Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Girl Named Yama ❯ Chapter 8 - Surprise ( Chapter 8 )

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:

 

After an exhausting fight and numerous injuries with the mist-nin, Zabuza; it's time to wind down and actually wrap their heads around the situation. It's fairly obvious that no normal ninja will be after Tazuna, and them as well. Is this mission too overrated for Team 7 and Yama?

 

Warnings:

 

Hints of Shounen Ai. Just a dollop. The story will not be going into this pairing, but the hints are still there - in case you're a homophobic and are worried about that.Or if you wish, you may view it was a budding friendship between our two favorite boys. Seeing as this story is rated `M' be expecting a bit of language now and then as well.

 

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

 

Chapter 8 - Surprise

 

'Yawn'

 

I yawned and rolled over onto my side, unconsciously snuggling up against something that was warm and comfortable. Mmmm... warm.

 

I heard footsteps coming from somewhere, but I decided to ignore the sound, feeling too comfortable and warm to move or open my eyes. Whatever it was, it could be dealt with when I was fully awake. And also when I was less grumpy.

 

"Ano... Sasuke-kun?" Mm... That was Sakura's voice.

 

"Aa,"

 

"... ne, Sasuke bastard! I bet I can eat faster... and eat more than you!" a loud voice shouted, "And I can - EAHAHH! Kaka-sensei is molesting Yama-chan!"

 

"Nani?!" Sasuke's voice.

 

Huh. My mind was starting to register my surrounds, making me feel incredibly whiny and childish. Why the hell couldn't they just shut up and let me sleep? You don't see me bothering them when they sleep! Wait... he'd said my name, hadn't he?

I blinked open my eyes, sitting up quickly, groaned in pain and dropped back down onto the futon in one quick movement.

 

"Owy..." I whimpered. My back hurt now... it felt like a thousand needles were prickling me in the lower back, all in one spot. That was when I looked up.

 

... Only to find Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in the room and staring at me.

 

"What?" I asked irritably.

 

"Ne, ne! What did the Kakashi-hentai do to you?" Naruto rolled up the sleeves of his orange jacket, "I'll pound him to pieces for you!" I saw Sasuke glare at him, before his gaze landed on me.

 

To my knowledge… the scarecrow hadn't done a thing. What were these three going on about?

 

"..."

 

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

 

 

...

 

THUMP!

 

I found myself on the ground and I groaned in pain. That stupid Jounin had shoved me off the futon... sure, it wasn't that far of a drop - hell it was even a drop - but it was freakin' cold on the ground!

 

"Damnit!" I cursed, "Did you have to shove me off!? I was already moving! Geez!" I rubbed my back in pain. There really was no fall to hurt my back, but I had rolled over slightly, changing the position of my spine. Kakashi gave me a wry look. “You were on my futon. Don't you have your own?” I blinked. True. I did have my own. I stared traitorously at my own. Why hadn't they placed the two further apart? And why the hell wasn't there a heater in this room? I blame the cold room. If it hadn't been cold I wouldn't have unconsciously sought out warmth.

 

He only yawned in reply, before sitting up, "I guess I'll be training you guys today. I feel that my energy is a lot more in tact than it was before. Sure, it is not fully back, but there is enough so that I can walk around... on crutches... probably. Besides, it doesn't look like we have a choice. Since Zabuza is most likely not dead, we will have to be the ones that will face him."

 

"How about me?" I grumbled.

 

Kakashi glanced at me, "If you are up to it, you can come. But I highly doubt you will be able to do anything. It's only been a few days, after all."

 

I deadpanned and glowered at him, "I can too do something!" I fixed my glare on him, which he pointedly ignored. I did something back when we fought Zabuza the first time, hadn't I?

 

"Yeah! Time to more training! I felt like I've wasted the previous couple of days already… doing practically nothing.” Snorting, I managed to crawl back into my own futon, settling down and pulling the blanket up around me. Wake me when you leave, guys! I need more sleep.

 

That's when I noticed that we weren't the only ones in the room. I raised an eyebrow at the young boy who had joined us while we were talking. I couldn't see his eyes, because he wore a fisherman's hat shielding them from view.

 

His gaze felt cold, even though I couldn't see his eyes.

 

"You won't survive against Gatou. You're all going to die here"

 

"Who are you?" Naruto glared at him in annoyance.

 

The boy didn't answer, but repeated his message, "You're all going to die."

 

Kakashi sat up slowly, and Sakura was looking at the young boy in confusion. "Why do you think like that? Just because the bad guy seems all big and mighty doesn't mean the little guys' are going to lose." She flushed, "Ne, Sensei?"

 

Sasuke stood, giving the boy a rather dark look before snorting, "A little brat like you knows nothing," he muttered. Kind of a cold remark... but then again, it was coming from a cold person. A cold remark coming from a cold person. Nothing surprising, really.

 

The boy paused but didn't say anything, and walked out the room.

 

That's when Tsunami (Tazuna's daughter) came bustling into the room. She had probably just seen the boy exit and was worrying about it.

 

"Oh dear, Inari didn't say anything to upset you, did he? If he did, I'm terribly sorry on his behalf. It's just... after that incident..." she broke off, flushing furiously before waving it off and backed out of the room, "Never mind that. Breakfast is ready outside if you are fit to get up," She paused, looking at me. “How are you doing?”

 

I managed a smile. “Great - that medicine you made is really working its magic.” She managed to wave if off.

 

“The Wave country may be small but there are resources here, that is, if people are willing to use them.” Tsunami managed a smile before leaving the room with, “If you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask.”

 

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

 

In the forest...

 

"All right," Kakashi started, "Today, you will learn the art of tree climbing."

 

"Nani?! Tree climbing?” Naruto fumed, wrinking his nose. "I thought we were going to learn a cool new jutsu that I can use to kick that stupid mist-nin's ass!! Why the hell would I need to learn how to climb a tree? I could see it if we were going to climb... let's say... a mountain! But a tree?!"

