Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Our Lives in the Hurricane Chronicles ❯ Chapter 7

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

Last time...

"Itachi seems to have forgotten who I am! I think I'm going to remind him!" Mayu started performing hand signs. "Mother... give me strength!" she thought as she stopped making hand signs. She clutched her wrist and chakra began to become clear in her hand.

"That's...!" Sasuke thought.

"CHIDORI!" Mayu exclaimed, her Sharingan eyes screamed anger and hostility.
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"M.I.B.'s freezin up all the flack (What's that stand for?) Men In Black!" -Will Smith
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"How can Mayu use Sasuke's attack?" Naruto thought in surprise. "I mean, I knew she can go into another person's body like Ino, but to use their attack...?"

"Sasuke!" Mayu said. For a moment, Sasuke was confused on why she had called his name, but then he understood and nodded. He made the proper hand signs and chakra also became visible in his hand. "Follow me!" Sasuke nodded again, and then faced his brother.

The two teen rushed at the older man; Itachi began rapidly making hand signs. "He's fast... but not faster than Kakashi," Sasuke thought as he continued to run towards his brother.

"Fire Style: Mythical Firebird no Jutsu!" Itachi said, holding his hand near his mouth. The two teens dodged and jumped out of the way of the multiple attacks.

"Nice! They dodged all of it!" Naruto exclaimed. Itachi began to make more hand signs.

"Again...?!" Mayu thought, stilling in the air.

She saw that he wasn't about to attack them; Itachi was going after the others! "Fire Style: Grand Fireball no Jutsu!" Itachi said. A giant ball of fire was conjured and it headed straight for the other group members! Ino decided now was the time to jump into action. She jumped in front of the group and began making hand signs.

"Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!" Ino shouted. She spit out protective walls of water from her mouth to block Itachi's fire attack.

The two elements collided, resulting in steam to appear; the whole area shook because of the elemental battle. The fire eventually burned out and the water walls fell, soaking the burnt ground. "Good job, Ino!" Mayu cheered in thought as she and Sasuke landed behind Itachi.

"Even though water naturally overpowers fire..." Ino thought. "It sure did take a long time for his fire to be put out. It must have been a really powerful fire technique! We would have been toast for sure! I'm so glad Hinata-chan taught me that jutsu!" Mayu and Sasuke both charged at Itachi from behind, Chidori still in the palm of their hand. They both tried to hit Itachi at the same time, but Itachi merely dodged it by jumping up, causing the two Chidori to collide with the ground.

Because of the distraction, Itachi didn't notice Naruto also jump into the air and creating his ball of chakra. His clone disappeared and that's what got Itachi's attention. "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, thrusting his arm forward. The Rasengan made contact, but Itachi turned out to be only a clone. But the collision of the the Rasengan hitting caused the ground to quake, wind to blow, and dust to spring up. Ino covered her face to prevent the dust from getting in her eyes.

"Wow..." she thought once most the dust cleared.

Once all the dust cleared, everyone could see Itachi standing near the crater that Naruto had created. Naruto himself had resumed standing near his comrades. "I see. He's learned an interesting technique... However..." Itachi thought, glancing at Naruto.

"Naruto! This is our fight! Stay out of it!" Mayu and Sasuke chorused; Naruto made a face in response to his friends' words.

"However... Mayu-chan and my foolish little brother won't allow anyone to interfere," Itachi continued in thought, turning away from Kakashi and the others to Mayu and Sasuke. The two had already created the Chidori in their hand. Again, the two raced towards Itachi, but this time...

"Two-step it!" Mayu said, confusing the older Uchiha as well as everyone else. Mayu moved to left and Sasuke moved to the right. The two ran circles around Itachi. The speed at which they were moving caused multiple sparks to lash out around them. To the naked eye, Mayu and Sasuke were moving far too fast, so it appeared that they had created a blue field around Itachi.

"Amazing... Using the Chidori like that to create a electrical field," Kakashi thought. He couldn't see inside the small field, but he predicted that Itachi couldn't escape just by walking through it. "When did those two come up with that?"

Inside the field, Kakashi was right about Itachi not getting through. He had experimentally tried to grabbed Sasuke or Mayu and keep them from moving, but his hand was instantly shocked. "This is also an impressive technique," Itachi thought, glancing at the 'walls' of his prison. "Regardless of that... there are one or two major flaws." Yes, there were flaws with this 'attack'. First off, Itachi could easily trip one of them, causing them to fly and have their face impaled upon the dirt. But that wouldn't be cool of him... Let's move on to flaw number two! "The eye of the storm..." Itachi thought. CORRECT!

Itachi could just as easily jump up to get out of the prison, so he did just that! However, Sasuke and Mayu anticipated his movement, so they stopped running and jumped up, higher than Itachi. They starting falling towards the older Uchiha, Chidori at the ready. Itachi's eyes widen ever so slightly, but his mask quickly returned and he began doing multiple hand signs. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball no Jutsu!" Itachi said. Mayu's eyes widen as fire came towards her and Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed.

Sasuke caught the message. He made his Chidori disappear and crossed his arms into an X in front of his chest. Mayu quickly kicked him, causing them both to separate from each other. They just barely managed to dodge the massive ball of fire. "That attack...!" Mayu thought in confusion. Because she was so light on her feet, she landed without a strain. Sasuke, on the other hand, had to stick his sword in the ground to keep from continuing to slide back.

"Something was... wrong," he thought, pulling his sword out of the ground and standing up straight.

"Their teamwork is amazing!" Ino exclaimed, grinning. "Sasuke-kun knew exactly what Mayu was getting at and she barely spoke!"

"That is to be expected," Kakashi said; Ino looked at him in question. "Mayu and Sasuke has been friends for a very long time. Before Sasuke went off with Jiraiya-sama, the two were practically inseparable. Even with their differences, they managed to work well together, even when Mayu didn't remember her clan's techniques."

"So... Mayu has an advanced bloodline?" Ino asked.

"It wasn't categorized as an advanced bloodline, but seeing as how her clan was the only ones able to use those techniques..." Kakashi trailed off; Ino caught his drift anyway. She turned her attention back to the two teens.

