Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Unwanted ❯ Surprises and More Secrets ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Megpie-chan 
Ow, man, anybody get the number on that bus? Hospitals aren't fun. Vega's gonna lose her arm?! And who's this Gaara guy?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.22.2004 | Updated On: 10.22.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 378 | Status: Work In Progress
Ow, man, anybody get the number on that bus? Hospitals aren't fun. Vega's gonna lose her arm?! And who's this Gaara guy?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.22.2004 | Updated On: 10.22.2004 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 378 | Status: Work In Progress
Meg:Ok, folks! To apologize for the screw up with chapters2 and 3, I'm gonna put 4 and 5 up early. I wan't planning on doin 'em till after I got back frm camp at the end of next week, but since you all were so patient, I'll put aside my mountain of homework and write this for you ^_^
Alex:*working on Meg's public speaking assignment* Kami-sama, help us all. While you're up there yapping Meg, why not ask for help!
Meg:Huh? Oh, yeah. First of all, for public speaking I have to do a speech on what I think are the three most important questions of life. 1) The purpose of life 2)What happens after we die? and 3)What defines good and evil? if you've got a spare minute could ya email me or leave a comment on those three? and the second thing I would like to ask about COUPLES!!! The couples for Hold On are still completely up in the air. The only ones I really have settled on are Lee/Sakura (on my friend's orders), Jiriya/Tsunade (big part of the story later), Haku/Zabuza (Anyone who yells at me for that will get hit. They belong together, so says the insane blode!), Ishtar/Rai (had ta do that, another big plot area *coughmatchmakernarutocoughcough*), and Shikamaru/Chouji (lost a bet with a girl from school for this one, but I do like the couple). I'm contemplating Naruto/Sasuke or Naruto/Gaara (can you tell I've got an elite yaoi fan for a best friend?) but I'm open for suggestions. Also, for the record, I was originally planning on sticking Gaara with Vega for reasons that will soon become clear, but I'm starting to wonder about my own thinking. So, if you've got the time, please send me a message on those two things.
Sasuke:You talk to much
Yuki:*cringes slightly at Meg's odd easiness with shonen ai* Meg, you do realize if my dad reads this I'll be grounded for the rest of eternity?
Meg:Oh yeah, I'm using your comp, aren't I? *shrugs* I'll delete it after I've posted it
Tori:Isn't that what got you into the mess with chapter 2?
Meg:uh
Naruto:*jumping around excitedly with a bowl of ramen in his hands* I get to go to camp!! I get to go to camp!
Sasuke:You sure you wanna bring him along?
Gaara:*quickly agrees with Sasuke* He'll keep Vega up till 3 in the morning
Vega:I won't get any sleep at all if we leave him with Tori, or Yuki, no offense
Tori and Yuki:None taken
Gaara:We take him
Meg:Anyway, what the guys have been talking about is my upcoming trip to Pali Mountain Camp next week. So don't expect any updates next week. There was something else I wanted to say......... OH yeah!!
DOMO ARIGATO, MINNA-SAN, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS. ^_^ MY INBOX IS OVERFLOWING.
Meg:And sorry, Rabid-chan, but I have a bad cliffy habit I seem to have gotten from Kishimoto-sensei-sama. ^_^
Alex:-_-;; she's so respectful now, she was cussing Kishimoto out earlier....
Meg:*twitch twitch* cliffhangers....
~*~Quote of the Chapter~*~
"Chirp. Chrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiip!! "-Naruto's cricked fan club from the truely hilarious fic The Cricket Club. ^_^ I fell out of my chair laughing. Gaara gets stalked by the evil possessed drunk raccoon, Naruto's got a fan club composed entirely of crickets, both Hyuugas get nosebleeds at the sight of Iruka and Kakashi, and it's just hilarious!! Read!! http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1907652/1/
~*~Hold On Chapter 4: Surprises and More Secrets~*~
"Damn lucky, I'd say."
"Who would have guessed it?"
"Shouldn't we be worried? I mean, it is the nine-tails..."
Nine-tails...?
"Nonsense! Just because he's the nine-tails' host doesn't mean he'll be like the Kyuubi."
Faust?