 

"Ma, me, don't get so hasty! We are going to climb trees!" Kakashi gave his team an eye smile. "If you can't do this, you won't be able to become Hokage, Naruto."

 

"Nande?" Naruto whined, "I want to do more training than just simple tree climbing! I have to learn good jutsu's to become stronger and become Hokage! Why do I need to do this... exercise?!"

 

Kakashi shook his index finger at him, "That's where you are wrong, Naruto. You're going to climb trees, using only your feet and chakra. Watch me."

 

We all watched as he made his way slowly towards one of the tallest trees on only crutches.

 

Yes, crutches. The woman from before, named Tsunami (mother of the boy named Inari), had found them lying around the house after breakfast before we were going to go out the door.

 

A few moments later, Kakashi stopped at the base of a tree. Leaning against one crutch, he raised his hand into a one hand seal. After a few seconds, he lowered his hands and carefully reset his crutch, before walking forwards and straight up the tree.

 

Sakura raised her eyebrow in surprise.

 

Sasuke watched emotionlessly.

 

Naruto gaped.

 

I watched in amusement. `This was like walking on water, wasn't it?' At least I didn't have to do it. My back was still injured and had been allowed to sit out this time. I remember how Iruka had mentioned this method of controlling chakra to me, but had deemed it unsafe for me (seeing as I could fall and injure myself waaay to many times to count). I sat on a fallen log, lounging around with absolutely nothing to do. I didn't want to do anything that would wear out my arms, anyway. They still stung from the disinfectant Sakura had spread on for me earlier this morning. They had begun to scab over but I hated to look at them. I was positive that they were going to leave scars. But oh well. They were a sign of my stupidity earlier.

 

I stared in fascination as a colored beetle crawled its way up the side of the log. Smirking, I raised 2 fingers and flicked it off, making it fly several feet away from its former spot. Well, looks like you have to start again Mr. Beetle.

 

I then picked at a loose end on the bandages on my arms.

 

Damn...

 

A few minutes later...

 

Double Daaaamnn... I was so bored.... Maybe I could watch some clouds....

 

"Nani?! How'd you do that, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked excitedly. I looked up, and saw Kakashi already up the tree, hanging upside down on a branch by only his feet. I focused on his feet and suddenly I found I could dimly see chakra pooled around his two feet.

 

Frowning, I rubbed my eye and looked around. Nothing wrong there, really. Just what a regular eye would see. But... something was different. Carefully I zeroed in on Sasuke, focusing closely. My eyes widened as I saw wisps of blue air around Sasuke. My eyes focused on Sakura.

 

Pink wisps.

 

Naruto.

 

Orange-red wisps.

 

Kakashi.

 

Green wisps.

 

What the hell?

 

I looked down at my own hand.

 

Red wisps.

 

What the hell was going on? I blinked again, and it was gone. What the-?!

 

"Yama-chan?" a voice called.

 

I looked up. Kakashi was calling me. He had a strange look in his eye. He had probably seen me staring off into space.

 

"H-Hai?" I stammered. The wisps had suddenly cleared and I was seeing things normally again.

 

"Daijobu desu ka?"

 

"... I'm fine..." I mumbled softly, looking over at the others. They weren't even looking at me. That was when I realized that they had already started their training. But the only strange thing was that Naruto was on the ground, whining and rolling about in pain a bump on the back of his head. Um… I'm going to take a wild guess and say that he fell.

 

Sasuke was breathing slowly, sitting on a low branch up in a tree.

 

Sakura... was no where to be seen.

 

"Itai, itai, itai!" Naruto whined, glaring at the tree in defiance, as if blaming it for his injury. Well, technically, it was the tree's fault, but if he had put enough chakra into it, he wouldn't have fallen down.

 

"This is easy!"

 

Everyone's gaze shot to a third tree, and there was Sakura, sitting and waving cheerfully on a much higher branch compared to the one Sasuke was on.

 

"Well, looks like the one who has the best chakra control, is the girl, Sakura! Sasuke isn't so bad either." Kakashi stated, eye curving up. His gaze landed on me. "Are you- Can you do this as well? Or do you think you should rest?"

 

I sighed and stood up, "I don't feel like sitting here. I'll try it, I guess," I mumbled. I closed my eyes and concentrated, pushing all the chakra into my feet. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes and eyed a tree on my left, before bolting off towards it.

 

Before I knew it, I was halfway up, about the distance that Sasuke had gotten up and was still going. It was exhilarating, really. Reaching a branch, I flipped up, landing on it, only to slip and nearly fall off.

 

"GAH!" I yelped, quickly gaining my balance and wrapping both arms around the branch, breathing hard and trying to calm my racing heart.

 

I glanced over at my teammates, only to be startled at their expressions. Kakashi had an alarmed look on the visible part of his face and Sasuke had the same look in his eyes. Sakura was staring at me in amazement and Naruto was glaring at me, probably fuming.

 

"Where did you learn to control chakra that well?" Kakashi asked lazily, concern now gone.

 

"Iruka-sensei," I replied promptly, "I had to learn how to walk on water," Not fun, I'll tell you that!

 

"Ahh, I see."

At that, Naruto perked up, "Walking on water? That sounds interesting. Can I try?" This, coming from the boy who said climbing trees was stupid.

 

"Try completing this before that, Naruto," Kakashi stated, "Until then, Sakura, Sasuke, you two may accompany Tazuna-san to finish the work on the bridge. Naruto, you continue to practice here. Yama-chan, that should be enough for the day, you shouldn't over exert yourself. You need to stay at Tazuna-san's house to save up your energy."

 

I glared at him, "I don't want to," I drawled. Hell, I knew I was being childish, but I didn't care. I didn't want to!

