted some sort of reaction, not wide-eyed stares.

This wasn't any fun.

Her smile fell instantly, her head tilted to the side and hazel orbs narrowed, a dangerous glint suddenly in them, "So which one of you called me a leech?"

Faces paled.

"I-u-um..." Ino, not too sure of what to say, merely pointed an accusing finger at the redhead. She was the one to say it. Besides, Ino wasn't foolish enough to get on the bad side of her some day sister-in-law.

She did plan on marrying Sasuke-kun after all.

Kagome's attention focused solely on said redhead, who had a little bead of sweat trailing down her temple.

Kagome just gaze impassively at her.

A minute later... and she was still staring.

By now the tension could have been cut with a knife. They were all waiting for something to happen.

Anything.

Just when the girls thought they could take no more, Kagome smiled a sweet childish grin. Waving her hands before her in a dismissing manner she spoke, "Oh never mind! After all, I'm sure you were only playing... right?"

A curt, but quick, nod.

"Of course you were." Kagome finished, and breezed past them, inwardly please with the result. That takes care of weirdo fan-girls. She mused, a sly smirk on her face.

To her right, she noticed Shikamaru, who was resting his chin on his hand in seemly tired manner. For a moment she paused, peering mutely at him, before beaming brightly, "Hello Shikamaru-san!"

A rather slow, lazy blink. "Hello Kagome-san." He replied.

She literally skipped down the stairs towards her seat and the boy simply shook his head, only one thought on his mind.

Troublesome.

Kagome took her seat, which happened to be in between Sasuke-nii and Naruto-kun. It was very obvious that things for the two hadn't gone well while she was gone (which was only for about ten or so minutes).

Sasuke was staring off at nothing in particular, not even acknowledging her arrival, while Naruto appeared to be sulking.

Um, she must have missed something.

Probably yet another fight.

She would have spoken of her concern had it not been for a loud clap.

"Okay everyone! Pay attention-" Began their Sensei, Umino Iruka, and after a brief moment of being disregarded the Chuunin lost his composure, "I SAID PAY ATTENTION!"

Startled, students raced to their seats, a few tripping over each other as they went.

Once everyone was in place, with their undivided attention focused on him, he smiled victoriously. "Good. Now I am sure all of you are aware that today is the graduation exam." Ignoring a few groans he continued, "You will be require to do the Bunshin no Jutsu. When your name is called, come to the next room."

Kagome, smirking, turned to Naruto, noticing his tense body, "You’re not worried, are ya'?"

"Maybe..." he said coyly, picking at the zipper of his jacket.

Sasuke, hearing his reply, growled, "Maybe? The idiot whined about it for a good five minutes."

Kagome frowned at Sasuke’s choice of words, but patted Naruto sympathetically on the back. "You'll pass. I'm sure of it, Naruto-kun, and than we'll all get on a team together."

"Yeah! That would be awesome!" Naruto perked up, back to his regular, chipper self.

Nevertheless, Sasuke would have none of that, "You better pass. I didn't spend the entire night showing you those seals for you to fail." As much as the Uchiha male hated to admit it, he had actually spent the past two nights teaching the dobe the seals for the Bunshin Jutsu. Of course, it wasn't his choice; his wonderful Imouto had basically demanded it of him.

How did she normally go about saying such things? Umm... Something like-

'If you don't do it, I'll be mad at you.'

She was so childish. He was beginning to wonder why he cared.

"Teme, you barely showed me anything!" Naruto exclaimed, "You just griped about how it was beneath you and crap like that!"

"I did show you, and it was beneath me!"

"Teme..."

"Dobe..."

"Guys..." Kagome muttered, with a raised eyebrow. After a few, unintelligible mumbles, they grew quiet, "Much better." They were always fighting over the smallest, most insignificant manners. She had a feeling it would never end.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

Kagome glance briefly at Iruka-sensei before turning to Naruto, giving him a wink for good luck, "Do your best, Naruto-kun."

oooooo

Do your best.

