Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Girl Named Yama ❯ Chapter 5 - Training ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A Girl Named Yama

Author: XoXSilverDragonXoX

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from `Naruto'. The only thing I own is my main character, Umari Yama, and maybe some unrecognizable characters that you may see.

Brief Summary: A girl finds herself dumped into Hatake's bed one day in a different world to deal with an emotional Sasuke, a hyperactive Naruto, a flirty Genma and lazy Kakashi. And of course, to deal with all the glory of life in Konoha to boot.

Last Chapter:

So, after the little mishap with the `book-falling-into-the-water' incident, Yama managed to meet with the Hokage. After a few shocking events (the shuriken, etc) they finally managed to decide what to do with her. Now, how will she fare living with Sasuke and shadowing Team 7?

Warnings: Seeing as this story is rated `M' be expecting a bit of language now and then.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

Chapter 5 - Training

“Wake up,” I groaned and rolled over, sticking the pillow over my head. I heard a grumble and then felt a nudge in my side.

“Get up.”

“Go away.” I mumbled. I could hear the few taps of footsteps retreating. Those same steps hesitated and I heard them walk back and end up near... close... very close to me. Then... silence. I groaned. He was beside the bed, wasn't he - the little bugger.

“Get up. You have to meet Kakashi today at the Academy.” I heard Sasuke walk to my left side and then there was silence. I sighed in satisfaction; at last he had left me alone - now I could sleep!

Settling down and muffling a contented sigh into my pillow, I had just started to drift off into the sleep world again when the worst thing that could happen, happened.

A pressure on my side alerted me that something was wrong and I jerked awake, only to find myself saying hello to the hardwood floor a second later.

THUMP!

Snap!

“OW!” I cried out in pain. I sat up, groaning, “I think I broke something...” I peeked behind me and there I saw a broken pencil. Oh. I turned my gaze towards the source of my troubles, glowering up at Sasuke, “Is that how you welcome your guests to your home??”

“Hn.”

Mumbling under my breath as I scrambled to my feet, I moved slowly towards the door on the left. I exited the room, and turned right to fumble for a door knob, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Finding one, I twisted it and stumbled into a room.

“What are you doing, going into my room?” I heard an emotionless voice ask. I wasn't too sure about it, but I thought I heard a tinge of amusement mixed into his tone as well.

Blearily, I peered behind me to see a stone faced Sasuke standing impatiently. I shrugged, “Huh, wrong room...” Just as I turned around, something glinted in his room, catching my eye. Curiously, I peered forwards, squinting slightly to see a picture frame on the night table by the bed.

It seemed to be a picture of a family. There was a man and a lady, as well as a little boy and another boy who looked like he was in his teens. Except, the older boy's face was covered. My mouth set into a grim line. I was guessing that this was his family. Sasuke's family.

I turned to go, but the father in the picture caught my eye. I frowned. I took a step forwards, and my eyebrows creased in confusion. His father looked so familiar...

Before I could get another look, Sasuke was in front of me, blocking my view.

“Move,” I commanded, trying to peer around him. Even though Sasuke was shorter than me, the picture frame was on a lower night table, so I couldn't see it despite his height.

“Get out.” He snapped. I jerked in surprise. His eyes were filled with anger. I backed up. Obliging to what he asked, I backed out of the room and darted into the washroom. I didn't want to mess with a Uchiha.

After brushing my teeth and combing my hair thoroughly (with a new brush, of course). Well, not exactly new, but it was from Sakura... I really didn't know where she had gotten it from. She said she had found it in a shop somewhere on sale.

I yawned and slogged sleepily out of the washroom, and turned left, only to slam into a wall. Ow... damn.

I rubbed my sore head. “Oh right... the stairs are to the right.” I was used to going left because in my old home, I had to turn left from the bathroom to go down the stairs.

I rubbed my eyes sleepily, not really worrying about falling down the stairs... since it usually took about 8 or 9 steps to -

Trip! Crash!

Clang! Boom!

— reach the stairs... I moaned in pain, lying in a tangled position at the bottom of the stairs.

“...” Sasuke was staring at me openly; fork halfway to his mouth as he was seated at a table to my left. This of course, was the kitchen. He certainly got to the kitchen fast. I wearily turned over onto my stomach, pushing myself off the floor, wincing as my body groaned in pain.

I also saw that I was lying right next to a coffee table that was wavering unsteadily.

“Don't move.”

I froze, “What?” I asked worriedly, turning my head slowly to the right.

“Don't move!” Sasuke had stepped over, reached behind me and—

CRASH!

A potted plant promptly landed on my head. I dazedly shook my head, still on all fours.

`What goes around comes around...' I dimly remembered thinking about the plant that fell on Kakashi's head a little while ago before I blacked out.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“...How long has she been out?”

“...hn... about 4 hours.” Sasuke's voice answered. “But I think that she was only unconscious for about 20 minutes before her brain sent her to sleep mode.”

“Was she really that tired?”

“Hn.”

I blearily opened my eyes... and stared up into a single eye.

Slap!

I had instinctively threw my hand up, and slapped something soundly. Whipping my eyes shut, I heard someone leap backwards which was followed by a loud crash. That was followed by a colorful stream of curses. And I mean a very colorful stream of curses. Let's just say that adding the word cat and dog with several other explicit words has taught me a new curse. One I won't be repeating in a long time.

I lowered my arms (which had somehow ended up covering my head) slowly and cautiously looked across the room.

Opps.

Kakashi was lying flat on the ground near the kitchen table. A chair was tipped over and a red mark was showing on the visible part of his face. Sasuke was smirking from his position— leaning against a doorframe.

“Eh, gomen...” I muttered softly, watching the Jounin drag himself onto his feet and glare at me. He seems to be doing a lot of glaring lately. I found that I was lying on the couch in the living room, and I also spotted the remains of a broken pot (as well as the plant), in a dustpan nearby.

My eyes rose to Kakashi.

This wasn't really helping our already strange relationship.

Sasuke nodded his head in the direction of a closet to my left. “Don't you have something for him in that closet?”

I glanced at him in confusion. I bought something? Since when? I don't even have much money! Sure, I have a bit, but that doesn't mean that I would go buy something! Especially for him! But then again, buying something for him might curb his dislike for me. We didn't exactly get off on the right feet. And my rash actions probably did not help either. By rash actions, I mean physically abusing him when I wound up in his room (because it was totally not his fault), harming his book, and slapping him just now. I guess an apology wouldn't hurt. It's now like he drew me into this world.

Sasuke nodded his head towards the closet again and I sighed wearily, getting to my feet and opening the closet. There, on the second shelf, was a wrapped package.

I stared at it in confusion, reaching out and wrapping my hand around it, and pulling it out.

“You got it for Kakashi.” Sasuke muttered, “Remember? You bought it yesterday, remember?” I stared at Sasuke in confusion. No, I don't remember, you brat. That's because I didn't buy anything. Kakashi only eyed it curiously before snatching it from my hand and tearing open the blue paper wrapping.

I was sure that Kakashi hadn't missed my confusion, but I didn't think he cared, since he got something out of it.

I lurched forwards when Kakashi suddenly gave me a clap on the back. What the-?!

“Domo!” Kakashi drawled. He smirked at my confused expression and walked out the door, holding something vaguely familiar in his hand, motioning for me to follow him.

It was the copy of Come Come Paradise that I had ruined the other day.

I stared at Sasuke, “… the hell??!”

He shrugged. “You can't learn anything if Kakashi if he is mad at you,' he said tonelessly.

“How did you get a copy of that?” I asked suspiciously. I could have sworn that Sasuke's cheeks immediately took on a pink shade.

"..."

"That shade of pink really compliments your face, Sasuke." I grinned mischievously.

"..."

A few minutes later...

