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ninja CHAPTER FOUR
Naruto Raikou
Enter, Naruto











“Indeed, I’m not. Naruto-sama is busy, so he left me in charge!”
I stared at this odd little being before me. He couldn’t have been any older than sixteen, and yet he was the Hokage’s fill-in? And why was his voice so deep? Questions like these were swirling around in my head, making my head hurt. “What is your name?” I asked him. He stared at me blankly, then suddenly jumped a bit. “Oh, I forgot. You aren’t from Konohagakure, are you?” I shook my head slowly, beginning to wonder about this strange child before me. He straightened up to his full height (half a head shorter than me) and announced, “My name is Konohamaru! It’s a pleasure to meet you!” With that, he held out his hand for us to shake it. Gaara-sama and I took it and shook hands lightly, still a little shocked. “Um, where might Naruto-san be?” I asked after our greeting. Konohamaru stopped, then gave a loud, hard laugh, in which his voice cracked during the middle of it.
He blushed a little, then cleared his throat and began to speak, his voice sounding like a regular teenager again. “Naruto-sama is away for the time being; he should be back soon.” I lowered my head, and large cracks of lightning rolled in the background. I raised my head again, my eyes glowing like red stars. I grabbed Konohamaru’s collar and pulled him from the ground. Shikamaru tensed and shouted, “Hey, what are you doing? Put him down!” Gaara held out an arm to stop him, giving a warning glance. As he held Shikamaru back, his sand rose in front of me and wound around my wrists. I silently issued out a chakra shield from my skin, making the sand rise above my arm and disintegrate.
I already knew Inner Kizuki had taken hold of my body, yet I didn’t try to stop her this time. I was tired of people telling me I had to wait to save my friend. “Look you,” Inner Kizuki snarled, “I need the real Hokage, and I need him now. Tell me where to find him, before I get mad enough to rip your head clean off of your neck!” Konohamaru blanched and began to tremble violently. “H-He went out for r-ramen at I-Ichiraku! Don’t hurt me!” I dropped him and he landed in a crumpled heap at my feet, my eyes dark.
Turning to Shikamaru, I growled, “You could’ve just taken us there!” He shrugged as a sweat drop began to form above his head. “Sorry, I thought you wanted a formal meeting! And he told me he’d be right back,” he added, muttering. I turned back towards Konohamaru, who held his arm in front of him and whimpered. I rolled my eyes and flopped onto the ground, wailing, “Darn it! I hurry as fast as I can, but she’s still gonna die! Shirunai’s life isn’t as important to everyone else as it is to me!”
As I said those words, footsteps echoed in the hallway around us. “What’s all the noise for?” A familiar voice asked. At that moment, Naruto rounded the corner, patting a stomach filled with ramen. The strong smell of pork, chicken, and noodles wafted around him, making me wonder if I wasn’t the only one who smelled it. “Oh, hi, Gaara! Hi, Kizuki! It’s been ages since I’ve seen you last!” He waved at us, and I gained control of myself again, pushing Inner Kizuki as far back as I could. He stopped suddenly, staring in my direction. Pointing at us, he asked, “Why are you and Konohamaru on the floor?” Konohamaru scrambled to his feet and ran behind the real Hokage. “She’s a mad woman! Save me, before she rips my head off!”
Naruto stared at me, kneeling on the floor, with dark clouds of depression swirling about. With a slight sweat drop, Naruto held out his hand to help me to my feet. Gaara’s eyes widened and held out his arm to stop Naruto, but it was too late. I’d grabbed his hand and gripped harder than necessary, breaking some bones in Naruto’s hand. His eyes went white and he began to sweat tremendously as I glared at him. “Where have you been?” I hissed. He opened his mouth to speak, but I continued. “I need to save Shirunai-sama, now, before the Akatsuki extract her soul and kill her!”
Shikamaru and Gaara stood behind me with a sweat drop large enough to engulf both of their heads between them. “W-We have to stop her, before she crushes his hand completely!” Shikamaru exclaimed in a hushed voice. Gaara shook his head. “Trust me, you don’t want to get in the middle of that. She’d do the same to you,” he responded. Shikamaru bit his lip and silenced himself as I glared back at them with my starry, red, glowing eyes.
Turning back to Naruto, I hissed, “Don’t you dare tell me that you can’t help, after I’ve traveled so far to save an important friend!” Naruto shook his head quickly, crying, “No, no! I can help you, just let go of my hand; I need that to write with!” I let go, smiling happily. “Thanks, Naruto-chan! I knew I could count on you!” He nodded, rubbing the back of his hand. Turning around to the whimpering Konohamaru, Naruto said, “Okay, Konohamaru-kun, your job as Hokage-fill-in, is done.” Konohamaru nodded and scampered a few steps away, when Naruto stopped him again. “Oh, Konohamaru? Would you fetch Sakura-chan and ask her to bring some healing ointment?” He nodded and ran off before he could be stopped again.