He most certainly would do his best.

However-

Naruto eyed the two Chuunin, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei, who sat at the desk, both with their arms crossed, expressionless looks on there faces.

They could look a bit more encouraging.

He spotted the Leaf Hitae-ate, sitting on the table. All genin who passed would receive one... Sharp blue eyes narrowed in determination.

One of those would be his.

"BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

There was the typical smoky substance that came from performing Jutsu's such as these. The smoke faded and-

Iruka's mouth fell open... as did Mizuki's.

There stood three seemly perfect clones, each looking precisely like Naruto. They were even sporting the same smug ear-to-ear grin that he wore.

"YEAH! YOU SEE THAT!?" Naruto howled so loudly that the entire class probably heard. He didn't care though; he was too busy cheering, and gloating at his own victory.

"Wow... I'm... Impressed." Iruka finally managed. He couldn't believe it. Naruto had actually pulled it off. He'd failed this test so many times in the past month but now he'd actually done it!

Making three clones.

Three!

Mizuki, though, was a bit more critical. Already out of his chair, he eyed each and every clone with a scrutinizing glare, growing even more irritated when he could find nothing wrong with them. Then finally, he arrived at the last, still smug, clone.

A gasp, "This one isn't right!"

Two sets of eyes turned to him, and Iruka felt a little lost. Sure, it was certainly a shock that Naruto had performed the Jutsu, but the clones all looked fine to him.

Naruto was naturally defensive. "What the hell are you talking about!?" Pointing at his now equally irate clones, "They are PERFECT!" the fuming boy stated.

Mizuki, after a moment of silent consideration said, tone serious, "This one’s arm is a little longer than the other."

Naruto could only watch with disbelief. They could not be serious. This was ridiculous!

Iruka had actually gotten up from his seat to observe the third clone with the supposedly slightly longer arm. "Um, I think it's fine..." Iruka trailed, squinting a bit. Maybe... Just maybe, the arm was a little longer... Or maybe he was looking too hard?

He was probably looking too hard.

One thing was for certain. There were many other students that needed to be tested before the day was over and it would not look good to argue with Mizuki in front of a student.

"Naruto. We'll have to review this and let you know tomorrow." Iruka explained. That would give him enough time to see what was up with Mizuki, who never showed this type of behavior before.

Naruto face fell, his clones puffed way.

This. Totally. Sucked.

oooooo

Ichiraku Ramen Stand

"Okay. Now tell me one more time what happened." Kagome began slowly; she pushed her bowl of chicken flavor ramen in front of him, seeing as he'd already devoured his own. "I don't think I get it."

"What's there to get? The Dobe failed."

"Sasuke-nii..."

"Well, he did." Sasuke grumbled, leaning against the counter. To him, this was all ridiculous. The dobe had gone and failed the test - the simple Bunshin Jutsu test - and now he was whining about it, probably just to get attention from his Imouto who was rubbing his back and treating him like a baby.

Even Teuchi, the owner of the Ramen stand had taken pity on the idiot, giving him a free bowl of ramen.

Kagome had gone so far as to not wear her Hitae-ate since the dobe hadn't gotten his own. He, on the other hand, had his on; he earned it therefore he would wear it.

Dobe's be damned!

"Mizuki-sensei said that the arm was too long." Naruto sniffed out, shoulders slumped.

Kagome blinked. "Say what?" Maybe she heard him wrong?

"The arm." Another sniff. "He said it was too long!"

"That... That makes no sense!" She exclaimed. And here she’d thought that Mizuki-sensei was a nice guy. Sure, she never really spoke to him, but Kagome always had the habit of thinking the best of everyone. (Minus the Fan-girls of course)

Even Sasuke had to agree. "Are you sure you just didn't screw it up?"

