Disclaimer: Kishimoto won't give Naruto to me for my birthday. Damn.

Warning: Fights. fluff?

Beta: Kalafina94

Beta: silverseed

Edit: 1/1/2018

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"This is so stupid!"

For once, I had to agree with Naruto.

After a month of stupid D-Rank missions, Naruto finally broke and pleaded with the Hokage to give us a better mission. The Hokage had relented, and thus we were given an escort mission for a drunk to his home, and to protect him while he finished a bridge.

The mission itself wasn't so bad; it was the moronic sexist pig we had to guard for it. At first glance, he sneered at all of us and commented, "Are you really going to let a bunch of brats protect me? They look so stupid. Never mind the scrawny little damsel."

Damsel. Like damsel in distress. As if that ever applied to me. I might not have Naruto's insane chakra levels, or battle instinct like Sasuke, or intelligence like Shikamaru, but damn it—

Well. To say I was most displeased would have been an understatement. The only pleasure I took in that afternoon was the fact that both Naruto and Sasuke looked ready to kill the fool as well. Naruto actually had to be restrained by Kakashi more than once.

Afterwards, we were dismissed to pack our things and meet Kakashi and the old man at the front gate. We returned home, packed our things and were currently on our way.

"Sexist pig," I muttered under my breath, still bristling from the insult. Perhaps I was taking it so offensively because of my sister. As much as I was at loathe to point out a fault in her, she was very much a damsel in distress. Longing for a prince to save her, namely a prince by the name of Sasuke, but I didn't resent her for it. She was my sister with a simply more romantic mind than my own. My mental maturity was more developed and pragmatic and thus had long since moved past such silly fantasies. It was understandable that she still clung to her childhood dreams, as I would undoubtedly be doing the same if I were her.

However that did not mean I would tolerate such things in myself.

"Let's get this mission over with," Sasuke said. "Once we've completed our first C-Rank mission, we'll be able to do more. They can't all be this bad."

"Bastard has a point," Naruto agreed, though with a bit of reluctance in his voice. "Let's get this over with."

The three of us had reached the gate, Kakashi already there with Tazuna.

I scowled at him openly, huffing slightly.

Tazuna snorted. "Can't believe a bunch of brats are protecting me."

"Why should it matter?" Sasuke asked thinly, obsidian eyes glaring coldly.

Tazuna bristled and Kakashi opened the palm of his hands in a peace-like gesture. "Maa. Now, now. Let's get on our way then, shall we?"

"Come on, lil' sis," Naruto said, already turning away with a huff and marching on.

"Dobe, it's the other way," Sasuke muttered.

Not even faltering in his steps, Naruto turned directions and marched on.

I had to smile at that.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

We had walked quite a ways in silence, moving in perfect synch with Tazuna in the center. My resentment towards Tazuna had faded into mild irritation and eventually, into apathy. With my anger gone, I was left to muse through my thoughts, shifting through whatever I could think of to try and entertain myself.

Nearly towards our destination, a strange thing happened.

The strongest sense of déjà vu washed over me. I blinked my eyes rapidly at the strong sense of familiarity for the situation. Casually, my eyes glanced around, scanning for what could have possibly triggered such emotion.

My eyes landed on a puddle.

A single puddle.

I blinked at it, my brow furrowing. Nonchalantly, I moved towards Kakashi, reaching forward and grabbing his hand. Not even stopping, his eyes slid towards me. My eyes slid towards the puddle and he followed my gaze. He winked at me, his gaze moving towards Tazuna.

I caught on.

The best thing to do in a situation like this was to allow the trap to spring itself and deal with it. That way we could discern who the trap was set for. For a C-Rank mission, we would have only had to deal with weak bandits and worthless shinobi. A technique used to disguise the user as a puddle required at least Chūnin level, if only a bit lower. Tazuna had paid for a C-Rank and as such, it would bring into question why a Chūnin would attack him.

