Hi strangers! :P It's been another seven years since I updated again I know......I can't be bothered writing every excuse I have, because I have A LOT.....so.....yeah!

Enjoy! xP

Pic of Tien (Top of pic) and Ita (Bottom of pic)  --->

Just an fyi, I imagine Ita's hair to be a lot more Orange, but it's 2am and I can't be bothered Photoshopping the pic lol, so just use your imagination!!

Third Person’s POV

Irazen glares ahead as she sprints through the undergrowth, ducking beneath low hanging branches and weaving between the sparse bushes that are protruding up from the earth. She internally growls, as Kakashi manages to easily keep up with her, not even breaking a sweat. The man hadn’t even started panting yet, and they’d been running for the past three hours!

Ducking under another low hanging branch, Irazen catches herself beginning to slow down her pace, as Kakashi easily bounds over the branch she’d just ducked under. Mentally telling herself off, Irazen once again picks up the pace, much to the chagrin of the Ninja following behind her.

Kakashi smirks under his mask, eyeing the pink haired woman as her long hair streams out behind her, the very bottom of it held together with a thick hair tie.

He didn’t understand why Irazen seemed so aggravated by his presence, but he couldn’t help enjoying the fact that keeping up with her was driving the pinkette insane, no matter how silent she was remaining. Kakashi could just feel the resentment rolling off of her in silent, angry waves.

A good few metres behind Kakashi and Irazen, Shikamaru sighs deeply, momentarily closing his eyes as he runs. He didn’t care if he ran into a tree, in fact, he’d probably welcome the idea with open arms. At least if he was unconscious, he wouldn’t be aware of the fact that Chirin would be staring at him, which is what she was currently doing, and had been doing for the past three hours.

Shikamaru risks a quick glance over his shoulder, only to see Chirin watching him with sparkling green eyes, her mouth curved up into a content smile. As she runs along on Shikamaru’s right, she sends the Chunin a wave, causing a small, but very uncomfortable, shiver to travel all the way up his spine and make him shake his head vigorously.

Shikamaru turns his head back to face forwards again, sweat dropping and wondering what he’d done to get stuck with the strange girl. The way she kept staring at him and sighing reminding the Nara a lot of the way girls used to stare at Sasuke Uchiha when they were just young kids.

‘If this is how Uchiha felt’ Shikamaru thinks blandly, ‘then I can understand why he was so miserable all the time. It’s such a drag!’

Off to the left of Shikamaru, and high up in the trees, Kyoku and Tien fly through the branches with unnatural ease. Their steps are so quick and light, even the thin branches hardly move when they push away.

Kyoku raises an eyebrow at the young, black haired girl just in front of her. She seemed like such a loud mouthed little show off, if the back flips and cartwheels she was doing through the branches were anything to go by. Though placid by nature, Kyoku couldn’t help but hope the girl would fall out of the trees and maybe snap her neck or something…

Tien grins to herself, as she manages to land a double forward flip on a high up branch. Rising from her crouched position, the short haired girl whips her head around to grin teasingly at Kyoku, seeing the older Jonin as just a slow old has-been. The blue haired woman barely talked, and it seemed like she was forever stuck with that dumb, hooded eyes look on her face. Tien had no doubt that Kyoku was no where near as skilled and fast as she was. These Leaf Ninja were jokes.

Kyoku merely rolls her as Tien pauses to grin at her, causing her full weight to bare down on the thin branch below her feet. Tien freezes as she hears a cracking sound, before she suddenly disappears from Kyoku’s sight with a shriek of surprise.

“Tien!” Kyoku hears Irazen bark madly. “Get back in the trees and stop acting like a damn idiot!”

Muttering to herself, Tien drags herself up from the ground, before bending her knees and jumping back up through the branches, hurriedly trying to catch up to Kyoku. Said blue haired woman chuckles quietly to herself, giving Tien a knowing look, even though the girl is now frowning and doing her best to ignore Kyoku’s presence.

Back down on the ground, Neji’s frown turns into a smirk, as he begins to pull ahead of a slightly panting Ita. The orange haired girl scowls, wiping her arm across her forehead, before an idea pops into her head.

“This’ll get that loser” she mumbles to herself, performing swift hand signs. “Earth Style: Mud Wall.”

As Neji turns to glance back at Ita, he suddenly slams into something incredibly hard. Ita laughs mockingly as she passes Neji, the boy’s pale eyes turning dizzy and confused. The Hyuga suddenly shakes his head, ridding it of the dizziness and regaining his composure. A deep frown settles on Neji’s face as he takes a step back from the wall. He wasn’t about to be out done by some girl!