 

"Well you're going to have to," he retorted before walking back down the tree. I sighed as I stared at him from my position. How the hell was I suppose to get down now? Well, I suppose walking back down would be a pretty good start.

 

Carefully I got to my feet. But just then, my stupid brain decided that I needed to yawn. Covering my yawn with one hand I closed my eyes, feeling them water like they usually did when I yawned.

 

When I opened my eyes again, my eyes decided to play tricks on me again because those wisps from before? They came back! And it did not help that I had just used chakra myself, therefore surrounding me red wisps. And of course, the whole damn thing took me by surprise. And taking me by surprise when I'm standing nearly 25 feet in the air? Not a good thing.

 

Letting out a miffed yelp, I felt myself topple sideways, "Ahhh!" Feeling myself plummet to the ground, I tried focusing chakra into my hand, and desperately made a grab for the trunk of the tree. I winced, feeling my bare hand getting scraped against the rough bark. Well, that added another injury to my already long list.

 

Feeling myself slow down and finally stop, I sighed in relief; only to be alarmed again when my chakra hold came loose and sent me plummeting once again.

 

"Oof!" Luckily, I wasn't that far from the ground, only about 10 feet, compared to before, when it was 25 and some feet.

 

Groaning, I tried rolling over but stopped when white shards of pain flashed up my back, "... Aww... for fuck's sake..." I moaned. I couldn't have just stayed sitting obediently on that rock now, could I? Noooo, I had to try the tree-climbing exercise. I stared at my arms, feeling something tear in one of them, before the bandages wrapped around my left arm started to slowly turn red. Well... looks like I've opened a wound...

 

"Ahh! Yama-san? Daijobu desu ka?" Sakura cried out in alarm, making her way quickly down the tree and kneeling beside me.

 

"Eh... Sakura-chaan..." I mumbled, wincing in pain, "I... I think... I'm okay." Bracing myself, I tried to sit up, but only found my back aching with pain, "'Kuso.." I winced. I glared at the tall oak tree. Standing in all its almighty with its height and green leaves. You caused all of this! Damn you for being so… tall!

 

Why me?

 

"Yama-chan?" I saw Kakashi's face in my line of sight. I blinked.

 

"Hai," I answered tiredly, feeling my back go numb.

 

"That was unwise."

 

"No, really!?" I replied sarcastically. I watched in utter confusion as he tossed his crutches away and offered me a hand. Glaring at him, I nevertheless grabbed it and he hauled me to my feet, throwing my arm around his shoulder.

 

“Yoshe. I suppose we'll send you home before making our way to the bridge.” Kakashi commented. “Like I said before, you really shouldn't be overexerting yourself.” I managed to roll my eyes and started to walk, using Kakashi's shoulder as a crutch.

 

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried out in alarm. I paused. Chotto matte! Hadn't he needed those crutches?

 

I started at him, wide eyed. I watched with growing annoyance as he merely ignored my pause and continued to half-support and half-drag me towards the dirt path. I managed a smirk. That bastard, he was merely using those crutches because he felt lazy?

 

Naruto let out a puff of angered air, and crossed his arms. "Just you wait!" He cried out angrily, "I'll climb this tree to the very top, just you wait and see!"

 

I glanced back at Naruto, in time to see him gather chakra into his feet and start running at a tree once again. Good luck there, kiddo. Let's see how you grow.

 

Sighing, I looked back at the sky, only to feel a rather agitated gaze on me. Frowning, I turned my head slowly to see Sasuke watching Kakashi with a cautious and concealed look.

 

I looked at Kakashi.

Then at Sasuke.

 

Then back to Kakashi.

 

"..." What was this about? As if Kakashi felt Sasuke's gaze, he spoke, not turning around to look at the two who were following in our footsteps.

 

"If you keep staring any longer, Sasuke-kun, people might think that you are not interested in the female gender after all,"

 

At that, Sasuke scowled, "Hn," he narrowed his eyes as Kakashi's grip on my arm tightened slightly. I winced. “Ow! You're squeezing my horribly injured arm, you know!” Kakashi glanced at me in surprise, and then at my arm.

 

“Ah, so I am. Wari,” He loosened his grip. I twitched but didn't do anything. If I tried to injure him right now I would only get tossed into the dirt. He was acting as support for me to walk with, you know.

 

I focused my gaze on the Jounin, "Since when could you walk without your crutches?"

 

"Hm? Oh those? Eh, felt lazy so I just used them as an excuse for not having to train you guys so much.” What did I say before?

 

I saw Sasuke and Sakura obtain looks of annoyance behind us. Way to compliment your students, Kakashi. "You know, if you wanted obedient students, you probably shouldn't have said that." I commented. Kakashi shrugged, "I haven't had students in a while - maybe these ones are just practice students." he quipped cheerfully.

 

"Kakashi-sensei!" I heard Sakura's voice yelp in shock. I heard Sasuke snort, but otherwise remained silent. Kakashi glanced back briefly, winking, "Jodan, jodan!" (Kidding, kidding!)

 

Seeing Tazuna's house in view, I relaxed slightly. `Almost there…' I thought. I felt someone touch my back and I frowned, opening my eyes. I glanced over my shoulder. It was Sasuke. Blinking at him, I cocked my head expectantly. He turned his head pointedly away. What the hell? I turned back to face the front.

 

Two figures were in front of us. I frowned and squinted, but they had cloaks and hats that shielded their identities. I frowned. They were just standing there. Did they want something with us?

 

I felt Kakashi stiffen and Sasuke and Sakura bumped our backs due to our quick stop.

 

"Itai... Kakashi-sensei, why did you stop?" Sakura asked, clearly annoyed.

 

"Aa," Sasuke muttered. I saw his eyes narrow slightly at the sight ahead of us. I twitched. “Stop breathing on my neck, Sasuke. It doesn't exactly feel normal.” He grunted, but I heard him step back.