"Is that all you are capable?" Itachi asked.

"Teh! You wish!" Sasuke proclaimed. Mayu sighed, and then closed her eyes.

"Something is definitely off..." she muttered. From top to bottom, her appearance started changing again. Her hair color changed from raven to black and blue, her skin color changed from pale to a light tanned color; she opened her eyes to reveal her normal blue eyes.

"Why'd she change back?" Sasuke thought as Mayu ran and jumped up.

The girl landed next to him. "What's the matter?" he asked out loud. Mayu scratched her head for a bit, and then sighed again. "Nani...?" Mayu pulled on Sasuke's shoulder, so his ear was next to her mouth. A few moments went by with Mayu whispering in his ear; everyone was confused by her actions.

"Maybe she's telling another strategy to Sasuke-kun!" Ino thought. "Perhaps they can win!"

"N-NANI?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S--" Sasuke's shout was interrupted by Mayu delivering a sharp punch to his head. A frown spread across her face, and then she pointed angrily at Itachi. These actions caused her teammates to get even more confused. Sasuke looked over to his brother and narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to figure something out. He blinked a couple times, shook his head, and then sighed loudly. "Well, that sucks ass," he muttered, eyes returning to their normal onyx color.

"Don't it, though?" Mayu said, bowing her head in defeat. "We should have known it wouldn't be so easy..."

The two sighed in unison, and then turned their backs to Itachi. "N-Nani?!" Naruto yelled. "What the hell are you two doing?!" Mayu and Sasuke had began to walk back towards the group, each one showing a frown. "You're not supposed to turn your back on the enemy!" Naruto continued to shout once they reached the others.

"Yeah," Ino agreed, nodding her head. "What's the matter, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke glanced at her for a moment, and then looked away. Mayu pulled at her earlobe, eyes closed, and then she opened them. "What's the point?" they both muttered. Kakashi's face hit the dirt in surprise, Naruto mouth just hung open at his friends' words. What did they mean 'What's the point'?! Weren't they angry just a moment a go?

Kakashi couldn't believe his ears! All this time of wanting to kill his brother and now that he finally has the chance to do so, Sasuke doesn't have the motivation?! And what about Mayu? She seemed as angry as Sasuke! Kakashi stood up and pointed a shaky finger at the two. "Y-You don't want to fight him?" he questioned.

"It's not that... It's just... we're too angry with him," Mayu said.

"TOO ANGRY?!" Naruto shouted. "YOU TWO ARE JUST ACTING LAZY!"

"Reminds me of Shikamaru..." Ino thought, a sweat drop appeared on her head.

"No, we're too angry. You know what they say about anger in the heat of battle, right?" Mayu drawled out. "I'm sure Kakashi-san can take care of him."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Naruto shouted.

"Quit yelling, dobe..." Sasuke said, putting his sword back in his sheath.

"These kids..." Chiyo muttered.

Suddenly feeling impatience, Itachi fired another giant ball of fire at the group. Luckily, they saw it coming and jumped out of the way. All four teens, plus Chiyo jumped into the nearby forest, but Kakashi jumped away from them, creating hand signs all the while. When the smoke cleared, Kakashi was standing with his Raikiri in hand. Itachi didn't seem fazed by Kakashi's electrical attack or by the fact that he was now racing towards him. "Raikiri!" Kakashi shouted, pushing his hand forward, but Itachi dodged his attack by jumping up. Once again, Naruto tried to attack Itachi with his Rasengan in mid air, but once again Itachi turned out to be a clone.

"Kuso! I'm getting tired of that!" Naruto thought as his Rasengan colided with the ground, creating another crater. He quickly ran into the shadows of the forest before the dust cleared. He panted lightly as he knelt near a tree. "I thought I could get him from behind with Rasengan when he got distracted by Kaka-sensei and Mayu and Sasuke. But he saw right through each time. Fighting his Sharingan is so hard. He can see where I'm gonna be the instant before my body actually gets there. Combining attacks isn't gonna work. That's probably why Mayu and Sasuke stopped fighting him... I've gotta take him out in one shot with that technique. Looks like it's the only option."
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Mayu's POV
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"What happened to the others?" I thought, looking around. "I could of sworn we all came into this forest." I was on my hands and knees on the forest floor. Somehow, they must have gotten separated. Except for Sasuke, who is currently at my side. Other than him, I couldn't see anyone else. I hope Ino and Granny Chiyo are okay.

Naruto and Kakashi-san are probably fighting that Itachi. Suddenly, smoke--no, it was some kind of mist and it was getting heavier by the second. I've seen this before, but where? I can't remember... Wait a minute! Now I remember! "The Hidden Mist Jutsu..." I muttered.

"Yeah. Looks like Kakashi is the one doing it," Sasuke said, causing to turn to him. He had reactivated his Sharingan. "But with eyes like ours, this is useless..."

"You can see?" I asked, looking back towards the clearing. I couldn't see a thing in this mist. Sasuke nodded his head, never moving his eyes.

"Kakashi and that guy are currently in a stand off," he said.

"Can you see where the others are?" I questioned; Sasuke nodded again.

"They're fine..." he said. "Why don't you change again to see for yourself?"

"No, I can't..." I stated, shaking my head. "Once I 'shut off' the technique, I can't use another person's abilities anymore. I would have to switch bodies with you again to change."

"Then just switch with me for a minute," Sasuke said.

"Hell no!" I had to refrain myself from hissing. "Not after what happened last time!" Sasuke flinched at my words. "Yeah, that's right! No more touchy feeling for you!" I heard him sigh.

"You know you liked it..." he muttered. Before I could retort, the Earth began to quake again, causing my attention to become focused on the clearing again. I hadn't even noticed that it had become clear again, the mist was gone. Suddenly, I saw Kakashi-san pop out of the ground. It looked as if he was trying to punch that Itachi, but he dodged by moving his head back slightly, and then he grabbed Kakashi-san's arm, and then his head. He held him in place and stared him right in the eyes. "Kakashi's probably in his genjutsu by now..." Sasuke said.

