Child of Three Thousand Generations

Child of Three Thousand Generations

Part 3… The Teammates
Michiyo walked out into the hall. She ignored the raised eyebrows, and kept on walking. She had planned on going into town to see more of it and get a layout. Plus, she had to buy more hair dye. She was beginning to run out… it was BAD if she didn’t have anymore. God forbid she went out with her REAL color…As she opened the door, she heard Naruto’s voice calling.
She considered talking to him, but she was far enough away to pretend she couldn’t hear him. Plus, she was still ticked about the whole “no thank you” thing. She was a busy person!... Michiyo kept walking. But Naruto kept calling, so she turned around sighing. Spotting a tree with a swing, she went up into the leaves. Naruto was under her shortly.
“Where is she? I can’t find her! Geez, and I was- Aaaargh! She’s now weird AND annoying!!” Naruto ranted. A tic was also beginning to form near Michiyo’s left eye.
“Why the he-AAAAUUUGGHHHH!!!!!”
Naruto’s boiling state of mind was quickly interrupted by the sole of a foot driving his face into the dirt.

“You called?”

Naruto picked himself out of the dirt, and spun around to face Michiyo.
“Hey!! What was that for!??”
Michiyo regarded Naruto with a look on her face that suggested an eruption.
“What was it for…? YOU SURELY must be joking. What was it FOR!?”
Naruto’s eyes got wide, and he took a slight step back in surprise. Michiyo took one step forward, and jabbed a finger close enough to put out his eye.
“Well, let’s review some facts, shall we? First of all, I SAVED your butt TWICE in the same morning! You didn’t say thank you at all!! Plus, I hear you calling me WEIRD, and ANNOYING!! Isn’t that lovely!! You know what!?! I can’t wait to be on the same squad as you!! And you know why?? Why, it’s ‘cause we get to TRAIN together! So you know what, Naruto? So far, you, are a JERK!! See you soon.” Michiyo waved in dismissal. Naruto stared after with his jaw wide open, before coming to his senses, and accomplishing what he came to do in the first place.
“Wait!! Michiyo! I’m sorry about that, seriously! I- um, came here in the first place to say thank you for the same times you saved me. S…sorry I called you weird and annoying…” Naruto trailed off, and looked at Michiyo.
“Well… I guess I forgive you…” Michiyo allowed. Naruto grinned in relief.
“Really?”
“Yes, really… besides, if I had to describe YOU, two words would be ‘weird’ and ‘annoying’ anyway.”
“Whaaaaat??!”
Michiyo simply grinned.
“Hey, I’m teasing. Friends do that.”
“Friends…?”
“Lord knows how, but I’m pretty sure we recently became friends. What, you DON’T want to be friends?...”
“NO- no, that’s not it…! Yeah, we’re friends.”
“Oh, OK.” Michiyo studied Naruto for a short minute.
“What?”
“Oh, it’s nothing… I just suppose that… you’re not used to friends…?”
Naruto’s eyes looked to widen.
“H-huh…!?”
“Oh, sorry, I guess I’m making you uncomfortable. I need to get going now…! See you Naruto!” Michiyo waved before running and jumping onto the nearest roof. She was out of sight in less than five seconds. Naruto watched amazed at her speed.
“Yeah… see ya, Michiyo…” He stared in her direction for a few more seconds before running in another direction.
“Yeah!! I can’t wait to be on the same squad, either…!”
Naruto grinned with anticipation.

Part 3, section 2…

Now, at about the same time Michiyo launched her foot on Naruto’s back, fangirls were following Sasuke in the hall with all the doggedness of the die-hard fangirl. Everyone knows how this usually works. It’s a stalker-ish sort of amble with the fangirl close and adoring, the idol aware/used-to the fangirl but just ignores them. The idol doesn’t do much until the stalker has gone away. This was exactly what was happening.
Sasuke was walking out the door, his thoughts not really on much until he heard shouting. He walked outside to see Michiyo and Naruto yelling at each other.
‘Not so much Naruto as that girl Michiyo, though. She’s really letting loose at him.’ Sasuke decided to ignore it, when the blonde ringleader came up to him.
“Hey, Sasuke! Where are you going?”
“…Ino. What are you doing?”
“I’m just being friendly, Sasuke, is that so bad?”
“…”
“Sasuke?”
“Ino, if you really wanted attention from me, you’d be better off training instead of flirting.”
*Shot down cold!!!*
Sasuke was about to get going again when his ear caught a sentence.
“Michiyo! I’m sorry about that, seriously! I- um, came here in the first place to say thank you for the same times you saved me. S…sorry I”-
‘Wait… what does that idiot mean by “times”? By the look on his face, he must owe her- a lot. I wonder what else she did…’ Sasuke eavesdropped on the rest of the conversation. ‘Heh. Guess they’re friends after all.’ Sasuke relaxed, until he saw Michiyo leap away. His eyebrows rose, with wide eyes. ‘How is she so fast!?’ She’s not a normal genin… I’m going to have to watch her.’ He watched Naruto take off as well. ‘Like they said, I can’t wait to be on the same squad… to further my abilities by training with her!’
Sasuke went his way as well.