“Come on! It's now like I'm asking for much! Just an answer to—”

I was promptly pushed out the front door with an apple that Sasuke had shoved towards me in hand. After pestering him for about five minutes straight, I think he got annoyed at me and therefore, here I am. Outside. And I hadn't even got to my second question yet.

Why?

Why did he do it? Well, another question to add to my pile of growing ones.

Why he saved me that other time from Kakashi, why he offered to allow me to live with him and now this...

“Yo!” Kakashi said cheerfully. He was squatting on the roof of Sasuke's house. His house was a nice house. A very nice house, indeed. From what I knew of Sasuke, I had always suspected that he had a huge inheritance. But if he did, it didn't show. His house was a normal size one, about 1/2 the size of Kakashi's house. It was a plain white, with blue shutters on the windows. The door was also the matching blue door and the lawn was plain, with no visible flowers or any sort of lawn decoration. Well, that was expected, considering how Sasuke was. The inside was traditional Japanese styled home, while the outside was more modernized. A little odd, but not unwelcome.

It didn't seem to be anywhere near the real Uchiha compound.

“Well, let's go.” Kakashi chirped, leaping down from the roof and starting to stroll casually down the street, hand in one pocket and book in one hand, eyes scanning the words.

I guess apologize now would be a good time. “Uh… Ano-!” Kakashi paused, turning slightly. I scratched the back of my neck nervously, looking anywhere but him. “Erm… I know it wasn't your fault that… uh… what I mean to say is—” I broke off, embarrassed. “It's just… well… sorry about before.” I stared at my feet. “I didn't mean to wreck your book. Or slap you. Or get you accused of assault.”

Silence.

I twitched. An answer would be nice, you bastard.

“Ma…” he said finally. He suddenly appeared in front of me, eye smiling, and ruffled the hair on the top of my head. “Finally respecting your elders, are you?” My simple stare turned into a glare. “Well, it doesn't really matter.” He gave my head another nudge with his knuckles, “But just so you know…”

I blinked at him.

“… I wasn't really mad when you dropped the book.”

Kakashi started to walk away, whistling tunelessly. I gaped at his retreating back. Wait… what?

Starting after him, I called out. “What do you mean by that?! Weren't you all like `wahahah, I'm going to kill you for ruining my book!' and all that?”

“Nope.” Finally catching up to him, I set my pace to match his. “You liar! You attacked me and everything!”

“Oh, that? I was just testing to see if you had been lying about your earlier story - about how ninjas didn't exist and whatnot. Besides, have you forgotten the mission the Hokage had given me?” His right eye glanced at me. “You were very clumsy.”

I scowled at him but paused. I had forgotten. The Hokage had given him a mission.

“Well, it's not like you weren't either.” I crossed my arms and pointedly looked away. “A ninja doesn't get whacked in the face with a book.” I smirked. “…or slapped in the face by a girl who just woke up.”

“…”

“Woah, woah, woah! I was just kidding! Just kidding, all right? No, no, no, don't look at me like that! Waaahhh! Put me down! Put me down!!”

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Oh, so this is the Academy...” I murmured softly, glancing around. I spotted a swing by a crowd of trees and I narrowed my eyes... a scene flashing through my head.

Naruto... sitting forlornly on the swing as he watched a large group of students that were crowded around the Academy's entrance. It was obviously graduation day.

I stood there, head cocked and staring at the swing. Was that a memory lapse that had just happened in my head? Was it part of the long, faded memory of mine?

“Yama-san?”

I blinked, and turned around to find Kakashi staring at me, his eye blinking slowly at me.

“Hai?”

“Are you all right?”

“I'm fine,” I murmured. I must have stared at the swing longer than I thought I did. “Anyway, let's continue on... I guess.”

He only raised an eyebrow before leading on again, eyes happily focused on his book in hand. I deadpanned. How does this guy walk straight with that kind of book in his hand?

I shrugged as we entered a door in the side of the rather large building and we appeared in what seemed to be a larger foyer-like place. There was a door to the right with a window beside it. Beyond the window sat a young woman, typing away furiously at a keyboard of a computer.

She looked up as we entered. Her brown eyes flashed briefly at the sight of me before it flicked back towards Kakashi. “Good morning, Hatake-san,”

“Ohayo, Jun-san,” Kakashi returned, “You wouldn't happen to know where Umino-san may be, would you?"

She paused slightly, “Mmm... I would believe that he would be in his office right now. He doesn't have a class to teach at the moment.” she offered, smiling sweetly. Kakashi managed a cheery smile.

“Arigatou!”

“No problem,” She flashed me another glare which I returned with a confused look, before following the sly Jounin down a hall and taking a left. We past by several doors, half of which were open. Inside them, I could see that classes were going on. Students that saw me pass would stare out the door in curiosity, until I couldn't see them anymore after I had passed.

OH! I get it! That person at the front was jealous... but who the hell would be jealous just because I was with this guy? There were thousands on guys better than him— but then again... Bah. I'm not looking for a boyfriend at the moment. I have enough troubles to deal with already.

'Are you sure about that?' a voice snickered in my head.

'...shut up Taka.'

'I'm hurt!'

“We are here.” Kakashi stated finally, stopping beside a green door. I nodded briefly.

We entered a brightly lit room. There was a desk to my left and a chalkboard to my right. The windows were straight ahead of us and behind a desk. And voila, there sat none other than Iruka, whom I had met a little while back.

Iruka looked up when we entered. He smiled at the sight of Kakashi and I, but offered a curious look at me. I paused, shrugging before glancing expectantly at the silver haired man. Iruka stood up from where he sat, rubbing the bridge of his nose patiently. I could see the pile of papers on his desk. My guess was that those were the Academy's records or something of the like.

“Ohayo Umino-san,” Kakashi greeted lazily, finally slipping his book into his pocket.

“Hatake-san,” Iruka responded, pausing when he glanced at me behind Kakashi. He gave me a small smile and nod. “What brings you here this fine morning?”

Kakashi shrugged, raising one slim eyebrow, “Nothing important, really. Hokage-sama wishes that Yama-san here be trained,” Kakashi glanced back at me, giving me a hefty look. More like I wished to be trained. So that when the next kid -cough-Sasuke-cough- comes along, he won't kick my ass all the way to hell and back. Maybe by the time that time rolls around again, I can actually defend myself. And to defend myself means not count on luck that I would fall down a hill to evade shurikens and kunai again.

Iruka nodded and turned to me with a small encouraging smile. “I suppose so. But it all depends on what her skill level is at already.'

Uh...

“...” Kakashi deadpanned.

“May I test her?”

“Um... Umino-san... that might not be a good—” Kakashi broke off when Iruka indicated to the small sparring arena outside the window and was gone. I stared blankly at the spot Iruka was moments before.

I raised a hand. “Can I learn how to do that?” Kakashi gave me a deadpan look and I laughed sheepishly.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Now, let's see what you're at.”

“Hm... this might not... be... you see...”

In a flash, Iruka had sped at me with a shuriken in hand, throwing it directly towards me. Upon instinct, I snapped a hand up and I... To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure what I was trying to do. All I know was that I just did it out of instinct. Well, all I knew was that I did it automatically because my eyes weren't even open when I did it. I had closed them the moment I saw Iruka rushing towards me. Coward much?

Everything was quiet.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. And that's when I found, in my hand between my index and middle finger, the very same shuriken Iruka had just thrown. My gaze rose and met a perplexed Iruka and astonished Kakashi.

What the hell made me do that?

`I helped you.' a voice whispered.

`Oh, it's you.'

`Some greeting I get.' Taka snorted.

`Whatever. How the hell did you manage that?' I grumbled.

`The same way I managed to dodge that Copy Ninja's moves.'

`In other words, you are not going to tell me, are you?' I accused suspiciously.