 

Kakashi pretended to be cheerful and continued walking, "Iie, It's nothing! Gomen, I just thought of something regarding the black cat that crossed my path this morning." There's no point trying to hide your edgyness. Well actually Sakura and Sasuke might be fooled but you can't fool me. Although I'm going to have to admit, Kakashi has superb acting skills. By just looking at him, you wouldn't be able to pick out that something was off. But despite how someone tries to control all their body movements, natural movements cannot be controlled.

 

His shoulders were tense. And seeing as my arm was over his damn shoulder, yeah, I could tell.

 

"..." Right.

 

As we started to pass the two mysterious figures, I winced when an arm flashed out and latched onto my upper arm. I winced. Fuck! Did you have to grab there of all places? Thanks for probably re-opening my wound, you dumbass. And Kakashi… you should've walked by them with you in between. But noooo, Kakashi decided to walk by them with me closer to them. But he may have had his reasons for it.

"Let go of her." Kakashi growled. Hearing a protective tone that I'd never heard from Kakashi before, I stared at Kakashi for a few seconds and then glanced back at the two now 'attackers.' Yes, attackers - if somebody just all of a sudden grabbed your arm and refused to let go, I'm sure you would call him/her an attacker too!

 

The two didn't move and I took the allowed time to analyze their clothing. However, there wasn't all that much to analyze. One was short, one was tall. Simple, ne? Both had on huge cloaks that had a red outline with white clouds dotting the fabric. The taller one also had a huge wrapped 'weapon' attached to his back. And to cover up their faces, both wore hooked straw hats.

 

The shorter one who held my arm gave no answer to Kakashi's question and I gave an experimental tug. He had an immensely strong grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sasuke surg forwards with his kunai out, glaring pointedly at the stranger/intruder.

 

"Let go," Sasuke snapped, eyes flashing. I heard a low chuckle and I saw Sasuke freeze. What was wrong?

 

The chuckling stopped and a voice that sent chills down my back spoke, "Do you think you can stop me... Sasuke... chan?"

 

I think all of us tensed at that. This man knew Sasuke. Would that mean he knew all of us as well? Sasuke snarled and leapt at him, but only got knocked back with a strong kick. I saw Sasuke fly back, and land several feet away. I watched, as he struggled to sit up, grimacing and glaring at the figure.

 

During the kick, the grip on my arm had loosened and I pulled back and slammed my palm into the cloaked man's shoulder, blowing him back a few feet. In response, Kakashi leapt back- managing to take a hold of Sakura as well- and landed us at a safer distance.

 

"Kimi...!?" Sasuke growled, standing unsteadily.

 

"My, my, you haven't got any stronger little brother."

 

We all froze. Kakashi's eyes widened and Sakura took a step back. And I, now knowing that it was Itachi himself that was standing in front of us, pulled away from Kakashi to stand on my own. I wasn't going to be a damn burden, that was for sure. I winced and tilted my arm slightly. Red. Of course. Fucking strong ass missing-nin.

 

I glanced back up in time to see Itachi take off his hat.

 

Red eyes.

 

I heard Sakura gasp, "He... looks... so much like... Sasu..." she broke off, trembling in fear as the other figure took off his hat as well, revealing a shark-like face. His beady eyes narrowed at the pink haired kunoichi.

 

"Should I take care of the others?"

 

"Iie, they are a waste of time. We'll get the girl and leave." Itachi ordered, eyes focusing on me. I stared blankly at his face and then a hand covered my eyes. “Don't look into his eyes.” Kakashi said quietly.

 

"Uchiha... Itachi..." Kakashi snarled. “What do you want with us?

 

"Che… I figured you would've heard us the first time, Hatake. Our business is with the girl. Stay out of it.” Itachi's face remained unexpressive. So unexpressive it was starting to irk me the wrong way.

 

When Kakashi's hand lowered, I blinked to remove the blurriness and focused on anywhere but Itachi's eyes.

 

"AARGGG!" As Sasuke's battle cry echoed through the woods we all whirled to the left to see him leapt at his brother with a ferocity that I had never seen before. My right first clenched. Sasuke…

 

"Sasuke!" I snapped. “Back off!” The boy was going to get himself killed on day! I glanced back towards Sakura. Her eyes were wide with horror and I took a heavy step back to touch her shoulder, never turning away from our two attackers. “Oi Sakura. Are you all right?” Her eyes managed to focus on me. “Yes… I think so.”

 

I nodded. “Good. When I say, grab Sasuke and head back to where Naruto is. Find a place to hide for the time being, all right?” Sakura stared at me blankly. I twitched. Now was not the time to zone out on me, girl! I snapped my fingers. “Sakura!” She shook her head quickly. “Ahhh, hai!”

 

Good girl.

 

Meters away, Sasuke was slammed into a tree on our left, a hand circling around his neck. I took a step towards the pair, but Kakashi's arm in front of me stopped me. “Wait.” He said. I gaped at him.

“Wait?!” I hissed. “Wait for what? Wait for the kid to get killed?!” Kakashi shot me a look, pulling up his forehead protector. “Wait.” He repeated. I clenched my fists. Fine. We'll do this your way. But you better be prepared is Sasuke is injured seriously.

 

"Tsk... Sasuke-chibi... you just never learn, do you?" Itachi said tonelessly, "Why are you still so weak?" his voice dropped into a whisper and I saw Sasuke choke out as a reply, clawing desperately at the tightening hand.

 

My eyes narrowed slightly when I saw Itachi crack his own neck and bring his face closer to Sasuke's. Feeling a foreboding feeling beginning to swell up in my, I couldn't help but ignore Kakashi's orders. “Sasuke!” I yelled and slide forwards, stopping a mere meters away from them. “Dodge!” I saw the boy's eyes roll at me and I couldn't help but feel annoyed at him.