Naruto glowered at the suggestion. He most certainly did not screw it up! "They were perfect! Ya hear me, teme?! PERFECT!"

"Well... why did you fail?"

A glare. "Sasuke-nii, stop being mean!"

"Hn."

She just couldn't stand seeing him look so down. It didn't fit him; not one single bit. Wanting to cheer her friend up, she said with a sly gaze, "Want me to do a Katon Jutsu on his apartment?" They would have to find out where exactly that was first but that shouldn't be too hard.

Naruto seem to instantly cheer up. Grinning, he asked, "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Hai! Or better yet, I'll do a Katon on his head. Think of his hair on fire!" She could actually see Mizuki's silvery locks being burnt to a crisp.

"...or you could just drop it."

Two sets of eyes glared over at the unruffled Uchiha.

"I'm serious." Sasuke stated firmly, but was ignored, much to his displeasure.

"Anyways, I think I have a better idea." Naruto said. Once again he was all smiles. "I’ve had this stuck in my head for a while, and it would really cheer me up if you would help me, Kag-chan."

Meanwhile, Sasuke was resisting the urge to slap his hand to his head. He could only imagine what the idiot would come up with.

"See those faces up there-" Naruto pointed at the monument of the Hokage faces craved onto the mountain. It had probably taken months of hard work for builders to carve them. Once Kagome nodded, he continued with a crafty smirk, "We should paint em'."

Kagome had to admit that that was a little bit extreme. Her idea was probably safer... well the 'set Mizuki-sensei house a blaze' was. They could at least go out at night time, perform the deed, and run off; the odds of someone seeing them would be slim to none.

But painting the monuments?

Eh...

"Naru-kun I don't think-"

"Please, Kaggy?" He gave her the wide blue eyed, whimpering puppy-dog look.

Kagome's heart clenched.

It would be just so mean of her to tell him no - more so since he seemed to be happy again.

Sasuke decided to stop the nonsense before it got even worse. He knew his Imouto well enough to know that she would go through the same stages as always. First, she would go on about how it 'wasn't a good idea.' Then, after a little bit of whining on the Dobe’s part, she would ignore her own advice and go along with it.

Dragging him along for the doom ride.

"Those statues are that of the Hokages’ and you don't go around painting their faces, so wipe that stupid idea out of your head." Or he could go ahead and do it. Sasuke didn't really care as long as he didn't drag Kagome with him.

"Gah! Teme, you’re a spoil sport!"

"I use my brains, dobe. Unlike you."

This probably would have turned into a full fledged argument between the two - one that Kagome would have had to break up - had it not been for the new voice that interrupted them.

"Ahem, Naruto?"

The person had said 'Naruto,' but all three preteens turned.

It took Kagome about five seconds to realize who was standing before them and than she snapped.

"You!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him, cheeks puffed up and very red. "You’re unfair! What do you mean the arm was too long!"

Her loud exclamation had already gathered onlookers.

Touji Mizuki cringed, a little confused at the sudden outburst. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he went to seek Naruto out. "Excuse me but-"

"You failed him! You’re a teme!" She continued, fuming.

"Look kid," His already nonexistent patience was rapidly fading. He came here for a reason, and it was not to be yelled at by a puny little girl.

"Don't call me a kid, teme!" She jeered back.

That did it. Mizuki replied in a rather harsh tone, "Shouldn't you be home with mommy?"

At that very moment, something about the air seemed to change... for the worse.

Sasuke had abruptly stood and Mizuki could basically feel the sinister aura surrounding the boy, shooting off of him like sparks. Dark, yet extremely cold, eyes focused on him. Fists clenched, Sasuke began in a low, yet murky tone, "What did you say to my Imouto?"

Suddenly, it dawned on Mizuki who these two children were. The fans on there back should have given it away instantly, but he hadn't been paying attention.

They were... Uchiha's... that would mean... Oh, right.

He was in trouble.

