A Little More Than This (Discontinued)

Chapter 28

Mei knew exactly what was going on the second she saw the fluffy white feathers falling. But she simply fell to the ground a pretended to pass out. She knew that she had to get to Orochimaru and the rest of his attack team. She knew she had to help her Hokage. She also knew that only people with a curse mark could get through the barrier that she knew the Sound Four were going to make.

"Kakashi-Sensei? Should I wake up Mei too?" Sakura asked. "No let her rest. She just had a battle plus it will be better for just you three to go" Kakashi responded. Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and jumped through the broken wall.

"I think you should've let Sakura wake her up. The mission would've had a higher success rate" Gai piped up as enemy ninja started crowding the arena. "No. I can't, she needs to rest" Kakashi replied, starting his advance into the enemy lines. "Why don't you trust her? You guys have had such a close relationship ever since Hokage-Sama instructed you to care for her" Gai asked, following kakashi.

"I think she's hiding something from me" Kakashi replied. "She's a teenager. Of course she is, it'll most likely be a boyfriend or something!" Gai sighed, sending a series of kicks and punches towards the sound ninja.

"No you don't understand-" "I think we all do Kakashi. You're being a bit paranoid. She'll tell you eventually" Kurani butted in. "Yeah Kakashi! Didn't we all used to do the same to our Parents or Guardians?" Asuma asked. All the Jonin nodded before stopping a second advance.

Kakashi sighed and turned around to wake up Mei but found her body wasn't there, only a simple note; which read:

'Don't worry about me Tou-San! I'll be back soon'

Kakashi sighed and turned to finish what he started.

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Mei stood on the top of the roof watching the battle that was getting stupidly chaotic. She sat just behind three ANBU ninja, masking her own chakra to remain invisible to them. She stood suddenly and raced around the edge of the barrier to talk to talk to one of her good friends.

"Sakon!! Ukon!!" Mei cried running up to them. "Huh? Mei-Chan??" Sakon asked, looking surprised at her sudden appearance. She nodded and playfully stuck her tongue out at the joint twins. "My how much you've grown! I remember when you were just a pipsqueak!" Sakon laughed. "Hey! You're only two years older then me!!" Mei whined.

Sakon stuck his tongue out and looked around him. "Orochimaru told us that you weren't dead. He knew because if you did die the seal would've gone back to him, well that's what he told us. But that doesn't we're gonna let you go in. Please just go beat up some poor Sand ninja or something" he told her. "No. I can't. I need to go in. I need to keep my image as a Leaf nin" Mei replied, showing him her headband.

"Orochimaru told us that you could be joining us again!" Ukon piped up. "When the time is right. Bye bye!" Mei called jumping through the barrier. Both twins sighed and continued with upholding the barrier.

Mei, on the other hand, was dashing through the, recently grown, forest, trying to reach her Hokage in time but stopped short when she saw the battle that was unfolding.

'Wow... Hokage-Sama and Orochi-Nii are really strong!'

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Shikamaru sighed as he waited for the enemy Ninja to fall into his trap. His thoughts floated over to Mei, who had been left behind.

'It doesn't make any sense! Mei is intelligent and doesn't tire easily. Why would she allow herself to get caught in the Genjustu?' He asked himself. He perked up suddenly as he heard rustling close by. He knew that the team's pursuers were walking right int his trap.

He jumped down at stood in front of all 8 of them. "Hello boys... why would you be here?" Shikamaru asked, trying to sound casual. The enemy ninja all looked at him. Then turned to look behind them. Shikamaru, caught unaware at their sudden movement, felt a pang of puzzlement as he saw the familiar tangerine haired kunoichi staring them down.

"Leave my friends alone" she said, menace dripping from her voice and only hidden by a sweet smile. "Shika-Kun~ are you gonna need help or not?" Mei asked, smiling kindly towards the dark haired nin. The nin shook his head and captured the confused sound ninja in his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"W-what's going on?" One of the nin asked. "Nothing much~" the clone giggled, blowing a kiss at Shikamaru and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

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The real Mei was watching two battles unfold quite comfortably in her hiding spot. Naruto and Gaara's as well as Hiruzen and Orochimaru's. She stood, very much invisible, on top of a giant wall giving her perfect views of both battles.

She had decided that to interfere with the Hokage's battle would be suicide but refused to leave due to lack of motivation. It wasn't a pretty fight either, she had sensed that Naruto's battle would be better off for the boy but she knew that only one, if any, was going to make it out of this battle.

She watched carefully as Hiruzen formed a series of hand signs that caused Mei's heart to stop. 'Old fool! You'll die if you perform that Jutsu!' Mei scolded, but remained silent as the battle unfolded before her.

But a loud crash from afar recaptured her attention. Naruto and Gamabunta, a giant red toad, were seemingly replaced with the nine-tailed fox. 'W-what!?! Has Naruto learnt to draw on The Fox's power already!?!' Mei asked herself, blue eyes widening in horror. She took several steps forward before the fox disappeared and Gamabunta reappeared.

'I'm going to kill Naruto' she thought, massaging her temples in anger. She turned to finish watching the other battle but was sorely disappointed as Hiruzen was lying dead on the floor and Orochimaru had deep purple arms.

Mei jumped down, releasing her Jutsu and hugging Hiruzen's dead body. "Mei? How long have you been watching?" Orochimaru asked, kneeling down to her level. "Since you put up the forest, I've been sitting on the wall" Mei replied, gently patting the old man's head and smiling weakly.

"I need to run, ninja will be showing up soon" Mei stated, quite calmly, and ran to the outside of the barrier, running for the woods to retrieve Naruto.

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Kakashi had been relieved of duty shortly after the discovery of The Hokage's death was made. He truly felt dead inside, like a black hole had formed in his gut and swallowed everything inside of him.

He dragged his feet to a stop outside his little apartment home, not even attempting to pull out his keys. He just stood there, waiting for hell to freeze over. Surprisingly the door swung open a minute later, just as dark clouds rolled over the village.

"Come in Tou-San. You'll catch a cold if you stay outside!" Mei cried, pulling the sliver-haired nin inside. Kakashi allowed himself to be pulled to the dinning table and allowed Mei to chatter away about where she was and how sorry she was for tricking him. (Evidently she had rushed after Naruto, Sakura and Shikamru trying to help them defeat Gaara and bring Sasuke back).

"Mei... Hokage-Sama has died" Kakashi interrupted the girls chatter. The bowl in Mei's hands crashed to the floor as her unique blue eyes flooded with water. She chocked back a sob and clasped her hand over her mouth. Shaking her head in disbelief, Mei looked up at her care-taker with big, sorrow-filled eyes.

"No...Not Hokage-Sama" Mei breathed. Kakashi rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around her, trying to sooth the girls breakdown. "Shh~ don't worry~ Mei just calm down" Kakashi soothed as Mei cried herself to sleep in his arms.

He carried her to her neat room, tucking the tangerine into her bed and walking into his own. 'Maybe she really isn't hiding anything from me'.