“So how have you been? Doing well, I hope?” I asked cheerfully. “I’ve been better,” Naruto mumbled, holding up his swollen hand. I grinned sheepishly as he opened the door to his office. “After you,” he said to us as he held the door open. Gaara and I walked into the Hokage’s office, and were surprised to see mounds of paper everywhere¾on chairs, on the desk, on the floor, in bookshelves. . . It was a real mess. My husband and I looked at each other, stunned, as Naruto walked in behind us. “Um, excuse the mess. I’ve been having some trouble keeping up with all of it, but make yourselves at home, I guess,” he said, rubbing the back of his head.
I picked up a stack of papers sitting in a chair and looked around for a spot to put it, but gave up and just stood when I realized how deep I was in a sea of paperwork. “Ah, our home is a little cleaner, but oki,” I muttered, looking around. Naruto slumped a little, but continued on. “Uh, you wanted me to help you save a friend? I think I can give you some of my shinobi, but give me the story behind this friend of yours.” I looked up at Gaara, who nodded for me to speak. Looking straight at the Hokage, I stepped forward and started my story of dear Shirunai.
“Omikami, Shirunai is one of my greatest friends. She was the one who helped me when I needed a home before I came to the Sand. I was broken and bloody and about to die, when she took me in and fixed me up. When I left my home village, I wandered eastward until I’d been offered a ride by an old man to what he called ‘the island country’. I had no idea where I was going, so I hopped onto his boat and he dropped me off in the Mist Village. I was then captured by some of the Mist Village’s ninja and taken to her. She realized that I wasn’t an enemy, because I was so beaten up and only about ten at the time. Shirunai took me in and cared for me like an older sister¾”
Naruto interrupted me. “How old was she then? When did she become Mizukage?”
I blinked. “Uh. . .She was fifteen when I met her, and she’d only been Mizukage for a year, I think.”
Naruto leaned back in his chair. “Wow! Only fourteen! Oh, sorry, go ahead.”
I nodded. “Once I had been bandaged up, she asked my name, but because I had a severe head injury, I couldn’t remember it. So, she asked me to tell her about where I came from. I told her about the way I was mistreated because I had a cat demon inside of me, and how I finally came to run away from the family that haunted me. She told me that she had a demon inside of her too, a six-tailed wolf. She said that I needed to be strong, to get over the fact that we were a little different from everyone else. ‘Just because we have a little more chakra doesn’t mean we have to be ignored. We need to work harder in order to get where we want to go,’ is what she told me. She claims that that’s how she got to be Mizukage. I promised her that I would stop crying and I would get somewhere in life without worrying about the past.
“After that, she gave me my name, Kizuki, meaning ‘wounded ghost,’ referring to my terrible story. When I completely healed, she offered to let me stay in the Mist, but I told her that I needed to be on the move. She let me go, but I made a promise that I would write to her when I found a place to live. It’s been about three years since I talked to her last; she’d been having some difficulties with enemy ninja and didn’t want me to be hurt, so she told me she’d write when the time was better. Just a few nights ago, I received a letter from her, stating that she’d been kidnapped and that the Akatsuki might have been the ones who did it. This is the letter that she sent me.”
At this time, I pulled the letter from my satchel on the back of my hip. I stepped back next to Gaara, who put a hand on my shoulder. “Good job,” he whispered into my ear. I watched silently as Naruto scanned over the letter, then flipping over the envelope it was encased inside of. “Oh, look here,” he stated while pointing to the corner of the envelope. Both Gaara and I leaned forwards, staring at the corner of paper that Naruto was pointing at. “No addressee. What’s the cause of that?” I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but it said that she might be somewhere in the Sound Village¾oh!” I exclaimed.
I took the envelope from him and pressed my two front fingers from both hands onto that corner. I summoned chakra and forced it into the paper. “What are you doing?” Naruto asked. “Shirunai showed me a technique on how to write in chakra. The only way you can see it is by putting chakra back onto it.” A few seconds later, words began to appear.

Good job, Cat, You remembered the technique! I am in fact, in the Sound Village. The Akatsuki are going to deliver me to Orochimaru! Please hurry and come rescue me!

“Ah!” I sighed, “Now we know where she’s headed.” With that, I looked up at Naruto, who’s face was grim. “Please help me rescue her,” I pleaded. He nodded finally and stood up. “I would go myself, but. . .” He pointed at the piles and piles of papers keeping him anchored from the mission. “I’ll send you some of my best ninja to help you, how’s that?” I bowed deeply. “Thank you, Naruto-san,” I said respectfully.
At that moment, a pink-haired girl walked in with a small box. “Sakura-chan!” Naruto stated. He flexed his hand, working good as knew. “I’m sorry, but I’m already healed now. You can go back to whatever it was you were doing.” Her eyes went white as she threw the box in the air and punched Naruto square in the face. “Konohamaru told me this was urgent! I came up here in the middle of healing a badly burned ninja, and you tell me you’re all better?!” She retracted her fist and huffed. Naruto stood with thick tears running down his face. “I could use that medicine on my face now,” he whimpered.