Neji pulls one arm close to his body, while extending the other out, palm facing the earth wall.

“Eight Trigrams” he says lowly, narrowing his eyes, “Air Palm!”

That said, Neji takes a swift step forwards, focusing his chakra into the hand closest to his body and shooting it forwards. This motion causes a small, but powerful wave of chakra to emit from his palm and slam into the earth wall. The wall shatters in a small explosion, causing everyone to turn and glance over their shoulders. They all see Neji standing with his arms crossed, and cool smirk on his face as small shards of rock rain down on him.

Ita blinks her navy eyes, before pouting and turning around, continuing to run. How did he manage to break through her Jutsu so easily? And he’d made it look so easy too!

Neji’s smirk turns triumphant, as Kakashi rolls his eyes and follows after Irazen, not really caring enough to ask what had just happened. Having been around Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Ashley for so long, the silver haired Jonin knew better than to ask about these things.

Up to the right of the group, Ashley and Kein bound through the trees silently, with the blonde staring straight ahead, an unimpressed look on her face. She twitches slightly as she hears Kein take a breath, as if he were about to speak. When he remains silent however, Ashley can’t help releasing a soft sigh.

If she had to hear one more compliment from the blue haired man, she was going to punch him in his pretty face. For the past three hours, every time Kein opened his mouth, it was to compliment Ashley on her speed, or her ability to manoeuvre through the branches, or the way her ‘golden locks flowed out behind her like a stream of glorious sunshine’. That last one had almost made Ashley fall right out of the trees. She couldn’t believe such ridiculous words had come out of the mouth of such a large, muscular man. If Kiba ever said something like that to her, she’d either laugh in his face or punch him in the gut. Not that she didn’t appreciate a compliment here and there, but Kein…..He was just major overkill….

“The way the light hits your pale skin” Kein suddenly begins, making Ashley bristle, her eyelid starting to twitch, “it glows like the illustrious surface of a pearl.”

Ashley’s neck suddenly wrenches around, her eye twitching uncontrollably.

“What?!” she barks loudly, not caring that she’s meant to remain silent. It’s not like Kein was.

“Your skin” Kein repeats, pulling up next to Ashley and giving her a closed eye smile. “It’s very beautifu-”

“That’s it!” Ashley screams irritably, before suddenly launching herself at Kein and tackling him heavily, wrapping her arms around his waist.

The two Jonin tumble to the ground, before Kein lands heavily on his back with Ashley kneeling above him, a wild look in her eyes.

Everyone else skids to a halt, before turning around and running towards the two. Kein blinks and stares up at Ashley in both surprise and confusion, as she bares her teeth and glares at him.

“Ashley!” Kakashi calls urgently, seeing the blonde raise her fists in the air. Irazen smirks as she jogs towards Ashley and Kein, hoping this will bring up the opportunity to fight with the Leaf Ninja and maybe dispose of one or two of them.

“Hey!” Ita growls, throwing her hands on her hips and glaring at Ashley harshly. “What’s your problem?! We had an agreement!”

“Stop complimenting me!” Ashley shouts crazily, suddenly grabbing Kein by the collar of his white jacket and shaking him back and forth violently. “It’s driving me absolutely insane!”

Everyone sweat drops, hearing Ashley’s reasoning for suddenly tackling Kein to the ground and acting so aggressively. Kakashi briefly wonders why he expected Ashley to actually have a good reason for her sudden outburst. He just never knew what to expect from the fifteen year old…

“B-But I th-thought all w-women l-l-liked c-comp-compliments?” Kein manages to ask, though his words are garbled from the strength of Ashley’s shaking.

“We do!” Ashley barks in his face. “But you don’t have to compliment on everything from my eyelashes to the way I breathe! It makes me want to stab you!”

“Okay!” Shikamaru laughs awkwardly, striding over and slapping his hands down on Ashley’s shoulders, trying to drag her away from Kein. “Time to stop being so troublesome for just a moment.”

“If you think you can manage it…” Neji feels the need to add, earning a narrow eyed glare from Ashley.

Ashley begrudgingly allows herself to be dragged away from Kein, whose head is still spinning, before being dumped at Kakashi’s feet.

“Maybe you and Kyoku should swap travelling partners?...” Kakashi suggests slowly, crossing his arms and looking down at Ashley questioningly. The blonde shrugs, before crossing her arms stubbornly.

“Doesn’t matter who I travel with” she proclaims childishly. “They’re all equally annoying.”

“Oh, stop acting like such an immature little child” Irazen sneers, flicking her hot pink hair back. “Why don’t you just-”

Irazen cuts herself off, her eyes widening slightly at the positively poisonous glare Ashley is giving her.