"Faust-sama's right. Vega-sama and Ishtar-sama trust him, we should give him a chance before we condemn him. You remember what happened with Gaara."
An odd silence followed these words. During this pause Naruto tried to make sense of what was happening. The last thing he remembered was that demon... and Vega....
"Vega!"Naruto shouted suddenly, sitting up so fast that Faust, who'd been sitting at the fo of his bed, jumped.
"Shh, it's alright,"a young man with unruly silver hair gently pushed Naruto back. Had the blonde been in his right mind, he would have questioned the mask that covered his nose and mouth.
"Where's V-kun?"Naruto asked, quickly, turning to look at Faust. "Is she ok? And Ishtar-chan?"
Faust's face immediately fell from its pleasantly surprised state. He turned to look out the window of what Naruto could only guess was the hospital room.
"What's wrong?!"Naruto asked, getting angry. "Where is she?!"
"Please don't strain yourself, Naruto-kun,"Faust sighed. "There's nothing you can do for my niece right now. She's in the OR right now."
Naruto froze, his rage turning rapidly to panic. "OR? Will she be ok?"
"She should be fine,"Faust muttered. "But the damage to her arm is most likely beyond repair. They will probably have to amputate it."
"Her arm?"
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and tried to sheild his face with his arms. He wasn't ready to die. He still hadn't found a girlfriend! He still hadn't learned everything about Vega and Konoha Academy! 'I can't die yet!!!' But the bite never connected. Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see Vega be thrown across the clearing and slammed into a large tree. Her arm was a tattered mess.
"It took forever to find you three,"Faust explained. "Sasuke came to me right after Vega left to find you and Ishtar. By the time we tracked you down, it was well past noon. You and Ishtar didn't have much damaged, I think Vega may have used to the last of her energy to heal you, but as a result had none left for herself. She almost bled to death."
"But, she'll be ok, right?"Naruto asked.
"Yes. She and Sasuke have the same blood type, so it was easy to get the blood she needed, and mercifully she tends to not get infections. You and Ishtar will be able to leave today, and Vega will be out in a day or two,"Faust reassured. "but I have to ask you something."
"What?"
"Did you know you were an Elemental?"Faust asked.
Naruto's eyes widened considerably. "Wha...? I'm not.... I mean.... WHAT?!"
"You have the blood that is unique to Elementals,"Faust explained with a nochalant wave. "your blood type registered as O negative X, the X meaning an alien factor, an active Elemental gene. Not only that, but it's not any Elemental gene, its the Wind gene. Wind is an Elemental power unique to only the flesh and blood descendants of Nakano Uzumaki, making you Ranma Uzumaki, Yondaime's, son." (-_-;; do not ask me why I made Naruto's dad's name Ranma, I don't know.)
"Whoa, whoa! Pause!"Naruto shouted. "Mental overload. You're tellin' me I can do stuff like Vega did to Shaka the other day?!"
"Not exactly,"Faust chuckled. "Only Vega-kun could give out such unique punishments, but you're in the same ball park. Ishtar can explain it to you."
Within an hour, Naruto and Ishtar were given the all clear to leave. As they were walking down the hall, a sudden motion behind them caused Naruto to turn around.
"What is it?"Ishtar asked, stopping.
"I thought I saw something,"Naruto muttered.
Ishtar looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. "It's probably Gaara."
"Gaara?"Naruto asked.
Ishtar grabbed his arm and steered him out of the hospital and back onto the Konoha Academy grounds. "It's a long story."
"I like long stories, as long as they're not boring,"Naruto said as they headed back to the Elements house.
Ishtar groaned. "No wonder Vega worries about you. Listen, none of us really like to talk about what happened with Gaara. We all screwed up that time, every sinlge one of us. If you're smart you won't asked about it any more. Okay?"
Naruto nodded.
"When Vega's ready to tell you, she will."Neji said pointedly. "If you live that long."
Ishtar and Naruto looked up. When had they made it to the front porch? Sasuke, Neji, and two girls Naruto had never seen before were sitting on the front steps. Neither Neji nor Sasuke looked too pleased to see him.