I was speechless, and I could tell Gaara was, too. She sighed and picked up the box lying next to me. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you two there!” she said smiling as she straightened up. “My name is Haruno, Sakura. Nice to meet you!” I smiled back a little but in truth, I was scared to the core. There’s a girl who’s like me?! Scary! Inner Kizuki freaked. Sakura patted a little dab of the ointment onto Naruto’s cheek, muttering. She reached into the box, pulled out a bandage, and taped it onto his skin. She turned, threw the ointment back into the box, and snapped it shut as she turned to leave. “See you soon!” Sakura exclaimed cheerfully. With that, she passed us and exited the Hokage’s office.
“Man, that hurt. She always goes and punches me for no reason!” Naruto mumbled while rubbing the side of his face. I turned to stare at him, my mouth open with no words escaping. I had no idea what to think about that violent girl. It seemed as if she’d just exploded in thin air! I blinked back into reality as I heard Gaara’s voice echoing around the office. “When do you think you can issue us your shinobi? I feel this one won’t stay put for long,” he asked, giving me a sidelong glance. Naruto placed a hand on his chin, appearing to be in deep thought. “Well,” he started, “I think it’ll be a few hours before I can gather everyone up. Plus, I really want to go on this mission, so I’ll have to find someone who can take my position for a long period of time. We’ll have to gather rations, and your team will probably have to restock. . .”
His list of things to do kept growing, and my patience quickly wore thin. I slammed my hand down onto the table, silencing Naruto. “Look, Naruto. You are my friend, and I understand that with you being Kage, you have some business you need to clear up before you can leave. Just please promise me you’ll hurry!” I turned and left his office without another word, leaving Naruto and Gaara together to discuss their departure. I stopped just outside the door though, seeing what words might pass once I left. Shi gave a slight hiss, telling me that it was wrong to listen in on their conversation, but I ignored him and told him to hush.
“Your wife reminds me a little of Sakura-chan. She has quite a temper! I feel like I’ve met her before, though.” I heard Naruto say. There was a pause, and Gaara then spoke. “Yes. I’m very glad to have been saved by her. This Shirunai that she wants to save also has an indirect impact on my life, too.” I heard the chair squeak as Naruto presumably leaned forward. “Oh? How’s that?” There was another long pause until Gaara spoke again. I looked down at Shi and realized he wanted to know what was happening, as he was leaning forward to hear what was going on.
“If Kizuki-san hadn’t met Shirunai-sama, I doubt I would be with her today. Kizuki spoke the same words she told you that she did to me. ‘Just because we have a little more chakra doesn’t mean we have to be ignored. We need to work harder in order to get where we want to go.’ That’s what really got me thinking about being with her. . .She wasn’t afraid of me, and we both knew it. I feel like I have a debt to repay for Shirunai-sama, and I haven’t even met her. It’s important to me also. If I sit back and let her die, I feel that her spirit will never forgive me.”
A single tear fell down my face as I listened to him speak. Shiru-chan’s life is important to him, too? I mentally whispered to myself. I heard the chair squeak as Naruto stood up. I hurriedly wiped away the single tear and silently ran down the hall with Shi at my heels until I reached the main doors. I looked around for a place to wait, and finally decided to lean against the wall as my cat made himself comfortable on my shoulder. My forced my heart to beat at normal speed as they neared. They were walking side by side like two great friends, and Naruto was smiling at me like he knew I was listening. They neared me and Naruto placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’ve lost one friend to Orochimaru. I’ll make sure that no one else does either,” he murmured. I smiled at him, whispering, “Thank you.”
As we stood there, a commotion began to arise is the distance. We all turned to look at a cloud of dust thundering towards us. At first, I thought it was fighting, but then there was the distinct joyous laughter that led me to believe otherwise. “Naruto-sama~!” called a female voice. His eyes widened as the hurricane of dust and noise drew even nearer. Turning to us, he suggested, “I’d prepare yourselves if I were you.” I steadied myself from the upcoming whirlwind, but it stopped right in front of Naruto’s feet. “What are you two doing?” Naruto scolded, putting his hands on his hips. As the dust settled, the shapes of two girls were standing before him. “Sorry, Naruto-sama,” they said in unison. “We were only training,” said the first. She stood with her arms folded and a peculiar scowl formed behind her wall of burnt-orange hair. She wore a black kimono-shirt with short sleeves and loose tan pants with bandages wrapped around her legs. The second bowed deeply and her two pigtails of the same colored hair swung forwards. “Please forgive us! We were only trying to make our sensei proud by being stronger.”
I found myself almost laughing at the second girl. She seemed so cute! But then her cuteness reminded me of my daughter left back at home, and I went into another state of depression. When the dark clouds swirled about my head, the two girls noticed me. “Um, Naruto-sama? What’s wrong with her?” the first one asked in a whisper-voice, pointing to me. The second girl ran over to my side, her face full of worry. “Um, uh, are you okay? What’s wrong?” I looked up at her and was pained deeply. Gaara then grabbed my arm and gently pulled me to my feet. “You cause her pain,” he mumbled guiltily to the second girl. “What?! How? Is it something I did? Oh, I’m so sorry!” she fretted.