"It's strange... how could this guy possibly know that jutsu?" I muttered. "It doesn't make sense."

"You are sure that that's not him, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure until you showed the same doubts," I answered. "After all, his manners, personality, and demeanor are exactly like Itachi's. But something about his attack wasn't... Itachi enough." Realizing this, Sasuke and I, to put it bluntly, thought it was a waste of time trying to kill someone that wasn't really the one we wanted.

"I won't forgive you if Kakashi is the one to kill Itachi... if that's really him," Sasuke said.

"I'm so gonna lose sleep over that!" I retorted, sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

"Ignore my shadow clone and take him out, Naruto!" Kakashi-san's shout caught my attention.

"I know!" I heard Naruto shout, but his voice seemed doubled. I noticed two Narutos running towards that Itachi with a larger than normal Rasengan in hand.

"Wh-Why is it so big?!" I asked.

"I can't believe that fool actually mastered his own Rasengan," Sasuke muttered.

"Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, thrusting the ball of chakra forward, hitting that Itachi directly.

The collision caused the ground underneath to crack and crumble. The attack was so strong that I could feel the warm wind it caused. "Giant... Ball Rasengan?" I said.

"Yeah, I was there when he was working on it," Sasuke told me. "I didn't think he mastered it though."

"Cool..." I muttered, smiling a bit. "If that's what Naruto's got... I can't wait to see what you've got, Sasuke!"

"Heh..." Sasuke grinned. Oh, I forgot about his ego... Anyway, I saw Naruto's clone disappear, leaving him standing there.

"He got him!" I exclaimed, standing. "Let's go, Sasuke!" He stood up and well, so we both walked out of the forest into the clearing. We saw that Ino, Granny Chiyo, Naruto and Kakashi-san were already standing over the body.

"W-What the..." I heard Chiyo mutter when we reached the four.

"I thought something felt odd during the fight," Kakashi-san said; he glanced over at us. "You two noticed, too, didn't you?" I nodded to answer his question.

"What the hell is going on? Why didn't you tell us?!" Naruto asked.

"We didn't know for sure," I answered.

"So... you were using us to see?" Naruto asked.

"Pretty much..." I muttered with a nervous grin.

"That's pretty low, Mayu, Sasuke... Even for you guys," Naruto frowned.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" I questioned.

"So, this was just another one of Akatsuki's jutsu?" Ino asked.

"Looks like," I said, staring at the face of the fraud. "It was like it was him, but it wasn't... Even his memory of me was there. Whatever kinda jutsu that was... It could fool anyone," I thought.

"This man is..." Granny Chiyo began, causing me to look at her.

Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she looked down at the man. Did she know the impostor? "Do you recognize him?" Granny Chiyo nodded her head.

"Ah! I know him, too!" Ino said as she snapped her fingers. "It's Yuura-san!"

"Yuura?" Naruto muttered. "How do you know him?"

"Well, you don't spend a month in Suna without knowing! He's a jounin from the Sand," Ino answered. "I didn't know him well, but I heard of him and even saw his face a couple times."

"The girl is correct. He went missing right before Gaara was kidnapped," Chiyo confirmed.

"What?! So, that means he could have been an Akatsuki spy?!" Ino questioned. "Makes sense... He gave me the creeps, anyway!"

"I don't want to believe that. He served on the village council for four years," Chiyo stated.

"Demo... How did you know that this guy wasn't the real deal?" Ino asked.

"That fireball of his," I answered.

"What about it?" Ino questioned.

"As you already know, the Uchiha clan is know for its fire jutsu," Sasuke began. "Although that attack was real... it wasn't the same. Being an Uchiha myself, I could tell something was wrong. The power level of that attack wasn't as great as it could be."

"Either that or he was going easy on us... And Itachi never goes easy on me... no matter what..." I thought, frowning.

"Just as I thought," Chiyo muttered, taking out a writing utensil and paper. "This was obviously a way to buy them more time." She began writing on that paper.

"That's a good jutsu they have," Kakashi commented.

"If they're using such a powerful jutsu just to delay us... There's no doubt. They've already begun extracting the Bijuu," Chiyo said.

"Gaara-kun...!" I thought.

"There's no time. We need to save Gaara-kun right away," Kakashi-san stated.

"W-Wait a minute...! Extracting the Bijuu?! What's that mean? Can they actually do that?!" Ino questioned. She really sounded worried!

"They probably plan to make another Jinchuuriki from Shukaku, the Ichibi," Chiyo said.

"Jinchuuri...ki?" I repeated.

I knew I heard that somewhere before. Actually, when I first became a fan of the show, that's not really a show, I heard that multiple times. But... I never figured out what it meant. "I already explained that Bijuu are beasts with unimaginable power, remember?" Chiyo continued. "And that various nations tried to use them as military weapons. A Jinchuuriki is one who controls their power." Ino let out a sharp gasp.

"You mean like how Gaara uses his sand?" she asked. "That's Shukaku's power?"

Granny Chiyo nodded. "Through sealing jutsus, the Bijuu's powers were suppressed, and the nations tried to control them that way," she said. I noticed Naruto put a hand on his stomach. "And those with Bijuu sealed in them, like Gaara, are called Jinchuuriki. Jinchuuriki gain unimaginable power by joining with a Bijuu. Including Gaara, there have been three people in Suna's history who have been Jinchuuriki." Chiyo had stopped writing, rolled up the scroll and took out another small scroll. She threw in to the ground and it unrolled. She made hand signs with just one hand, and a puff of smoke appeared on the small scroll.

When the smoke cleared, a yellow toy-looking bird was on the scroll. Chiyo picked up the toy and turned the key on its back. The bird opened his mouth and Chiyo placed the scroll she had been writing on in its mouth. "You know what to do," she said. The toy bird flew off. We all watched the bird's departure until it was no longer in sight. That's when I noticed that Ino had her hands clenched at her sides, she was also glaring at the ground.

"The wars of the past were probably started by using Jinchuuriki, haven't they?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"That is correct," Chiyo answered.