 

At the telltale warning cry, Itachi slowly turned and focused on me. It was a lot like a murder movie, when the victim would be hiding and the murderer suddenly appears in the same room... The ironic thing is the victim gives away his/her position by screaming his/her head off. And then the murderer strikes and the victim's dead. That's how I felt - just add in the creepy music and voila! I'll be dead in the next second.

 

Slamming my hands together, I whirled chakra in the air in front of me and launched it almost immediately. “Suiton: Koorimizu Bakuha!” (Ice water blast) Two balls of ice launched their way towards Itachi, and I hoped that Sasuke could somehow dodge, because my controlling of them wasn't all that good yet. But just when I thought they were going to hit Itachi, his hand raised and the two balls burst into pieces.

 

I winced by inwardly grinned when two shuriken appeared from the debris and sliced their way by Itachi. Since his arm was still up; one of them sliced a cut along his inner upper arm while the other made its way towards his face. However, he merely turned his head slightly and the shuriken whizzed passed harmlessly. Itachi cocked his head at me. I took a step back. `Aiya! Don't look at me like that man!'

 

Itachi was smirking, "Nice try." My eyes widened.

 

He let go of Sasuke, who slid to the ground, coughing and hacking. I saw Sakura, who was completely rigid, eyes wide in fear a few feet away from me.

 

"Sakura," I whispered as Itachi was about to make a beeline for me. Her frightened eyes turned to me, "Go...”

 

She nodded briefly and was about to leave when I stopped her again, "Take Sasuke... if he won't come, force him to." I turned back to the battlefront. You might all being thinking; Sasuke's stronger than Sakura! She can't possible force him to do anything! But I've seen Sakura when she's mad. I've seen her when she was in total rage mode. I think she can handle an injured Sasuke.

 

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

 

Meanwhile With Naruto...

 

Naruto scowled as his kunai made another mark in the tree, barely 7 feet off the ground. Why couldn't he do it? What was it about him that was different from his teammates? Dammnit! He would— no, he had to get it! He wasn't going to lose to anyone. His eyes glazed over slightly. He was never going to be useless in battle again. Never.

 

"Yoshe!" Naruto closed his eyes, focusing, "Focus… focus..." His eyes opened, feeling chakra pool around his feet. "Okay! Time to go!!" He sped forwards and toppled over when a crow squawked and flew right by his head.

 

"Ahh! You stupid, stupid crow! You want a piece of me, too?" he snarled, before frowning. Sakura had given him a few tips before they had left. And he had been following them. Thanks to her tips he hand managed to get off to a quick start, but the head was starting to get to him and he found it hard and harder to concentrate.

 

'To do this, you need to focus chakra into your feet. It takes a huge amount of concentration and you can't do it with just pure, dumb luck. You have to concentrate!! That's the key thing: concentration. With your chakra control, you won't be getting it in the first few times. You need to experiment with different amounts of chakra and see which one works the best. Then you try and keep the amount of chakra in your feet equal to the one that worked the best.'

 

Okay! Naruto stood up. He was going to try again.

 

And he wasn't going back until he got all the way up this tree! Naruto found himself at the foot of the tree, and he suddenly felt as if the tree were growing taller by the second. He gulped.

 

...

 

Okay, well, maybe halfway up.

 

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

 

Back with the others...

 

I saw Sakura make her way towards the fallen boy. And then I saw him shrug off her hand. That was when his dark eyes raised and met mine. My eyes narrowed and I jerked my head, warning him to go with Sakura.

 

But he was just as stubborn and he glared at me, obviously defying my orders.

 

I growled in annoyance at his stubborn nature and tried to stand, but only succeeded in harming and probably injuring my back some more.

 

"Mmm... I see that you are not running with them." a husky whisper by my ear, causing me to shiver and freeze in fear. I saw Sasuke's eyes widen and he struggled to his feet but suddenly found himself and Sakura held against a tree.

 

"Little brother, you will not be interfering. I will deal with you and your little friend later." Clones! How? I hadn't... even seen him cast any seals! Damn he was fast! “Or is it… you cannot run?” I glared at his nose. What? I'm not going to look into his eyes, you know! And besides, it wasn't that I couldn't run because my feet weren't injured in the previous battles. My arms were.

 

“Don't move.” He hissed into my left ear. I heard metal clink and felt the steel against the side of my neck.

 

Shit!

 

Where was Kakashi? My head jerked and my eyes scanned the clearing, only to find Kakashi fighting... Itachi?! Another fucking clone?! It had to be! I felt an arm encircle my waist and drag me back a few feet.

 

"Let go of me!" I yelped, catching Kakashi's attention and causing Itachi to curse into my ear. Ha! I smirked. I didn't know Itachi was the kind of person to curse so colorfully.

 

Almost immediately the Itachi holding me twisted, as to dodge Kakashi, who launched a punch at him. What?! He couldn't have gotten here so fast! Reciprocating with a kick, Itachi leapt into the air (with me still in his grip) and landed in on a tree branch. Woozily, I shook my head to clear it. It was like being on a roller coaster ride. If they continued I think the contents of my stomach would be all over the place... including Itachi. I managed a weak snicker, the image of the bile covered missing-nin flashing in my mind.

 

That was when the Kakashi and Itachi that had been fighting meters away both disappeared with a poof! So, Kakashi knew that it was a bunshin. You can't underestimate Hatake Kakashi.

 

"Why do you need her?" the Jounin hissed, his sharingan eye flashing at the Uchiha. Itachi smirked in reply, his dark bangs falling over his eyes.

 

"That is my business, not yours," he replied bluntly before meeting Kakashi's gaze dead on. My eyes widened as I felt something flashed before my eyes… What now?

 

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

 

"You will now endure 72 hours of torture and pain..."

 

I saw blood red... the sky was red and white. That's when something zoomed closer and I found myself standing by a cross. Someone was tired to the cross; arms stretched out and tied down.

 

I squinted and then my eyes widened. It was Kakashi!