‘Sh-She’s not even…..blinking….’ Irazen thinks to herself, sweat dropping and slowly turning her head to look away. Even rude, bossy Irazen couldn’t stand up to the mighty death glare of Ashley Minami.

Millions of bright stars glow in the midnight blue sky, only half of the Moon visible, despite the lack of clouds floating around. A cool breeze blows through the air, as Crickets chirp loudly, each trying to outdo the other with their songs.

“Yay!” Chirin cheers, throwing her arms in the air. “Sleep time! Put your sleeping bag next to mine Shikamaru!”

“No thanks” comes the immediate reply. “I’ve just decided I’m never going to sleep again.”

“Oh……” Chirin trails off, disappointed, before her eyes suddenly brighten. “Well then, can I stay awake forever with you?!”

Shikamaru’s shoulders slump tiredly, as he runs a hand down his face and lets his back pack slide down to the ground. He just couldn’t win with this girl….

“I beat you here!” Ita announces proudly, throwing her hands on her hips and smirking at Neji. “That makes you the loser! Haha!”

Neji grows an anime vein, but strolls past Ita silently, something that he’d quickly learned irritated her. It seemed the girl didn’t like to be ignored.

“Why must you turn everything into a competition?” he asks rhetorically, sighing with disdain, before dropping his back pack on the ground with a thump and silencing some of the nearby Crickets.

Ita scowls at Neji’s back as the Jonin rifles through his belongings. She didn’t particularly like Neji. The only thing he had going for him was that he was cute. Other than that, he had the personality of a spoiled or rotten egg.

As Neji unrolls his sleeping bag neatly on the ground, Ita grins evilly to herself. This is what he would get for ignoring her!

Neji sighs again, as he pulls out a large apple from his back pack. As he is about to sit down on his sleeping bag, Ita suddenly marches past him, stamping her dirty shoes all over the clean material and leaving it stained and covered with flecks of dirt.

Neji’s grip on his apple tightens, as he wrenches his neck around, glaring at a triumphant Ita’s back.

He watches as she settles down beside Tien, the two girl’s giggling about something. Something stupid, of that Neji is sure. The brunette smirks to himself as he swipes some of the dirt from his bed. He’d get her back……

Kyoku settles back on a low hanging branch, content to lay her sleeping bag down on the thick bough and sleep up off of the ground for some reason.

Kakashi pauses in his walking and glances up, as a leg suddenly swings down beside him, almost clocking him right in the face.

“My apologies Kakashi…” a soft, cool voice drifts down from the branch, making Kakashi chuckle and shake his head. Kyoku was a strange one alright, but that’s what made her so unique and special to him…..Not that he’d tell anyone that!

“It’s alright” Kakashi replies loftily. “If anyone’s leg was going to take me out, I’m glad it was yours.”

Kakashi smiles to himself as he hears the melodic sound of Kyoku’s quiet laugh, before he strolls over to a small clearing and lays his own sleeping bag down. He makes sure to keep away from Irazen, who he’s sure will try to kill him in his sleep, if her icy glares are anything to go by.

As Ashley throws her back pack on the ground, she suddenly freezes, sensing someone approaching her from behind. Her guard immediately goes up, jaw locking in place.

“Ashley?” a deep voice asks, causing Ashley to whirl around in a high kick aimed at the owner of the voice’s face. Her leg collides with a swiftly raised hand, before Kein pushes it back towards the ground, a troubled look on his face.

“You better not be over here to compliment me again” Ashley warns the blue haired man, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms. Kein shakes his head, a wide smile suddenly spreading across his face.

“No, no” he assures the girl, “I’ve learned my lesson. I merely came to apologise for troubling you earlier while we were travelling. I can’t help myself sometimes. When I see beautiful women, I must make sure they’re aware of the beauty they posses.”

Ashley blanches, as Kein goes off on a spiel about how he feels about beautiful women, and how Kyoku had remained silent for the whole trip, despite the many compliments he’d paid her while travelling. Didn’t he realise that as the back up in case of an attack, he was supposed to remain silent?

Ashley suddenly whirls around in the middle of Kein’s speech, cupping her hands around her mouth and facing a sleepy looking Kakashi.

“I volunteer for look out duty!” she calls urgently, wanting to get away from the blabbering fool before her. Though his intentions seemed good, he was driving Ashley insane!

“Go for your life” Kakashi replies with a chuckle and a shrug, seeming to understand the girl’s plight.

“Phew….” Ashley sighs, before bending her knees and glancing up at Kein, who had finally stopped talking. “Don’t wait up Kein. Go to sleep. Please.”