As I was brought to my feet, I came to my senses and shook my head. “No, it’s not your fault, it’s oki,” I sighed. She looked at me with curiosity. “Then. . .what made you so sad? And why are your eyes so different?” she added when she’d had a closer look at my face. I shook my head to dismiss her questions and stared straight into Naruto’s eyes. “I trust you’ll put together a proper team for the retrieval of the Mizukage. I shall see you later in the day,” I announced as I turned to wander the village. Naruto nodded and shooed the two girls at his side into the Hokage’s office.
“Do you think you’ll be satisfied with those girls if they manage to get assigned to the team?” Gaara asked me as we walked down the street. I shrugged slightly and said, “The second one might be a little trouble for me, but oh, well.” Gaara gave a little “hmm” and we walked in silence.
The breeze then started to blow and a fragile scent played about my nose. Looking up, I saw many frail pink flowers drifting on the wind. “Oh,” I murmured, “The cherry blossoms are in bloom!” Gaara also looked up and snatched one from the air with sand. He brought the sand down to me and unfurled it, revealing a perfect, undamaged cherry blossom. I took it, smiling serenely, and put it behind my ear. Shi meowed happily, and it translated as, “That cherry blossom is the perfect accessory!” I bent down and scratched his head, making him purr intensely. As Gaara and I walked together, we found ourselves in the Konoha Tea Avenue. I gasped as I saw the many cherry trees in full bloom that lined the Tea Avenue. “It’s beautiful!” I breathed. And I’m sure Suki would love it, I mentally mumbled. “Do you want to take a look down here?” Gaara asked me. I nodded vigorously. “I’d love that, Gaara-sama!” I exclaimed.
Just gazing around at all the beautiful flowers drifting in the air lightened my spirits tremendously. Down the street a little ways, I witnessed what seemed to be a party in front of a shop called “Amaguriama.” There was a girl of about sixteen with orange hair in two ponytails being sung to by the Hokage’s former fill-in and another boy of the same age with glasses. As we neared the small party, I saw her rip into a large box handed to her by the boy with glasses. She unwrapped it and revealed a plush giant shuriken and a toy bear. “Thanks, Udon-kun! It’s really cute!” she exclaimed as she hugged him. He blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. “My turn,” said Konohamaru, and gave her a small box tied with a bow. I stood in the door of the Amaguriama shop and watched them out of the corner of my eye. The girl unraveled it and gasped. She pulled a necklace from the box with a crystal attached to it.
“Ooh, shiny,” I murmured to myself.
But no one heard me speak, and as she jumped up to hug Konohamaru, she accidentally let go of the necklace and it landed in the palm of my hand. It grew quiet as they turned to look at me, and I began to sweat a little at the others’ stares. Then, out of nowhere, Konohamaru began to scream, “Aagh! It’s the mad woman! Run for your lives, before she rips your head off!” He jumped up and started to back away, and the entire street turned to look in my direction. Now I was sweating even more, and to others, it probably looked like I had stolen the girl’s birthday present. She then threw her plush shuriken at him and yelled, “Shut up, you moron! That’s so mean!” The other people on the street turned their attention back to whatever it was they were doing, and she stood up to retrieve her necklace from me. “Sorry about that,” she apologized with a smile and a sweat drop. I nodded, but for some reason, I couldn’t speak. I figured it was probably the embarrassment or something getting to me, so I just smiled back a little and handed her back her necklace with its shiny, blue-green crystal.
“Let’s go somewhere else that isn’t as loud, shall we?” Gaara whispered into my ear. I nodded, and in a flash, Gaara’s sand had wound around all three of us and transferred us to a cliff somewhere outside the main part of the village. As I looked out over the edge, I was amazed to see the dark green of the dense forests spotted with the light pink of the blooming cherry blossoms nearer to the village. “It’s even prettier when you look at the village from the distance. What a different change in scenery,” I murmured to myself. Shi purred in agreement. Gaara nodded and stood by my side, arms crossed, as we gazed at Konohagakure together.
The sun began to set, and as we were getting ready to head back into the village, a carrier bird landed on the ground in front of Gaara. He bent down and slowly removed the paper attached to its leg, and set the bird free once he’d retrieved it. “It’s a message from Naruto,” Gaara told me, “He says that he wants us to come meet him in his office right away. He claims that he’s already gathered up the rest of our squad, and he wants us to see the new additions.” He then folded the paper and shoved it into his pocket. “Alright, then. Let’s go see the new team,” I said, nodding. With that, Gaara’s sand engulfed us once more, and when I blinked, I found myself staring into Naruto’s face, his mouth full of ramen. He gulped down what he had in his mouth and laughed, “Wow, that was fast. I guess you want to head out soon, huh?” I nodded, smiling, as he brought the bowl up to his mouth and slurped the rest of it down. He finished his meal, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and stood up. “Let me show you who I picked to go on this mission. You were planning on heading out in two teams, right?” ¾Gaara and I both nodded¾ “Perfect! Okay, you can come in, now!” Naruto called in the direction of the door to his office.
