Shooting Stars
Thanks For The Reviews
Requiem of Abbie Rose
Sariko-Chan723
Unishibi Moriko
TriggerBlues
Love Ya!~
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Hitomi put down her favorite novel, Icha Icha Paradise. 'Its a classic.' she would tell all her friends that gave her odd looks. The series actually held quite a bit of romance in them before they got down into the nitty gritty smut scenes- she would always tell herself that she never enjoyed those scenes, that she would read through them to get back into the wonderful story.
'Yeah right... you love those scenes just as much as the romance.' Hitomi scoffed to herself.
Hitomi got up from her seat in her apartment, she tried to calm down and unwind from reading one of her favorite books but it was of no use. The biggest mission of her life started tomorrow and she couldn't wait. Excitement bubbled up like a cauldron in her stomach.
'Maybe I'll get promoted after all of this.' She thought happily, going into her fridge in search for a glass of orange juice. 'Only then I can rest, only then I will be able to think of him without shame inside of me. Only then will I ever entertain the idea of going in search of him.' Hitomi often wondered what happened to her friend of one day from the Sand. She wondered if he remembered her, thought of her from time to time, of course not nearly as much as her of him but she could only hope. He did change her life completely with his presence. Without him, she would have been married and with at least three children by now. Hitomi was grateful that she wasn't, she never wanted to lead that life- even under her parents tight grasp.
"I need to stop dwelling on the past...Heh." She let out a dry laugh. "That's all I ever do...just dwell, wish, hope, and regret." Hitomi grabbed a muffin out of her kitchen cabinet and walked slow to her room.
"Besides a promotion... I have nothing to look forward to. I have no family. I have few friends that I rarely see now days... and I live in the past." Hitomi frowned. Her life used to be exciting and great. When did it fade away? When did her friends loose interest in her? When did she become lonely? Why did she not realize it sooner? Hitomi laid on her bed, staring at the white ceiling with a deeper frown on her face.
"Why does everybody leave me?" Hitomi let her tears run down the sides of her face, she felt so alone. She closed her eyes and forgot about her dinner. She had lost her appetite the moment she stepped into her quiet dusty room. Hitomi closed her eyes, willing her mind to forget the pain. She had a mission, now wasn't the time to sulk- it would disrupt the mission and most likely end in a failure.
'Mission first, heart second.' Hitomi would chant in her mind before it thought things over more- blowing the extremes of her situation out of control to an unimaginable height. 'Mission first, Heart second.'
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"Everyone listen up, our second squad from Sand should be arriving soon. After we exchange pleasantries in front of the Hokage, we are to immediately confront Naruto and inform him of our protection for him." Nagato made sure his pupils understood, they were all adults but he knew that they could act worse then genin at times. Hayate was the worst.
"Hey hey you don't have to worry about us. We can act civil." Hayate defended.
"Like last time where you set a paper bomb in the captain of squad ten's underwear?" Nagato watched everyone flinch at the memory.
"Uh-hahahahahahahahaha! He insulted Leilei for not wearing her uniform at all times, he deserved it." Hayate scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"I don't want to see or hear about any of you misbehaving." Nagato growled.
"Yes Sensei." Leilei, Hitomi, and Hayate nodded.
"Good. Now lets get to the Hokage's office." The three followed their Sensei on the rooftops.
"You all on time-and together! That's amazing." Tsunade laughed and clapped.
"Thank you Tsunade-Sama, they knew the importance of this mission." Nagato explained.
"Great. Now all that's left is to wait. They should be here any minute now." Tsunade rested her head on the tops of her hands.
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"Hey someone wake up the captain!" Miro panicked. They all slept in too long and were rushing to get inside of Konoha. Their captain was currently blacked out on one of their shoulders, in an unrelenting deep sleep.
"You wake him up! He's on your shoulder!" Rin smacked Miro's head in irritation.
"Hey there is the office!" Ryu grinned. "Mishiro I'm gonna beat you!"
"What- OH HELL NO SQUIRT! GET BACK IN LINE!" Mishiro woke up instantly at the prospect of loosing and ran into the office within the blink of an eye.
"How did you-" Miro began but was cut off by Rin.
"Your a genius!" Rin hugged an overly embarrassed Ryu tight.
"We're late you guys! Come on!" Miro yanked their wrists to the office.
"How nice of you all to drop by... an hour and a half late." Tsunade glared at the Sand squad.
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'Is that him? Is that...Mishiro? He looks just like him, acts just like him, is he related to him in any way? Is that Mishiro?' Hitomi's mind went in overdrive. The sight of the Sand nin crashing through a window at an unnatural velocity with an almost identical face to the boy she once knew scared her a little bit.