`Nope.'

`Baka.' I growled.

“How did you do that?” Kakashi asked suspiciously. I only stared at him blankly. Iruka offered me a small smile.

“Kakashi-san, I thought that when you meant `a student for me to train,' you meant one that was way below what seems to be her level. Her training seems fine to me. From the speed that her hand was raised and from the position she is now in... ” How the hell could he tell by just me catching a shuriken? I looked down at myself. My knees were slightly bent, and my arms were raised in a defensive position.

"... She seems fine. I don't see why you shouldn't get a high level Jounin to train her. I'm the sort of teacher that would train a beginner student."

"What would've you done if I hadn't caught the damn thing? Or hadn't dodged it?" I snapped suddenly. What if—? Iruka laughed sheepishly.

"That's what medic-nin are for..."

I could feel my eye beginning to twitch madly. I saw Kakashi grin, "Then I'd have one less of a thorn in my side." His grin faded and he regarded me closely with a serious look, "How did you catch it? You said that you didn't have any previous training."

How the hell was I suppose to explain this?! Stupid Taka guy... He was better off letting me get hit by that thing.

“Uh... That was a... accident,” I stammered, “I really have no idea what anything is. I don't even know how to use chakra!”

It's true; I really, really don't know how to use it. I mean, I understood how it worked and everything, but I just didn't... know how to use it. Knowledge isn't everything apparently.

Iruka paused. “Very well, even though I don't think you would need it, I shall train and teach you anyway, since Hokage-sama seems to be in favor of this as well.” he agreed hesitantly.

“Well then it is settled,” Kakashi grinned, “Now then, I think I should be off, I have a few students to teach today!” In the next second, he had vanished in a puff of smoke.

I stared dumbly at the vanishing smoky air, “Where does that smoke come from anyway?”

Iruka only grinned, “You will find out when you become a Jounin,”

“Which will only take about 10 billion years,” I grumbled.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

A month later...

“Yes! You've finally got it!” Iruka sighed in pure exhaustion, flopping against a nearby tree wearily. He gave me a small wink, "After what? A month and a half?" I fought the urge to glare at him. Even though Iruka looked innocent at first, I soon learned that this was not the case. The guy was even more devious than Kakashi was! And Kakashi wasn't actually all that bad... wait, what am I saying? I think I'm going insane here now. Kakashi wasn't bad? I bet the guy was secretly a slave driver, despite his lazy front.

Okay, anyway, back to Iruka. The guy's sneakier and slyer than a fox! But then again, it shouldn't be surprising, given his profession. You need to be better than your students - especially if you had Naruto as your student.

I nervously rubbed the back of my neck, offering a sheepish smile. It had been about a month and a half since the day Kakashi had brought me to the Academy for training.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the hang of using Chakra until two weeks later, which probably slowed my training down a lot. That alone had Iruka on his toes every morning. Using chakra… is a little hard to explain. Let's put it this way. Everyone has chakra, but now everyone is aware they are using it. When you lift a box, you are using chakra. In other words, chakra is energy.

For people who don't normally use chakra, or aren't use to the idea that chakra (energy) can be drawn out, it's difficult to try at first. However, there is a slim difference between energy and chakra. Energy is what you use to do everything. It becomes chakra when it passes the limit point. The limit point is the point where you are drawing that energy to use as chakra. So to put it simply, chakra is just a more enhanced version of energy that you need to draw out.

But since I was a person who wasn't raised with the idea of chakra, it was very stressful... for Iruka anyway. Not that stressful for me. It was rather relaxing for a change. I didn't have to go to school - or work. And all I would do was try to memorize those stupid hand seals... and the order they went in. And I tell you, those were hard to memorize! Okay... maybe not for most people, but I'm not exactly the brightest crayon in the box here!

Anyway, I had learnt a bunch of basic techniques and now I had just finally gotten the hang the new jutsu that the Hokage had wanted me to learn. Well, okay, it was more of a move that Kakashi had wanted me to learn. It was something called Mizu Bunshin no jutsu. It easily translated to the `Water Clone Technique.'

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Mizu Bunshin no jutsu,” Kakashi stated. Iruka looked at him, startled.

“Why that high level of technique?” Iruka asked in confusion.

I stood in the background, looking back and forth between the two, perplexed.

“.. Hokage-sama's orders,” Kakashi concluded lamely. I had a feeling that it wasn't just Hokage orders... but why would he - Kakashi - help me?

'What was going on?'

“...you want me to teach that technique to her?”

Huh? I perked up, what technique? The Water Clone thingy? Sounds rather interesting actually - I like water very much. Actually, now that I think about it, water techniques sound fun compared to fire techniques.

Kakashi turned, disappearing in a swirl of leaves. I glanced at Iruka for an explanation.

“He wants me to teach you the Water Clone Technique,” Iruka explained, handing me a scroll, “Here are the seals for it, you will have to do the majority of it by yourself, since I don't know the Water Clone Technique.”

“Uh... but why?”

Kakashi's voice suddenly drifted by, “Because you seem to like water so much,”

It was loaded with sarcasm. Oh… Now that I think about it, I had borrowed a book from Sasuke's shelf about water techniques. And I think Kakashi had caught me with it once. Was he doing me a favor? Or…?

I flushed slightly, remembering the book incident.

Iruka looked at me sideways, “What was that about?”

“...Nothing.”

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Yea…” I mumbled, “Now can I go home?”

“Not yet.” Iruka said sternly, “You have to continuing learning different jutsu's and skills. Although I must admit, even for a beginner like you, your chakra control is almost perfect,”

I smirked, mentally raising a victory fist. Yeah!

It disappeared when Iruka spoke his next lines.

“But that does not mean it is perfect. You still need to work on it. You may not have any trouble calling it to your will now, but you still have trouble harnessing it. You're still having trouble with drawing enough chakra for techniques,” He paused. “Perhaps it is because you are unsure whether other not you have enough chakra for a certain jutsu... Now, let's start by you learning some simple jutsu's before we go on to learn some harder ones. Although I must say that the Water Clone Technique was a technique that you probably shouldn't have had enough chakra for... I wonder how Kakashi would know you would have enough." Iruka paused, giving me a puzzled look. Then he shrugged it off quickly, "Anyway, you did study the sheet I gave you on hand seals, am I correct?”

I face faulted.

“Uh...”

2 seconds later…

“Yama!!!!!!!”

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

I plopped onto the sofa in Sasuke's house (now known as our house, well... not really, but close enough!), and sighed loudly, stretching my sore limbs. I closed my eyes, relishing the silence the house provided.

Home... I really do miss that place. Sure, this place was okay and I got to learn new things everyday. But I really did miss my mother. When would I be able to see her again? In this world... I didn't have anyone to talk to... about my feelings and stuff. Talking to Kakashi - just... no - that's not going to happen. As for Naruto... forget it, the stuff I tell him will end up all over the village in less than an hour. Besides, he probably wouldn't be able to offer much advice. Sakura, then? Well... I'm not exactly sure I want to talk to her about this kind of thing. She might tend to overreact. And Sasuke? That's like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall that will grunt and go `hn' every time you say something to it.

And speaking of the devil...

“You shouldn't lay there after training.”A voice cut in. “You should stretch out your muscles.”

“Shut up.” I grumbled. I heard a clank of a few pots in the kitchen before it was silent. I'm glad Sasuke can cook. Because I sure as hell can't. If it weren't for him, I probably would've turned into another Naruto, eating ramen for every meal.

“Kakashi says you should be able to come with us on our mission tomorrow.”

I opened one eye, staring into the dark eyes of Sasuke.

