Ascending (Sequel to Rock Bottom)

Chapter 13 - Idiosyncracies

 Given their past, the members of Team 7 were usually wary around strangers. The two masked shinobi who walked beside them were no exception. Although this time, Team 7 tried to make an effort to talk to them (it failed though).

With their blatant refusals of any small talk or socializing, these two Oto ANBU had managed to make Naruto silent of his own free will, Sasuke annoyed to the point that he gave up on staying stoic, and Sakura completely dumbfounded in a matter of five minutes. Hell, even Kakashi put down his book to stare at the two strange ninja. Nobody dared to say anything due to the awkwardness. That is, until Naruto had finally had enough.

"Can we go over there 'ttebayo?" Naruto whispered, gesturing away from two ANBU. Kakashi nodded, and the group shifted to the right, putting as much distance between them and the sound nins as possible without coming off as blatantly rude.

This was much better. They could carry out actual, non-awkward conversations now!

"Where are we going first?" Sasuke asked quietly, his usual glare visible on his face, but it was obvious to everyone that he was relieved as well.

"The Cloud Village, and from there we'll go to Mist." Sakura pursed her lips,

"And after Kiri?" Kakashi hesitated for a moment, 

"Konohagakure," Hearing this, Naruto shouted what everyone was thinking,

"Oh hell no dattebayo! We are NOT going back there." Sakura nodded in agreement.

"They have no kage, anyway. Doesn't that mean the Akatsuki won't target them?" Sasuke shook his head.

"All that means is that we'll have to have a "chat" with the council instead of the hokage."

Oh joy...

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"Can we take a break? The aching in my feet is more annoying than Shukaku's personality dattebayo!"

"I heard that you stupid human!"

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it 'ttebayo?"

Sakura sighed. It had been a few hours since they had left for Kumo, which meant that they would probably arrive by nightfall if they didn't stop now. But Naruto had other plans. And when Naruto went against the plan, Sasuke followed like a mindless puppy. She found that part amusing, though.

The five of them, minus the two ANBU, were currently resting by a conveniently placed river. Naruto had immediately cannonballed into the cool water, and then proceeded to float lazily just under the water's surface. He forgot to take off his clothes to keep them dry, but that would only pose a problem when they entered The Land of Frost.

Kakashi and Sasuke both opted to stay at the bank and dip their feet in the water. One's eye scanning the print in his book, and the other's two orbs trained on the blonde in the water. Neither of them noticing the retreating figures of their other two comrades.

"There's something off about them, the two ANBU. I don't know why Orochimaru made them come along with us," Sakura whispered as soon as she and Gaara were out of earshot. The redhead nodded in agreement.

"Shukaku went to follow them after they took off, I still haven't heard back from him yet." As if on cue, Shukaku's voice rang through Gaara's head.

"Yeah, about that...." Gaara's eyes widened a fraction, making Sakura look at him confusedly.

"What is it?"

"These humans are stranger than your bunch... I believe they're doing what you call 'sucking face'. Terrible timing if you ask me,"

"Well?" Sakura asked, growing slightly impatient at her boyfriend's lack of response. Gaara snapped out of his trance a moment later.

"Shukaku was just talking to me. It's best we don't bother the ANBU."

"Why?"

" ... They're busy,"

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The sun was just setting when the two ANBU returned. Gaara and Sakura exchanged looks as the two ninjas emerged silently from the surrounding shrubbery.

"Sorry about our behavior before, we weren't feeling well this morning." One of the ANBU replied, making nearly all of Team 7's jaws drop at the stark personality change. "Anyway, my name is Mizaski, and this is my partner Kebuhi." the female nin replied, gesturing to the shinobi next to her. There was a long pause until Kakashi spoke up.

"Uh...nice to meet you. I'm Kakashi, and that's Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and you probably already know Gaara."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama told us." Kakashi nodded in understanding. Then, Naruto yawned.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna hit the hay dattebayo." The blonde then proceeded to find a tree to lean against. The two ANBU volunteered to keep watch first, so Kakashi and Sasuke decided to follow Naruto's example.

Sakura was about to go with her teammates but Gaara gently grasped her arm to stop her.

"I'll keep watch first, but stay on guard anyway. There's still something about them that I don't like," Sakura nodded silently.

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Im back!! Sorry for the wait but I ended the term with really good grades and now I'm pumped to write till my fingers fall off! XDD

Happy Thanksgiving all!