Sakura, the two girls from earlier, and a boy I’d never met before walked into the office, along with the team I’d prepared following in behind them. They stood together in a line before us. “Introduce yourselves,” Naruto said casually. They went in order, giving each of their names:
“Haruno, Sakura,” she announced, standing tall.
“Shirohana, Sora,” she grumbled with a hand on her hip.
“Shirohana, Ringo,” she smiled cheerfully.
“Hyuga, Neji,” he voiced, arms straight down at his side.
The members of my group turned to look at me questioningly, and I gave a nod telling them to do so, also.
“Temari,” she said indifferently.
“Kankuro,” he declared proudly while pointing to his headband.
“Nairu, Mizuhana,” she exclaimed with the same expression as Ringo.
“Kuro, Nakago,” he finished.
Naruto blinked in surprise. “N-Nakago? Kago-chan?” Naruto asked. All of the people turned to look at him. “Uzu-chan!” Nakago responded. A small sweat drop formed over everyone’s heads, but the two were oblivious. “It’s been forever since we’ve seen each other last!” Naruto exclaimed while placing a hand on Nakago’s shoulder. I could tell that everyone (except for Mizuhana, of course) was wondering what was going on. P-Pet names? That’s just weird! Inner Kizuki spazzed. “Um, do you mind explaining what’s happening?” Sora said with an eyebrow raised. The two backed away from each other with a small sweat drop next to each of them. “Uzu-chan and I met a long while back at a ramen shop in the Mist Village. You were helping a lady find her horse, right?” Naruto nodded. “Yeah, that’s right! That was my one of my first missions. So how’ve you been?”
“The two of them are lost in their own worlds,” Sakura sighed. Ignoring them now, I led the retrieval squad from the Leaf to the table with the plan for the mission. “Oki, so the Mizukage has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki and their plan is to take her to Orochimaru-san, causes unknown. Our goal is to stop the Akatsuki if we are quick enough, and if we aren’t, then we are to retrieve her body from Orochimaru-san and bring her back home to Kirigakure so she can have a proper funeral in her homeland. If she’s dead, that is.” As I was announcing the plan for the mission, Gaara managed to find his way around a stack of papers and retrieve a map of the countries. He then took it back to us and laid it across the table over the plans and pointed to where our trip should lead us to.
“I have an idea!” Ringo announced raising her hand, “May I share it?” I nodded, thankful to have someone who could help me think in tough situations. “We should go to the Mist Village first, to see if she might have any places she could run to if she managed to escape!” I placed a finger to my chin, muttering to myself. “That is a good idea, Ringo-chan. Thanks for the input,” I responded. She nodded, pleased with herself, and Sakura spoke up with an opinion.
“But if she’s already in the hands of Orochimaru-san, how will we find her? We don’t know where his secret lair is!” she exclaimed with a hint of sorrow in her voice. She’s still looking for Sasuke, isn’t she? Inner Kizuki grumbled, I’ll tell you one thing, girl, you’re not gonna like it when you find out he’s with my sister! I shook my head at her. “We may not know where it is, but I know someone who can find out if I just pull some strings!” I said with a sly smile. Sasuke-bozu was with Orochimaru-san for a while, wasn’t he? I’m sure if I ask, Ame-chan will ask Sasuke who can’t say no to her, and will give us the directions to Shiru-chan’s whereabouts like that! Inner Kizuki figured, snapping.
Naruto, suddenly at my side with a thumb on his chin, mumbled, “Hey, that’s great planning. Ringo’s right; we should head to the Mist first, and then go from there! Sakura-chan and I have been there before, and we know a family that lives over there, so they could probably help us out a little-” “That was in the Land of Waves, you idiot, not the Land of Water!” Sakura corrected as she hit him over the head. I blinked and a sweat drop formed over my head. “Well, I actually have spent some time there, so I hope someone will recognize me and allow me into the village,” I spoke, looking around at everyone. Suddenly, though, a thought crossed my mind. “But I’ll only be able to take a few of you in with me, so the rest of you will have to keep yourselves hidden.”
Sora frowned. “What? Why?” Sakura nodded. “Oh, I get it! That makes perfect sense.” “Neji-san, tell us what they’re talking about!” Sora asked. “A small country that’s just lost its Kage would be in turmoil. If a large group of ninja like ourselves were to go look for information, they would think that we had come to take over their country, regardless of our headbands! It would be better for us if we only had a few go in to look around, do you see?” Neji explained. “Oh, okay, then,” Sora said while giving an understanding nod. “So, we pack our things and go the Mist Village!” Naruto exclaimed while pumping a fist in the air. “But it’s almost dark outside,” Temari realized, pointing to the deck outside of the Hokage’s office. Naruto turned to look outside, his fist still in the air. Slumping, he grumbled, “Yeah, you’re right. I guess we have to wait until daybreak to head out.”