That said, Ashley leaps up into a tree, disappearing into the leaves. Kein looks up, before scratching his chin and shrugging. He turns around and heads over to his sleeping bag, tugging off his coat and shirt, before silently sliding into bed and deftly falling asleep.

Ita, leaning her elbow on her pillow, chin in her palm, rolls her eyes at Tien. The man could fall asleep at the drop of a hat, and remain sleeping through a hurricane. If they couldn’t see him breathing, it would be very easy for the others to think he had died in his sleep.

“Hold on!” Irazen suddenly barks, leaping out of her sleeping bag and glaring at Kakashi. She jabs a hand up in the direction Ashley had disappeared in. “We should have a Waterfall Ninja be a look out as well!”

“Why?” Kakashi asks warily, wishing that Irazen would shut up, for once. They weren’t going to double cross the girl and her team, Kakashi just wanted to sleep.

“Because” Irazen snaps pointedly, “I don’t trust any of you to fall asleep with one of your teammates on look out duty. She could attack one of us in our sleep! So, who’s volunteering!?”

Ita freezes, eyes widening as Tien and Chirin quickly drop their heads and roll over in their sleeping bags, pretending to be asleep. Ita looks at Irazen innocently, as the pink haired woman glares hard at her.

Ita pouts when she hears Neji chuckle softly, before sighing in defeat. If Irazen was going to be so anal about it, why couldn’t she do some look out duty?

“Fine….” Ita sighs, sliding out of her warm sleeping bag and stretching her back. “I’ll give up a whole night of sleep, unnecessarily, just so you won’t be paranoid all night….”

“What was that Ita?!” Irazen hisses, narrowing her ice blue eyes at the young girl, making her shrug and subtly roll her eyes.

“Nothing Irazen” she mumbles, walking away from the sleeping Ninja. “I was just yawning.”

Ita glares down at Neji when she hears him chuckling again, making sure to kick his pillow as she walks past.

“Hey!” the brunette barks irritably, sitting up and rubbing his head. “Watch it!”

“Oh I’m sorry” Ita says sweetly, shrugging. “I didn’t see your head there. You’d think I would have, considering it’s so giant. Oh well!”

That said, Ita leaps up into the trees, giggling to herself as Neji begins muttering things under his breath, laying back down and closing his eyes.

Ita bounds up higher and higher through the branches easily, when a voice suddenly stops her in her tracks.

“Come any closer, and I’ll throw this kunai right through your throat” the female voice warns, making Ita glance around in confusion. As she turns her head slightly to the right, she suddenly spots one bright, fuschia eye staring at her through the darkness and leafy branches. As Ita continues staring at the eye, she slowly begins to make out Ashley’s face, her serious look soon becoming clear. She wasn’t joking.

“Staring at me will also earn you a slit throat” Ashley growls, taking Ita’s wide eyed stare as a challenge. “I don’t want you near me. Sit somewhere else.”

Ita suddenly rolls her eyes, relaxing her stance.

“Well, you’re certainly a friendly one” she says sarcastically, before shrugging a shoulder. “But your little threats don’t scare me blondie. I’ve fried bigger fish than you before.”

“Heh…” Ashley chuckles lowly, narrowing her eyes at Ita through the darkness. “That almost sounds like a challenge….”

“Why would I bother?” Ita snorts, rolling her eyes again. “You’re no challenge, don’t flatter yourself.”

The girl suddenly sucks in a breath, her eyes widening as a kunai silently shoots past her, narrowly missing her cheek and slicing through a few strands of her orange hair. Ita hears a soft thunk behind her as the kunai hits a tree, placing her finger tips on her cheek. That kunai had been so close, she’d felt the tiny wave of air it had created as it flew past. She suddenly drops her hand, smirking arrogantly in Ashley’s direction.

“Ha!” she laughs mockingly. “You missed me!”

“I never miss twice” Ashley informs Ita seriously, suddenly leaping up from her seated position and looming in front of the spiky haired girl.

Ita, reacting surprisingly fast to Ashley’s speed, throws up her arms and blocks a punch from the blonde, before flipping backwards and dropping to a lower branch. Ashley crouches down on all fours, staring down at Ita through wide eyes, slightly creeping the seventeen year old out. What was this girl’s problem?

“I’m bored, irritated from your teammate’s constant blathering” Ashley explains lowly, as if she’d read Ita’s thoughts, “and the night tends to bring out my….feisty side. So, I’d really suggest that you find your own little territory to sit in for the night. I don’t trust you, and despite our agreement, I won’t hesitate to kill you if you get too close for comfort. Consider yourself warned.”