 

I saw Itachi in front of him, holding a sword.

 

"You want to know pain... Kakashi?" Itachi sneered. He drew back the sword and I cursed, stepping forward.

 

I leapt, just as Itachi thrust it forwards, my hand catching the blade. I winced as I felt the blade slice through my palm, sending waves of pain up and down my arm. 'Kuso! That freakin' hurt! And that was the understatement of the year.

 

The blade stopped about a centimeter away from Kakashi's chest.

 

I heard Kakashi breathing hard as he gasped, "Yama!"

 

At my name I saw Itachi freeze and his eyes focused on me. "How are you in here?"

 

I blinked and suddenly felt really dizzy. What was he talking about?

 

"I only used this jutsu on Kakashi. Why are you in here?" He demanded. Well screw you too, you bastard. Why don't you tell me, seeing as it's your jutsu?

 

The woozy sensation grew worse and I heard, rather than saw, my blood drip against the ground. I looked down, only to find that blood was starting to seep out of the wound at an alarming rate. The sword was still in my palm and I was starting to think I had made a mistake. I could barely move my hand, and at the moment I didn't want to, thinking that the movement would only cause it to hurt more.

 

Itachi scoffed, "What is your name?" In one quick movement, he jerked the sword out.

 

I swore colorfully, clutching the hand to my chest, refusing to look down at it. It hurt like hell, and I sure as hell wasn't going to look at it in the condition it was in at the moment. Not yet, anyway. I closed my eyes, wrapping my shirt around it to try and slow the bleeding. Shards of pain continued to travel up the length of my arm and I cringed every time I felt it.

 

Opening my eyes, I whimpered but didn't answer as his intense Sharingan eyes focused on me. His eyes focused on my wrapped hand and I watched in amazement as the pain disappeared. Unwrapping it quickly, I found it completely healed. No scar... no nothing. I heard Kakashi's surprised grunt from behind me.

 

Itachi lowered his sword and sheathed it.

 

"Che," With that he turned away and I saw him disappear into the misty air.

 

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

 

I blinked and dropped onto my hands and knees, breathing hard. Oh crap! Tree! I tumbled to the side and felt someone grab the back of my collar. In one smooth movement, I found myself thrown onto a patch of grass. Curling up around my middle, I began to cough. If that was you Kakashi… couldn't you have been any freaking gentler? That's when I saw that Kakashi was beside me, standing unsteadily on his feet, eyes narrowing at something in front of us. What? So Itachi had thrown me? Why? I glanced over and up. Itachi was still standing in the tree.

 

I saw Itachi's eyes land on me, "What is your name, girl?" he asked again.

 

I didn't answer. Something told me not to answer, but I found myself answering as my eyes met his. "Umari Yama," I blinked in surprise. Why had I answered? That's why... the Sharingan... But... can it do that?! I don't think it can. But why did I have the urge to give him my name? I bit my lip nervously. Before I had only been terrified because of the fact that Uchiha Itachi was a missing-nin. But now... Now I wasn't so sure.

 

What was it about this man that made me so uneasy and content at the same time? It didn't make any sense!

 

At my name, I could've sworn his eyes widened slightly, and instead of reaching forwards and grabbing me, he turned and began to walk away. I frowned in confusion, and then, as if he'd felt my confusion, he paused in his step but didn't turn to face me, "We will meet again... Yama," Then to his partner he added, "Kisame, we leave now."

 

"Hai, Itachi," the shark-faced guy, who had been having fun fighting Kakashi's clone the whole time, gave the clone one last kick before leaving. However, I had the feeling that he'd done that on purpose, in order allow Itachi to have time with Kakashi. Strange guy, that one was.

 

As the two disappeared I felt myself sigh in relief before I collapsed to the ground, dead tired, even though I hadn't done much at all. I sprawled onto my back, staring up at the treetops and blue sky beyond it. The two had disappeared so fast... it was as if they had never been here at all.

Poof! Poof!

Well... except for that proof.

 

I lifted my head wearily to see Sasuke and Sakura fall to the ground, the Itachi's clones' now gone, since his real body was probably too far away.

 

"How… did you get into Itachi's mind? Or... our mind... as he used his Sharingan on me?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

 

I let my head fall against the ground, and closed my eyes tiredly. "I wish I knew Kakashi... I really wish I knew..." There were so many questions that I needed answers for. So many... and none of them were making any sense. There were so many things I didn't know. What the heck was going on here? And most importantly...

 

Why me?

 

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

 

"Itadakimasu!" Kakashi mumbled softly. I looked at him to see if I could catch a glance at his face, only to see that his bowl was empty and he was now saying, "Gochisosama deshita!" he chirped cheerfully.

 

I stared at him bewildered. Did the guy even eat? Beside me, Sakura was doing the same as well, fork halfway to her mouth.

 

Sasuke and Naruto weren't even paying attention to us. As for what they were doing... Ahem - at the moment they were competing with each other. About exactly what Naruto had said that morning - a contest to determine which one of them could eat the most and fastest. Of course a formal bet hadn't been made, but you know how they are. Sasuke starts eating fast and Naruto gets it in his head that the Uchiha just can't be better than him and then when Naruto starts eating fast. And then Sasuke notices and then so on and so forth - you get the point.

 

After a few moments of staring and trying to figure out exactly how Kakashi eats that damn fast, Kakashi finally notices Sakura and I exchanging glances. Now, even Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari (though I couldn't really tell with that kid...) were staring at him.

 

"Nani?" he asked lazily, eye meeting mine. His gaze shifted a couple of times, changing from lookin at one staring person to the next. He was either very oblivious to the reasons for the stares, or he was just playing with us.

 

I had a hunch that he was just playing with us.

 

"Ho-How the heck do you eat so fast?!" I stuttered, lowering my chopsticks. He shrugged and gave me another one of his little eye smiles - you know, not the eye actually curving, but that telltale twinkle in his eyes that just screams utter amusement. "Talent!"