"Then what about the people who became Jinchuuriki?! If Jinchuuriki were so good to nations, then why it take three sealings to--?" Ino began, but stopped when she noticed the look on Naruto's face. "... How do you even remove a Bijuu?"

"Jinchuuriki who have their Bijuu extracted..." Chiyo began. "... die." I swear I fell out right then and there when I heard Granny Chiyo said that, cuz the next thing I know we're in the forest and I'm being carried.
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Sasuke glanced down at the girl in his arms and noticed that she was awake. "Mayu, you idiot!" he muttered; Mayu glared at him, and then turned her head.

"What happened? Where are we?" she questioned.

"You... fainted when Chiyo said that Jinchuurikis die when their Bijuu's are extracting from their bodies," Sasuke said. "We're traveling again." Mayu looked around and noticed that the sun had begun to set.

"G-Gaara-kun...!" Mayu exclaimed.

"Ahh, I see you're awake now, Mayu-chan!" Kakashi's voice made Mayu glance back. "You're quite the sensitive person..."

"Kakashi-san, is it true? Did I hear right?" Mayu asked; Kakashi nodded his head.

"I'm afraid that is the truth, Mayu," he answered. Mayu closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"Gaara-kun... no!" she thought.

"Hey, stay with me!" Sasuke said, causing Mayu to look up at him. "What is it with girls and fainting, anyway?"

"Nani...?" Mayu said.

"Ino fainted, too..." Sasuke replied, looking straight ahead. Mayu saw Ino turn around and stick her tongue out.

"Shut up! It was only surprising to hear, that's all!" she said, turning her head back. Mayu jumped out of Sasuke's hold and jumped from branch to branch beside him.

"Don't worry. We'll save Gaara," Sasuke said; Mayu nodded, but she turned away.

"I know that..." she replied in a soft voice. "But... that doesn't stop me from being worried. Gaara-kun... Gaara-kun is my precious friend. Different than a normal friend and that's why I... can't help but to really worry about him."

"Precious friend...?" Sasuke repeated; Mayu nodded.

"For the longest time I only had one precious friend... until Gaara-kun came along," she said. "My precious friends all have something in common and that's what makes me worry."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I can't say really... I just know when I person will become my precious friend," Mayu said. "I can't explain it."

Kakashi jumped to the ground, and then told everyone to stop. His team did as they were told and looked at him in question. "What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto asked.

"Let's take a break here for a while," he suggested.

"WHAT?!" Naruto, Mayu, and Ino shouted in unison.

"It's a wise decision," Chiyo said, nodding her head. Naruto didn't think it was such a good idea.

He ran up to Kakashi and began his protest. "Why?! You just said we don't have any time, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stated. "If we stay here and take a break, Gaara will--"

"Our pace has slowed considerably since our fight with the fake Itachi," Kakashi interrupted.

"He's right," Sasuke stated. "With you constantly out of breath, and me having to carry Mayu, our speed has decreased." Mayu glared at the Uchiha. Was he calling her fat?!

"Resting up now will allow us to reach our goal more quickly," Kakashi continued. "And tomorrow we may have to fight the guys who kidnapped Gaara-kun. We all need to be at a hundred percent." Naruto's eyes widen in understanding.

"All right," he said.
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Mayu's POV
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AHHH! No matter how much I try, I can't go to sleep! We had set up camp about an hour ago, and ate fifteen minutes ago. Luckily, I brought some food, everyone else had seemed to forget. Anyway, here I was tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep... keyword being try! Naruto, Ino and Sasuke had already fell asleep. I don't know about Kakashi, though. He's somewhere up in a tree, Granny Chiyo is the one keeping watch by the fire.

Naruto and Ino are under their cover, Sasuke had his back against a tree... and my back was against the forest floor. Not only could I not get any sleep, but I'm bored on top of that! "Quit your moving, child, and rest," I heard Granny Chiyo tell me. I sat up and sighed loudly.

"Kinda hard to do when I had a nap earlier," I muttered. But still, even with the nap, I still needed to go to sleep. Using Sasuke's attack took a lot out of me.

Even if I do know the attack, it's not from his clan, so I shouldn't have used it like I did. "Uncle Mori would probably scold me for doing something as reckless as that," I thought. Speaking of which, I have to find Uncle Mori before he finds Itachi. Things will definitely get ugly between the two if they were to meet now. Now, when things are so outta control. "Itachi..." I thought, pulling my knees up to my chin; I closed eyes in thought. "You're still the biggest jackass..."

Itachi, another one of my precious friends. My very first, in fact. It was after a few weeks after we met each other. I'll never forget his reaction to the kiss I gave him on the cheek. "Why the hell did you do that?!" Now, I know what you're thinking. There is no way in hell that Itachi would ever say that.

Yeah, well, he did! You see, by that time, Itachi was pretty much fed up with me. I don't know why, but I liked to annoy people like Itachi, ya know... emo. My pass time got me into a lot of trouble back then. "I miss those times..." I thought, frowning. "Why did Itachi's dad order the annihilation of my clan, anyway? I thought he and mother were in agreement... Something must have went wrong."

"Hey, did you not hear me, child?" Chiyo's voice interrupted my train of thought. My head snapped up to see the old woman staring at me. I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"I said count. That always does the trick," she said.

"To for asleep?" I asked; she nodded. "Yeah, I seriously doubt I'll get to sleep by counting sheep..." I thought, bowing my head, so she couldn't see the frown. "Oh hey! I know!" I exclaimed.

I crawled over to my bag and pulled out a small paint brush and ink out. I snickered lightly. I could feel Granny Chiyo's eyes on me as I crawled over to the sleeping Sasuke. I swallowed a laugh as I dipped the brush into the ink. "What are you doing?" Granny Chiyo asked. I turned around and put my finger to my lips in order to quiet her. I turned back to Sasuke and for a moment I admired how handsome he had become.

"Bah!" I thought, shaking my head. I held the brush to Sasuke's face, and then slowly drew circles and all other sorts of patterns. I was tempted to write 'I'm gay', but decided against it. I didn't want to cruel, so instead I drew three birds. Two on his cheeks and one on his forehead; Sasuke had taken his headband off. "This is what you get for calling me fat!" I thought with an evil grin; I took the brush away from his face. "I'm so diabolical, it hurts!"