Inner Kizuki was enraged at that. I felt my anger meter zooming up to its peak faster than I expected. To avoid an explosion, I ran out of the office as quickly as I could to the nearest bathroom. I turned on the faucet, hoping that if I splashed myself with water, I’d calm down, but I broke the handle on the sink. Water began to pour out of the spout, and I now felt embarrassed and scared at what Naruto would think if he saw what I’d just done. I imagined him yelling at me, then drop-kicking me out of the Hokage’s residence and Kiba-mutt standing there and laughing at me. It was a horrible sight, I’ll tell you that. Just then, a knock was heard at the bathroom door. “Kizuki-san, are you okay?” I heard Naruto ask. Oh, crap! Inner Kizuki screamed.
“Um, uh, yeah! I’m totally fine, don’t worry about me! But, uh, could you send Temari-chan over here? I need some help. . .” I tried to keep my voice steady, but I failed miserably at it. The sound of rushing water probably blocked out what I said, and I was truly beginning to worry about what were to happen if Naruto was to find out about this little mishap. To my relief, though, Temari walked into the bathroom with the most confused look I’d ever seen her wear. She blinked in surprise when she saw the rushing water and the faucet’s handle in my hand. “Uh-oh, you pulled another Kizu-chan, Kizu-chan! What did you break something for this time?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “I didn’t mean to, I swear!” I mumbled with dark clouds threatening to make me go into super-depressed mode.
The sound of a small waterfall filled our ears, making us draw attention to the sink. Of course, it decided to overflow, making both mine and Temari’s lives that much more difficult. “Oh, crap!” she exclaimed, and she snatched the handle out of my hand. She tried to shove it back onto the counter where it was supposed to go, but it didn’t work whatsoever. “Oh, man!” I grumbled. Water began to spread on the floor, almost reaching the door. I jumped up and, grabbing as many paper towels as I could, shoved them under the door, hoping that no water would escape. While I was blocking up the door, I heard footsteps in the hallway, and the sound of muffled laughter. “What is going on in there?!” I heard Mizuhana ask. “Mizu-chan!” I shouted, and opened the door quickly to let her in.
She stepped into the bathroom and made a face when she stepped on the water. “What the heck happened in here?” she said, frowning. “I pulled a Kizu-chan,” I mumbled. She looked behind me at Temari frantically trying to put the handle back onto the counter and nodded, shrugging. “I can believe it,” she sighed. Walking up behind my sister-in-law, she ordered, “Move back, Temari-chan. I’m going to fix this little problem.” Temari did so willingly and shoved the faucet handle into her hands. Mizuhana then summoned her scythe with its burning blade. She placed the handle atop its original spot, and welded it together with the heat of her scythe’s blade. Once it was attached properly, she simply turned the handle and the sink’s waterfall of chaos abruptly shut off.
“Yes!” I whispered, smiling gratefully. “Now that that’s fixed, how do we get rid of all this water?” Temari asked, pointing at the floor. “That’s the easy part!” Mizuhana smirked, “Watch.” She held her weapon a few inches above the ground, and the water on the floor immediately began to evaporate. Waving it above the floor, the entire bathroom was dry and looked like it hadn’t even been doused in water to begin with. “Mizu-chan saves the day!” I exclaimed with relief. She smiled proudly and her scythe vanished in her hands. “Let’s just forget that this little incident ever happened, shall we?” I suggested as I collected the now-dry paper towels from underneath the door. Throwing them in the trash, I opened the door and was met by Naruto, who was randomly walking down the hallway.
“What happened in there?” Naruto asked confusedly. We three girls looked at each other and just laughed. “Oh, it was nothing,” I told him. “Yeah, nothing but an issue I had to clear up. Apparently Temari-chan here can’t fix a little leakage!” Mizuhana smirked while pointing to my sister-in-law. Naruto stared at us with a little blush forming on his cheeks. “What do you mean by ‘leakage?’” he asked, bewildered. “Ooh, you dirty boy! How could you think such a thing?” Temari laughed as he grew redder. We then exited the bathroom and walked away from poor Naruto, who still stood there trying to understand what it was we were talking about. The three of us walked back to the Hokage’s office to discover that everyone had already left. “Where’d everyone go? We weren’t even gone for fifteen minutes!” I questioned.
“The Mizukage is very important to Kizuki-san, here. If we were to let Shirunai-sama die, well Kizuki-san would never let it go,” she explained. For the second time today, it felt like I couldn’t open my mouth, and it was starting to frustrate me. “But Naruto-sama informed us that she might have been taken to Orochimaru-san’s lair,” said the first, “How do you plan on retrieving her then? Even we don’t know his whereabouts.” I ground my teeth and opened my mouth to speak, when Gaara interrupted me. “You are Anbu, directly under Naruto-san’s control, correct?” They flinched and nodded slowly. “Well,” Gaara continued, “Tell him that the Kazekage says for him to leave us alone tonight, for we need sleep before we can leave tomorrow.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward before the Anbu could say anything more.
