A Little More Than This (Discontinued)

Chapter 40

Mei, Sakura and Naruto all stood next to three, extremely familiar wooden posts, which stood, weather-worn, just a few meters away.

"Man this brings back memories" Mei sighed, staring longingly at the posts, remembering the time Kakashi had tied Naruto to the middle one. "Yeah it does. I can't believe he tied me to the post, talk about abuse" Naruto replied, smirking a little. "As I believe, you where the one who tried to eat the packed lunches" Kakashi mused, appearing out of nowhere in front of the trio.

"My, Sensei. Nothing changes does it? Still late" Sakura greeted, giggling a little and raising her hand in greeting. Kakashi chuckled a little, bowing his head slightly. He slipped a turquoise book into his weapons pouch and extracted three shiny little bells. He tossed one to Mei and turned to the other two.

"Hokage's orders, Mei is allowed to help you two but will undergo the bell test on her own, this is because certain things have come to light and the identity of her Sensei's of the last three years have remained unknown" Kakashi explained as he saw his student's confused faces. "Also she has been placed onto her own squad of mis-matched specialties, meaning her a few others have multiple teams. Lee, Neji, Shikamaru are a few examples" Kakashi added, smiling a little.

"The choice is, of course, yours. You two get to decide whether or not you want Mei's help" Kakashi finished, turning the the other two as he said this. Naruto and Sakura nodded, as Mei looked thoughtful. "Does that mean I've been removed from Team 7?" Mei asked, tilting her head slightly. "Yes and no, if a mission needs your attention and you are out on one with us you must turn back, and if you are presented with a mission both as Team 7 and the other squad then you are expected to take the other mission" Kakashi explained.

Mei saluted, nodding to show she understood. "So~ want help or should I come back later?" Mei asked, rather wanting to go off around the village. "I think we're good, Mei-Chan. Plus I wanna watch you kick Sensei's ass later" Sakura replied as Naruto nodded. Mei smiled and turned to leave, "don't go easy on the old fart" Mei instructed. "Yes ma'am" Naruto replied as Sakura giggled a little.

~

Mei sighed loudly as she looked up at the sun, it looked weird to her, as though she hadn't actually looked at it properly before. She was so concentrated on the giant yellow heat-giver that she walked face-first into somebody, and that somebody instantly recognised the young ginger.

"Mei! It is good to see you after so long!" A familiar voice called, bearing a 'thumbs up' at her. Mei stepped back a little and smiled at the green-spandex covered ninja. "Lee! Great ta see ya too!" Mei cried, noticing only slight differences about the Tijutsu specialist, like the green Chūnin best he had dawned and how tall he had gotten.

"No, that's rude. Why are you soooo friggen Tall" Mei whined, crossing her arms and pouting a little. Lee chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his head as he chuckled. "I see you changed as well. I never thought I would see you in a skirt Mei! It looks good!" Lee replied, giving her another Thumbs up, a star shooting out of his winking eye.

"I see, thanks Lee, where's Tenten and Neji?" Mei asked, looking around. "I do not know. I saw them yesterday while training but that is all" Lee replied, his ever-present smile faltering a tiny bit. "Ok, thanks Lee" Mei said, smiling lightly and turning to leave.

"Mei! Is Naruto back yet?" Lee asked, just as Mei had started to turn the corner. "He's at trading ground 14. Kakashi and Sakura are there too" Mei replied, watching him speed off a trail of dust following him.

Mei chuckled lightly and continued to walk away, looking for more old friends. The first one she found was Chōji, who was walking out of Ichiraku Ramen. "Chōji! Hey Chōji!" Mei cried, running up to him.