Kagome hadn't a clue of what to say, and merely sat with her mouth slightly ajar.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, his ramen long forgotten. "I think you better say sorry Mizuki-sensei, like right now."

It had to be the years of being a Shinobi that allowed Mizuki to gather himself up despite the menacing gaze that Uchiha boy had pinned on him. Turning to Kagome, he began in a much more pleasant voice: "I'm very sorry. That was out of line."

Kagome only graced Mizuki with a scowl before turning her back to him. That apology was most certainly not accepted.

"Why are you still here?" Sasuke vocalized, he was pleased to see the older male tense. He truly enjoyed having that effect on others.

"Once again, I am very sorry! I only wanted to apologize to Naruto and give him another chance to pass the exam. I was a little unkind today."

"Another chance?" Naruto asked, a little confused. This was a bit surprising, but not in a bad way.

"Hai; it'll be a test similar to the one you had to perform today."

Hearing this, Kagome turned back around, still looking a bit vexed. "What kind of test?" she all but demanded. When she received no reply her brows knitted together. This... Sensei was really starting to get under her skin.

Far, far under her skin.

"Well?"

"... It's a private test. I'm sorry but I can't tell you the details." This was taking far longer than Mizuki had planned. He hadn't foreseen the two Uchiha siblings being with Naruto. Not to mention Sasuke had yet to sit down and was still eyeing him.

That kid gave him the chills.

"That means he has to go with you..." Kagome frowned, not liking the idea. "How long will it take?"

"Eh, no more than an hour I suppose."

Kagome nodded firmly, and her voice softened when she faced the blinking blonde. "Well then, Naruto-kun, we’ll wait right here for you. Come back as soon you’re done."

"Ugh... Heh, sure thing, Kag-chan!"

The siblings watched them go, neither looked to please. "Nii-kun."

"Hai?"

"I don't trust him."

Sasuke cool gaze focused on his Imouto, "Let me guess," he began slowly, "If he's not back in an hour you’re going to go searching for him."

"Right."

"Figures."

oooooo

"A hour my ass." Naruto mused out loud, glaring coldly at the scroll before him. He could only guess how angry Kag-chan and Sasuke-teme were. Well, at least the teme would be angry. Kagome had never really seemed to get mad at him, despite all the things he would do.

Mizuki-sensei had told him he'd have to learn and perform at least one Jutsu from this stupid thing. Now here he sat, leaning against an oversized rock, in the middle of the forest, his body slightly worn from his many failed attempts to perform this Jutsu.

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

He'd even bet the teme would have some difficulty doing this one... But then again, that egotistical bastard always seemed to do everything perfectly.

"I think... I got it." A slow smirk work its way onto his face.

"So-" A familiar voice drawled out, Naruto looked up to see none other than Iruka-sensei standing in front of him.

He didn't look too happy either.

"Eh? Iruka-sensei what are ya' doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here!?" Iruka repled back, on the verge of yelling. He runs all over the forest searching for his dim-witted student and this is how he is greeted?

Standing, Naruto shrugged. "I'm re-doing my test."

"Re-doing it?" Iruka asked confused. "Why would you be re-doing your test?"

Naruto had to think that this was getting weirder by the minute. "Mizuki-sensei said..." He shot him a suspicious look, "Wait, how come you don't know?" Iruka was his sensei as well; therefore he had figured that Mizuki would have run all of this by him.

"What?" Iruka seem genuinely confused and his features seem to hold slight anxiety. "Naruto. You passed the exam. The clones you made where acceptable, I told Mizuki-sensei to apologize to you and give you your Hitae-ate."

"Y-you did!" Naruto's grimaced, obviously aggravated, "Then why am I out here; and where is my Hitae-ate! He didn't give me a Hitae-ate!" he hollered out, close to tossing a tantrum.

Talk about a complete waste of time!

He was so going to go along with Kaggy’s idea of burning that guy’s apartment down. All that worrying for nothing!