Ita watches incredulously as Ashley turns around and melts back into the darkness, settling herself down to continue keeping an eye out for the night.

“She’s crazy” Ita mutters under her breath, casting Ashley a dirty look, before turning around to look for a good spot to sit. “I don’t even want to be near her.”

Ashley rolls her eyes as she jumps swiftly through the trees, feeling Ita sending her death glares again. She’d been doing it ever since they’d left the camp site earlier that morning. It seemed the orange haired girl hadn’t appreciated Ashley’s attitude last night. Not that the blonde was sorry; she’d meant what she’d said. She had been bored, annoyed and was feeling in the mood for a bit of a spar. Maybe killing Ita would have been a bit too far, but oh well. Less competition for later.

“Why do you keep glaring at the trees?” Neji asks dryly, looking at Ita boredly from the corner of his eyes. The girl’s neck wrenches around, as she casts her narrowed navy eyes on Neji.

“How do you know I’ve been glaring?” she asks rudely, running about two metres to the Hyuga’s right. “Have you been watching me?”

“My Byakugan’s activated” Neji replies with a small smirk. “I’m watching everyone right now.”

“Creep” Ita scoffs, wrinkling her nose and glaring ahead of her, ignoring the way Neji scowls at her. “And I wasn’t glaring at the trees either. I was glaring at your blonde friend. Or where I think she is anyway.”

“Why?” Neji asks curiously, before sweat dropping. “You should probably know that it’s best not to get on her bad side.”

“Too late” the orange haired laughs, giving Neji a wry grin. “I ran into her last night and she threatened to kill me. Not that she’d be able to” Ita adds loudly, making sure Ashley can hear her.

“Yeah…..” Neji sighs, shaking his head. “She threatens to kill a lot of people.”

“It’s just one of the many endearing qualities I possess” Ashley speaks up, appearing down on the ground suddenly, eyeing Neji and Ita evenly, before leaping back up into the trees, alongside Tien.

Ita looks to Neji questioningly, as he sighs again and smirks.

“Intense sarcasm is another one of those endearing qualities she possesses” he explains, making Ita nod in understanding. It was just as she thought. The blonde was absolutely nuts.

“Chirin Nara….” the black haired Chunin suddenly says out loud, almost making Shikamaru trip over his own feet. What had that little stalker just said?

“Excuse me?” Shikamaru chokes out, giving Chirin a wide eyed look, which she returns with a giggle and a closed eye smile.

“It has a nice ring to it huh?” she asks brightly, causing Shikamaru to sweat drop.

“Are we nearly there Kakashi Sensei?!” he calls desperately, trying to block out Chirin’s voice, as she repeats the name Chirin Nara over and over again.

“See that Village just up ahead Shikamaru?!” Kakashi calls back, trying not to sound too sarcastic. He knew what torture the Nara was going through right now, though he admittedly found it kind of funny. “Yeah, that’s the Grass Village. Give it another half an hour or so!”

Shikamaru hangs his head, eager to reach the Village and get the hell away from Chirin. If he never saw her again, it would be too soon!

“Hang in there Champ…” a cool voice encourages, making Shikamaru look up. He spots Kyoku as she lands on a low branch, sends him a quick wink, before flipping back up and disappearing into the leaves.

“Don’t leave me for her Shikamaru!” Chirin scolds, giving him a cute, yet cross look. “She’s taller than you, so she won’t look as cute next to you as I do!”

Shikamaru gives Chirin a bewildered look, before silently turning his head and focusing his head on the Village ahead.

Had he done something completely evil as a young child? Something that he didn’t remember? Because that could be the only reason he was being so horrible punished right now. It must be payback for a horrible misdeed he’d done at some point in life…

“Welcome to the Hidden Grass Village!” a tall man with a Grass Village headband across his forehead greets the Ninja warmly, saluting them. “We’ve been expecting you all!....Although, we didn’t expect two groups of Ninja from different Villages to show up together.”

“We had to keep them safe while they travelled through the big, bad woods” Ashley speaks up loftily, waving her hand in a dismissive fashion, earning glares from the Waterfall Ninja.

“Well, either way” the man smiles, “I’m Sansuba, and I’m here to escort the Ninja from Takigakure to the hotel they’ll be staying in. Kiron will be here in a just a moment to tend to you Konohagakure Ninja. Please follow me!”

As the man turns around, Irazen stalks after him without a word, ignoring the Leaf Ninja. Kakashi places a hand over his heart, as if in pain.

“And just when I thought we were becoming friends” he says sarcastically, earning a chuckle from Kyoku, Ashley and Shikamaru.

