Please Don't Leave Me

The River of Chakra

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)


When dinner was finally over Sasuke had a personal talk with Tazuna and he made sure I stayed with him and didn't sleep with Naruto like the last time that happened. I can honestly say that I wasn't too happy about them seeing that because that would probably just give Sakura and Kakashi something to tease us about. The next day, Kakashi woke us up early in the morning and he told me I had a special lesson, he hasn't told me what I'm supposed to do because first he had to give instructions to the others. But before he left, he said
"Oh, and by the way. When I meet you, bring clothes you don't mind getting wet"
I don't think he understood how that sounded but I dressed in a tank top and shorts. I waited about an hour and Kakashi finally met up with me
"Ah, sorry I'm late Kazumi. The others weren't doing so well with training so I had to stay and help them a bit longer" he said as I nodded in understanding and we went over to the river near Tazuna's house.
"Alright Kazumi, I have a separate assignment for you to do. See that river?" he asks me pointing to the small river


I nodded saying I did
"Good, your assignment is a little trickier than the task I've given to your team mates. Their assignment was to climb trees, they had to use their chakra to climb a tree without using their hands. Your task is to focus your chakra on moving with the river and maintain your chakra control while ducking under the small bridge in the middle of the river, when you can get to the other side you are done" he said and I nodded in return
"Even though this might sound silly, I want you to define chakra and what you can do with it. Like I said, it might sound silly but I just have to make sure. Naruto didn't even know what the meaning of chakra was and called it chatra" he said and I sighed at how little Naruto remembers about his days at the academy. It hasn't even been a long time since he's been there.
"Chakras are, to put it simply, the energies that a shinobi requires in order to perform a jutsu. It is the body and mind coming together to focus making chakra, but when you use the hand signs it balances that chakra and uses what is necessary to perform the jutsu" I said
"Very good, I knew I had nothing to worry about with you. Ok, lets get started. Focus your chakra to your feet and start walking" he said as I looked at the river and it was flowing steadily, it wasn't moving very fast.
I made a hand sign and focused my chakra on the water, and when I took my first step I could feel myself walking like you would on ground and it was steady, but I was focusing on the water so much that I lost control of the jutsu and sank knee deep in the water shivering at how cold it was.
"This is a little more challenging than climbing trees but when you practice with your own element, it makes the technique stronger. When you focus enough you have no problem walking around the river, it's like you're walking on the ground" he said as I dragged my body out of the water and took a minute before trying it again.
I focused again and walked over to the edge, I took a slow deep breath and focused again using a hand sign and felt myself walking on the water again. I took slow steps and focused very deeply.
"Well, you made it a quarter of the way there. You're doing better than Sasuke is right now, he's still not getting it. Could end up killing him one day" he said and I looked at him alarmed losing my focus and went right into the water again, but this time slipping on a rock and falling backwards going chest deep in the river.
"Try not to let anything distract you, it's only going to make it more challenging. And you lose focus" he said while I got out of the water and went back tot he starting point.
I made another hand sign and walked again and I could hear Kakashi talking but his words weren't getting to me. Not very well anyway, he almost made me lose focus telling me Sasuke was going to fall from the tree and fall to his death. That one was a bit extreme, but even I knew if I let anything break my concentration, I would have to start all over again.

I focused very calmly and right now I was at the half way point when the short bridge was in the way
"This is where it gets challenging, when you have an obstacle in the way, you need to make your chakra a little flexible and bend it the way your body is moving, so when you have a giant rock in the way, it gets harder to maintain control unless you understand what to do" said Kakashi from the other side.
I focused harder on my chakra and had to focus while trying to get under the bridge. I bent backwards and tried to move but it was hard to keep control and I lost balance falling backwards into the water again.
"Keep working on it, I need to see how the others are doing" said Kakashi as I nodded while he walked away. How was I supposed to cross the river if I have to worry about the obstacles in the way?
This was a ton harder than learning one handed jutsus. Hmm, that might work. If I use one hand to hold the jutsu sign, then that means I don't have to worry about both hands working at the same time. I focused even harder to hold the jutsu sign with one hand and started walking across the river and this time, I was going at a faster pace than before. Finally I got to the bridge and I held the jutsu sign out in front of me, this was going to be hard.

I focused hard on the water and I felt like I needed to adjust to the water and focus my chakra in the water and make sure I can keep going and bend it at my will and make it flexible with my own. But I felt something crawl up my leg and it was spreading up to my upper leg, I look down and I see nothing but water.

My feet are gone, only water is replacing it.

This freaked me out and I lost my chakra control and fell knee deep in the water with my legs finally coming back. I haven't seen a jutsu like this in my entire life, no one can make a solid body out into water. But even though we look like a solid from the outside the inside of our bodies holds lots of liquid, maybe when I performed the jutsu it found its way to my blood and turned it into water, making my body flow with it.