“Why.” I grumbled. I would have been able to sleep in tomorrow, since Iruka had told me that I would get a one day break. Kind of like a holiday, I guess. And having a day off was very tempting, because maybe I could actually go out and find a part time job to make money. I needed to buy some new clothes or something. Wearing clothes that Sasuke had found in his attic was just not cutting it. It was all; black, black, grey, and oh my god! A blue! I don't think I could handle anymore black.

“I don't know. Go ask him.”

I glared at Sasuke. This guy was just like Taka. Well, not that whole 'brick wall' thing, but the whole 'I-know-something-you-don't-know-but-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-so-I'll-send -you-around-in-a-circle-looking-for-an-answer-instead' kind of thing.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

The next day...

“Now then, Kakashi's seventh unit's next mission is... Well... let's see... we could have you do another D-rank mission. How about baby-sitting for Yojyu-sama's boy? Or shopping for groceries... or helping dig up potatoes at...” the Hokage paused, looking down at his copy of missions to be completed.

As the Hokage had listed out each of the D-ranked missions that could be carried out, I could see Naruto shaking his head furiously to each suggestion. The rest of the team didn't look like they were doing so well either... Sakura was staring at the ceiling with a wistful expression on her face, Kakashi looked like he was mentally banging his head on the ground at each suggestion and even Sasuke's glare at the floor deepened with each mission listed out. I knew it was only a matter of time before there would be a hole in the floor and smoke drifting up to alert the smoke detector...

I twitched. I think the Hokage was trying to scare the team or something. He had said earlier that I didn't need to go on any missions that didn't really mean… anything.

Naruto's eyes bugged out.

“No! No to all of those! I want to do a more exciting mission! Choose something else!” Naruto glared at the Hokage. Everyone sweat dropped.

“Somehow... I knew he was going to do that.” I muttered in amusement. Kakashi grunted beside me, "Maa... this was going to happen someday. But it just had to be today, didn't it?"

But nevertheless, I raised my hand. “I'm going to have to agree with Naruto. I don't want to spend the day weeding a garden when I could've had the day off.” At that I glared at Kakashi, who merely gave me a shrug.

“Baka!” Iruka bolted up from his seat beside the Hokage, “You are still a novice ninja! Everyone needs to start with the easy missions to gain experience!” Iruka glared at me and I shrunk back. I should've kept my mouth shut. I was going to be in for it at my next training session.

“But, but…!” Naruto started, “We've only been doing dumb missions lately. I want something exciting! Something that will get everyone noticing me! Something that will show the whole world that I-" I smirked. I was certainly glad that I didn't have to follow them before if all they had been doing were 'dumb' missions. However... I let out a heartfelt sigh. Maybe the Hokage wasn't trying to scare them. This was probably another one of those dumb missions too, from the looks of Iruka's glares and the Hokage's sighs. But hey, look on the bright side, if the team gets sent on another dumb mission than I can just sleep while they walk the dog or something. Or maybe I could sneak off and go job-hunting. I could also blame Kakashi, seeing as he was the one who said I should be able to come on the mission today.

“Gajek!!!” Naruto let out a strangled noise, landing suddenly on the floor face first. Kakashi's hand was posed in the air; he had obviously struck Naruto down to shut him up.

“Shush,” the Jounin grumbled.

“Naruto! It looks like I need to explain to you what missions are,” the Hokage scolded. Naruto leapt to a cross legged sitting position, rubbing his head furiously. He looked up, a look of curiosity dawning his face.

The Hokage shook his head firmly, “Look, a lot of clients come to this village every day. The request can vary from things like baby-sitting to assassinations. On the request list, a variety of requests are listed on it..." Sarutobi held up a sheet of paper. I cocked my head curiously. I couldn't read all of it anyway - I wasn't Japanese natively, remember? - But I could see that some of it had been x'ed out by a red marker. "... and they are separated in ranks of A, B, C, and D according to difficulty. In this village, we separate the people into Jounins, Chuunins, and Genins according to their abilities."

"We higher officials assign the missions to ninjas with the appropriate abilities. Jounins get A-rank missions. Chuunins get B-rank and C-rank missions. And of course, Genins get D-rank missions - occasionally getting the easier C-rank missions. And if we complete the mission, we receive a fee from the client. Since all of you have just recently become Genins, D-ranked missions are the best for you.” the Hokage stood up, unrolling a scroll and revealing various listed D-rank missions.

However, Naruto wasn't even facing him. His back was to the Hokage, and he was talking to us, “I had tonkotsu ramen yesterday, so I'm going to eat a miso ramen today!” he declared. I narrowed my eyes. He really did have ways of pissing people off, no matter who they were.

“LISTEN!” the Hokage exploded. Whoa. I backed up a step. He looked like he was at his limits. Awkwardly, I tipped back and forth on my toes. This definitely felt awkward. I wasn't really part of the Team, so I couldn't really say that the Hokage's scolding applied to me as well. But then again, I was following the Team to gather experience in this ninja field - even if it meant learning that the Hokage had a mean streak.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi turned their attention onto the Hokage. I rolled my eyes, they hadn't been listening either, were they? Naruto whipped around, still sitting on the floor. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Gomen,” he mumbled.

“Ah... you always lecture me like that, pops.” Naruto scowled, “But I'm not the kid who used to pull pranks anymore!” he continued, hands resting on his knees. He gave his 'superior' a goofy grin, "I'm a ninja now! And I have the evidence-" Naruto adjusted his forehead protector, "- to prove it! I'll show all of you that I'm not the same kid I was before! Just wait!"

“Hmmph!” Naruto turned to face us again with his arms crossed, a pout plastered across his face.

Kakashi rolled his eyes upwards, rubbing the back of his head in exasperation. “I'm going to get yelled at later...” I heard him mutter. I was right beside him.

I sighed and rubbed the side of my face wearily. Maybe I should've feigned sick today and stayed home. Then I could still be curled up in bed all nice and cozy. My eyes glazed over briefly. Mmmmm... Bed. Shaking my head, I glanced at Kakashi sideways and stifled a laugh at the look on his face. I gave Kakashi a brief grin.

Kakashi rolled his eyes in my direction, but said nothing.

I saw Iruka's mouth open in surprise, before he closed it, a proud look on his face. Even the Hokage puffed his pipe, looking rather pleased.

“Okay, I understand.” Team 7 looked up in surprise, me included. Naruto's pout had disappeared.

“If you insist, I will allow you to take on a C-ranked mission. It is to escort a certain person.” Hokage continued.

Naruto turned around, still squatting, “Really?” He looked rather excited.

“Who? Who? The feudal lord? Or a princess?" Naruto's eyes glimmered, "Or maybe someone who has a treasure that needs to be protected and the great Uzumaki Naruto will come and save the day when a thief tries to steal it???? Huh? Tell me, tell me!"

“Don't get so hasty.” The Hokage grumbled, smoke rising slowly from his pipe. Kakashi let out a small groan, "There goes my day with my book..." he muttered mournfully. I saw Sasuke and Sakura glance at him sideways, as though they had already expected it.

"I knew that he was lazy right from the very second I first saw him..." Sakura muttered, her jade eyes narrowing at their Team's sensei.

“I'll introduce him now,” Then in a louder voice, Sarutobi called out, “You can come in now,”

Everyone glanced simultaneously towards the door. Slowly it creaked open. The first thing I saw was a bottle of beer. I glared at it. Great first impression - I didn't like the guy already.

“Nani? They're all kids!” Even more of a reason why you shouldn't be drinking here, buddy.

I studied him. He casually lifted the bottle, taking a swig. Grimacing slightly as some excess alcohol leaking down his gray beard, I shuddered. No offense, but really... He wore glasses and a large black shirt, complete with beige shorts. A pack hung from his back and a hat was placed precariously atop it. A white towel was draped around his neck.

“Hey, is the smallest one there with that idiotic face really a ninja?” His cheeks were slightly red, confirming that he was a little, if not a lot, drunk.