“Ohhhh, buh bye Shikamaru!” Chirin cries, green eyes wavering. “We’ll see each other again really soon okay? I’ll miss you!”

“Can’t say the same” Shikamaru mutters under his breath, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away from the wildly waving girl with boredom.

Kein pauses beside Ashley and Kyoku, opening his mouth to speak, when Ashley suddenly looks up and gives him a sharp look, warning him to stay quiet. He abruptly shuts his mouth, instead giving the two young women a warm smile and a nod.

Neji raises an eyebrow as Ita confidently strolls past him, hands on her hips.

“See you at the Tournament loser” she sneers, before winking. “Can’t wait to kick your butt!”

Neji just rolls his pale eyes and shakes his head, crossing his arms and smirking at the girl’s back. He was going to enjoy beating her. Ashley squints at Ita, before switching her suspicious look to Neji. He catches her staring at him and frowns.

“What?” he asks rudely, making Ashley smirk knowingly and shrug.

“Oh nothing” she says innocently. “Just think it’s so cute how you and that carrot haired girl have been flirting these past few days. Didn’t think you had a flirty bone in that dried up, old husk of a body."

Neji glares at Ashley, choosing not to use any of the retorts that are dancing around on the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t flirting!

“How is it that you’ve got friends again?” Neji opts to ask instead, earning another shrug from Ashley.

“One of life’s unanswerable questions” she supplies, earning a ghost of a smile from Neji.

“Greetings Leaf Ninja!” a bright voice suddenly calls, making the five Shinobi turn around. They see a tall man with long green hair swept back into a low ponytail jogging towards them, hand raised in a wave.

“I’m Kiron and I’ve been assigned to show you guys to your hotel and explain how the Tournament will be working” Kiron explains, before pulling a small piece of paper from his pocket and reading out the five names he’d been given, to make sure they were the right Shinobi Lady Tsunade had sent to compete.

“Alright then!” Kiron smiles one his roll call is done, “If you’ll just follow me, I’ll take you to your hotel.”

“I’m looking forward to lying on a real bed” Shikamaru sighs, rubbing his neck with one hand. “Sleeping on the ground is a real drag.”

“You’re positivity is much appreciated Shikamaru” Kakashi says sarcastically, earning an uncaring shrug from the Chunin.

Ashley’s POV’

Walking along beside Neji, I glance around the Grass Village curiously, watching the Villagers going about their business.

I see a whole lot of stalls either set up, or in the process of getting set up, down the streets, with people carting in loads of different merchandise.

Colourful paper lanterns adorn the streets, handing from black cords that have been strung up between the roofs of all the buildings. Between the lanterns, rainbows of streamers flutter in the slight breeze, with what look to be fairy lights adorning the windows of nearly every shop.

I can smell all kinds of different foods cooking, almost making me drool with their delicious scents. Though it’s only about nine in the morning, the streets are already quite busy, filled with shopping Mothers, excited children and a whole array of different people. Stall owners wave their merchandise in the air, shouting out different things at the many passers by, trying to convince them to spend their money.

“It’s almost like there’s a festival going on” Neji comments, before sighing as he dodges around a child who isn’t watching where he’s running.

“Mm, I was just thinking something along those lines” I agree, before turning to face forwards. “Hey Kiron?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes?” the green haired man replies, glancing back at me.

“What’s going on here today?” I ask curiously. “I mean, I’ve been to the Grass Village a few times in the past and it’s never been this busy or set up like this. Is there some special event happening?”

Kiron gives me a strange look, before laughing.

“Well, the Tournament is happening” he explains lightly. “We’ve been holding a sort of festival for the past two days to get everyone excited for it and welcome the competitors and anyone visiting from another Village. That’s why it’s so busy. A lot of these people have come from other Village’s to spectate and see what Village has the most well rounded Shinobi.”

“Makes sense” Kakashi comments, before stopping as Kiron comes to a halt outside of a large, cream coloured building with automatic glass doors.

“Alright Leaf Ninja” Kiron begins, turning around to grin at us. “This is where you’ll be staying, so let’s get you settled in!”

As we enter through the glass doors, Kiron continues talking, arms gesturing wildly through the air, almost as if the muscles in his arms and hands are having a serious spasm. Or a dance party.

“So, you don’t have to worry about paying for anything” the green haired man explains, “We’re footing the bill for all of our competitors. So feel free to use the spa, get a massage, eat all the food you want etcetera etcetera! Just enjoy yourselves for today, and I’ll be back tomorrow morning to take you to the arena for the first part of the Tournament.”

“Wait, we’re competing tomorrow?!” Shikamaru asks, eyes widening.