I felt really cold when I stopped my almost heart attack and sneezed a little. But then I sneezed again.
"It sounds like a little mouse" said a voice behind me and I got in a battle stance facing Kakashi and he held his hands up in surrender
"Didn't know you'd be so jumpy. Let's go back to the house before you catch a cold" he said as I gladly stepped out of the water and headed over to him. We walked in silence until I felt another sneeze coming and I was breathing ready to sneeze
"Bless you" said Kakashi but I didn't sneeze. That was weird, I was ready to sneeze but when he said 'bless you' I didn't. I sighed at his childish act but we continued on until we got to the house seeing Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura already there.
"Hey, Kazumi. How did it go? You weren't there when we were climbing trees" said Naruto
"I don't know how to describe it, I got half way and when I was focusing my chakra into the water and when I look down my legs turned into water" I said and everyone had wide eyes and looked at me crazily
"Woah! How did you do that? I've never heard of anyone being able to do that" said Naruto excited
"I have no idea" I said looking down
"That shouldn't be possible. Kazumi, tomorrow I want you to show me how you did that. That's not something I doubt even Zabusa can do" he said looking deep in thought and I nodded my head and they all went off to do their own thing. I walked into the kitchen and I see Tazuna's daughter and she looked stuck.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked
"No, I'm just having a hard time thinking about what to make for dinner" she said
"I see. If you want, I can make dinner for everyone" I offered
"Oh, no. That's ok really, I can make dinner" she said
"But you are having a hard time choosing and I can cook alright" I said
"If you want to you can, thank you" she said and I nodded
"I should probably go check on Inari anyway" she said going upstairs.

I took out the necessary ingredients and started cooking salmon and egg donburi


I started on dinner after about thirty minutes and I was cooking the rice when I hear Naruto come in through the kitchen door. He was smelling the air drooling with a spaced out look on his face and when he saw me cooking his eyes almost bugged out of his head.
"Kazumi?" he asked as I took out a frying pan and added the salmon and let that sit until I looked back at him.
"You can cook?! Really?! That's so cool!" he said again
"Thank you Naruto, but dinner is going to be ready soon. Go grab the others and tell them about 5 minutes and I'll be done" I said as he nodded turning around and ran out of the kitchen.
"Hey! Kazumi says 5 minutes and it'll be time for dinner!" he yelled through the house and I could almost feel the people in the house roll his/her eyes. I grabbed the eggs and added it to the salmon leaving it for a bit before coming back and pouring the eggs over the salmon.
I looked around in the cabinets until I found the bowls and grabbed a small piece of salmon and put it over the rice before chopping green onions and tossing them in each bowl.

I grab all the bowls and balance them in each arm and walk out to the kitchen and everyone is already sitting at the table ready to eat. Of course Naruto has a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other and he's pouting on the table waiting for dinner which annoys everyone trying to tell him to stop but of course he just sits there and ignores them.
"That smells pretty good, what did you make?" asked Tazuna
"Salmon and egg donburi" I replied setting down everyone's bowls and I sit myself down and at the same time we say
"Itadakimasu" but they didn't start eating and I look at them confused
"Kazumi, you made the meal. Why don't you have the first taste?" asked Sakura and I nodded taking a bite of salmon
"Is it good?" asks Naruto
"I would say it's ok, I'm not a chef so I wouldn't expect it to taste perfect" I say going back to my dinner and everyone takes a bite and their eyes go wide.
"Is something wrong?" I asked
"Wow! This is the best fish I've ever tasted!" yelled Naruto and we look at him like he's crazy, but when I do a double take they all agree with him.
"It tastes really good Kazumi, you're a pretty good chef" complimented Sakura as I smiled at her in thanks.
"I agree. Something this good should be had again, can I have seconds?" asked Kakashi and I looked at him wide eyed to see he doesn't have any more on his plate, and no one even saw him take off his mask. He's good.
"Oh! Me too! Me too!" shouted Naruto
"I could go for some more" said Sakura, I nodded heading to the kitchen
"Does anyone else want any more?" I asked
"No, I'm full" said Tazuna
"I think I'm done too. But it was delicious" said Tazuna's daughter
"I just want a bowl of plain rice" said Inari rudely, I headed back to the kitchen and grabbed seconds for the others and grabbed a bowl and put rice in it for Inari. I headed back and when I set Naruto's plate down he was chowing down like there was no tomorrow. I sweat dropped and gave everyone else their food and when I went to hand Inari his bowl he took it from my hands quickly eating before I could put it down in front of him. I started going down the hall but they all started yelling 'thank you's' at me.
"Thanks for the meal Kazumi"
"Yeah, thanks"
"Thanks"
"Tank choo"
I walked back to my room Sasuke and I share and I went to the bathroom brushing my teeth and changing into my pajamas washing my face before going back out and realizing I wasn't tired just yet. I jumped out the window and crawl up to the roof laying back and looking at the stars. There were so many.