 

We all sweat dropped.

 

"You're going to making yourself sick like that one day..." Sakura mumbled, returning her attention to her food. The others did the same as I piped up.

"If he's been doing it since he was born; I'm surprised he hasn't choked to death yet."

 

"Thanks," Kakashi said sarcastically. He shot me a glare that I reciprocated with a sickeningly sweet smile. "No problem!” I shrugged. “Someone had to say it.”

 

That's when our attention was turned onto the two rivals of the house. No, not Naruto and Inari... Although those two have been butting heads too... Mmm, I wonder why? Anyway, it was Sasuke and Naruto!

 

I watched in amazement as both of them gulped food down at hyper speed, before slamming down their chopsticks and standing up at the same time, holding their bowls up high with their opposite hands (Sasuke's left and Naruto's right).

 

"Seconds!!" they both exclaimed. I saw Sakura bite back a cough as they both leaned over the side, making retching sounds. Guh. I looked away discreetly. Puke and food should not exist in the kitchen together. That's just gross.

 

I shuddered in distaste but was partly glad that Naruto was able to rouse a bit of reaction out of Sasuke. After the meeting with out brother, Sasuke had been more distant and cold than usual and refused to leave my side. Every time I turned around, there he was. I went out for a walk; there he was, trailing behind me. I go to my room, there he was. I go to the bathroom... and I slam the door in his face. He probably had no intention of following me in there, but hey, I did it for good measure.

 

He had never says a word, either - just... follows me everywhere. Not that it bothered me... it just was unnerving. Okay, I admit it, it was very unnerving. I would understand if he was following me around so he would get a chance to talk to me, but when I asked him about that he would answer with his famous 'Hn.'

 

However, after Naruto had come back from training, (we hadn't retrieved him after our encounter with Itachi) Sasuke somewhat reverted to his own self. Thank god for annoying blondes who could get a reaction out of the boy- even if it was an act of anger and annoyance. Grinning at the two competing ninjas, I scooped another spoonful of rice into my mouth, accompanied by a piece of deep fried salmon. Mentally commending Tsunami for the deliciously cooked supper, I hummed in appreciation.

 

"There is no point in eating if you two just throw it all up again." Sakura said wryly. I eyed Naruto, who glanced at Sakura after wiping his mouth with the corner of his sleeve. He glanced at Sasuke, as if checking on his progress. Well, at the moment no one was winning, especially if each just threw up their portion of the food.

 

"Hn," Sasuke grumbled, eyes meeting the blonde across from him as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Ignoring the two - since I wanted to finish supper without throwing up - I quickly scooped the rest of my bowl into my mouth, quickly swallowing it.

 

"Hai, hai, barfing is no good!" Kakashi eyes crinkled with mirth.

 

"Hmmm..." I started, setting my chopsticks down. I had lost my appetite; I guess it was from the meeting with Itachi. I was hungry when I had started eating, but I guess that hunger had died down after remembering Itachi. I managed to finish the first bowl on account that it would be rude not to finish, but I wasn't up for seconds. "Gochisosama deshita," I stood up, and without another word, wandered outside, slightly relieved that Sasuke hadn't followed me. I needed a bit of private time.

 

I glanced out across the river before scaling the wall of the house and leaping onto the roof. I didn't think they'll mind if I just sat on their house for a bit... would they? Besides, the sky was beautiful tonight. There weren't any clouds. Just a clear, starry sky.

 

I could never tell how people recognized constellations. I had tried to learn them, and could recognize a few from a picture book, but had never actually found them in the actual sky yet. I suppose looking at the vast amount of sky can do that to you. Sometimes looking at the sky makes you realize just how big the world you live in is. You don't realize how big it is. You reason that there are actually billions of people live on earth. That every three seconds a baby is born. And that every five minutes someone has died. I wasn't so sure if it was the same here, but it was probably pretty close. For some reason, it felt like the population was smaller here. It might've been because of the smaller villages.

 

I read a poster once that was on a street wall... It said:

 

"Did you know that by the time you finish reading this sentence another baby in this world has died?" Funny; in a way - but also saddening. And right beside was another poster:

 

“Did you know that by the time you finished reading this, you'll realize that you've just waste five seconds of your life?” Those two posters just shouldn't be put beside each other. Imagine if you've combined it. You may have wasted five seconds of you live but in those five seconds another baby in the world has died!

 

Drawing my knees close to my chest, I sighed softly and stared up into the full moon. I frowned.

 

Another weird thing plagued my mind. When Itachi had healed my hand, I understood how he could do it, since it was his world that I was hurt in. But I found that my back and all my other injuries from before were also healed. Healed, but not without the consequences. My back was fine, but three scars were left on the back of my arm where the wind shuriken had struck. Two crisscrossing on my left arm and one slanted to the left on my right arm. But besides that, how did that happen? How did he heal me? I knew that Itachi had something to do with it. It was the only explanation. But the question was how did he do it? And most importantly, why did he do it?

 

I haven't told Kakashi or the Team yet. Maybe I should do that sometime, actually.

 

"Nice night, isn't it?" I felt myself jump at the unexpected voice.

 

"Kakashi!" I grumbled as I saw the Jounin sitting beside me, "Why the hell did you have to scare me like that?!"

 

He shrugged, "I didn't mean to scare you. Your ninja skills aren't up to bat if you couldn't sense me,"

 

"... Shut up."

 

"Very well."

 

True to his word, Kakashi didn't say anything else to me, but just sat quietly beside me, staring off into the distance. I did the same and after a while, started to fall asleep. The last thing I remember was one of the stars in the sky winking at me.

 

Huh.

 

As if it was trying to tell me something.

 

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

 

After a while, Kakashi blinked as he saw Yama's head tip forwards before it jerked back again. She was falling asleep.