"Naru-kun,"Ishtar smiled, apparenly ignorant of Sasuke and Neji. "I believe you already know Uchiha-sama and Neji-sempai." all three boys nodded. Ishtar gestured to the taller of the two girls. "This is Soriku Haku," she then pointed to the second girl, who seemingly turned as red as a tomato the moment Naruto looked at her. "and this is Hyuuga Hinata, Neji's cousin."
Neji gave an annoyed grunt. Haku gave a sweet smile that made Naruto blush, which in turn made Ishtar giggle.
"So you're Naruto-kun?"Haku asked, getting up to circle Naruto. "Wow, it's amazing how much like Kitsune he looks. Right, Sasuke-sempai?"
"Don't insult Kitsune,"
Haku turned and gave Sasuke a dark look. "What's you'r problem? Ever since Vega came back you've been even more of a grouch than usual!"
Sasuke gave an annoyed snarled and turned to glare at Naruto. "This is your fault, you know, dobe."
"WHAT?!"Naruto screeched. "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO!?"
"If Vega hadn't run off to save your sorry arse,"Neji snarled as Meg starts beating herself over the head with her bokuto for promising Yuki not to cuss. "she wouldn't be in the hospital right now."
"Don't throw all the blame on him!"Ishtar shouted. "He didn't know....!"
"Stay out of this!"Sasuke and Neji both snapped.
"You're in enough trouble as is,"Neji growled.
"The point is,"Sasuke hissed as he turned back to Naruto. "Vega's going to lose her arm because of your stupidity. I don't care if you are Yondaime's son, you're a no-talent loser and you'll only do more harm than good."
"Don't be so hard on him,"Haku retorted calmly. "He didn't even know he was one of us till today. You can't expect him to know everything."
Sasuke and Neji gave her identical withering looks.
"H-Haku-chan's right,"Hinata piped up quietly. "and Vega-sama trusts him."
"Vega said herself she wasn't meant to be a leader,"Neji retorted.
"And you'd be any better?"Sasuke asked.
"This is getting nowhere,"Haku grombled, shoving herself between Neji and Sasuke. "Look, until Vega gets back from the hospital, you two need to stop biting off Naruto-kun's head, and eachother's, and start getting ready for Shaka's next attack. With Vega back it's only a matter of time before Shaka tried to get rid of her, and Naruto-kun, too, if he finds out who he is."
Appaently this was something all four were able to agree on.
"Fine,"Sasuke snarled. "since you like the dobe so much, you're in charge of him till Vega gets out."
"If she gets out,"Neji muttered.
"What?"Naruto asked. "What do you mean, if?"
"In case you imbeciles have forgotten, Gaara's still trapped in that hospital. God only knows what will happen if he gets wind of Vega's helpless state while she's there."
An icy chill ran up Naruto's spine. The more he learned about his Gaara guy, the less he like him.
"C'mon,"Haku said, taking Naruto's arm, which in turn caused the boy to turn scarlet.
"He doesn't know Haku and Ishtar are boys, does he?"Sasuke asked as he watched Naruto and Haku walk away.
"Doubt it,"Ishtar replied.
"Please don't hate Sasuke-sempai and Neji-sempai,"Haku said, leading Naruto across the school yard. "They're actually very nice, they're just extreamly protective of Vega-chan."
"Coulda fooled me,"Naruto growled. "Why do they do that anyway?"
"You mean gang up on you?"Haku asked. Naruto nodded. "It's in our nature. Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, and I have always been a team, especially when it came to Vega-chan and her brothers. It's our responsibility as the descendants of the Legendary Five."
"Huh? You lost me."
Haku giggled. "I forgot, you're new to this whole thing. The Legendary Five were the founders of our school. My great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Hikari Soriku, was one of them, as was Sasuke-sempai's ancestor, Kai Uchiha, Neji-sempai's and Hinata-chan's ancestor, Riku Hyuuga, your great-some-odd grandpa, Nakano Uzumaki, and of course Legato Arume. As long as anyone can remember, each generation has had their five, or six in our case, but according to Sandaime-sama, we're the first in a long time to actually be friends."
"Really?"