I smiled faintly. When Sasuke and I were little we used to have a competition to see who could count the most stars without messing up. Usually he won, but I just loved looking at all the bright lights that it didn't bother me. The highest we ever counted was 129 and we almost got in trouble for staying up so late. I was looking around looking at each little star until I saw one flying.
'I wish my clan would come back together' I thought as the star fades away until I couldn't see it anymore. I looked back at the stars and some made shapes looking funny or simple.
(Somebody's Me by Enrique Iglesias)


You, do you remember me?
Like I remember you
Do you spend your life going back in your mind to that time
Because I
I walk in the streets alone
I hate being on my own
And everyone can see that
I really fell
And I'm goin' through hell
Thinking about you were somebody else

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can't breathe, without you it's lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see

That somebody's me
That somebody's me

How, how could we go wrong
It was so good and now it's gone
And I pray at night that our paths will soon cross
And what we had isn't lost
Cause you're always right here in my thoughts

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can't breathe, without you it's lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see

That somebody's me
Oh yeah

You'll always be in my life
Even if I'm not in your life
Because you're in my memory

You, will you remember me
And before you set me free
Ohh.....listen please

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can't breathe, without you it's lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see

That somebody's me
That somebody's me
That somebody's me
That somebody's me
Oh yeah

I finished the song and I was making sure this time no one was around. I started to fall asleep and I wasn't going to sleep out here. I crawled back into the bed and closed my eyes falling asleep after another 5 minutes.


(Quick Naruto P.O.V.)

I was stuffing my face with Kazumi's food. She's an awesome cook and I haven't really been much into salmon until now. It tasted really really good. I patted my stomach in happiness and settled down waiting for my food to digest.
"That was a pretty good dinner huh?" asked Kakashi and we nodded or groaned with our stomachs full, but maybe that was just me.
"She's a good cook. I didn't expect she would be this good" said Sakura
"Well, she doesn't like to talk about everything she can do. There's no fun in that" said Kakashi
"But when she was eating she looked like it was the only thing left she didn't care for. I thought it was tasty" I said
"She doesn't seem to like a lot of attention, or having so many people compliment her abilities" said Kakashi
"Yeah but--"
"Hold on, do you guys hear something?" asked Sakura and it was small humming. We walked to where it was coming from and it was Sasuke's room that he and Kazumi are sharing only to see her sitting on the windowsill looking up at the sky and singing softly. I blushed. Looking at her this way was somewhat.. relaxing compared to everything that we've been through. To be honest, I hadn't even known that she could sing until we first came to the land of water.

"--Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can't breathe, without you it's lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see

That somebody's me
Oh yeah

You'll always be in my life
Even if I'm not in your life
Because you're in my memory

You, will you remember me
And before you set me free
Ohh.....listen please

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can't breathe, without you it's lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see

That somebody's me
That somebody's me
That somebody's me
That somebody's me
Oh yeah"

She sang really good, she had a nice voice and almost everyone stopped talking so they could hear her sing. She was awesome. It was a little small at first but then she started going a little louder and it was so clear. I know she is super pretty and she can cook but when she sings it's like you're in another world. She's amazing. I've said that a lot now but it's cool. I really like her, I'm just afraid of what Sasuke would think if I had a crush on his little sister. He crushed me because I was cuddling with her in my sleep. I didn't even mean to do that, but it's still scary to think about right now.

(Kazumi's P.O.V.)

I guess Kakashi was impressed that I was able to get half way across the river and almost go past the bridge because he told me it was my job to protect Tazuna with Sakura. I told them I would meet them at the bridge so I could go find some ingredients for dinner tonight. I was heading back and I saw them already coming over to me.
"Kazumi, hey. We were just about to go to the market and grab ingredients for dinner tonight, you coming?" she asked
"I already got it" I said holding up my bag and I gave it to her to carry since I doubt she did anything at the bridge besides watch. I saw a family around the block and they barely had any clothes on and it didn't look like they had eaten or slept in days.
"Sakura, can you hand me my bag?" I asked
"Sure" she said handing it to me as I pull out some money, a couple apples, and some water bottles and walked in the direction of the family, it looks like they only had one kid. It was lucky I only brought 3 apples and water bottles.
I walked up to them and when my shadow was looming over them I think it scared them because they backed away shivering in fear. I walked up to them again and they cowered back even farther until they finally ran into a wall and they looked up at me terrified. I sighed and grabbed the water, apples, and money holding it out to them and they looked back up at me and back at my hands. The woman slowly reached up to take it from me and when she reached them she gave an apple to her husband and child nibbling on one herself.
"T-Thank you, v-very much. Is there anything we can do to make this up to you?" asked the lady
"There is one thing" I said leaning closer to her face
"Y-Yes?" she asked
"Don't lose hope. The bridge will be fixed and it will be fine. I want you to use this money for your family and don't let them think all hope is lost. That's all I want from you" I said straitening back up
"Thank you. So much" said the lady
"T-Thank you" said the husband
"Thank you onee-chan" said the child wrapping her arms around my waist, I slowly brought my hands to her back and hugged me tight. I stood back up and ruffled her hair
"Don't stop believing" I said standing up
"I won't, I promise" she said going back at her apple with her family, I wish that was the case with me. But all I have left is Sasuke and Itachi, they're the only ones. I walked back to Tazuna and Sakura and she was handing a kid a handful of candies as he trotted off with a happy smile on his face. We stayed silent until we got back to the house.

(Author's note: Just so you know, I can put the name of the song to the side if you want to check it out but until I can figure out how to add links and videos without them being oversized, that's about the best I can do)