If they were to attack him. They very well could have been sent from an enemy village to fight against one of us. Perhaps to take out the last Uchiha, or the famed Kakashi of the Sharingan? Perhaps they were interested in the bounty Kakashi carried? The possibilities were immense.

But if they were out to get us, it would then beg the question of how they knew where we were going and...?

Ever still. The best thing to do in a situation like this would be to allow the trap to spring itself.

And spring itself it did.

The moment we had our backs turned to it, my sixth sense tingled with fear and I leapt away from Kakashi towards Tazuna. Chains, sharp and jagged, wrapped around Kakashi and, in a flash, pulled.

Kakashi was supposedly ripped into shreds.

Inwardly, I frowned at the scene. That couldn't be right. No chain would be able to rip Kakashi so cleanly. Perhaps finely pointed wire, but even then it would have to taken quite a force to rip his back bone so neatly like that. For chains to rip him, at least one of the chunk had to have the majority of his spine sticking out of it.

I chilled, realizing my line of thoughts; so eerily calm.

Perhaps I was calm because I knew Kakashi would be able to save us, worse comes to worst. More than likely, this was the case; after all they were only Chūnin and I knew full well Kakashi was an elite ex-ANBU. That and there was a, ah, gut instinct. I really had no other way to describe it, but the very same instinct that made me question Sasuke all those years ago resurfaced itself the moment I felt familiar with the situation. It warned me to be wary of the puddle, but also that I shouldn't be worried, either. That somehow, I knew Kakashi would be alright and that we would be alright.

Before I could continue my line of thoughts, however, one of them rushed towards me.

I let out a slow breath, side stepping as he swung out a clawed hand towards me. Using the force of his punch, I twisted and threw him over my shoulder onto the ground. Continuing to move forward, I bunched up my hand into a fist and slammed it into his throat.

It was a low-level Chūnin, then, I judged, from how easy it was to out maneuver him. I was by no means a taijutsu master and should have easily been outmatched against a high-level Chūnin or above.

I doubted the person was even a Chūnin. Though he looked older, he really couldn't have been more than a Genin, right? It was ridiculously easy to outmaneuver him, and I didn't think a Chūnin should be so easy to face.

I straightened up, preparing to assist my friends when I heard a splash.

I whirled back around, my eyes widening to see that it was a water clone.

Of course. Nothing was ever that easy.

Before I could move another muscle, I felt chills run down my spine. My eyes snapped back, head turning to find the supposedly real Chūnin rushing towards me. Before he could lay a finger on me, Kakashi appeared before me, his arm jutting out and hitting his throat.

The Chūnin gagged and sagged, immediately passing out or dying. I wasn't sure which.

I swallowed roughly and turned back to see Naruto and Sasuke had defeated the other one.

"Nao-chan," Kakashi said pleasantly, "never let your guard down. Even if the opponent seems defeated."

I bowed my head, accepting the critique. "My mistake, sorry."

Kakashi cocked his head. "This was your first real battle; it's understandable, but ignorance has led many shinobi and kunoichi to their deaths."

I kept my head bowed for another moment, once again taking the critique before I raised it and blinked owlishly up at him.

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, well done," Kakashi amended. "But both of you were focused on the target, not on Tazuna who we were supposed to protect. What if there was a third attacker waiting for the ambush?"

"You would have got 'em," Naruto dismissed.

Kakashi tilted his head.

"Kakashi-sensei, did you see who they were targeting?" I asked him, blinking up at him curiously.

Kakashi gave me a crinkled eye smile, lifting his hand to pat my head. "That I did. Tazuna. It would seem we need to have a conversation."

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A B-Ranked mission now. Lovely. First Tazuna was a sexist pig, now he was a lying sexist pig. Although, strangely, all the while he was telling his story, I couldn't shake the strongest sense of déjà vu, but nothing specific came to me. It was on the tip of my tongue, at a precipice. There, so close, but not quite over the edge.

It was driving me insane.