"Ah sorry Tsunade-Sama! We accidentally slept in too late." The man grinned from ear to ear, hauntingly familiar.
"Slept in? Your all ninja! You should always be on alert, never in a deep sleep. You sound just like Naruto..." Tsunade suppressed a vein on her forehead from popping out. Hitomi couldn't keep her eyes of the Sand's captain, all she saw was him.
"They were on alert...I wasn't. heh heh heh." The captain laughed nervously from the glares from everyone in the room-except Hitomi- and scratched the back of his head nervously, his scrolls on his belt jingled along with every scratch.
"I'm disappointed in you captain. But we don't have anymore time. Naruto should be protected at all times as of today. All of you introduce yourselves and then be on your way." Tsunade sighed.
"My name is Nagato. But you all can call me Sensei. I will be spearheading this mission so if there are any questions, come ask me." Nagato nodded to the sand group.
"My name is Leilei. I fight and heal. Uhmn...yeah." Leilei bowed shortly.
"My name is Hitomi." She inwardly hoped that the captain would recognize her. "I fight and heal minimally."
"My name is Hayate. I fight and win." Hayate laughed at the odd looks he got. "What? I never loose."
"Yeah right, Hitomi has kicked your ass so many times its not even funny even more." Leilei mumbled under her breath, few caught what she said. Hayate blushed beet red.
"Well...my name is Mishiro. I'm the captain of this squad. Uh... I guess I'm second in command." Mishiro blinked, the room became awkward. Hitomi blushed and stared at the floor, her mind reeling again.
"My name is Miro. I fight and am a wind specialist." Miro bowed and smiled. His tan skin glowed underneath his golden long spiked hair. Miro's aquamarine eyes studied everyone before he stood back up, they stayed a little longer on an already flustered girl that quickly took an interest in wood flooring.
"My name is Rin. I heal and am a earth specialist." Rin smiled sweetly. Hayate blushed a little bit and Leilei ground her teeth together. Rin kept her smile even though she noticed her new partner's reactions. She brushed her long chestnut hair behind her ears and looked at her partner Ryu with her caramel eyes.
"My name is Ryu. I'm a bad ass, that's all you need to know. Don't cross me because you'll regret it." Ryu smirked. His cocky gray eyes connected with competitive topaz ones. Ryu's smirk widened and he flipped his black side sweep hair.
"Don't underestimate this Konoha squad Ryu. They may look harmless to you but I assure you that you will be in for a surprise." Tsunade then waved everyone off to go find their target.
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The group of eight walked as a crowd to the target Naruto's house. Few words were said, the silence made tension thicken. Hitomi instantly found solace in counting the cracks in the cement ground. Mishiro willed himself to speak to Nagato.
"So...Sensei. How is this gonna work? Do you have a plan of some sort?" Mishiro flinched at the annoyed look Nagato gave him.
"You'll know about our plans after we confront Naruto." If one could die from glares, Mishiro would have died ten minutes ago.
"Okay." Mishiro thought that he didn't like his new team.
"Look- there he is!" Rin pointed to a blonde wearing orange and black.
"Grab him and send him to his apartment. We will be inside, unpacking a bit." Nagato nodded for Hitomi, Rin, and Leilei to follow him.
"Oh great so us guys have to go get him?" Hayate whined.
"I bet I can bag him faster than you." Ryu taunted.
"Your on." Hayate disappeared from sight, Naruto along with him. Ryu blinked.
"I win!" Hayate danced around Ryu when he entered the front door of Naruto's apartment completely irritated.
"You cheated." Ryu grumbled and sat down on the couch.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" A very pissed off Naruto yelled at the eight people in his home.
"A mission. We are your body guards until the Hokage deems it unnecessary." Nagato handed him the scroll.
"So I have eight people guarding me every minute of the day from Sand and here?" Naruto looked at everyone nod. "AHHHH TSUNADE-BAAA-CHAAANN I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Naruto heaved, he looked like he would kill anyone at the moment.
"Hey calm down. Would you be happier if we trained you?" Miro sighed.
"Train me? What do you guys have that's awesome?" Naruto relaxed a bit.
"All eight of us are ANBU. We can teach you all kinds of things." Rin smiled.
"Okay. I'm in... hey lets all go eat some ramen!" Naruto clapped. Mishiro's eyes brightened up.
"Yeah! Ramen is delicious! I want pork!" Naruto high fived him instantly.