“That’s right!” Kiron laughs. “You and the Waterfall Ninja were the last two groups to arrive. And it was perfect timing too, because you’ve still got a day to rest and enjoy the festival. Well, I must be off now! Enjoy your day, and I’ll see you all bright and early tomorrow!”

That said, Kiron strides past us and disappears out of the glass doors, waving excitedly to us. I think he’s been dropped on his head before or something.

“I didn’t realise we’d be competing pretty much straight away” Kakashi says, rubbing the back of his neck. “But oh well, it can’t be helped I guess. Let’s just check in and take our things up to our rooms. Then we can all go and do whatever we feel like I guess.”

“I feel like going for a soak in the spa” Kyoku says dreamily. Kakashi blinks a few times, before nodding eagerly.

“Me too” he says, making me smirk and roll my eyes. Silly Sensei…

“Well, I’m gonna go and explore this festival” I announce. “See if I can find something fun to do.”

“And by fun” Kakashi begins, turning to me seriously, “You don’t mean causing any physical harm to anyone or destroying anything do you?”

“Of course not Sensei” I reply wryly, blanching. “Have some faith in me will ya?”

Kakashi stares at me for a while, before turning to Neji and Shikamaru.

“Will you two please follow her and make sure she doesn’t so anything stupid?” he asks the boys, making me anime fall. Where’s the trust?!

“We don’t need another war” Kakashi feels the need to add, as I drag myself up from the floor, giving the silver haired man a wounded look.

“We’ll try our best Kakashi Sensei” Shikamaru says with a nod, before pausing and raising an eyebrow at the innocent look on my face. “No promises though…”

Neji, Shikamaru and I stroll through the Village pretty aimlessly, content to just poke around through the hundreds of stalls and shops.

As we make our way through the ever thickening crowd, I spy two tall, young guys staring at us. While they both have black cloth covering the lower halves of their faces, one guy has white hair, while the other had black. The black haired guy has his golden eyes locked on Shikamaru and Neji, while the white haired guy seems to be staring at me.

‘Hidden Mist Ninja’ I internally growl, seeing the red cloth bearing the Mist symbol tied around the white haired guy’s arm. The white haired guy, his back leaning against a wall, fixes the collar of his black jacket, as the black haired man continues glaring at us, the white fur on the collar of his purple jacket blowing in the breeze.

“Guys, we’re being glared at by two unattractive Hidden Mist Ninja right now” I inform Neji and Shikamaru, who immediately look up. “To the left a bit.”

We all stop in our tracks, glaring over at the Mist Ninja, who seem unfazed by us. Not that I’m surprised. I may not know a lot about the Hidden Mist Village or the Ninja from there, but I’ve heard it’s not a particularly nice place. Although, I believe it’s a lot nicer than it has been in the past.

Suddenly, a short girl appears behind the two men, landing on the ground in a crouched position. One of the men seems to say something to her, as she lifts her head and casts her bright red eyes on us, enabling me to see that she also has a cloth covering the bottom half of her face.

The small girl stares at us for a moment, her thick, dark blue ponytail blowing in the wind, before she leaps up and disappears over the top of a building, the two men quickly following suit.

“Well” Shikamaru says dryly, raising an eyebrow, “That was weird.”

“I suppose they’re wary of us” Neji speaks up, as we slowly begin walking again. “We’re not Allies with them after all. We won’t be the only ones they treat like that, and we’ll no doubt give some of the other contestants some chilly looks as well. It’s natural that we’d all be a bit on edge around each other.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right….” I trail off, a very large television screen on my right catching my attention. I walk towards it, standing amongst a few other people and staring at the attractive woman looking back at me from the screen.

She’s holding a microphone and seems to be standing somewhere in a large arena, which is the one I’m assuming we’ll be competing in.

‘..festivities have already been going for the last two day, with many more to come!’ the reporter explains cheerfully. ‘Tomorrow will mark the beginning of the actual Tournament, with five competitors from eight different Villages competing to see who has the strongest, fastest and most cunning Shinobi around! It should be a very good time…’

“Don’t you find this Tournament a bit strange?” a voice suddenly asks, breaking my attention from the woman on the screen and making me turn around. I come face to face with a rather tall, very pretty girl with a calm expression on her face. She looks down at me, her large, bright green eyes regarding me seriously.

“Do I know you?” I ask suspiciously, wondering why a random Ninja is talking to me. I know she’s a Ninja, because I can see the weapons pouch strapped to her thigh.

“Oh I’m sorry” she laughs gently. “My name is Kana Isuke, and I’m a Shinobi from the Sand Village. I’m talking to you because our Village’s are Allies.”