All the while, we finished our walk, crossed the water in a boat, and walked a bit further into the island, I couldn't seem to figure it out. What was my mind trying to tell me?

I was so lost in my musings, Kakashi had to roughly grab me and force me to ground, just in time for a giant sword to swing over our heads and land against a tree. I blinked, both from shock and embarrassment, that I had become so dense I didn't even hear Kakashi's warning.

Kakashi's hand left my shoulders as he stood up. I moved with him, staring up in curiosity at a strange (familiar) man standing atop an even stranger (familiar) sword.

"Hatake Kakashi," the man drawled, his voice low and gravely. "I don't believe we've met face to face. Won't this be fun?"

"Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi said, his eye narrowing. "What are you doing here?"

"I think you know the answer to that, Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza taunted. "Hand over the old geezer and I might spare you and your pathetic brats."

"Who're you calling brats, you shirtless freak?" Naruto shouted, glowering darkly.

"Shut up, dumbass," Sasuke snapped.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed into annoyed slits.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Kakashi replied evenly, his hand moving up and pushing his headband up with it. His Sharingan blazed fully, staring at Zabuza. Not taking his eyes off of Zabuza, he said, "Formation B, everyone."

Immediately, the three of us rushed towards Tazuna, each placing our backs against each other with Tazuna in the center.

"You'll regret this," Zabuza laughed as an eerie mist settled in over us.

I shivered, swallowing roughly. In a matter of seconds, the mist descended upon us, Zabuza was gone from my sight. Barely, I could make out the figure of Kakashi, who stood in front of us, tense and ready; only barely.

I shivered once more, and my stomach knotted. A sharp wave of killer intent seemed to roll within the fog. Never before had I felt such hostility, such cruelty, and such bloodlust. No, even then that wasn't quite right. I'm not quite sure how describe it. Only that it was there, and it pressed down hard on me. My hands shook and fought down the chilling fear that crawled up and down my spine. The killer intent rolled through the fog, pressing down on me, suffocating me. I tried to move, to speak, to rationalize any of my thoughts, but was incapable of doing so.

I was petrified.

My bottom lip quivered involuntarily.

"Calm down," Kakashi's sharp voice broke me out of my trance, pulling my eyes towards him. "I will protect you with my life. I will not allow my comrades to die: trust me."

At his words, I felt a small sense of confidence swell in the pit of my stomach. He wouldn't. Kakashi was strong —ANBU strong— he could protect us and he would. His surety of the situation was calming in a way. I was nowhere near relaxed, but my thoughts were lucid. Coherent.

My hands no longer quivered. I clenched them tightly into fists.

I could do this. I had to.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Zabuza's voice, right behind us; so slick and smooth and calm. A cold shiver danced down my spine. My head snapped back and already my body was twisting away, acting on instinct alone. To step back and away from the danger. But, as I moved—along with Sasuke and Naruto—so, too, did Zabuza. His sword lifted up in a single movement, intent on finishing us all off in a single fell swoop.

In almost slow motion, the sword arched towards us, and we were helpless to stop it. I was helpless to stop it.

Then Kakashi was there.

Moving too quick for my eyes to have followed him, he appeared right before the blade, stopping it with his single kunai. I landed lightly a little ways from them, my mind reeling. They were at a perfect standstill—a moment of shock on their face for both opponents.

But I had to use this shock.

My hands shook slightly and I willed my chakra to push out of my body, forcing it towards Zabuza. In a split second, my chakra had outlined him and I held on tightly to him.

Zabuza's eyes widened a fraction and he struggled against my hold, now realizing he was incapacitated.

I sucked in a sharp breath, sweat dotting my brow as he fought. A sharp pain jarred through my senses, intensifying in my head. He was so strong. Such a powerhouse...

My hands shook violently as he thrashed against the hold, but still could not move. Kakashi's eyes snapped towards me before locking back to Zabuza's. He had realized what had happened. His kunai dug against the blade and pushed it away —but not out of Zabuza's iron locked grip.