Well, my work here is done! Now, I can get some sleep! "You are a very weird one," Granny Chiyo stated when I turned around, allowing her to see Sasuke's face.

"Yeah, I get that a lot!" I stated, turning my back to Sasuke. Very bad on my part because suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and pulled into Sasuke's chest. "Oh crap! He's awake!" I thought in fear. "He's gonna torture and kill me, I just know it!"

I began struggling as if my life was at stake. But Sasuke held on to me like I was money! I could barely breath under his hold. "Stop...!" he finally hissed. Because of how sudden his voice sounded, I froze, I even forgot to breath for a moment. I felt Sasuke's arms wrap around my stomach. He's gonna kill me, isn't he?

I winced when I felt his face against my hair. He breathed deeply, causing me to shudder. Oh just stop putting me in suspense already! All of a sudden, his movements just stopped... "Oh, he's still sleeping. How peculiar of him to do all that in his sleep," Granny Chiyo said. My eye twitched...

"Slee-ping...!" I repeated. I sighed loudly, and then pried his hands from my waist and crawled out his lap and over to where I was before. "Baka!" I muttered, pulling the covers over my head. Hugging things in your sleep... That's worst than fighting in your sleep! Well, at least he didn't grab my boob this time... I could feel my face grow hot at that thought. "Bah!"
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I awoke to the sounds of laughter. I groaned lightly and rolled over. "What the hell is so damn funny, Naruto?!" I could hear Sasuke's annoyed sounding voice.

"Y-Yo face is so damn funny!" Naruto laughed out.

"Y-Yeah, S-Sasuke-kun! You look so funny!" I heard Ino laugh out as well; I think I heard a chuckle from Kakashi. I sat up and yawned. I noticed it was still a little dark once my eye sight became clear. I saw that everyone was gathered around Sasuke, pointing at him.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked, rubbing the rest of the sleep from my eyes. I stood up and yawned again. Naruto turned around to face me. It looked as if he just woke up, considering he didn't have his headband on yet.

"Congrats, Mayu! You really have a knack for getting at Sasuke!" he said, grinning.

"Eh...?" I muttered confused. Naruto stepped aside, revealing the artwork that I did last night. "Oh..." I said, blinking.

"What do you mean 'oh'?!" Sasuke asked. "What did you do?"

"Uh... mmm, I... I... I... fell asleep and I must have been sleepwalking when I drew on your face," I said, coming up with a quick lie. Sasuke wouldn't hit a person who was only sleepwalking, so my lie was good.

"You... what?!" he seemed to growl out. Then again... this was Uchiha Sasuke.

"Yeah, yeah, Sasuke-kun! Your face is covered!" Ino said; she handed him a mirror.

Sasuke's face suddenly became very angry. I surprised he didn't break the small mirror. He then turned his angry gaze on me. I tensed when I saw that his eyes had turned red... and they weren't Sharingan eyes either! "N-N-Now, now, Sasuke! Don't be a girl! Only girls at this way!" I told him. That only seemed to make him more angry. He took one menacing step forward. "Ahh! Kakashi-san! Tell Sasuke he can't kill me!"

"Kill you? Oh no, I would never do that, Mayu-chan..." Sasuke with this sick smile on his face. AAHHHH! I'M GONNA GET RAPED!

"Kakashi-san!!" I exclaimed.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi-san finally said something; I relaxed when Sasuke turned his attention to his former sensei. "You can do that after the mission." Kakashi-san, you traitor! "There will plenty of time for that after we rescue Gaara-kun."

Oh yeah! Gaara-kun! I'm going to save him! "Yes!" I said, suddenly refreshed and energized. I'm going to kick ass! Especially... the one who took Gaara-kun! "Let's go!"
***********************


We are landed on top of the river. Gai's team was already in front of the entrance. The entrance was a giant boulder with some kinda barrier on it. That much I can tell. "You're late, Kakashi," Gai commented.

"Well, we ran into some trouble on the way here," Kakashi stated.

Yeah, well... We would have been much later if we wasn't forced to speed up! I glanced at Naruto, who was to my right. His eyes were red and his 'whiskers' had grown longer in length, and so did his hair. "Suddenly picking up speed like that... I could barely keep up and I'm the one with the weight training," I thought. I thought it would be best to take my weights off before we started traveling again early this morning.

The weights had to be left behind. I knew I was going to have to use my full speed today. "Naruto-kun! Ino-san! Sasuke-san!" Lee exclaimed.

"Hey!" I complained.

"Sorry, sorry! Mayu-san!" Lee apologized.

"Hey Kakashi, you weren't talking about me were you?" Granny Chiyo feigned hurt.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, looking serious all the while.

"N-Naruto...!" I heard Neji mutter. I guess this is the first time he's seen Naruto like this.

"You guys were a little bit quicker than us," Ino stated, stepping forward along with the rest of us.

"Who is this elderly woman?" Tenten asked.

"This is Suna's senior consultant, Chiyo-sama," Ino answered. Granny Chiyo gave a 'peace' sign and spoke with a small smile.

"Please to meet you!" she said.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." Neji greeted.

"Hyuga Neji..." Sasuke replied. I don't understand why they always have to do that every time they meet. Just straight up glaring at each other! Just kiss him already!

"Mayu-san..." Neji got my attention.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Your friend said something very weird to us," he stated. My friend...? Oh, Yasmine!

"What did she say?" I asked, curiousity getting the best of me.

"She said 'Do something you wouldn't normally do, and everything will be fine.' And then she just ran off!" Tenten answered.

"S-She said that?" I asked. Damn it, Yasmine! You're not supposed to drop hints! It would change too much! And what's worse, I didn't know what the heck it meant! "So... did she do something to Lee before she ran off?"

"Y-Yeah, she did actually," Neji said.

"What?"

"She pinched his butt, and then ran off. Odd, no?" Tenten said. Okay, that was definitely Yasume, not Yasmine. I can't believe Yasume actually pinched Lee's butt!