Naruto burst into loud laughter, “Haha! Who's the smallest one here with the idiotic face?” He glanced around, but his two teammates didn't answer - both of them had their eyes closed. They both simultaneously stepped closely to Naruto. As if an imaginary line had gone across their heads, Naruto found out that he was the shortest.

“I'm going to kill you!” Naruto bolted forwards, but Kakashi's hand on the back of his shirt stopped him. It was quite comical, really. Imagine tying a rope to the end of your younger sibling's shirt (that he/she is wearing) and throw a piece of candy several meters away. Watch as he/she runs for it, but since the rope you used is only a couple of feet long, watch in amusement as he/she jerks back suddenly. A great thing to do to pass the time!

...

Or you can just watch as someone runs full tilt into a brick wall and then bounces off of it - flying several feet. Same difference.

“Don't kill the man you're suppose to escort, baka,” Kakashi said wryly, tightening his hold as Naruto jerked against his grip.

Naruto, kept yelling, “I'm going to kill you! Tear you into shreds and -!”

“Eh...” The man sighed and suddenly a name came through my head. Tazuna... His face appeared in my head, along with his name, but nothing associated with him drew up. I frowned. Curse my dumb memory! I hated being left in the dark. But then again, I guess it's safe to say that every human being hates being left in the dark - it is a part of human nature to be afraid of the unknown.

“I am the bridge building expert, Tazuna. Once I have returned to my country, I request that all of you protect my life with yours until I complete the bridge.” Fat chance there, buddy. Playing the heroine isn't my style. Playing the hero/heroine for some drunk idiot isn't anyone's style.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Yoshe!” (All right!) Naruto cried, pumping both fists into the air. We stood a little ways behind him and Tazuna. We meaning; Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura and myself, of course.

“Let's go!”

“What are you excited for?” Sakura growled. Her eyes were narrowed slightly and she was holding her stomach. Almost immediately, I realized that she must've gone on one of her 'dieting' streaks again and had skipped supper and most likely breakfast from this morning as well. Maaa, serves her right! Someday I was going to have to pound into her head that being skinnier than a pencil wasn't going to get you the guys. Some guys liked girls with meat on their bones.

“Because I've never gone out of this village before!” Naruto said, grinning and glancing left and right, his left hand shading the sun. He reminded me of a chipmunk - skittering here and there looking for acorns. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Tazuna glanced back at us, a strange expression on his face. “Hey, will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?”

Even though I couldn't see his face, I could sense the look of murder that was probably intent on Naruto's face.

“I, a Jounin, will be accompanying you.” Kakashi said, laughing lightly, "Where he cannot protect you, I will." 'More like protect your own book, first.' I snorted, earning an odd look from Sasuke and Sakura. I could see it already. Tazuna and the three students in a burning house... and his precious book sinking into a lake (courtesy of yours truly).

... And Kakashi would dive headstrong into the dark water.

A few seconds later, Naruto whirled around, “Hey, geezer, don't underestimate ninjas! I am a great ninja! I am the elite ninja who will receive the title of Hokage one day!”

Tazuna snorted, "Hokage? You mean you're going to be like that old geezer back there? No offense kid, but you don't have what it takes to be patient... Just look at you now, jumping all over the walls."

Naruto glared at the bridge-builder, "I don't care what you say! I'll be a different Hokage than all the rest of them! I'll start a new generation, make a new nindou!" Naruto smirked, “My name is Uzumaki Naruto!” he finished proudly, “Remember it, dattebayo!”

“Hokage is the number one ninja in the village right? I don't think a guy like you could get that title,” Tazuna retorted, drinking from his bottle.

Naruto popped, “Shut up! I'm willing to go through any hardship to become a Hokage!” He growled, “If I become Hokage, you'll have to notice me!”

“Hn,” Sasuke grumbled. I smirked, unconsciously glancing around nervously. For some reason, I felt really unnerved and nervous. I wasn't sure why though... You ever get that chilling feeling that something bad is about to happen? Well, I was feeling that now. And with my luck, my intuition would be right and some bad would happen.

“Notice that you said `If,' Naruto,” I pointed out. Naruto glared at me, and if looks could kill, I'd be dead a thousand times over.

“I won't kid. That is, even if you become the Rokudaime Hokage,” Tazuna snorted, before turning and walking down the path, pointedly expecting us to follow him.

At that, Naruto seemed to turn red and purple all at the same time and tried to leap forwards again. Kakashi casually reached out, latching onto the back of his shirt. “Stop it, stupid,” he grumbled.

“I'm going to kill you!!" Naruto snarled, jerking against Kakashi's firm hold, "Hanashite! (Let go) Come on! No! Let me at him! I need to hit him at least once! Come on Kaka-sensei! Just one hit! Just one little, itty, bitty hit!”

I frowned as Sasuke and Sakura started moving after the old geezer. I glanced around uneasily; there went that uneasy feeling again. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, really. Large oak trees on either side of the wide dirt road (and when I saw wide, I mean wide - about 25 meters wide), the occasional chirp of a song bird... Everything seemed fine. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in sight and I should be feeling good about that! But somehow...

Kakashi glanced at me, finally letting go of Naruto who crossed his arms and began to sulk. “What's wrong?”

“I don't know,” I said quite truthfully, “But something doesn't seem right.”

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

A few hours later...

“Ano... Tazuna-san?” Sakura asked hesitantly. We were all walking in a horizontal line, except for Naruto - who walked ahead of us, refusing to speak with anyone of us. Probably because of Tazuna's earlier comments and our 'unsupportive' attitudes I suppose.

“Hai,”

“You're from the Country of Wave, right?”

“And what about it.” Tazuna drawled lazily.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, “Kakashi-sensei, are there also ninja in that country?”

“Iie," Kakashi answered, “There are no ninja in that country,” I perked up, “... But while the culture and customs of other countries maybe different, hidden villages and ninja do exist,”

I paused. Well, this sounded interesting. Maybe something he'll say will trigger my memory and help me remember something!

Kakashi glanced at me momentarily before continuing, “To the many countries that exist on this land, the existence of ninja villages is the equivalent of the country's military powers. In other words, that is how they are able to keep their relationship with the neighboring countries. They are able to protect themselves and give other villages a fair warning that they are not apt to being attacked. But the villages aren't under control of that country."

"They are supposedly equal in position. On a small island like the Country of Wave, where it is difficult to be influenced by other countries...” Kakashi paused, “...there is no need for a ninja country. They are completely surrounded by water - in a way the ocean is protecting them. Among the countries that have a ninja village... - the five countries of fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth.. - all occupy a large mass of land and their powers are immense, they are known as the Five Great Ninja Powers,” He began to list the different countries and villages.

“Country of fire's hidden village of Konoha (leaf), Country of water's hidden village of Mist, Country of lightning's hidden village of Cloud, Country of Wind's hidden village of Sand, and Country of earth's hidden village of Rock. Only the leader of each hidden village is allowed to carry the name of `kage'. There is Hokage (fire), Mizukage (water), Raikage (lightning), Kazekage (Sand), Tsuchikage (rock), and they are otherwise known as the “five kages”. They are the ninjas that reign over the tens of thousands of ninjas that exist in the countries throughout the world,”

I contemplated this information slowly. It hadn't triggered any kind of memory, and in fact all the information sounded completely new to me. "So it's kind of like having the different countries ruled by a government official... or in the case of Japan, there are governors for each prefecture!" I concluded. Team 7 and Tazuna stared at me.

"You have to tell me about it sometime," Kakashi said carefully, giving me a look. I started and bit my lip, "That's what I read in books, that is!" I laughed sheepishly, "I'm not sure where it is though..." Sakura gave me a curious look but didn't pursue the matter.