His free hand grabbed Zabuza's upper arm of the same arm he held his sword in. With his kunai hand, he slid his kunai alongside of the sword before he dug it up to the hilt into Zabuza's elbow.

A howl of pain left Zabuza and he struggled more violently against me. The pain was unbearable; it was burning and bright and my vision dotted and for a moment, I thought I couldn't move—couldn't breathe and then—

My control slowly slipped and I gave a sort of sharp breath and small whine as it did. But Kakashi didn't stop; he dragged his kunai right up to his hand, slicing Zabuza's arm wide open. Even through the fog I could make out the dark liquid that spilled out of it.

All of that had transpired in a matter of seconds.

Shaking violently from the sheer concentration that was required of me and from the slight adrenaline rush, my knees gave out and hit the ground as I lost all of my control. Zabuza's sword slipped from his grasp, falling to the ground with a thud. In a violent rage, Zabuza swung out his other hand towards Kakashi. Kakashi leapt back and away from Zabuza, landing beside me.

I tried to calm my breath and blink away the dots in my vision.

"You bastard," Zabuza snarled at Kakashi. "Now which one of you has the kekkei genkei?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Kakashi said smoothly. "Your opponent is me."

Zabuza seemed to be giving a feral-like grin. "We'll see."

With a lone arm dangling uselessly at his side, Zabuza bent down and picked up his sword with his non useless hand. He swung it around experimentally.

"You won't be able to last long," Kakashi said, a mocking edge to his voice. "You're bleeding heavily and fighting us will only push the blood out of your system faster. I'd say you have about five minutes before you pass out. Ten minutes until you die."

Zabuza scoffed. "I won't need nearly that long to take care of a couple of brats."

"But you will need that and much more to take care of me," Kakashi said, switching his stance to a more offensive position.

Zabuza lunged forward, kicking up into the air and swinging his sword high above him. Kakashi leapt up into the air, clashing his kunai against Zabuza's sword. The two slid off and away and Kakashi and Zabuza were forced to land a little ways from each other.

Kakashi slid across the ground from the force of the attack, his eyes never leaving Zabuza.

My breath was still shallow, but easier to manage and I shakily stood up, inching closer to Sasuke, Naruto, and Tazuna.

Zabuza's eyes caught my movement and he swung the sword towards my friends.

My eyes widened upon seeing that malicious gleam in his eyes and he rushed towards us, too quickly for even Kakashi to reach us in time, given the distance. Pure fear and adrenaline coursed through me as I saw his course of direction. To the nearest one of us.

To Sasuke.

And then all I could see was that little boy (a little boy) crying for his family and over his brother. I could only see that dear friend I had practically grown up with and accepted to as family. My family.

(My little boy)

My body moved almost robotically, no thoughts, but (familiar) frantic panic and fear. I slammed into Sasuke, twisting us so my back was turned to Zabuza and between the two of them. I pushed Sasuke away from him just as blinding pain raced from my right shoulder blade, dancing along my arm like white hot needles.

And suddenly, I was flying. Soaring through the air (free, free, falling again, again).

I crashed into a tree, hitting the tip of my brow and slamming against it as the air left in one fell whoosh.

Head spinning and ears ringing, I could make out Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi's concerned voice.

I slumped against the tree, my sight doubling as blackness edged around it.

I struggled to breathe, to suck in the air that had so cruelly left me, barely able to find it in time. My shock left me in a harsh rush and I could so clearly feel the pain in my shoulder and arm, the pounding of my head. I had to shut my eye as blood pooled around it from my more than likely bleeding brow.

I twisted my body, forcing myself to move and see what was going on. Dizzy and disoriented, I could only vaguely make out the fast blur of shapes and assumed they were Kakashi and Zabuza.

Naruto had come to me, kneeling beside me and asking rapid questions. I couldn't concentrate though. He was talking too fast.

"Slow d-down," I murmured.