"I want beef! Come on you guys I'm hungry!" The two jumped up and down like toddlers.
"Let us unpack. We will meet you at Ichiraku." Nagato waved them off.
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"Hey Hitomi." Leilei poked her in the side while they unpacked. "Is that the guy...?"
"Yes..." Hitomi sighed, she knew that her best friend would ask.
"Are you okay?" Leilei changed out of her ANBU uniform to her normal Chinese dress.
"...No." Hitomi paused, tears threatened to fall. "He doesn't remember...or doesn't care." Hitomi felt herself hiccup, that let her tears pour down like rain. Leilei hugged her.
"Remember what?" Leilei felt Hitomi's body try to stop shaking.
"He changed my life. We were only friends for a few hours but, if I never met him I would be a completely different person." Hitomi dried her tears. "How could he forget the shooting stars?"
"Maybe he does remember. Talk to him. Make him remember." Leilei got up and handed Hitomi her light green kimono she packed.
"Maybe..." Hitomi dressed in her kimono, and walked to Ichiraku with her comrades.
"Hey uh... Hitomi was it? Come sit with me." Miro smiled and patted the empty space next to him.
"O-okay." Hitomi blushed a bit, looked over to Mishiro who was currently shoveling ramen down his throat with Naruto, and then sat on the seat next to Miro. Leilei sat with an angry Hayate arguing with a just as angry Ryu.
"Hello." Hitomi nodded and ordered a small bowl of beef ramen.
"That's a very pretty kimono." Miro smiled, his hair glowed in the morning light.
"Th-thank you. Your necklace is very pretty." She motioned to the turquoise crystal on black string laying on his neck. He was still wearing his ANBU uniform so she only had his necklace to work with.
"This thing? I've had it since I was a little boy. I guess its nice, thanks." Miro smiled, his white teeth vaguely reminded Hitomi of pearls.
"So... how was your trip coming here?" Hitomi asked as she bit into the beef in her ramen.
"It was... hectic. Hahaha our captain pushed us through the sand and a little bit through the forest he then fell asleep on the last day. It took awhile for him to wake up making us late." Miro made light of his situation.
"Well I hope you have a better night's sleep tonight." Hitomi smiled. Her eyes kept glancing over to the Sand captain though.
"Whats so interesting over there? I feel a bit neglected." Miro pouted slightly, but then he saw his captain competing with Naruto over ramen. "Oh."
"What do you mean oh?" Hitomi took this opportunity to freely watch the two.
"That is a pretty interesting sight." Miro grimaced and went back to his food, or at least attempted to.
"Yeah." Hitomi looked away, it was starting to get a little too disgusting for her.
"So Hitomi-Chan. How old are you?" Miro sipped his tea.
"Seventeen. I will be eighteen this winter." Hitomi set aside her food.
"Ah your very young to be an ANBU." Miro noted.
"Not really. Konoha has many ninja who are above average that climb the ranks quickly. I am just one of those many people." Hitomi smiled.
"Hm. I still think that you are amazing to be so young in such a strong group of people. Not many people make it to Jounin in the Sand so you are an amazing person in my standards." Miro nodded and went back to his food, if he didn't look over again he would be able to finish his breakfast.
"Thank you." Hitomi was so flattered that she embarrassed herself.
'Can I drown myself in this ramen?'
"How old are you Miro-Kun?" Hitomi wanted him to stop looking at her, she was sure that her face would melt off at any moment.
"I am nineteen. I will be twenty in the fall. Hey I'm about two years older then you." Miro laughed, Hitomi felt a little queasy but it wasn't a bad feeling...what was that emotion called?
"I WIN! HELL YEAH TAKE THAT NARUTO" Mishiro yelled from the top of his lungs.
"REMATCH!" Naruto punched the table.
"Maybe next time. I'm full now." Mishiro's face turned a little green.
"I'm gonna go back to the apartment now." Hitomi frowned while looking over the now arguing two.
"Let me walk you." Miro held out his hand, Hitomi hesitated looking over at the man that meant everything to her and then took Miro's hand with a sigh.
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"Hey whats with that blonde girl in our group? She is always far away from us and looks sad. Is she sick or something?" Mishiro asked Leilei.
"She is sad...her...heart is sick." Leilei watched Mishiro's oblivious mind think.
"I can cheer her up!" He smiled. "What does she like?"
"She likes chocolate... adventures... and stories." Leilei smiled, she knew that she could never be mad at this man.
"Okay. I'll make her happy again! Oh whats her name by the way?" Mishiro started to run but stopped himself short, his leg dangled in mid air.