Haku nodded and smiled. "You see, for the last few generations the families have sort of...drifted. Most of the time the five would hate eachother, only staying together because it was their duty. As soon as that generation's Arume died, they would split, it was the worst with Vega's mother. As soon as my parents got word she had died, they left. The only ones who hung around were Sasuke's parents, and they were killed soon after.
"But we turned out different. Something, probably what the adults were saying about the end of the Arume line and our school, caused us to rally around Ichiro. No eight year old should have to run an entire community, but that's what Ichiro got stuck with, and we just took our natural place by his side."
"So, V-kun really did have brothers, then?"Naruto asked.
Haku nodded again. "Ichiro was three years older than her, and Vega-chan hero-worshipped him. Kitsune was my age, and my best friend, and he, in turn, hero-worshipped Vega and Sasuke, probably because they seemed so strong no matter what happened. He also had a crush on Sasuke."
Naruto snorted loudly and stumbled over a rock. "That creep? Who could like him?"
"Kitsune, and Vega and Ichiro treated him like a brother. Something about his cool attitde just drew a lot of us to him. To this day the only girls in the Elements house who aren't madly in love with him are Hinata and Vega."
"Even you and Ishtar-chan?"Naruto asked, slightly crestfallen. "Aw, man. Ishtar's cute, too."
Haku froze, staring at Naruto like he had just sprouted an extra head.
"What?"Naruto asked, blinking.
"You...y ou thought....Ishtar-kun?.....and me?....."Haku suddenly doubled over laughing.
"Did I miss something?"Naruto asked.
It took several minutes for Haku to stop laughing. He finally straightened up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Sorry to break it to you, Naruto-kun, but Ishtar and I are guys."
Blink. Blink.
Chirp. CHRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIP!! (Meg:*once again hitting herself with the bokuto*)
"Uh, Naruto-kun......?"
"...................................WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!"
Somewhere in a research lap in Antartica.....
"Hey Bob, didja hear that?"
"Yeah, Bill. What duya think it was?"
"I dunno. Maybe some guy finding out the girl he has a crush on is actually a guy?"
The two men exchanged glances.
"Nah!"
Now back to your regularly scheduled stupidity. ^_^ (Everyone besides Meg:-_-;;)
Vega was jarred awake by a stabbing pain in her right arm. The migrane followed soon after.
"Did anyone get the number of that bus?"she asked no one in particular.
It took her a few minutes to gather her thoughts. She was obviously in the school hospital. She'd spent enoguh time in these rooms as a kid to know that. But what was she doing back in Konoha?
'Oh, yeah,'she thought. 'Aya.' Then everything came back in one heavy blast. Ishtar and Shaka, the demon, 'Naruto!'
But something told her Naruto and Ishtar were both safe, but Vega wasn't. She could feel it now. The less than human presence hiding just beyond her feild of vision. It wasn't a strange presnce, far from it. It had once been a comfort, a guard while she slept, but it was different now. Very different. Where once a barely grasped compassion, an uneasy sense of belonging had been, there was now only fear, and hate. The word escaped before she could stop it.
"Gaara."
And he was gone.
~*~End Chapter 4~*~
Meg:*still hitting herself with the bokuto*
Alex:No more sugar for you....
Yuki:*staring at the computer screen* I thought we agreed that the only person Naruto would have a crush on at this point is Sakura...
Axel:Sugar does strange things to a person, Hikari. After all, sugar is what spawned me.
Alex and Chibi:Same here.
Yuki:-_-;; That explains a lot
Meg:*finally stops hitting herself* Well, that's all folks. ^_^ For now anyway. Chapter 5 will be up Saturday at the earliest, Monday morning at the latest. It's a little short this time, but I'm tired, surgared up, and I just love ^_^ where I left off, don't you agree, Rabid-chan?
Tori:Dear god, now she's doing it just to bug us...
Sasuke:Can we finish this before Meg's sugar-induced stupidity causes any more complications?