Naruto gave me a sheepish smile before wincing. "Sorry. I—"

"I know," I whispered. "Wh-who's winning?"

Naruto looked back, to see as Tazuna and Sasuke headed towards us. His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "I think... Kakashi."

A moment passed.

"Oh hey... Zabuza slumped against a tree. Something happened," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "There's another person there. They're taking Zabuza away."

"Fight over?" I asked tiredly.

"Fight's over," Sasuke answered me.

"G-Good," I mumbled before promptly passing out.

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Upon coming to, the thing that I had been pondering before Zabuza presented himself, finally came to me. Mostly in blurred images, scattered facts and delirious battles that had not occurred. But nonetheless, it came to me.

Well. Not all of it. Simply a mere distant fact.

This had happened before, in what I was coming to realize, an alternate world. A world where I was never born in.

The thought line seemed incredibly familiar, as if I knew and understood such before, but for the life of me, I could not recall ever having such knowledge. I had only ever been in this world,right? But on the other hand, it would explain my knowledge and ability to keep a more mature outlook on things. If I had indeed not originated from this world, what happened to me in my past life?

How did I die?

A question that would require much speculation later on, at a more convenient time. For now, I had the issue of Zabuza and Ha—Haw—Hue—Hah—Ha—que—Ha—lu— Ha—ku. Haku to deal with. From what I could recall Naruto and the others had admiration for the two, for whatever reason and regretted their deaths. I had no reason for such regrets, but if it would further prevent damage to my close ones, I would be inclined to prevent their deaths.

From what I could gather, they were betrayed by a man named Gato. They were hired by him to eliminate the bridge builder when in fact Gato never bothered to pay them or intended to. That lead to Zabuza attacking and killing Gato. From such, I could safely conclude that if Zabuza and Haku knew of Gato's original intentions they would not bother attacking us.

More than likely they would simply kill Gato—which would also solve Wave's problem —and—and I'm not sure what they would do.

I would have to ponder that further.

If I could. The way I had my memories set up, I would imagine I would forget everything once again after the mission.

But one thing remained a fact; if Zabuza and Haku were informed of Gato's treachery, they would not attack us. Which, in my book, seemed like a very good thing. Even if there seemed to be some significance to their attack, it did not concern me. My only priority was the safety of my family.

Oh... and the mission.

If the mission failed, I would not be paid and I am inclined to find that most dissatisfying.

Now the question then begged is how to contact Zabuza and Haku? Furthermore, what would I say to them...?

No, really, I suppose, the first question would be what to do with the knowledge? I felt like there was more to the story, that I knew more, but I could only recall things concerning Haku and Zabuza, and even then it was sketchy. No, that wasn't quite right. I recalled a memory of myself at a younger age choosing to forget—to forget something. I remembered that I had installed triggers of sorts that would react in certain ways: subconscious triggers that Ino and I were taught to implant at a young age, due to the nature of our family's Kekkei Genkai, before the mutation was found out.

The knowledge would fade. I had, perhaps, a handful of days as it was a much less frantic and strong memory. The more painful and strong my emotions were attached to a memory, the harder it would be to remember it, or well, keep it.

I stifled a yawn as I finally allowed myself to open my eyes, deciding to spend some other time to properly think through the issues. The first thing I noted was that I was no longer in a clearing. There was no mist or sky above me, but instead a wooden roof.

The second thing I noted was that someone had changed my clothes. No longer was I wearing my standard white and pale blue attire, instead I only wore my hoodie. Most people under those circumstances would more than likely feel embarrassed, but that would have been a waste. Kakashi had more than likely seen the female body before (not that I was really developed enough to be anything but androgynous) and I highly doubted he thought of nothing more than dressing my wounds and seeing that nothing was infected.

Thirdly, I realized my wounds. My right arm was slung and wrapped tightly to my chest. My shoulder felt oddly loose and I realized with a sickening feeling that it had been dislocated. Someone must have popped it back into place. I could feel the wrappings of gauze around my forehead and frowned thoughtfully as I came to realize I was only seeing through my left eye.

