A Visit to the Naruto World

Chapter Thirteen: The Sand Siblings

Emily was already tired of sand. She kept finding it in her hair and in her shoes. 

Sand was literally everywhere.

"Ugghh!" she groaned, tearing off her shoe to dump some grains out. "I hate sand!"

Gaara looked at her in contempt.

"Let's be a little more careful what we say about sand," Konkuro laughed nervously, eyeing Gaara. "We don't want to offend anyone."

"Why did we volunteer to help her anyway?" asked Temari impatiently. "We don't owe her anything."

"The sooner we get her out of here the better," said Konkuro.

"Hey, Temari," said Emily, putting her shoe back on her foot. "You're going to marry Shikamaru, right? I totally ship it."

The loud beeping sound blurted out and interrupted Emily.

"Please, no spoilers," Temari grimaced. Then in a whisper, she added, "Loud noises tend to upset Gaara."

Emily looked over and saw that Gaara's left eye was twitching and sand was dancing slowly around him.

"Oh, okay," said Emily. "I'll try to keep the spoilers down."

"Probably a good idea," Temari replied, rolling her eyes.

The group made its way toward the village gates. Emily noticed that as they walked, people eyed them with uncertainty, fear, and contempt. They were looking at Gaara.

The poor little baby teddy bear sweet potato boo boo muffin, she thought, looking at Gaara's glaring expression. But he showed no sign that he even noticed the stares.

Sarah does not like Gaara, so it is a bit of a challenge for her to write from Emily's point of view here. For some reason, Emily really likes Gaara and thinks he's cute... But whatever.

"I don't see your friends," Konkuro said as they reached the main building where the kazekage resided.

"Maybe you guys can help my find my missing soul piece," said Emily.

"No way!" Konkuro replied. "We have more important things to do."

"We don't have time to babysit you either," said Temari. "Your friends will probably be coming here to meet with the kazekage, so I suggest you stay put."

"Okay," sighed Emily. "But first, let me say goodbye."

She ran forward to give Gaara a hug-- and instead received a mouthful of sand.

"I love you, Gaara," she wheezed. Surprise flickered in his eyes for a second, but he quickly returned to his usual gloomy self.

"Bye, Temari," Emily said, turning to Temari. "Your outfit and hair could use some work, but otherwise you're very pretty. You aren't very nice though. But you are strong and cool. I know who you're going to marry, and I ship it."

Temari was speechless.

"Bye, Konkuro," Emily said, turning to Konkuro. "I wish I had brought some makeup remover so that I could get the ugly paintings off your face. You looks so much handsomer without them. And please, stop wearing the pajamas. Are you trying to look like you stepped out from Where The Wild Things Are?"

"Where the what what what?" Konkuro stammered.

"Thanks for saving my life," Emily said, hugging both of them.

"This is too weird," Konkuro said.

"Enough," rasped Gaara. "Let's get moving."

"Okay, coming," Temari said nervously.

"Umm, bye, I guess," said Konkuro.

The sand siblings walked away, glancing nervously behind them from time to time to make sure Emily wasn't following them.

"There you are!"

Emily turned around and saw Team 7 walking toward her.

"We were just talking to the kazekage! We were beginning to think you were gone for good!" Naruto cried, running forward.

"We could only hope," said Kakashi.

"What?" said Emily.

"Oh, nothing."

"Kakashi Sensei," said Sakura. "It's already getting dark out, and we have to find the soul piece and get Emily back to the Leaf Village by midnight tomorrow!"

"We've got plenty of time," replied Kakashi. "If the soul piece is here, Emily will start feeling herself drawn toward it. Do you feel anything Emily?"

Emily paused and tried to focus on her soul. But then she realized that she wasn't even sure where her soul was in her body. Was it in her head? Her chest? She felt something in her stomach, but it came out in the form of a growl. She was just hungry.

"Is there food here?" she asked.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his temple.

"Emily, please try to focus," he said. "You should be able to feel a very noticeable tug from your soul."

"All I feel is a tug toward food," said Emily honestly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Her stomach growled again.

"I'm hungry, too," said Naruto.

"How can this be?" Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.

"Kakashi!" a voice cried.

The group turned to see a small dog pouncing toward them. It was Pakkun. 

"Awwwwwww, Pakkun!" Emily cried. "You are so adorable!"

Pakkun threw a grumpy look at Emily, then turned to relay a message to Kakashi.

"I'm lucky you were all slowed down by Emily!" Pakkun panted. "The hokage sent me to tell you that the soul piece is no longer in the Sand Village!"

"What?!" Team 7 cried.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

"Exactly what I said," replied pakkun. "The sensory ninja sensed it moving. It's now just outside the Hidden Leaf Village!"

"But how?" Kakashi asked. "Who moved it?"

"We have no idea," Pakkun replied. "No one's ever found one of the soul pieces without the soulseeker present, and no one has ever moved one."

Naruto laughed. "I'll bet Emily's soul is trying to run away from her. It doesn't want to go back."

Emily grumbled.

"I sure hope those ninja are right about the soul piece," said Kakashi. "We had better head back to the Leaf Village staight away."

"Aw, man!" Naruto groaned. "But we just got here! Can't we at least rest a bit?"

"We have to get moving. If we go fast enough, we can make it to the Land of Fire before nightfall. Emily, that means I need you to ride on my back again."

Gladly, thought Emily.