I stare at the girl for a moment, before deciding that she seems harmless. As in, she doesn’t seem like she’s out to get me just yet.

“Ashley Minami” I reply, before turning my head and raising an eyebrow at the woman still talking on the television screen. “And yes, I do find this Tournament a bit strange I guess. It came out of the blue, and I find it weird that so many Villages were invited, despite the bad blood between many of them.”

Kana nods in agreement, her thick brown hair swaying from the motion.

“My opinion is the same” she informs me, green eyes quickly scanning the crowd, before landing back on my face. “I’ve seen the team of Mist Ninja a few times, and they seem to be sussing out the competition. I don’t trust them any further than I could throw them.”

I tilt my head slightly, squinting my eyes at Kana. Though she seems relatively harmless right now and she’s from a Village that’s Allied with my own, I can’t help feeling just a little suspicious of her. I mean, I’m a Ninja, so I’m naturally suspicious of everyone and she might just be trying to make conversation, but still. I don’t want to give away too much of what I’m thinking.

I jump, as someone plonks their hands down on my shoulders, making me tilt my head back and have a look. I see Neji standing behind me, frowning at the Sand Ninja from over my head.

“Come on Ashley” he says firmly, turning me away from Kana. “We have to go now.”

“Alright then” I say, happy to leave my conversation with Kana, although I send her a nod as we walk away.

“I don’t know what you guys were talking about” Neji begins, “And I know we’re Allies with the Sand Village, but just…..Be careful with what you say to people okay?”

“I know, I know” I mutter, playfully swatting Neji’s hands away from me. “You sound just like Kakashi Sensei.”

“Well, someone has to be the reasonable one” Neji chuckles wryly, earning an eye roll from me.

“Well, welly, well, well!” a voice suddenly chimes from right in front of us. “Looks like we found ourselves some Leaf Ninja!”

Looking up, we’re met with the sight of a tall girl with short, spiky lavender hair and barely any clothes on. What’s with all these girls from other Villages? Why don’t they wear real clothes?! Don’t they get cold?

“How fun…” a young guy with shaggy brown hair falling in front of his face drawls boredly. Wait…..How can he see?

“Ughhh….” I groan, slapping a hand to my face. “Not more weirdos!”

“Hey!” the tall girl cries indignantly. “We’re not weirdos! We’re just bored! And now that you’ve insulted us, we’re not going to take that lying down! Right Takishimaru?!”

“No way Nobu…..” the boy sighs, sounding about as fun to be around as a corpse. “Let’s teach them some manners….”

“We’ll show you just what Stone Village Ninja can do!” the lavender haired girl exclaims, jumping back and smirking at me determinedly. I raise an eyebrow at Neji, who looks back at me and shrugs.

“I really can’t be bothered right now to be honest” I inform the Stone Ninja with a weary sigh. “We’ll kick your asses at the Tournament, okay?”

“Ohhhh, chickening out are we?” Nobu teases, laughing obnoxiously. “Well, I’d be scared too if I were you little girl.”

“Scared?” I repeat, seeing Neji sweat drop as a dark smirk spreads across my face. “Scared……Fighting an air headed, under dressed bimbo like you doesn’t scare me in the least. I just can’t be bothered wasting my time, energy and chakra on a waste of space like you.”

The girl blinks a few times, seemingly processing what I just said to her. I can’t tell if the brown haired guy is blinking or not, considering his hair is completely covering the top half of his face. Maybe he doesn’t have eyes and thus, doesn’t need to blink?

“You are so rude!” the girl suddenly cries, stomping her foot. “That’s it! You are so going down! Come on Takishimaru, let’s make her pay!”

I bend my knees, baring my teeth in a smirk, as Neji just crosses his arms and stands behind me, shaking his head at the two Stone Ninja.

“Bring it on bitch” I taunt lowly, making the girl shriek angrily and suddenly charge at me. Stupid bimbo…

GUYS!! The last chapter has over 3,000 reads but it's only got 107 reads! What are you readers DOING to me?! I don't understand why majority of you aren't voting. Majority, not ALL of you, message me and say that you love my story, but if I'm creepy and look at your profile, I can see that you haven't voted for ANY of the chapters!

This is really, REALLY getting on my nerves now. Sorry to the people who DO vote, this ISN'T directed at you. I know over 100 votes is a lot for a Naruto Fan Fiction, but seriously. 3,000 people and only 100 can vote? It takes not even one second to click the vote button! Please show me that you like and support Stwf, it's REALLY discouraging to see this OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Sighhhhh.......

Make me feel better and vote maybe? :3