My right eye was covered in a patch of sorts. More than likely, when I hit my head against the tree, blood and other nasty stuff had gotten in it. Kakashi must have cleaned the eye then wrapped it in a bandage to keep further infection until it was ready to face the world once again.

I was pleased to find that I was not suffering from chakra exhaustion; only my physical state seemed a little worse for the wear.

I gave a yawn and slowly sat up with the use of my left arm, which I leaned heavily on.

Blinking tiredly, I surveyed my surroundings. I was in a small room, more than likely in Tazuna's house. Kakashi or one of the others must have carried me there.

Speaking of the others...

Naruto, I had noticed, was asleep at my feet, snoring quietly with a bit of drool hanging down from his mouth. Sasuke had taken up to leaning against the wall to my left, his eyes closed and his breathing deep and even.

I felt a small smile turn my lips up.

Carefully, I maneuvered my feet away from Naruto and shakily stood up, wincing at the blood rush and the harsh pounding in my head. I blinked rapidly to clear away the dizziness and wobbled for a bit as I waited for the pain to subside. When it did, I lightly stepped around Naruto and Sasuke and peeked down the hallway.

Light barely shone through the window, foggy and unclear, but sharp and bright. Dawn, then. Sunset would have been warmer, duller. I supposed I must have slept through the rest of the day and night. Not too bad considering the head trauma, mental strain due to my mutation, and adrenaline rush.

I quietly stepped down the hallway, noticing Kakashi was already seated at a small table. His eye crinkled upon seeing me. "Glad to see you're awake."

"Glad to be awake," I told him honestly. "How long was I out?"

"Not long," Kakashi said. "The rest of the day and night."

I nodded my head, satisfied my guess had been accurate.

I moved and sat down next to him, yawning once more as the last of my grogginess slowly left me. "I take it no one was hurt?"

"No," Kakashi said. "Zabuza was suffering from major blood loss. Had the battle gone on any longer, he would have died. Shame he wasn't foolhardy enough to try; would have made my life a lot easier."

"I don't know," I mused. "Things have a way of working themselves out."

"Perhaps," Kakashi allowed, cocking his head. "It would seem the boys are up."

"Kakashi-sensei, she's gone! Nao-chan is—" Naruto stopped in his frantic yelling when he saw me sitting down. His face lit up and he grinned widely. "Hi."

"Hi," I said, amused.

Sasuke came into the room, yawning tiredly and rubbing his eyes. "'Bout time you woke up."

"Sorry," I responded, not really meaning it.

Sasuke snorted as he moved to sit down across from us. "You should have been up, though. There was this really angsty brat."

"Kind of like you, dickwad," Naruto said slyly, sitting down next to Sasuke.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sasuke snorted dismissively. "He's willing to lie down and let this Gato person walk all over him. I'm not submissive."

"Kinky," Naruto said.

I cocked my head in a confused manner and Sasuke shot Naruto a withering glare. Kakashi placed both of his hands over my ears, only doubling my confusion. Naruto laughed, amused he had gotten a reaction out of his rival/best friend and his teacher. Kakashi cleared his throat and I looked down at my hands, already finding them so much more fascinating than looking up at their faces, as I had the feeling that whatever was implied was not appropriate.

"We've also already discussed that Zabuza is alive," Kakashi said. "This week we'll be preparing for him. Seeing how everyone is up and about, come and follow me and we can start on your training."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

"You want us to climb a tree?" Naruto asked, clearly skeptical of the training method.

"Not all of you," Kakashi said. "Only you and Sasuke. I have no doubt that Nao-chan has already gone through this training with her clan, am I correct?"

I nodded my head slowly. "For my kekkei genkai, perfect control is needed. I already know how to water walk, too, but I can't sustain it too long, and I can't even begin to try and do that as well as fight."