"Hitomi Makoto." Leilei smiled at his oddball way of doing things.
"Got it, for some reason... that sounds familiar. Ah well." Mishiro ran out into the village in search of things to make the Hitomi girl happy. He never liked anyone to be upset.
"Okay so... chocolate, adventures, and stories." Mishiro thought over. "I think I will just do chocolate right now. I'll save the other stuff in case she gets sad again."
Mishiro searched the market of Konoha for chocolate until he found what he was looking for. He passed by many booths and accidentally knocked someone over. He immediately helped the man up and carried his boxes for him.
"I'm sorry about that. I didn't know where I was going and got distracted from all the decorations." Mishiro apologized to the grumbling man.
"Yeah yeah. I'm just glad that the cases didn't crack. I'd hate for one of them to open. About a decade back some little girl got a hold of some fireworks that I was carrying, she ran away with them and set them off with some boy. I got a load of shit for that by the parents and my boss. I wasn't allowed to carry them again." Mishiro set the boxes down on a table by a booth.
"What do you carry now?" Mishiro looked around. Konoha looked like they were setting up for another festival.
"Streamers." The man sighed. Mishiro laughed at him. "Hey shut up boy! Respect your elders!"
"Sorry." Mishiro giggled every so often. "So when is this festival gonna start?"
"In a few days if the weather is right." The man sat down.
"I haven't been to a Konoha festival in... ten years!" Mishiro blinked. Wasn't he with someone on that day too?
"Well now here is your chance to attend one again." The man opened a case of streamers and handed him one. "Thanks for your help. Now scram, I don't need my boss seeing that I got help." The man waved him away, Mishiro grinned and walked away.
"Ten years ago...I was training. Yeah. I spent my last day with some girl. She was fun because she had fireworks with her. Her parents found us...and I got yelled at and left. I haven't been in Konoha since. What was that girls name?" Mishiro smacked his forehead. "Damn my selective memory."
"Her name was Hitomi." Nagato spoke behind the Sand captain.
"What?" Mishiro turned around. "Sensei?"
"Her name, the girl you are trying to remember, her name is Hitomi." Nagato glared.
"Why are you always glaring at me? What have I ever done to you?" Mishiro didn't listen to anything that Nagato said.
"Because you hurt her."
"Hurt who?"
"Hitomi fucking Makoto!" Nagato growled. "Did you listen to anything I just said?"
"How did I hurt her? I just met her today!" Mishiro wanted to punch his superior.
"The girl you met ten years ago, with the fireworks is Hitomi Makoto. You hurt her because you forgot her. She has never stopped thinking about you during those ten years. You changed her life. Without you she would either be dead or a house wife. You are one of the most important people in her life and you crushed her." Nagato ran a hand through his hair. "You have no idea how much damage you did to her, in one morning no less... you are a fool." Mishiro stared at the box of chocolate he bought. How could he have forgotten that day? He used to think of that girl for years, always planning to come back. When did he forget?
"I'm...sorry." Mishiro looked up into the eyes of Nagato.
"Go apologize to her." Nagato pointed in the direction of Naruto's apartment.
"Thank you. For helping me remember." Mishiro nodded to his 'Sensei'.
"Better now than later." Nagato walked away from the Sand captain, he did as much as a father could do in his position.
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Hitomi sat on Naruto's bed, he wasn't home at the moment so he couldn't get mad. She didn't believe that he would get mad at a girl for sitting on his bed though, he would blush and run away. After Miro dropped her off at Naruto's apartment, she quickly walked into his bedroom. She couldn't look at his pearly white smile he gave her, she knew that she would blush crimson again if she did. Naruto was currently being watched by Hayate, Rin and Leilei. She wondered what kind of drama was happening over there, then again she didn't. Hitomi laid on the queen size bed and sighed. How long would this mission last? How long would she have to endure being near Mishiro who never would remember her? Hitomi forced it out of her mind. Tomorrow she would have to watch Naruto with two of the guys. Where was Nagato?
"Hey!" The front door swung open, the sound of running caught her ear. The bedroom door opened quickly, hitting the wall behind it. A weight on the other side of the bed made her open her eyes. A big box of chocolates was about two inches away from her face.
"What...?" Hitomi raised one of her eyebrows.
"Here. Its for you." The sound of Mishiro's voice made her body freeze in shock.
"Why are you giving this to me?" Hitomi took the box out of his hands and sat up.
"To say that I'm sorry." Mishiro looked her in the eyes, it made her uncomfortable.
"I...forgive you?" She had no idea why he was apologizing.