"I'm gonna get her for that!" I muttered. "Well, do what you will about her weird comment! Ignore it or follow it, it's up to you!" Team Gai nodded, and then the leader starting talking to Kakashi-san.

"Now then, shall we do this, Kakashi?" Gai asked.

"Yeah," Kakashi-san answered.

I looked at the giant boulder and frowned. Gaara-kun...! "He's in there! Just hang on a little while longer!" I thought.

"Neji!" Gai said; Neji nodded, and then activated his Byakugan.

"The inside is rather wide and spacious, but..." he began.

"But...?" Lee asked; Neji didn't respond right away.

"... I can't get a very good image of what it's like inside," he said.

"Gaara-kun...! Can you see him?!" I asked.

"It seems that there are some people there," Neji continued.

"Neji, is Gaara...?" Naruto asked, shaking Neji a bit. When Neji didn't respond, Naruto's shaking got a little rougher. "Hey, what's happening to Gaara?!"

"Naruto! Stop it! He can't see clearly if you're shaking him!" I stated.

"Thank you, Mayu-san," Neji said.

"You're welcome... Now get back to Gaara-kun!" I said. Neji narrowed his eyes, but continued looking nonetheless.

It took quite a bit a time, too. It was only naturally for Naruto to become impatient again. "Neji!" he shouted.

"Hey!" Neji exclaimed.

"Naruto, you idiot! Let the man work!" Ino yelled.

"... Wh-What is that?" Neji muttered. Naruto began shaking him again.

"What's wrong? Hey!" he asked. "What is it, Neji?!"

"Cut it out, dobe!" Sasuke said. I could tell that he had grown tired up Naruto's behavior. Neji had turned off his Byakugan and muttered a 'let go' to Naruto.

"What's the matter, Neji?" Ino asked.

"It's hard for me to explain," he replied.

"Which means..." Tenten began.

"Which means we have to see it for ourselves, doesn't it?" Lee finished. Gai placed his hand on Lee's shoulder.

"In which case, I'll keep it short," he said, smirking. Eh...? Gai did a couple of back flips on the water, and then stopped. Okay... I'm confused. What is he doing?

Gai suddenly ran towards the giant boulder, preparing to punch the boulder! "What is he thinking?!" I thought. "Just alert them that we're here, why don't ya?!"

"Take that!" Gai yelled; his fist made contact with the stone, but all it did was cause a few stray rocks to fall and the water to have ripples.

"So, it is a barrier," I thought. Gai walked back towards us.

"What should we do?" Lee asked.

"First, we have to remove the barrier, Lee," Gai answered.

"And we have to figure out just what type of barrier this is," Ino stated.

"Yeah," Gai said.

"How?" Tenten inquired.

"First we need to figure out what type of barrier it is, Kakashi," Gai said.

"Didn't Ino just say that?" I thought. "It really doesn't need to be repeated..."

I looked up at the seal on the rock. The kanji on it said forbidden. "How do you see it?" Chiyo asked.

"This is a five-seal barrier, isn't it?" Kakashi-san said.

"I agree," Chiyo muttered, nodding.

"A five-seal barrier?" Naruto repeated.

"Yeah, a five-seal barrier is a barrier created by putting five 'Forbidden' seals in five different places," Sasuke said. "I've come across this type of barrier before... There's one forbidden seal here and four others located somewhere else."

"How did you dismantle it, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked. I looked to Sasuke in question. He probably did figure out a way to remove the seals.

"I didn't..." he said, causing me to almost fall over. "At the time, I was traveling alone and couldn't remove the seals even if I wanted to. Because the seals must be removed at the exact same time or else... the barrier will remain."

"So, where are the other four?!" Naruto asked, looking around.

"I said they would be in different locations, dobe!" Sasuke said.

I rolled my eyes when Naruto turned around and stuck his middle finger up at Sasuke. "Bakas..." I muttered.

"Neji-kun!" Kakashi-san said.

"Hai. I know," Neji said, activating his bloodline. "Byakugan!"

"No matter how many times I see him use that... It's still scary as hell when Neji uses his Byakugan!" I thought.

"I found them!" Neji exclaimed.

"Neji, where are they?!" Naruto asked.

"One's on top of a boulder, about 500 meters northeast of here," Neji began. "The second one is on a tree trunk in a gorge, 350 meters south-southeast. The third one is on a cliff side, 600 meters to the northwest. And the last one is in a forest almost 800 meters southwest of here."

"He can see that far using that Byakugan... That's amazing..." I thought. His eyes were still creepy, though.

"So... they're pretty far away then," Ino commented. "What's the signal gonna be?"

"There's no problem there," Gai said, removing his backpack. "These wireless radios can cover those distances."

"Wireless radios, huh?" Naruto said.

"I see," Kakashi muttered.

"Nice, Gai-san!" I exclaimed. He gave us the nice guy pose.

"So, we'll get directions from Neji and find those seals," Gai said.

Gai's team began to put on their wireless radios as Gai continued to speak. "We will remove the four seals surrounding the area. If this is a race against the clock, then my team's the quickest," Gai said proudly, and then gave another nice guy pose. I had to keep from sighing when Naruto returned the nice guy pose, only without the blinding smile.

"I'm counting on you!" he said.

"Okay! Lee will head towards the forest in the northwest," Gai said.

"Hai! Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, tying his headband around his forehead.

"Neji will head towards the boulder in the northeast," Gai said.

"Roger," Neji said, after altering the sound to his radio.

Gai glanced at Tenten. "And Tenten will head towards the one in the south-southeast," he finished.

"Got it!" Tenten said.

"I'll take the cliff," Gai said. "I'm positive that will be the most difficult one to reach."

"What's your frequency?" Kakashi-san asked.

"It's 174," Gai answered.

"Got it," Kakashi-san said, fixing his radio.

"Everyone, can you hear me!" Lee shouted. Apparently, they heard him a bit too loud because Neji and Tenten clutched their ears, and Kakashi-san and Gai looked as if they were going to fall over.