 

After watching her continue this process for a few more times, he moved closer and offered his shoulder, casually. Not that she would notice, she was probably already asleep; it was just her reflexes that prevented her from falling over.

 

He stretched his arm around her, giving her a little nudge and a satisfied smirk planted itself under his mask as her head tipped over, right onto his shoulder. He glanced down at the river nearby, watching the current travel.

 

Kakashi looked up at the night sky, a soft smile adorning his face - although no one could see it - and glanced at the sleeping girl on his shoulder.

 

Something caught his eye in the sky, and when he gazed back up, a star winked at him. He frowned and blinked. Concentrating harder, he watched as the very same star did the exact same thing.

 

'Strange.' Kakashi thought.

 

'It feels like that star is laughing at me.' It wasn't an evil laugh, but was more like... a teasing laugh.

 

That's when he frowned. Yama's arms weren't wrapped anymore. He reached over and picked up one of her arms experimentally. Scars… were these just bleeding earlier this morning? He stared at the girl curiously. When had this happened?

 

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

 

I yawned and blinked sleepily. Huh. When had I fallen asleep? I sat up fully, only to realize that I had been sleeping on Kakashi's shoulder. The Jounin glanced at me - he hadn't been sleeping.

 

I blinked sheepishly, "Sorry. How long have I been asleep?"

 

"About an hour,"

 

I nodded, yawning, before standing up quickly, feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze, "I think I'm going to go to sleep... on a real bed," I added, smiling slightly.

 

He nodded and stood up beside me. I blinked.

 

I was shocked when he leaned forwards and I felt a light kiss through his mask on my forehead, "Oyasuminasai," he whispered against my ear. I trembled as his breath tickled my ear and he disappeared in a poof.

 

I hadn't trembled from the cold.

 

"Oyasuminasai..." I whispered softly to the wind. I blinked again. Okay. Kakashi had just kissed me. I shook my head. Why? Oh well. At least he hadn't noticed—

 

“Oh, but the way; you need to tell me how your injuries healed.”

 

Awww, shit.

 

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

I yawned and headed towards the room that Sakura and I shared, before remembering that I had left my pillow in Naruto's room earlier that morning when I had shot after Naruto with a pillow, pummeling him with it when he had dumped ice cold water on me to wake me up. How I had done that with back injuries was beyond me. Never underestimate a girl who loves her sleep!

That's not something that's nice to wake up to. Brrr... And damn was that water cold.

 

I pushed the door open quietly and had just stepped in, when I froze.

 

There, on the ground were two figures. Sasuke and Naruto. And instead of fighting or arguing like they usually did, Sasuke's arms were wrapped around Naruto's waist and Naruto had his buried into Sasuke's neck.

 

There were a few bruises and bumps on their figures, indicating that they probably had a fight... before... this...

 

I didn't need to have a brain to figure out the situation.

 

I nearly tripped on a chair, breathing quietly in relief and turned to leave. Now if only I could leave quietly so I wouldn't disturb them... Maybe for once in my life I wouldn't -

 

I curse, stumbling and then tripping over my own two feet.

 

Splat!

 

- I spoke too soon.

 

That caught their attention.

 

They both stared at me, and both started to turn crimson.

 

"Gah!" I yelped, rubbing my head sheepishly, "I... uh... didn't interrupt something, did I?" That earned me a glare from Sasuke and a blush from Naruto. Opps. So I did. "Heh..." I started slowly. Sasuke pointedly stared at me. I held up my hands.

"What?" I demanded. His glare deepened. Helplessly, I shrugged. He wasn't talking... he wasn't doing anything. Sorry people, but I do not have a diploma in Sasuke's language of 'hn's and glares.

 

His glare turned ice cold.

 

I felt the vein in my forehead twitch.

 

"Dammnit! I can't translate your stupid language Sasuke! What the hell do you want??"

He blinked. And then, as if I were invalid, slowly raised his hand to point at the door.

 

Oh. I glared at him. What, he can't say... a couple of words? Oh yeah... he's Sasuke. Well, he could've said one word - leave. Pretty simple.

 

"Yeah, yeah. Fine, I'll leave you damn brats alone." I grumbled, pushing myself off the floor and fumbling with the door knob. The door had somehow shut after I had tripped and toppled to the ground. Glancing back briefly, I stepped out. Oh wait... I need revenge. I snickered.

 

Poking my head back in, I managed a devilish grin. Sasuke was glaring at me and now Naruto was staring at me in exasperation as well. "Don't do something I wouldn't do!" I chirped. I slammed the door shut, just as two kunai, a pillow and a fireball thudded into it.

 

"Eh," I whipped around. Kakashi. He had a sly look on his face and his hands were in his pockets, "I thought you were going to sleep, not playing 'peeping tom.'" I scowled at him. There was absolutely nothing to see! It was just... a bit awkward, of course... but nothing else! Besides... seeing them together was kinda cute.

 

"Urusai!" I growled lowly, before blushing crimson, probably redder than Sasuke and Naruto had been, before stomping to my room.

 

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

 

Kakashi chuckled to himself. He had known the two boys had something going on between them. He had even thought of warning Yama about it on the rooftop, but something told him that finding out for herself would be much more amusing, and it was! Well, if you count her almost getting murdered by two young teenagers, yes it was amusing!

 

He glanced at the door, chuckling once again before strolling towards the living room. He decided that sleeping in the living room was a much more wise idea.

 

On the door the message that Yama had taped clearly read, 'Do not disturb. Warning! Flying fireballs, shuriken and kunai!' His eyebrows rose at the last sentence. That was interesting. Perhaps Yama did not mind the two boys being together. She obviously didn't want the two to be disturbed... Or maybe she just wanted to poke fun at the two when they found the sign in the morning.

 

Interesting...

 

Interesting indeed.

 

To be continued…

 

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

 

XoXSilverDragonXoX

 

Revised August 08, 2008