"I didn't give you your Hitae-ate because a monster like you doesn't deserve it." Mizuki, who had been watching from the forest choose that moment to appear before them.

Iruka was unnerved to see his fellow Chuunin completely geared up. Two large Shuriken were on his back, and a kunai pouch on his side.

This did not look good.

"Mizuki. What are you trying to pull?" He asked eyes narrowed. Iruka already had a very good idea of what was going on, and couldn't believe that he had never noticed any thing out of the ordinary with the man before them.

He snorted, "Pull? Oh I'm not trying to pull anything. Say Naruto... How about you give me that scroll?"

"How about you gimme' my Hitae-ate?" Naruto replied back, sneering.

Carefully, Iruka began, eyes not leaving Mizuki, "Naruto you need to go. Now."

"No, I think you should stay... I have something that you really want to hear." Mizuki began, a dark glint in his eyes. "Everyone has been telling you nothing but lies... But I'm going to tell you the truth."

Naruto noticed Iruka-sensei face pale.

What was going on?

oooooo

Uchiha Sasuke was irritated.

His Imouto was currently leading them on a wild goose chase (or should he say Dobe chase?) through the forest.

This had begun a little over an hour ago when the idiot hadn't shown up. First, his Imouto had said, "Naruto-kun must be at the Academy!" So the two of them had literally raced to said location. Once there, she realized that there was no dobe in sight.

So then she'd said, "Naruto-kun must be at his apartment!"

Off they ran, to the dobe's smelly, filthy, disgusting apartment.

Naruto was, of course, not there. After that, Kagome appear to be panicking. Without a word, she ran out, heading towards the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. If it wasn't for his excellent speed he wouldn't have been able to keep up.

Teuchi informed them, as he was closing his shop that Naruto hadn't shown up.

After which Kagome totally blew her top.

"Nii-kun!" she'd cried dramatically, "Naruto-kun is probably half-dead in the forest somewhere!"

Now, here they were.

The sun had long gone down, and while they could be home, they were, instead, running pointlessly throughout the woods.

Uchiha Sasuke could stay silent no longer. He had to say something.

Anything!

"I'm annoyed."

Kagome didn't bother to spare him a glance. Dryly, she said, "You’re always annoyed."

If he were younger, he probably would have countered that with an 'Am not', but he was far past that childish stage.

Therefore, Sasuke said, "... I'm really annoyed."

Still dryly, she responded once more: "You’re always really annoyed."

A jerk of the brow, "Kagome..."

"Yeah?"

Voicing the question that had been on his mind for the past hour, he asked, "Why are we wandering aimlessly around the forest? I doubt we'll find the dobe this way."

Not that Sasuke wanted to find him or anything. No. Of course not; heaven forbid such a thought!

"We’re not wandering! We’re going to the shack." Kagome explained; it was the last place she could think of. Naruto-kun wasn't at any of the other places she'd looked, so he had to be there.

Blinking, Sasuke repeated after her. "The shack?" She must have been referring to the old, worn down, dirty, smelly shack the three of them had discovered a few weeks ago. She and the dobe thought it would be a perfect 'hangout' spot.

He, however, hated the shack. But then again, he hated a lot of things - like the fact that his Imouto was now ignoring him.

Looking around, he recognized this part of the woods.

Kagome, still a few feet ahead of him arrived into the clearing. She had come to a sudden halt. Stopping beside her, he observed the scene, it was clear to the two of them that something unusual was taking place.

Naruto stood, his face ash white, with a large scroll in his hands, a few feet away from Iruka, whose body was visibly tensed, and lastly Mizuki (who both siblings held a strong dislike for) was fully clothed in Chuunin gear, weapons included.

What the hell did they just run into?

Sasuke was relived that they had yet to be noticed, it would be wise to observe this situation before-

"Naruto-kun!"

So much for that idea, Sasuke thought, watching Kagome race past him, heading straight for the blonde.