I let out a deep breath. Whew. That was close. For a few minutes there I had forgotten that Sakura, Naruto and Tazuna didn't know about where I was from. I wasn't sure if Sasuke had overheard us earlier either... but you can't be too careful.

“Wow!” Sakura mused thoughtfully, “Then Hokage-sama must be a great man!” I smirked. I had a feeling that Sakura wasn't even tell the real truth. She was probably thinking something along the lines of... `Is that old geezer really a great man as he says he is? Sounds fishy to me...'

Naruto stopped walking, arms crossed. He was fuming about something inside... most likely. He was nodding to himself. By now everyone had stopped walking.

“Hey,” Kakashi's voice caught everyone's attention, “You all just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?” Since they were in front of us, I couldn't see their expressions. But Sakura and Naruto shook their heads rather quickly, repeating, “No, no, no...”

“Ma,” (well), Kakashi started, “don't worry. We won't have any ninja battles in a c-ranked mission,” Kakashi rested his hand on Sakura's head, smiling under his mask.

“Then there's no worry about meeting a foreign ninja!” Sakura mumbled. She wrung her hands once and gave Kakashi a tentative smile, "Right?" Tazuna shifted uneasy, running a hand through his scraggly hair. I frowned as I saw his eyes dart about, as if he were searching for something... or someone.

Kakashi grinned, “Hai!”

I gave Kakashi a sideways glance, "What about ninjas that betray their country?" Kakashi's expression changed and I immediately regretted my question. Me and my stupid mouth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke flinch. Eee... did I hit a sore spot? Naruto only glanced at Kakashi, his eyes glittering with curiosity.

"They are known as the missing-nins, hunted by the hunter-nins,"

That was all he said about it. We continued out trek, but this time relatively quietly and a lot more well... sullen, you could say. I may not have much remembrance of this Naruto stuff... but I'll tell you this, this entire group of people had a lot more skeletons in their closets than I did.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

About an hour later...

I sighed. This was so damn boring...

Then... I heard a clink of metal against metal and I furrowed my brows in confusion. What the heck was the sound?

I whipped around and was roughly pushed aside, just in time to see two shuriken linked chains wrap around Kakashi.

“Nani?!” Even Kakashi looked surprised. This wasn't good...

“What is it?” Sakura cried out.

“First one!” The two intruders were dressed in complete black with black capes. Each had a hidden mist head protector. And to top it all off, both even had gas masks. Terrorists much, anyone? One shook his black hair, focusing his gaze on me, before they both pulled their chains. Kakashi was reduced to a pile of red debris. My eyes widened in horror at the blood now covering the ground, but my attention was immediately drawn to something else. The two were moving already.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto cried out. I myself let out a strangled cry and glanced back at the others. Sakura had a look on absolute terror on her face and Tazuna looked startled, but not surprised. Why?

That's when I saw something flash from behind Naruto, “Second one...” My eyes widened. Suddenly Sasuke leapt up into the air, before unhitching a shuriken and throwing it as the two let loose their chains. The shuriken caught the chain, nailing it to a tree. Before I could blink, he had thrown a kunai, securing the tie.

The two tried to get loose, “It won't come out!” one of them growled. The other snorted, "He's a freaking brat, and we can handle him!" I felt my arms convulse slightly - I had to do something. I had training, right? I had to do something!

I leapt forwards, and pulled Naruto out of the way, just as Sasuke landed on the two intruder's huge chain, metal arms. Yeah, do something... like save Naruto from being torn to pieces. Like Kakashi had been. I bit my lip. Was he really gone? Just like that? But...

There was a pained grunt and I saw Sasuke take a firm hold of the two intruder's arms - one's left and the other's right. The next thing I knew Sasuke had let out a sadistic smirk, which made me shudder and as if the two masked ninjas knew what he was about to do, they both attempted to get out of Sasuke's hold.

“Hn.” But apparently breaking their arms was not what Sasuke had in mind - or at least, that's what I thought he would do.

Instantly, Sasuke kicked his legs out, catching them both in the face. Following that, their chains snapped off with a sickening clank and already they were gone. I couldn't see where they had gone. I blinked and scanned the surroundings carefully. Trees... trees... boulders... bushes... There! They were there. One on my left and one of my right - and they were both black blurs. They had darted around, heading straight for Naruto and me.

I saw Naruto's eyes widen as one made a beeline for us and the other went for Tazuna. There was uncertainty in Sakura's eyes, but she still leapt in front of Tazuna, kunai out. “Stay back, oji-san!” she cried out.

Feeling adrenaline pump through my blood, I tried to calm down my first battle nerves.

And then Sasuke was there, in front of Sakura, a look of utter determination on his face. Narrowing my eyes, I launched a kunai at the one coming for Naruto. I must've surprised him, because I managed to slice a cut down his left cheek. He smirked, "You can't stop me that easily, little missy..." he hissed. He stopped right in front of me, grinned again and disappeared. My eyes widened and I was able to follow his movements, now that he was closer up. He darted to my left side, dancing around Naruto and slicing the air where I had been just seconds before.

Now on the ground, breathing hard, I saw the man bring his claw down a second time and I fumbled for the button on my side pocket...

Clang!

I had managed to block his blow with a kunai of my own. I glared at him, feeling a line of sweat trickle down my right temple. I heard his breathy voice behind that mask of his whisper to me. "Not bad... for a brat!" In two swift movements, I found myself disarmed and he was bring a final blow down - the one that would most like kill me.

Not enough time to do hand seals... not enough time!

I closed my eyes tightly, and then heard two strangled grunts.

Opening my eyes, I blinked curiously at the two enemies, now held by Kakashi.

Huh? Wasn't he dead...? I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in, and managed a watery grin. I could kiss that guy right now! "You idiot!" I snapped at him, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?!" He gave me an eye smile, "Oh, I'm supposed to be dead? Sorry for coming back to life, then." I glared at him, but couldn't help but feel a knot of relief unravel inside of my throat.

I had barely managed to escape my first battle - just barely. What would've happened if Kakashi hadn't shown up? Maybe I just wasn't cut for being a ninja after all... Should I reconsider this profession and instead try to find a way back home?

“Yo,”

I glared at him, "Scarecrow...." I grumbled, half in relief and half in annoyance. Sakura's gaze brightened and she looked absolutely relieved to see him.

Sasuke was fuming. He was glaring at him. I could tell he didn't like his sensei's entrance. Everyone glanced back at the remains of his `body'… only to see cut up logs. I groaned; he had used the replacement technique. I was stupid for not having realized it. I should've seen the technique easily.

Kakashi took a few steps forwards, before turning back, “Naruto, sorry for not helping out right away. I got you hurt.”

I blinked. Hurt? Naruto was hurt? I glanced beside me, to see that he indeed, had a wound on his hand. I don't remember that taking place.

“I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move,”

I winced inwardly; that remark must have hurt. If I knew Naruto, I knew that he wouldn't like to be helpless. I glanced at Naruto's crestfallen face - poor Naruto. But I knew how he was feeling. He'd probably never been in a battle like this before, so I wasn't surprised. Heck, I've never been in a battle. I've never even been in a fist fight before! Maybe a verbal fight... but that's different. Verbal fights are easy when you have the vocabulary. Besides, I couldn't move at first either. Surprisingly, it was the enemy's 'teasing' that had kept me alive. If he had just did the job like he was supposed to instead of stalling... I probably would've been killed off pretty quickly. Because of the masked ninja's 'playing with the prey' dealie I was given enough time to recover from my shock to defend myself.

“Anyway,” Kakashi commented as he got closer to Sakura and Sasuke. “…Good job, Sasuke. You too, Sakura.” I glared at him, immediately narrowing my eyes. Didn't he see me? Hey, I think I did a pretty good job considering that I'm not even from this world!

“What about me?” I demanded. Okay, I admit it; I was fishing for compliments— who in the world wouldn't?