Meg:Sure ^_^ But only if you do the preview
Sasuke:Grr. Fine. Next time, we all go to visit Vega in the hospital and, *insert extream sarcasm* miracle of miracles, Vega hasn't lost her arm. Yet. Faust says it might heal, so we'll just have to wait and see. After some bickering, Naruto finally convinces Vega to tell him the full story behind the new object of his attention: The oh-so-mystertious Gaara. Leaving the hospital that night, Vega gives us an order that surprises even me. Has she finally decided to stop running? Is she really planning what I think she is? AND WHAT DO YOU THAT BAKA IS GOING TO STAY?!
Alex:*working on Meg's public speaking assignment* Kami-sama, help us all. While you're up there yapping Meg, why not ask for help!
Meg:Huh? Oh, yeah. First of all, for public speaking I have to do a speech on what I think are the three most important questions of life. 1) The purpose of life 2)What happens after we die? and 3)What defines good and evil? if you've got a spare minute could ya email me or leave a comment on those three? and the second thing I would like to ask about COUPLES!!! The couples for Hold On are still completely up in the air. The only ones I really have settled on are Lee/Sakura (on my friend's orders), Jiriya/Tsunade (big part of the story later), Haku/Zabuza (Anyone who yells at me for that will get hit. They belong together, so says the insane blode!), Ishtar/Rai (had ta do that, another big plot area *coughmatchmakernarutocoughcough*), and Shikamaru/Chouji (lost a bet with a girl from school for this one, but I do like the couple). I'm contemplating Naruto/Sasuke or Naruto/Gaara (can you tell I've got an elite yaoi fan for a best friend?) but I'm open for suggestions. Also, for the record, I was originally planning on sticking Gaara with Vega for reasons that will soon become clear, but I'm starting to wonder about my own thinking. So, if you've got the time, please send me a message on those two things.
Sasuke:You talk to much
Yuki:*cringes slightly at Meg's odd easiness with shonen ai* Meg, you do realize if my dad reads this I'll be grounded for the rest of eternity?
Meg:Oh yeah, I'm using your comp, aren't I? *shrugs* I'll delete it after I've posted it
Tori:Isn't that what got you into the mess with chapter 2?
Meg:uh
Naruto:*jumping around excitedly with a bowl of ramen in his hands* I get to go to camp!! I get to go to camp!
Sasuke:You sure you wanna bring him along?
Gaara:*quickly agrees with Sasuke* He'll keep Vega up till 3 in the morning
Vega:I won't get any sleep at all if we leave him with Tori, or Yuki, no offense
Tori and Yuki:None taken
Gaara:We take him
Meg:Anyway, what the guys have been talking about is my upcoming trip to Pali Mountain Camp next week. So don't expect any updates next week. There was something else I wanted to say......... OH yeah!!
DOMO ARIGATO, MINNA-SAN, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL COMMENTS. ^_^ MY INBOX IS OVERFLOWING.
Meg:And sorry, Rabid-chan, but I have a bad cliffy habit I seem to have gotten from Kishimoto-sensei-sama. ^_^
Alex:-_-;; she's so respectful now, she was cussing Kishimoto out earlier....
Meg:*twitch twitch* cliffhangers....
~*~Quote of the Chapter~*~
"Chirp. Chrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiip!! "-Naruto's cricked fan club from the truely hilarious fic The Cricket Club. ^_^ I fell out of my chair laughing. Gaara gets stalked by the evil possessed drunk raccoon, Naruto's got a fan club composed entirely of crickets, both Hyuugas get nosebleeds at the sight of Iruka and Kakashi, and it's just hilarious!! Read!! http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1907652/1/
~*~Hold On Chapter 4: Surprises and More Secrets~*~
"Damn lucky, I'd say."
"Who would have guessed it?"
"Shouldn't we be worried? I mean, it is the nine-tails..."
Nine-tails...?
"Nonsense! Just because he's the nine-tails' host doesn't mean he'll be like the Kyuubi."
Faust?
"Faust-sama's right. Vega-sama and Ishtar-sama trust him, we should give him a chance before we condemn him. You remember what happened with Gaara."
An odd silence followed these words. During this pause Naruto tried to make sense of what was happening. The last thing he remembered was that demon... and Vega....
"Vega!"Naruto shouted suddenly, sitting up so fast that Faust, who'd been sitting at the fo of his bed, jumped.