"Lee, you have your mic turned on too high!" Tenten yelled. Lee gasped, and then looked very sorry for what he did.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, bowing, which caused more pain to their ears. This scene was quite comically.

"Lee! Hey, Lee!" Gai said, pointing to his radio. Lee made an 'oh' sound and adjusted his radio.

"I'm sorry..." he muttered in embarrassment. Lee is so friggin' cute!

"The wireless radio settings are good to go," Tenten stated; Gai nodded.

"They're okay here, too," Neji said.

"Okay! Team Gai..." Gai said, putting his hand out, and then he made this 'hmm' kinda noise.

Lee looked confused for a moment, but then got the picture and placed his hand over Gai's. Gai chuckled, and then looked over to Tenten, who seemed disgusted by the whole idea. Gai grunted again, making Tenten sigh in defeat. "Okay, okay..." she muttered, placing her hand on Lee's. Gai chucked again in victory, and then looked to Neji, who looked as if thought the whole thing was stupid and wasn't going to do it.

"Neji vs. Gai! Who will be the winner?!" I thought, watching in amusement. The two stared each other down as if it were an actually battle.

Sweat started to form on Neji's cheek as he continued stared at his sensei. I could tell he was uncomfortable with the whole situation. And then Gai started grunting again, trying hard to get Neji to cooperate. "What are they doing?" Sasuke asked in a whisper.

"I think they're trying to see who has the stronger will," I whispered back.

"Sounds dumb. And why does Gai keep humming like that?" Sasuke whispered.

"Yeah, I know... And it's Gai, he's weird like that," I whispered. "It almost sounds as if he's gotta take a crap, doesn't it?"

Sasuke made a face at my last comment. I went back to the 'battle' to see if there was a victor, sadly, it wasn't yet. Gai just kept right on humming. Neji had finally had enough of that sound and put his hand over Tenten's in defeat. Gai laughed out in victory at Neji's comical defeat. "Fight with the full power of youth!" he laughed out. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Lee was the only one that showed enthusiasm. "And one more time! NOW!" The group of four jumped away.

"That's great! It's great that they're so pumped up!" Naruto exclaimed.

"I thought it was funny..." I muttered.

"Hey, how about we do it, too?" Naruto asked.

"I'd rather be buried alive!" Ino declared.

"Yeah," Kakashi said.

"Fool," Granny Chiyo stated.

"Dope," Sasuke said.

"I think I'll pass..." I muttered.

Naruto looked really disappointed at our answers. "You guys are mean..." he grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Well, it's about time for me to go," Pakkun said. Funny, I didn't realize he was here... "There's no point in me being here if I'm just going to get in the way."

"Pakkun, job well done," Kakashi said, waving.

"Well then with that, I'm off," Pakkun said, and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Ino-san, since you trained with Tsunade-sama, you should know her monstrous strength, right?" Kakashi-san questioned. Ino nodded in reply. "Good, you will destroy the boulder when I remove the seal, got it?"

"Hai!" Ino responded.

"Okay, the rest of us will go in and retrieve Gaara-kun," Kakashi-san said.

"Right!" Naruto, Sasuke and I said in unison. Kakashi-san ran up the boulder near the seal and the rest of us separated from Ino.

"This will take a few minutes," Kakashi-san said. "Be at the ready, all of you!"

"Hai!" we all chorused. A couple of minutes went by and I saw Ino get into a offensive stance.

"We go in with the button hook entry," Kakashi said. We all muttered, grunted, yeahed, and nodded. Suddenly, Kakashi-san ripped the seal off the boulder. "Ino-san!"

"GOT IT!" Ino yelled, and then raced towards the boulder, preparing to punch, much like Gai did. The moment her fist colided with the boulder, Kakashi-san jumped away from the crumbling rock. Ino also jumped out of the way in order to not be crushed by the falling rumble. We waited until the rocks stopped before Kakashi motioned for us to go in. Granny Chiyo, Sasuke and Ino on one side, and Naruto, Kakashi, and I on the other. It was kinda dark in this cave, but what I did see almost caused me to faint again. The blond, I could recognize him anywhere, but the other one was questionable. Anyway, they were both sitting on Gaara-kun!

I could feel myself getting angry at the scene! "So then, I wonder which one is the Jinchuuriki," the blond one said, aka, Deidara.

"ASSHOLES!" I found myself yelling. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SITTING ON HIM?!"

"I'M GONNA KICK BOTH YOUR ASSES!" Ino shouted.

"YOU BASTARDS! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" Naruto shouted releasing his anger. His eyes were no longer blue, but a red Kyuubi looking color.

"Well, this is a problem... The one who screams and charges first..." the fat one said. "Half of them screamed."

"Yeah, but we know for a fact that the Jinchuuriki is male," Deidara stated. "That must be him... un."

"You son of a bitch!" Naruto exclaimed, glaring at the two. "Where the hell do you think you're sitting?!"

"There's no mistaking. He's the Jinchuuriki," Deidara stated. "The first thing he'll do is scream and charge at you. Itachi actually described him quite accurately... un."

"Gaara! How can you be asleep at a time like this?!" Naruto yelled. Yeah, that's it. Gaara-kun's only sleeping... But Gaara-kun didn't move. "Stand up! Gaara! Hey, Gaara, are you listening?! Stop it already!" Naruto looked as if he was about to reach out to Gaara-kun.

"Enough, Naruto!" Kakashi said. "... You should already know."

"No, Gaara-kun... not you!" I thought; I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"That's right. You get it, don't you?" Deidara asked. "He's been dead for a while." And then he had the nerve to slap Gaara-kun's cheek! UNFORGIVABLE! I was so angry that I tried rushing at them right then! But Kakashi-san stopped me. He is such a party pooper.

"Calm down, Mayu!" he said, but I continued to struggle.

"Let me go! I don't care how many fucking fans he's got! He's so fucking dead!" I yelled out. "Let me go, Kakashi!"

"Sasuke, help me out!" Kakashi said.

"Sorry, we got our own problems," Sasuke muttered, causing me to stop my struggling and look his way. Granny Chiyo and Sasuke were trying desperately to keep Ino under control.