Kakashi rolled his eyes, but said nothing. Why that-!

"... Says the one who called me a scarecrow."

"Well... you are, aren't you? I mean..." I took a step back at the intensity of his glare, "... it's what your name means, isn't it?"

"Would you like me to start calling you 'mountain,' then?" he shot back.

"...no thanks." I see your point.

I saw the look on Naruto's face and my annoyance faded. His eyes were dark and he was all but clutching his hand in a death grip. I think he was blaming himself for not being able to do anything.

“Yo!” Naruto jumped slightly at Sasuke's voice, “Are you hurt? Mr. Scaredy cat?”

Naruto's shocked face seemed to please Sasuke. Since I was standing by Sasuke— how I'm not sure why— I gave him a swat upside the head. I had expected him to dodge, but to my surprise he didn't and received quite the whopping. I smirked at him. "Yo, you hurt, gaki?" (brat) The Uchiha glared at me, rubbing the side of his head and stepping away from me. I glanced at Naruto, who was glaring at Sasuke, but hadn't said a word. I patted him on the head. Well, at least I know that he'll probably learn from this battle. He's not going to be taking away nothing.

Just when he looked like he was going to jump at Sasuke, Kakashi spoke up, “Naruto! There are poisons in these guys' nails. We need to take out the poison right way. Ma… We will have to open up your wound and leech out the poisoned blood.”

Naruto's face changed immediately and he stared blankly at his hand," Ehhhhhhhhhhhh?!" he yelped, staring down at his hand as if a bug was about to crawl out of it. Sighing, I threw an arm around his shoulders. “Don't worry, Naruto. You'll be fine.”

“Don't try to move too much or the poison will spread throughout your body.” He turned to Tazuna, “Tazuna-san, I need to talk to you,” I stared blankly at Kakashi. Shouldn't he be helping Naruto first? Just as I was about to voice up my concerns, Kakashi gave me a look that made me keep silent. He lead the others deeper into the forest.

Seeing as there was nothing else I could do, I helped Naruto up and we followed the others. This time, however, I felt that sense of dread I'd felt earlier growing stronger.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“These guys are chuunin-class from the hidden Mist Village,” Kakashi stated. We now had the two tied up to a tree, “They are known as guys who will continuing fighting no matter what."

The two were awake. “How were you able to detect our action?” one of them growled.

“I spotted a puddle we walked by a little ways back. You guys are from the hidden mist, aren't you? It hasn't rained for the past few days, and it's sunny today as well, so a water puddle shouldn't exist,” Kakashi grinned, "After seeing the puddle I was able to sense your presence."

Tazuna turned his gaze to Kakashi. He looked angered, “Then why did you let the kids fight when you knew that?” Huh, so he did have a heart under that drunken stupor.

“If I were up to it, I could have killed these two in a blink of an eye, but I had to see who they were after.” I could see Sasuke glaring pointedly at a rock on the ground, but when I saw his eyes slide past me to stare at the two tied up chuunins, I knew he was listening. Plus, he was probably still pouting from my blow to his ego before. Sakura was sitting down by Naruto, busy inspecting the wound on his hand - which was surprising since I thought she disliked him. But I suppose she was just putting up an act before... she's actually not the prissy little girl everyone thinks she is. She's strong inside, though a bit childish at times.

Kakashi had his stony gaze on Tazuna, who offered him a well concealed look in return, “What do you mean?”

“In other words, were you being targeted or was it somebody from our group?” Kakashi said plainly. “We have not heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. Your request was to protect you from armed groups like gangs and robbers. If we're fighting against other ninajs, this is a mission that's above B-rank,” At that, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto perked up. I, on the other hand, perked down - if that were even possible. Hell, I knew I should've faked being sick today!

I edged towards Sasuke. `B-rank?'

“Our job was to support and guard you until you completed the bridge. If ninja are our enemy, this mission would have been an expensive B-rank,” I frowned, even when he was talking about something so serious, Kakashi had such a bored look in his eye. Can nothing faze the guy? “Shikashi, even if you have your reasons for doing so, it only troubles us if you are not honest in your request details.” (However)

“This mission is out of our league,” I heard Sakura breath out softly. She had a tired and weary look on her face. “Let's quit! We need an anesthetic to take out the poisoned blood in Naruto too. We need to go back to the village and see a doctor!”

“Yea...” I murmured, “But still... are we going to leave the guy to fend for himself? Especially with guys like those after him?” I nodded at the two tied up.

“Hmmm,” Kakashi started, “This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto,” Naruto glanced up, favoring his injured left hand, “Then we'll see If the Hokage can work something out, Tazuna-san.”

I immediately noticed the angered look on the blonde's face, and I reached out towards in alarm (you know, in case he decided to do something stupid), but pulled back when he pulled out a kunai and struck his wound with it. I stared at him in shock, along with 3 other pairs of eyes - Kakashi not included. Perhaps when I thought that nothing fazed him applied after all. Either that or he just had that lazy look in his eyes no matter what kind of situation was at hand.

“Why am I so different...? Why am I always... Fuck!" Naruto mumbled, “What the hell is wrong with me? Why didn't I move?!”

Sakura took a few steps forward. “Naruto! What are you doing?” she demanded. Naruto didn't seem to hear her at all and I saw Sasuke stare at his teammate curiously. Sighing at Naruto's rashness, I knelt and took his hand to examine it more closely. Well, I don't know all that much about poisons, but I suppose the clear liquid flowing out along with his blood was it.

“I should be stronger... I've accomplished lots of missions and I've practiced techniques every day...” Naruto was whispering now and I, being closest to him, heard him, “I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me... I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things... I'm not going to lose to Sasuke... I vow that to this pain in my left hand... I'm going to protect that oji-san with this kunai!” He had said the last part louder, so that the others had heard (besides me, that is).

Naruto turned around, a look of determination on his face, “The mission is still on!”

I gave his hand an experimental squeeze.

“Ow!”

Giving him a shrewd look, I snorted. “Well of course it's going to hurt, you just cut yourself you dummy. Right now it's better if we all go back to Konoha and give you treatment.” He gave me a kicked puppy look.

My shoulders slumped. Great. I felt sweaty, hot, and all I wanted to do was go back to Konoha... or better yet... go back home, and fall into bed - wait... a bath sounds better. Yeah. A bath first, and then fall into bed, and sleep to my heart's content. That should quench my weariness!

Or maybe.... my thoughts drifted back towards my world. Okaa-chan... Mmmm... I missed my mother too. Heck, I think I'm even starting to miss the three otaku fanatics. And that is definitely starting to scare me.

That's when Kakashi broke the stunned silence with a snide comment, “Naruto, it's nice that you took out the poisoned blood so spiritedly... but you're going to die from all the blood loss... What Yama-san said was correct.”

Naruto started turning blue in the face. “It's not good if you don't stop it right away... Seriously,” Kakashi continued, giving him another one of his eye smiles.

Almost immediately I was knocked to the ground as Naruto started to leap around, whining and crying out loudly, “No, no, no I can't die like this! I still have to become Hokage!!! Arggg!” I saw Sasuke snort and shake his head, mumbling something under his breath. I grinned, sitting up and giving Sasuke a devious smirk.

"What was that, Sasuke? You say you have a crus- mMMMPH!" I mumbled against Sasuke's hand, glaring at him. He glared at me back. How did he know what I was going to say? Or perhaps he's learned by now that anything that would come out of my mouth would humiliate him. "Shut up! " he hissed, glaring at me. He released me after a few seconds and I huffed at him, "How did you know that I was going to say that you had a c- mmMPH!" That brat. Spitting out bits of grass that had somehow ended up in my mouth, I stood and placed my hand on top of his head. I was about 2 feet taller than him. He glared up at me.