“That was weird,” Mizuhana mumbled as we walked down the street again, a little more hurriedly this time. Gaara, still gripping my arm, muttered, “That Naruto-baka. Next time he should send them out a little earlier, when we’ve just entered the village!” He continued muttering darkly to himself, making me sweat a little. As we rounded a corner, I saw a large hotel with a sign on top reading, “Konoha’s Hotel and Bar.” I stopped suddenly, digging my heels into the ground. Temari turned to look at me, smirking. “What’s wrong, Kizu-chan? You don’t want to spend the night here? Whatever could be the reason?” she asked mockingly. I glared threateningly at her, making her flinch and shut her mouth. “Could you not have found a worse place to stay at?” Gaara groaned, placing a hand on his forehead. Wheeling around, I stalked off in a different direction. “I am not spending the night here,” I growled.
“Wait, Kizu-chan, come back! I was just kidding!” Temari laughed. I glared at her as I slowly walked back to them. “Not funny,” I growled. They led us to a hotel a street over, and the most amazing sight was in front of the entrance: the cherry blossom trees had lights inside of their branches, making like look as if they were glowing. “This is amazing!” I breathed. “I’ve never seen cherry blossoms up close before except for today!” Just then, Kankuro and Nakago walked up to us from the entrance. Nakago frowned at me as he overheard my talking. “But I thought you used to live here?” he asked. I gazed at the beautiful pink trees in front of me and sighed. “I did,” I told him, “but I was never allowed to leave the house unless it was a special occasion.” Refusing to say anymore, I entered the front gates and was greeted by one of the girls who worked at the hotel. She wore her black hair in a bun and a green yukata with pink cherry blossoms on it. “Welcome to the Sakura Hotel and Onsen. Have you come to request a room?” she asked, bowing deeply.
I stared at her, not knowing what to say. To save me, Kankuro bowed back and announced, “Actually, we’ve already requested some rooms, but we’ll need another.” The girl in the yukata nodded and turned, saying, “Please follow me, and I’ll escort you to your rooms.” Our group followed the girl, and I was startled when I walked into the building. This has to be the most expensive hotel in Konoha! Why’d Temari-baka bring us here?! Inner Kizuki screamed. She caught my expression and read my mind. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t cost too much,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. I found it hard to believe her; all around me was the cleanest, most well-served onsen-slash-hotel I’d ever seen! The décor of the place was amazing––there were dragons and cherry blossom trees painted on the walls, the floor was made of bamboo, and everything smelled of warm mist.
Our hostess led us down a well-lit corridor to a few large doors. She slid them open one at a time, and I noticed immediately that, aside from the fact that they were huge, they were all connected. “We won’t need an extra room,” I realized, “We just have to open those other doors to make one large room. Our hostess bowed and said, “There are towels and yukata for all of you folded on the tables in the middle of each room. The public onsen is open for two more hours, and then it will close. Please make yourselves at home!” With that, she turned to leave and hurried down the hallway. Everyone made their way into our rooms and opened the sliding doors to follow through with my suggestion. Behind the rice paper doors on the other side of the rooms laid the hot springs. “Women on the left side, men on the right!” Temari called. “Anyone who wants to violate that rule will be burned by my scythe!” added Mizuhana. We all nodded, grabbed a towel and a yukata, and headed outside.
“This is nice,” Mizuhana smiled as she slid the door closed behind her. A rock barrier separated us from the boys, giving us a little more privacy. Temari and I agreed, but Kankuro, who overheard us, just had to go and ruin the mood and say, “Yeah, but this might be that last time any of us visits one of these.” There was a thunk and Nakago shouted, “Shut up, man! Don’t put ’em down like that!” Mizuhana smirked, and I rolled my eyes. “It’s oki, Nakago-kun. He’s probably right,” I mumbled. It was Temari’s turn to hit me. “What the heck was that for?” I shrieked, rubbing the back of my head. “Stop thinking like that! Jeez, Kankuro-baka, it’s all your fault!” she shouted at him.
“What’d I do this time?” he grumbled.
“You’re making her depressed, that’s what!”
I slipped out of my clothes as my sister-in law was screaming at him. When she was least expecting it, I splashed water at Temari, soaking her back. “Hey!” she screamed as she whipped around. I gave her a defiant smirk as I sank into the water. “That’s for hitting me,” I told her. She tore off her wet clothes, ran into the water, and splashed me back, soaking both me and Mizuhana. “What now?” she grinned, folding her arms. And so, a splash war waged on the females’ side of the onsen. I could feel the guys’ stares and sweat drops as I caused a huge wave that splashed a bit over the stone wall. On the left of us, I heard an old man tell his wife, “Those kids sure are loud.” I twitched at the thought of being called a kid, so I mumbled, “Hey, isn’t the onsen supposed to be a place where you relax?” Mizuhana and Temari looked at each other and blinked. “Well, I guess,” they said a little guiltily. So all three of us sank into the pool with a satisfied sigh.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Mizuhana take a deep breath and pull her head under the water. I watched the little trail of bubbles as she swam to the stone wall. She brought her head above water and felt around the bottom. Curiosity got the better of me, and I waded over to her. She signaled me to be quiet and put her head under again. Her bubbles disappeared under the rocks. She didn’t come back up, so I went below water to see where she could’ve gone. As I did so, I heard a scream and lots of splashing. I brought my head up quickly and swam back to Temari. “What was that?” Temari asked. “I don’t know,” I whispered, “But Mizu-chan is on the other side of the wall!” Bringing her voice down to a whisper too, she asked, “What do you mean? We would’ve heard her open the door––” Just then, the scream sounded again and Mizuhana floated up next to us, trying extremely hard not to laugh.