"Shh, it's alright,"a young man with unruly silver hair gently pushed Naruto back. Had the blonde been in his right mind, he would have questioned the mask that covered his nose and mouth.
"Where's V-kun?"Naruto asked, quickly, turning to look at Faust. "Is she ok? And Ishtar-chan?"
Faust's face immediately fell from its pleasantly surprised state. He turned to look out the window of what Naruto could only guess was the hospital room.
"What's wrong?!"Naruto asked, getting angry. "Where is she?!"
"Please don't strain yourself, Naruto-kun,"Faust sighed. "There's nothing you can do for my niece right now. She's in the OR right now."
Naruto froze, his rage turning rapidly to panic. "OR? Will she be ok?"
"She should be fine,"Faust muttered. "But the damage to her arm is most likely beyond repair. They will probably have to amputate it."
"Her arm?"
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and tried to sheild his face with his arms. He wasn't ready to die. He still hadn't found a girlfriend! He still hadn't learned everything about Vega and Konoha Academy! 'I can't die yet!!!' But the bite never connected. Naruto opened his eyes just in time to see Vega be thrown across the clearing and slammed into a large tree. Her arm was a tattered mess.
"It took forever to find you three,"Faust explained. "Sasuke came to me right after Vega left to find you and Ishtar. By the time we tracked you down, it was well past noon. You and Ishtar didn't have much damaged, I think Vega may have used to the last of her energy to heal you, but as a result had none left for herself. She almost bled to death."
"But, she'll be ok, right?"Naruto asked.
"Yes. She and Sasuke have the same blood type, so it was easy to get the blood she needed, and mercifully she tends to not get infections. You and Ishtar will be able to leave today, and Vega will be out in a day or two,"Faust reassured. "but I have to ask you something."
"What?"
"Did you know you were an Elemental?"Faust asked.
Naruto's eyes widened considerably. "Wha...? I'm not.... I mean.... WHAT?!"
"You have the blood that is unique to Elementals,"Faust explained with a nochalant wave. "your blood type registered as O negative X, the X meaning an alien factor, an active Elemental gene. Not only that, but it's not any Elemental gene, its the Wind gene. Wind is an Elemental power unique to only the flesh and blood descendants of Nakano Uzumaki, making you Ranma Uzumaki, Yondaime's, son." (-_-;; do not ask me why I made Naruto's dad's name Ranma, I don't know.)
"Whoa, whoa! Pause!"Naruto shouted. "Mental overload. You're tellin' me I can do stuff like Vega did to Shaka the other day?!"
"Not exactly,"Faust chuckled. "Only Vega-kun could give out such unique punishments, but you're in the same ball park. Ishtar can explain it to you."
Within an hour, Naruto and Ishtar were given the all clear to leave. As they were walking down the hall, a sudden motion behind them caused Naruto to turn around.
"What is it?"Ishtar asked, stopping.
"I thought I saw something,"Naruto muttered.
Ishtar looked thoughtful for a moment, then sighed. "It's probably Gaara."
"Gaara?"Naruto asked.
Ishtar grabbed his arm and steered him out of the hospital and back onto the Konoha Academy grounds. "It's a long story."
"I like long stories, as long as they're not boring,"Naruto said as they headed back to the Elements house.
Ishtar groaned. "No wonder Vega worries about you. Listen, none of us really like to talk about what happened with Gaara. We all screwed up that time, every sinlge one of us. If you're smart you won't asked about it any more. Okay?"
Naruto nodded.
"When Vega's ready to tell you, she will."Neji said pointedly. "If you live that long."
Ishtar and Naruto looked up. When had they made it to the front porch? Sasuke, Neji, and two girls Naruto had never seen before were sitting on the front steps. Neither Neji nor Sasuke looked too pleased to see him.
"Naru-kun,"Ishtar smiled, apparenly ignorant of Sasuke and Neji. "I believe you already know Uchiha-sama and Neji-sempai." all three boys nodded. Ishtar gestured to the taller of the two girls. "This is Soriku Haku," she then pointed to the second girl, who seemingly turned as red as a tomato the moment Naruto looked at her. "and this is Hyuuga Hinata, Neji's cousin."