Kakashi nodded his head. "For this exercise, you two will be climbing a tree—with no hands."

"How do you expect us to do that?" Sasuke asked bluntly.

"Simple," Kakashi hummed, " gather your chakra to your feet and walk up the tree."

"Oh, like that leaf exercise?" Naruto asked. "Where you have to use your chakra to make the leaf stick to you or something?"

"Close enough," Kakashi said.

"I sucked at that," Naruto grumbled.

"You sucked at everything," Sasuke pointed out.

"Nobody asked you."

"So," Kakashi said, unperturbed. "We need to do this exercise because—"

"Perfect chakra control is the basic necessity to every jutsu," Sasuke said with a roll of his eyes. "With it, in theory, any jutsu can be mastered. This exercise further pushes us to master the control as well as to push our chakra reserves to the limit."

"Well you seemed well informed," Kakashi sniffed.

Sasuke snorted and Naruto grinned.

"Even I knew that," Naruto said. " Just 'cause I sucked at it doesn't mean I don't know anything about it. I have a lot of chakra."

"Inhumanly so," Sasuke said. "I have a theory that Naruto was secretly replaced with some sort of chakra monster at birth."

Naruto stuck his tongue out, though he did stiffen slightly. After a heartbeat, he relaxed and gave an easy grin. "I have my own theory that Sasuke was replaced with some sort of emo-freak-crazy-girl-magnet."

"I am not a crazy girl magnet," Sasuke said indignantly.

Naruto gave Sasuke an incredulous look. "Really? So none of your fan girls tried to drug you and—"

Kakashi cleared his throat while my cheeks flamed brightly in indignation on my sister's behalf. She was not crazy. She was special. And a romantic with a, ah, flair for dramatics, that's all. Sasuke flushed, but did not bother denying Naruto's suggestion.

"Well," Kakashi said cheerily. "Since you two know what you're doing, Nao-chan and I will supervise, seeing how she can't practice her water walking with her arm in a sling. Unless she can swim with one arm. Can you?"

I frowned at his question. "No. Should I be able to?"

"I don't know," Kakashi said. "I can."

"So can I," Sasuke said.

"That's because you two are, like, prodigies," Naruto muttered.

"So is Nao-chan," Sasuke pointed out.

Naruto sniffed. "But she's a normal prodigy. You two are like weird prodigies."

Sasuke and Kakashi blinked at that, unsure of how to respond.

I coughed. "So, Kakashi-sensei, do you want me to watch from the top of the tree or down here?"

"You can join me at the top," Kakashi said happily. "That's where all the cool people are at."

"What are you talking about? I'm not there," Naruto said.

"That's because you aren't cool," Sasuke snorted. "But what are you talking about, I'm not up there; therefore it's clearly not cool."

Kakashi shook his head and I gave a sort of amused smile.

"Both of you are wrong," I told them. "It's cool because Kakashi-sensei and I are up there. It would be lame if either of you two joined us."

"What are you talking?" Naruto asked. "It would be a million times cooler with me up there."

"Don't be idiotic," Sasuke said before he paused. "Too late."

Naruto ignored him. "That's it. I'm getting up there if only to prove how much more cooler it would be if I was up there."

"As if," Sasuke dismissed. "I'll be reaching the top first to prove how much cooler it would be if it were me up there."

"Oh you're so on, bastard!"

"It's already on, moron."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

So to clarify: Yes, Nao remembers. But she only remembers things pertaining to the Wave Arc, and even then her memory is a bit fuzzy. And the way she set up her triggers / supressers in her mind, she'll forget what she knows about the Wave Arc within a week or so.

Answer: What do I feel strongly about? My OTP(s). ;)

Question: What food item best describes you?

Reviews are love!

I have more fanart! Thank you so much! Links are on profile so go check 'em out, or you can check out my (Charredblossom16)'s favorites, or Eldeweiss, Miyuusen, or Cambadia's gallery on Deviantart