“Who’s that screaming?” Temari called.
“Kankuro,” Gaara answered. “I think he saw a fish!”
“It was not a fish, it was huge and blue-green!” he retorted, his voice cracking.
At that, Mizuhana exploded with laughter. I realized immediately what had happened. Mizuhana had gone under the rocks into the men’s side of the onsen, swam past Kankuro’s leg, and swam back in a hurry as he spotted her hair. “Your hair scared him,” I whispered in her ear. Mizuhana, confused, grabbed a lock of hair and smiled widely. The green dye was beginning to wash out. “I’m getting out now,” she laughed as she jumped from the water. Temari and I soaked for a bit longer as Mizuhana wrapped herself in a yukata and slid open the door to our rooms. I stared up at the midnight sky spotted with stars and a huge white crescent moon, and began to feel a tugging at my heart. I imagined Suki’s face with it’s adorable smile, but underneath that, I saw the blurry faces of whom I couldn’t remember. A woman in a mask who looked strangely like me and a man who was rather sickly-faced who looked like Ame.
I clasped my head as it began to hurt, and quickly left the water as well. Rubbing a towel against my wet body, Temari started to hum, and I smiled. The tune was my lullaby. “Do you think. . .that this mission will fail?” she asked me. I was silent as I replaced the towel with a yukata. Drawing it over my shoulders, I responded, “No, Temari-chan. I will rescue my friend, no matter what.” With that, I walked inside and slid the door shut behind me.
Turning a corner, I saw Mizuhana with an onigiri in her hands. Frowning I said, “Where’d you get that?” Then I noticed a large plate sitting in front of her filled with all types of sushi, soup, onigiri and tea. My stomach led me to her side as I plucked up a roll of sushi and popped it in my mouth. Chewing slowly, I was stunned. This was the best sushi I’d ever tasted! It wasn’t as good as my own, but this was great! Right then, the boys joined us for our dinner. “Whoa! Did the hostess bring all of this?” Kankuro asked with a grin. Mizuhana nodded and poured a bowl of miso soup. Gaara asked her for a bowl, and the feast began. I sat quietly at the end of the table, still thinking about those two adults who looked like they could’ve been my parents. But that’s impossible, Inner Kizuki pointed out, we were born unto the Inuzuka clan. It’s probably just a coincidence! Shrugging, I saw her point. Gaara’s voice interrupted my thoughts as he asked, “Where’s Temari? She’s missing out on all of this.”
“She’s probably still soaking. I’ll go check on her,” I mumbled, standing up. I hurried to the onsen without turning to look back at anyone. I felt like I really needed to get away from everyone so I could think in silence, and Temari was the perfect excuse. “Hey, are you––” I started as I slid open the door. In front of me stood Temari, her eyes as big as the moon. “I just saw some old man peeping at me!” she squeaked. I made a face. “How disgusting! An old man was looking at you while you were bathing? We should go tell the hostess!” I exclaimed as I whirled around. “No, no, it’s alright. Please, don’t,” she begged. I stopped, but I was confused at why she didn’t want to find the lecherous perve who spied on her to turn him in. I let it go, but I said, “Hey, you’re missing a really great meal; how much longer are you going to be?” My sister-in-law shrugged and mumbled, “Not long,” ushering me back inside.
I walked back to the group to find everyone stuffed full of food and seeing about half of the original proportion still sitting on the table. Temari walked in behind me and was amazed at how much was left. “Look at all this food!” she exclaimed happily and began to stuff her face. It seemed as if she’d forgotten about the old man who spied on her just a little while earlier. I took my original spot at the table and slurped down two more bowls of soup and devoured three onigiri before I placed a hand on my exploding stomach to signal my fullness. Temari finished off the rest of the soup and what was left of the sushi while the rest of us randomly chatted about nothing. “Thank you for the food!” we all sighed happily in unison. There was a few seconds of silence, when I said, “I think we should go ahead and set up the mattresses, don’t you think?” Everyone nodded and began to pull all of the mattresses we could find into the large living room. There was just enough for everyone to have one, and we all set one in a place we thought would be comfortable to sleep.
“Good night, everyone,” I sighed as I curled under my sheets next to Gaara. “Good night,” was the response I got, and it grew quiet as sleep overtook us one at a time. Placing a hand on my head, Gaara whispered “Good night” to me and I slipped quickly into unconsciousness.



~End of Chapter Four~ ninja