"Do you know why I'm saying sorry?" Mishiro put his hand inside of his coat, searching for something.
"No." Hitomi watched him take out a firework from his coat.
"I'm sorry for forgetting you." He took out his silver lighter-the same one from ten years ago- and lit the sparkler. Hitomi became overwhelmed with emotion. Tears sprung out of her like a fountain.
"Thank you." Hitomi cried and tackled him on the bed. She felt lighter than air after the weight of him not knowing her had been lifted.
"Your welcome 'Tomi." Mishiro laughed.
"Mishi!" Hitomi hugged him tighter, he laughed harder.
"I have my friend back." Hitomi blushed when she got off of him.
"You bet!" He grinned, she blushed a deeper shade of crimson. Someone knocked on the door of the room even though it was wide open, Leilei smiled when she got their attention.
"Its time for lunch!" She walked away. Leaving the two alone once more.
"I'm hungry, I wonder whats for lunch... I want hotdogs." Mishiro had a toothy grin.
"Hotdogs?" Hitomi raised an eyebrow.
"Yep. Lets go!" Mishiro ran out of the room chanting "Food. Food. Food!"
'He's cute... just like I remembered.' Hitomi forced herself to calm down and think clearly. 'Mission first, Heart second.'
"Hitomi! Hurry up before everything gets eaten!" Leilei called out from the kitchen.
"YAY HOTDOGS!" Hitomi heard Mishiro cry out and she giggled for a moment.
"I'm coming!" Hitomi smiled. Maybe this mission wouldn't be so hard after all.
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Hitomi walked down the hall to the kitchen, Miro had an empty seat next to him. He patted it and smiled to her, she blushed and made her way to sit next to him. Naruto challenged Mishiro to a hotdog eating contest, he said he couldn't loose to him again. Leilei shoveled mashed potatoes on everyone's plates with an attitude- Hayate was staring at an aware Rin who was quietly eating her tri-tip. Nagato ate his pasta salad with a smile, for his 'daughter' was truly happy. Miro put the food she wanted on her plate, making her blush again.
'I cant drown in potato salad...damn.'
Leilei sat next to Hitomi, she knew that she would be restrained by her in case she got violent. Hayate was a dead man walking. As if he noticed the looks that were given to him, he shivered and went back to his food. Rin sighed and attempted to talk to Nagato.
"Are you okay Hitomi-Chan?" Miro asked after a few minutes of eating.
"Oh, yes. Why?" Hitomi kept on eating her food.
"You ran into the room. You worried me." Miro pouted.
"I w-worried you?" Hitomi choked on the juice she drank. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Hitomi turn blue for five seconds. When she could breathe Hitomi told everyone:
"Go back to what you were doing." Hitomi coughed.
"Are you okay Hitomi-Chan?" Miro asked her, a couple people heard him- one person glared.
"Y-yeah. I'll be okay." Hitomi kept coughing a little while longer.
"Don't die!" Naruto shouted from across the table, he had won the hotdog eating contest a few minutes ago.
"I wont thanks!" Hitomi gave him an odd look.
"I need you to protect me and stuff. Oh hey you should meet my teammate Sakura! And my Sensei! Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto grinned.
"Sure. How about tomorrow?" Hitomi decided not to finish her plate in fear of choking in front of everyone again.
"Why not today! After this. I'm sure Sakura will like you. And Kakashi-Sensei is pretty cool too!" Naruto laughed and hit a queasy Mishiro on the back.
"BATHROOM" Mishiro disappeared in the blink of an eye, surprising everyone.
"He's fast." Leilei noted.
"Only when he's sick or in battle." Miro nodded. Rin smiled making Hayate blush and Leilei throw her plate at his face- she connected.
"Hey what was that for?" Hayate yelled at an angry Leilei storming out of the apartment.
"Dumbass. Go talk to her." Nagato pointed at the door.
"Yes sir." Hayate ran after Leilei, shouting could be heard.
"What I miss?" Mishiro came out of the bathroom with a smile on his face.
"Nothing important." Rin smiled.
"Oh okay." Mishiro smiled back. He sat next to Naruto and stared at Hitomi.
"So shall we go see this Kakashi and Sakura?" Miro asked Naruto.
"Yeah!" Naruto grabbed Mishiro's wrist and catapulted him out the door.
"He's...very lively." Rin exclaimed.
"Yes." Nagato and Rin walked out the door.
"Lead the way Hitomi-Chan" Miro smirked at her tomato colored face.
"O-okay." Hitomi grabbed his hand and stepped out of the apartment with him.
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