Neji gave an annoyed grunt. Haku gave a sweet smile that made Naruto blush, which in turn made Ishtar giggle.
"So you're Naruto-kun?"Haku asked, getting up to circle Naruto. "Wow, it's amazing how much like Kitsune he looks. Right, Sasuke-sempai?"
"Don't insult Kitsune,"
Haku turned and gave Sasuke a dark look. "What's you'r problem? Ever since Vega came back you've been even more of a grouch than usual!"
Sasuke gave an annoyed snarled and turned to glare at Naruto. "This is your fault, you know, dobe."
"WHAT?!"Naruto screeched. "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO!?"
"If Vega hadn't run off to save your sorry arse,"Neji snarled as Meg starts beating herself over the head with her bokuto for promising Yuki not to cuss. "she wouldn't be in the hospital right now."
"Don't throw all the blame on him!"Ishtar shouted. "He didn't know....!"
"Stay out of this!"Sasuke and Neji both snapped.
"You're in enough trouble as is,"Neji growled.
"The point is,"Sasuke hissed as he turned back to Naruto. "Vega's going to lose her arm because of your stupidity. I don't care if you are Yondaime's son, you're a no-talent loser and you'll only do more harm than good."
"Don't be so hard on him,"Haku retorted calmly. "He didn't even know he was one of us till today. You can't expect him to know everything."
Sasuke and Neji gave her identical withering looks.
"H-Haku-chan's right,"Hinata piped up quietly. "and Vega-sama trusts him."
"Vega said herself she wasn't meant to be a leader,"Neji retorted.
"And you'd be any better?"Sasuke asked.
"This is getting nowhere,"Haku grombled, shoving herself between Neji and Sasuke. "Look, until Vega gets back from the hospital, you two need to stop biting off Naruto-kun's head, and eachother's, and start getting ready for Shaka's next attack. With Vega back it's only a matter of time before Shaka tried to get rid of her, and Naruto-kun, too, if he finds out who he is."
Appaently this was something all four were able to agree on.
"Fine,"Sasuke snarled. "since you like the dobe so much, you're in charge of him till Vega gets out."
"If she gets out,"Neji muttered.
"What?"Naruto asked. "What do you mean, if?"
"In case you imbeciles have forgotten, Gaara's still trapped in that hospital. God only knows what will happen if he gets wind of Vega's helpless state while she's there."
An icy chill ran up Naruto's spine. The more he learned about his Gaara guy, the less he like him.
"C'mon,"Haku said, taking Naruto's arm, which in turn caused the boy to turn scarlet.
"He doesn't know Haku and Ishtar are boys, does he?"Sasuke asked as he watched Naruto and Haku walk away.
"Doubt it,"Ishtar replied.
"Please don't hate Sasuke-sempai and Neji-sempai,"Haku said, leading Naruto across the school yard. "They're actually very nice, they're just extreamly protective of Vega-chan."
"Coulda fooled me,"Naruto growled. "Why do they do that anyway?"
"You mean gang up on you?"Haku asked. Naruto nodded. "It's in our nature. Sasuke, Neji, Hinata, and I have always been a team, especially when it came to Vega-chan and her brothers. It's our responsibility as the descendants of the Legendary Five."
"Huh? You lost me."
Haku giggled. "I forgot, you're new to this whole thing. The Legendary Five were the founders of our school. My great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Hikari Soriku, was one of them, as was Sasuke-sempai's ancestor, Kai Uchiha, Neji-sempai's and Hinata-chan's ancestor, Riku Hyuuga, your great-some-odd grandpa, Nakano Uzumaki, and of course Legato Arume. As long as anyone can remember, each generation has had their five, or six in our case, but according to Sandaime-sama, we're the first in a long time to actually be friends."
"Really?"
Haku nodded and smiled. "You see, for the last few generations the families have sort of...drifted. Most of the time the five would hate eachother, only staying together because it was their duty. As soon as that generation's Arume died, they would split, it was the worst with Vega's mother. As soon as my parents got word she had died, they left. The only ones who hung around were Sasuke's parents, and they were killed soon after.