Grinning, I let out a burst of chakra through my palm. The end result? Sasuke flat on the ground, that is.

Kakashi sighed, “Show me your hand.” Naruto let out a whine, finally stopping and standing in front of Kakashi, who squatted beside him. During this time, I suppose Sasuke decided to retaliate with a tackle, shoving me into the bushes behind us.

I grunted, shoving Sasuke off of me before standing and brushing myself off. Sasuke glared at me from his position on the ground, as if daring me to say another word. I grinned at him. I had blackmail material! All this over something I was going to say.

“Naruto! You have a self-abusing personality. That's called masochism, you know,” Sakura scolded, hands on her hips.

“Taskete! I don't wanna die yet!” Naruto whined.

When I saw Kakashi's eye widen, I stepped closer; only to see that the cut was already healing. Mmmm... Now that was perplexing - who was this guy, really? No one can heal that fast; unless of course you use some kind of super enhanced drug (which I'm pretty sure they'll discover sooner or later back in my world). As I said before, this entire group of people was hiding something from me - Kakashi included. Tazuna had been hiding something from us too, but that was revealed now.

“Ano sa, ano sa...” Naruto mumbled slowly, worry still etched on his face.

Kakashi looked up, “Mmm?”

“Am I... okay...? You... have a serious look on your face...” Naruto's face tinged blue with worry.

“Ma, you'll be all right,” Kakashi grinned, before taking out a white cloth and wrapping Naruto's hand slowly. I could see the relief on the blonde's face.

I sighed. Were we going to go then? I thought inwardly.

Kakashi straightened, “Ma, let's go now."

He had read my mind.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

“Sakura-chaaan,” Naruto whined, “Please? It's just one date! I don't think it'll kill you either.” He crossed his arms, mouth twisting into a pout, “I'm even paying for the meal!”

“No,”

“Please?”

“No means no!”

“ITAI!!”

An injured Naruto now appeared on the ground, rubbing his head. Nothing new, really.

“Dobe,” Sasuke muttered.

“Nani!” Naruto flared up immediately and the two were glaring at each other, sparks practically flying out of their eyes.

I sighed. If I had to put up with a few more days of this, I was serious going to kill myself. Or, maybe I'll just scream, scream until my lungs give out or... until I pass out. Same thing. Truth to be told, the only thing I was enjoying so far was the scenery. Heck, the scenery in Japan could never compete with this place! The place was completely preserved, as if the lands hadn't even been touched yet and I loved it. No random litter here and there. No smells of car exhaust. Nothing like that. Civilization couldn't be seen for miles around, although once in a while you could see a farmhouse or two.

I carefully climbed down from the tree I was in. I can't jump too well yet and I didn't exactly want to break my leg, you know...

Kakashi was sitting, leaning against that very same tree and a fire was not too far away, crackling merrily away. Tazuna sat by the fire, drinking from his `bottle.'

I stepped onto the ground, centimeters from Kakashi. He didn't even glance at me. I felt a vein in my forehead twitch, as the sounds from the three 'brats' multiplied tenfold and I grabbed the first thing that was closest to me, which happened to be Kakashi's book. Kakashi glanced at me casually, deprived of his reading material but I ignored him and thwacked the book against the tree, catching their attention immediately.

“Shut up!” I snapped, “One more word out of any one you and I'm going to get Kakashi to read his book out loud, while you sit there, tied up and listening!” Waving the book threatening, I handed it back to Kakashi and glared at the fire, daring them to say anything else.

Silence.

`cri-cket.... cri-cket... cri-cket...'

Sakura looked frightened and was slowly edging away from me. Naruto was lying on the ground, a stupefied expression on his face and even Sasuke looked surprised at my outburst. Were they really that scared of that book of his? Maybe they were just shocked from my outburst.

“Finally,” I rubbed my left temple, "Some silence!"

“Well, you certainly quieted everything down,” Kakashi commented from behind me.

“Shut up...” I grumbled. I was pissed off. And well... any woman can get pissed off pretty easily. And having my `curse' of the month, which had just arrived wasn't helping either... nor was the moment of realization of it...

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

`Shit, shit, shit!' I grimaced. While I was relieving myself, I had found out that I had gotten my period. Just great. Wonderful.

I need help, and I needed it now! There was no way in hell I was going to go up to Kakashi. Umm... I couldn't exactly go up to Sasuke and say, 'Hey! You wouldn't happen to have a tampon on you, would you?' That would probably scare him to hell and back.

“Uh... Sakura!” I called out hesitantly. She appeared a few seconds later, giving me a small smile.

“Hai?”

“Um….” I paused. The others were staring. I sighed, before leaning over and whispering into her ear.

She turned a pink, and then a bright red, “H-hai…” she went to her bag and took something that was wrapped in a white cloth and handed it to me, “I'll come with you to show you how to use it,”

Sasuke was eyeing the cloth in a curious matter and Naruto had gone down to the river to fish for supper. I gave him a weary look. I don't think you want to know, Sasuke.

I sighed in relief and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kakashi grinning at me. I knew that somehow, he had heard us. Pervert.

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

I sighed, wriggling uncomfortable on the cloth-like plastic. It wasn't like how we usually used tampons in my world. Well, it kind of was and kind of wasn't. The good news is that they've invented pads and tampons here! The bad news…— Sakura didn't happen to have any tampon-like ones. So that meant I would have to deal with the pads until we got back to Konoha. And trying to jump and train… not very comfortable.

As I was saying; instead of using the durable plastic, these pads were made from durable cloth! They could be disposed of later, or they could be washed and reused. And I couldn't tell what kind of cloth they were made of - I swear it's like magic or something. It can last up to 7-8 hours without leakage. Which is pretty damn good.

There were a few moments of silence as Sasuke poked the fire with a large stick, and Sakura rifled through her bag, dishing out a brush.

Then,

“Ne, Yama-chan? What is-”

Everyone except Naruto sweat dropped. He just didn't know when to be quiet... My massive headache increased and I felt my eye twitch. Now here's the thing about my eyes twitching. Usually when my left eye twitches, something good is about to happen. When my right eye twitches, something bad is about to happen. Call it a... intuition thingy I have. And at the moment my right eye was twitching. Sorry Naruto, looks like you just caught me at a bad time. Bad for you, Naruto...

2 seconds later...

“ITAI!”

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

Walking at this pace, I highly doubt that we would make it to the Wave country in two years, much less two days. And plus, the land just seemed to stretch out farther and farther ahead of us, as if it were mocking us.

I absently picked at the sleeve of my black top. Maybe wearing black wasn't such a good idea. At least it wasn't long-sleeved. I was smart enough to pack an extra tank-top and a pair of Konoha styled 'Capri's' you could call it. I only called it Konoha styled Capri's because it had the insignia sewn onto the side, really. It was just like a regular pair of Capri's back in my world.

The sun was relentlessly beaming down on us, and there were no clouds in sight to relieve us of the hot sun.

Tazuna walked ahead of us, followed by Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke. I followed them, and Kakashi walked behind me, reading his book.

Though I had a few suspicions about whether or not he was reading his book at all... I glanced backwards, suspicions confirmed, when I saw him staring at me... I wasn't entirely sure... but he may have been sizing me up or something.

“Done yet?” I growled. His gaze met mine; he obviously didn't think I had noticed, "Stop that!"

"What?"

"Stop your... staring at me!!"

"Pfft! What's to stare at?" Kakashi retorted, gaze flicking back towards his book, "I've seen 90 year old women with better bodie-"

Thwack!

"Ow...”

“And I'm taking that book away from you too!”

“What? Not the book!!! Not the book!!!!!!”

To be continued…

[.a.g.i.r.l.n.a.m.e.d.y.a.m.a.]

XoXSilverDragonXoX

Revised August 04, 2008