"Kag-chan...?"

She frowned at the dejected tone of his voice, and paying no mind to everyone else she began her interrogation: "What happened? What's up with the scroll? How come you look all pale? Why didn't you come to ramen stand? Hey!" Turning to Iruka, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

When she received no reply, her eyes darkened. She really hated when she didn't get the answers she wanted. All attention was now focused on Mizuki. It had to be his fault, "What did you do, you Mizuki-teme!?"

Mizuki cringed. Her voice; he absolutely hated her voice. Unlike earlier, he had no reason to feign kindness, "Mind your business!"

"What did you just say to me!?" Kagome sneered back, obviously unafraid.

Mizuki reach for one of his Shuriken, and Iruka was poised, ready to spring into action. But before a finger could even touch the weapon-

"Don't do that." A voice warned.

Behind him stood none other than Sasuke, and once again, Mizuki felt the murky, scrutinizing eyes of the Uchiha on his person. A chill went down his spine.

That kid still creeped him out.

"The three of you need to get out of here now!" Iruka ordered. This was absurd; he knew there were several shinobi out searching for Naruto because of the stolen scroll but not one of them had shown up. Instead, two newly entitled Genin had appeared on the scene. Did he have no luck?

Kagome turn her impassive gaze to Iruka, "We can help."

"No. All of you need to go; I'll take care of this." Iruka ignored the mocking chuckle Mizuki gave.

It had always been in Kagome's nature to be defiant, and today was no different. Facing Mizuki, she quickly went through the proper hand seals before inhaling-

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Cursing loudly, Mizuki was barely able to avoid the enormous ball of fire heading his way.

The Chuunin was sure he'd gotten away unscathed--

Until he noticed he was a little smoky.

Ripping off his vest, which had caught on fire he pointed an infuriated finger at the grinning girl. "Next time I'll aim a little higher!" she jeered.

"You damn brat!"

Before anyone else could speak, Naruto instantly sprang into action. "Don't talk to Kag-chan like that, or else!"

Mizuki scowl. "Think you can take me?" A harsh laugh, "You and what army?"

Really - that was the wrong thing to say, but Mizuki hadn't realized it yet.

Naruto was now sporting a toothy grin. It appeared as if some good had actually come out of this mess.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

There was what sounded like hundreds of 'puffing' like noises. Smoke seemed to over take the area and when the smoke faded they were all literally surrounded, by his clones.

They were everywhere!

Kagome stood in awe. "Naruto-kun that's amazing! There are so many!"

Sasuke did not agree with his Imouto's statement. His left brow seem to develop an annoyed tic, someone up there must hate him. One dobe was more than enough. He did not need to be surrounded by hundreds more.

Naruto gave his opponent a moment to comprehend his doom situation before he, and his 'army' pounced.

Ten minutes later, the three of them stood over the batter, bruised body of Mizuki.

"Eh, I think I killed him." Naruto muttered, not sounding too torn over that possibly.

"He's obviously alive, dobe."

"How do you know, teme?"

"Can't you hear that raspy breathing? Or are you deaf?"

"Are you callin' me deaf, teme!?"

"Hn."

Kagome rolled her eyes, watching the soon-to-be-another-argument unfold. At least things were back to normal. It was then that she noticed Iruka; he was just standing there, with a bewildered look on his face. "Iruka-sensei? You okay?"

The older male sighed. "It's been a long day."

"What do ya' mean my Kage Bunshin wasn't great? You’re just jealous!" Naruto suddenly shouted.

"As if I'd be jealous of you."

"Teme..."

"Dobe..."

"Teme..."

Definitely back to normal.

However-

Her hazel eyes darkened, suddenly remembering how pale and detached Naruto had seemed when she and Sasuke-nii showed up. He hadn't looked well, and his face had been awfully pale.

He appeared to be fine now but she couldn't help but wonder what had gone on before they'd arrived.

oooooo