"But we turned out different. Something, probably what the adults were saying about the end of the Arume line and our school, caused us to rally around Ichiro. No eight year old should have to run an entire community, but that's what Ichiro got stuck with, and we just took our natural place by his side."
"So, V-kun really did have brothers, then?"Naruto asked.
Haku nodded again. "Ichiro was three years older than her, and Vega-chan hero-worshipped him. Kitsune was my age, and my best friend, and he, in turn, hero-worshipped Vega and Sasuke, probably because they seemed so strong no matter what happened. He also had a crush on Sasuke."
Naruto snorted loudly and stumbled over a rock. "That creep? Who could like him?"
"Kitsune, and Vega and Ichiro treated him like a brother. Something about his cool attitde just drew a lot of us to him. To this day the only girls in the Elements house who aren't madly in love with him are Hinata and Vega."
"Even you and Ishtar-chan?"Naruto asked, slightly crestfallen. "Aw, man. Ishtar's cute, too."
Haku froze, staring at Naruto like he had just sprouted an extra head.
"What?"Naruto asked, blinking.
"You...y ou thought....Ishtar-kun?.....and me?....."Haku suddenly doubled over laughing.
"Did I miss something?"Naruto asked.
It took several minutes for Haku to stop laughing. He finally straightened up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Sorry to break it to you, Naruto-kun, but Ishtar and I are guys."
Blink. Blink.
Chirp. CHRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIP!! (Meg:*once again hitting herself with the bokuto*)
"Uh, Naruto-kun......?"
"...................................WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!"
Somewhere in a research lap in Antartica.....
"Hey Bob, didja hear that?"
"Yeah, Bill. What duya think it was?"
"I dunno. Maybe some guy finding out the girl he has a crush on is actually a guy?"
The two men exchanged glances.
"Nah!"
Now back to your regularly scheduled stupidity. ^_^ (Everyone besides Meg:-_-;;)
Vega was jarred awake by a stabbing pain in her right arm. The migrane followed soon after.
"Did anyone get the number of that bus?"she asked no one in particular.
It took her a few minutes to gather her thoughts. She was obviously in the school hospital. She'd spent enoguh time in these rooms as a kid to know that. But what was she doing back in Konoha?
'Oh, yeah,'she thought. 'Aya.' Then everything came back in one heavy blast. Ishtar and Shaka, the demon, 'Naruto!'
But something told her Naruto and Ishtar were both safe, but Vega wasn't. She could feel it now. The less than human presence hiding just beyond her feild of vision. It wasn't a strange presnce, far from it. It had once been a comfort, a guard while she slept, but it was different now. Very different. Where once a barely grasped compassion, an uneasy sense of belonging had been, there was now only fear, and hate. The word escaped before she could stop it.
"Gaara."
And he was gone.
~*~End Chapter 4~*~
Meg:*still hitting herself with the bokuto*
Alex:No more sugar for you....
Yuki:*staring at the computer screen* I thought we agreed that the only person Naruto would have a crush on at this point is Sakura...
Axel:Sugar does strange things to a person, Hikari. After all, sugar is what spawned me.
Alex and Chibi:Same here.
Yuki:-_-;; That explains a lot
Meg:*finally stops hitting herself* Well, that's all folks. ^_^ For now anyway. Chapter 5 will be up Saturday at the earliest, Monday morning at the latest. It's a little short this time, but I'm tired, surgared up, and I just love ^_^ where I left off, don't you agree, Rabid-chan?
Tori:Dear god, now she's doing it just to bug us...
Sasuke:Can we finish this before Meg's sugar-induced stupidity causes any more complications?
Meg:Sure ^_^ But only if you do the preview
Sasuke:Grr. Fine. Next time, we all go to visit Vega in the hospital and, *insert extream sarcasm* miracle of miracles, Vega hasn't lost her arm. Yet. Faust says it might heal, so we'll just have to wait and see. After some bickering, Naruto finally convinces Vega to tell him the full story behind the new object of his attention: The oh-so-mystertious Gaara. Leaving the hospital that night, Vega gives us an order that surprises even me. Has she finally decided to stop running? Is she really planning what I think she is? AND WHAT DO YOU THAT BAKA IS GOING TO STAY?!