"Give him back!" Naruto growled. "Give back Gaara, you bastards!"

He rushed at the two like I did, and like I did, he was also stopped by Kakashi. I hadn't even noticed that he had left me. "Calm down, the three of you!" he said. "If you charge right in without thinking, we're all dead."

"Kuso! He's got a point..." I thought; I could still hear Naruto growling at the situation. I noticed that Ino had calmed down, too. I also noticed the fat one look towards his comrade.

"What's wrong, Master Sasori?" Deidara asked. So, that was his name? Which one of them took Gaara-kun from the village?

"I'll take him," the fat one, known as Sasori, stated.

"The hell he will!" I thought.

"It seems that this Jinchuuriki wants to take him back," Sasori continued.

"Looks like it," Deidara stated, glancing at Gaara-kun's head. "Master... You might get pissed at me for saying this, but... I'm going to fight the Jinchuuriki."

"Each of us gets our own," Sasori said. "Don't get cocky, Deidara." So... Deidara is the one who took Gaara-kun...?

"With art, you must constantly seek greater and greater stimulation," Deidara said. "... or you ability to appreciate it will dull. I've heard rumors that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is pretty powerful. He'll be perfect for my art... un."

"What?" Sasori asked. "You call those explosions 'arts'? Art is something that endures the test of time beautifully and gracefully. True art is eternal beauty."

I started to get really frustrated at their conversation. Art...?! Why the hell are they talking about art at a time like this?! "Eternal beauty?" Deidara repeated. I can't believe this! "Master, I respect you as a fellow artist, but art is something that blossoms for an instant before withering away."

"What did you say?" Sasori asked. "Deidara, apparently you don't understand what true art is."

"That would be you, Master," Deidara commented.

"You bastards...!" I heard Naruto hiss.

"Eternal beauty is the only true art," Sasori stated.

"That's absurd!" Deidara commented. "Art is beauty that lasts for just a moment."

"Stop screwing with us!" Naruto yelled, finally snapping. He took out a scroll and made a big shuriken appear. He ran and threw it at the fat one, but... the fat one had a tail... No, seriously! A TAIL!

The tail only deflected the shuriken. And Sasori wen back to talking to Deidara as if the whole thing didn't just happen. "Are you trying to piss me off?" he asked.

"That's why I said that this would probably piss you off!" Deidara stated. Damn it, these two are starting to piss me off!

"You should know what happens when I get angry!" Sasori said, his tail moving around dangerously. "What do you say, Deidara?"

The blond stood up. "To me, the essence of art is..." he tossed something in the air. "... explosions!" Whatever it was that he threw, transformed into a giant clay bird! "It's completely different from your silly puppet shows." The bird picked up Gaara-kun in its mouth. Sasori didn't like what Deidara said because his tail was about to strike Deidara!

The blond merely dodged it by jumping on his giant bird. "Later, Master!" he said, and then made the bird swallow Gaara-kun until only his legs were showing. He was taunting us! Deidara flew from the cave, giving us this smug sorta look.

"COME BACK HERE, YOU MALE INO!" I yelled running after the bird; I noticed Naruto did the same.

"Naruto, Mayu, no!" I heard Sasuke and Kakashi-san call.

"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE HIM!" I heard Ino yell.

Naruto and I ran outside the cave, Deidara in our sight. "Wait, damn you!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto! Mayu!" I heard Sasuke call again; he was running towards us. Naruto and I hopped on the red... thingy and Sasuke followed us. "Idiots! Try to control yourselves!" I barely heard him. I continued to glare up at Deidara and his giant clay bird.

He was flying circles around us. That pissed me off even more! "I'm going to kill him!" Naruto declared.

"You two... No wonder Kakashi wanted me to come with you," Sasuke muttered. "You two are like children, needing to be controlled.
"SHUT UP!" Naruto and I yelled. Sasuke only sighed at our words. "Give Gaara back!" Naruto shouted.

"It looks like I'll have to get serious," Sasuke muttered; I turned to see that he had activated his Sharingan eyes. I looked back up at Deidara and noticed only one of Gaara-kun's legs were showing. I also noticed that one of Deidara's sleeves was flapping in the breeze as if there was nothing there...

"He's only got one arm," I stated.

"Don't take him lightly just because of that," Sasuke told me.

"Gaara!" Naruto muttered; I guess he didn't hear Sasuke.

"Should you really be fighting me... un? Uchiha Sasuke..." I heard Deidara say; Sasuke didn't respond. "Just for the record, Master Sasori is stronger than me. Probably... un. Although our opinions differ greatly on what real art is... un."

"Oh, give me a fucking break!" I said. "You're both wrong about your so called art!" I saw Deidara look down at me in question. "You say art is beauty that last for a moment, he says it last forever... and I agree with both of those theories, but... What you two call art... is total bullshit!"

"And I suppose you know what art is... un?" Deidara asked.

"No one knows what art is! But I do know that art is something people enjoy watching! Not explosions and creepy little puppets!" I yelled.

"What?!" Deidara yelled.

"Art that last for only a moment would be things like fireworks or a simple melody, art that last forever would be things like paintings of sculptures!" I said. "I don't think people will enjoy being blown up or killed by a puppet! If you ask me neither of you know the meaning of the word art!" A frown appeared on Deidara's face and his eye narrowed into a slit.

"What do you know? You're just a child... un," he said. I don't know why he said that! He looked just a few years older than me!

"Well, at least this child knows how to talk!" I retorted. "Seriously, what's all the grunting for... un?"

"Yeah, you sound like an idiot... un!" Naruto joined in.

"That constant grunting is ridiculous... un," Sasuke said.

"Hey, quit it... un! That's my thing! No one can say it but me!" Deidara said loudly.

"UN!" we replied in unison. Deidara's face became livid at our mocking.

"That's it! You brats are gonna become my apart of my art!" he yelled, pointing a finger.

"Jeez... Someone can't take a joke..." I thought, refraining myself from rolling my eyes. I shook my head to rid myself of such thoughts. It was time to get serious!
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