Part 3, section 3…

Michiyo was browsing through a shop about two miles away and 80 seconds later. She looked through the shelves, looking for a specific brand. She was in a beauty shop, a high-end one which was VERY expensive, but well-known for its amazing products. She was currently in the Hair Section, looking at brown hair dyes. She finally found the one she was looking for and took it to the counter. As she put it on the counter, the lady looked up at her.
“You sure you can afford this, darling?”
“I’m sure.”
She didn’t look like she believed it, but she rung up the cash register anyway.
“That’ll be 12,000 yen, please.”
Michiyo wordlessly handed her six 2000-yen bills. The cashier took them and put them in the register. She then took a small bag and slipped the hair dye in it.
“Here you go. Thank you, please come again.”
Michiyo smiled politely before walking out of the store. She was halfway home, but she saw the same pink-haired girl from class. She was sitting on a bench, and hadn’t yet noticed Michiyo. Michiyo wasn’t sure whether or not to duck out of sight. But, something stopped her from moving, so when the girl turned around, Michiyo was easily seen. The girl started, visibly surprised. At first the two could only stare at each other.
“Hi”-
“Hey”-
There was awkward silence.
“Um…”
“Um…”
Michiyo looked over at the girl and started to collapse into giggles. She put her hand over her mouth to hide it at first, but she couldn’t help it and burst out.
“Hey, what’re you laughing at?” The girl was both confused and a little insulted.
“Oh, nothing, hahaha, I-hahah, just thought it was kind of funny… how it was awkward, and then… you make this face of ‘oh crap..’ when you should REALLY be making ‘why now?!!’”
“…What??”
“Sorry, I’m not making much sense, am I? ...Well the world doesn’t make much sense, so… I guess that things are suddenly making sense…” Michiyo’s giggles had died down.
She studied Michiyo for a moment. ‘She seems nice… maybe…’
“Michiyo… I’m Sakura, Sakura Haruno. I’m one of the people on your team. Today we got off on the wrong foot. Sorry about the whole…thing. It’s just, that I really like Sasuke. Please don’t get the wrong idea about me. I thought you’d want to… take Sasuke. So I just wanted you to know that…”
Michiyo digested all of this in two seconds before she came up with something to reply.
“With all due respect Sakura, anyone with half a BRAIN could see that you’re desperate about Sasuke.” Blatant and in your face. But true.
“Uh. Uh, hey, WAITAMINNIT!! THAT WASN’T VERY NICE!! YOU-!!”
“You-what? Calm down, Sakura, you want to talk to me about Sasuke. It’s obvious. In your eyes, in your body language, the way you were talking. C’mon. Lets Girl Talk.” Michiyo laughed and a smile lit up her features. She gestured to a large shady tree.
“Oh… okay. Why not?” Sakura also smiled. She walked over to the tree next to Michiyo. ‘She’s really perceptive. She must be an excellent shinobi! … Wait, what am I thinking?! She’s friendly, and she’s ready to forgive and forget. She’s right, I need to Girl Talk. …Finally…!’
Michiyo decided to go home immediately after talking with Sakura. It wasn’t that it was un-enjoyable with her; it was that it had taken up valuable time to explore the village.
‘But, it wasn’t bad getting to know her. She’s actually a great girl, just too obsessed with a guy.’ She sighed, and looked up to the sky. ‘The WRONG guy, on top of that. Plus, it doesn’t seem that she cares about letting Naruto down gently. It seems so wrong, but, considering all the things Naruto has ended up doing over the years, he became doomed as the class clown. So, I can see where Sakura’s coming from. I wouldn’t want to date a kid who was always like THAT.’ Michiyo then shook her head. ‘But, Naruto ISN’T always like that, but since he IS like that whenever Sakura’s around…’ She snorted. ‘What a problem. In fact, this a lot like a love triangle. Sasuke=Hates Naruto=Loves Sakura=Loves Sasuke=Loves No One/Hating.’ She blinked. ‘Yep, this is gonna be INTERESTING. Well, time to get going…’
“Hup!” Michiyo crouched down and then leaped into thin air. A cloud of dust was all that was left behind.
Sakura was still contemplating what she and Michiyo had discussed. She ran it over in her head.
“Sakura, are you sure about ….pursuing Sasuke?” Michiyo looked doubtful.
“Of course I’m sure! I have no doubt that he’ll realize that I’m the only one for him, and that I’ll beat Ino!!”
“Ino…?”
“Oh, yeah, Ino’s my rival! She thinks she’s SO great, well, I’ll show HER! She’s not going to have Sasuke!!”
Michiyo leaned back slightly, a mix of shock and distress in her face.
“Oh… I get worked up about Ino… she’s the blonde girl, you caught this morning… uh, remember?” Sakura got embarrassed.
Michiyo looked off into space for a few seconds until realization dawned on her.
“Wait… the skinny one?!” She raised her eyes disbelieving.
Sakura stared before bursting out into laughter. Michiyo followed after a few seconds of sniggering.
“The…Skinny…One!?” Sakura bent over laughing.
“‘That’s because Sasuke likes skinny girls! And he likes them with crazy attitudes too! I just KNOW he’ll fall for me, I’m IRRESISTIBLE!’” Michiyo squealed in a laughably high voice, valley-girl style.
Sakura laughed even harder. Michiyo laughed too, but then Sakura’s giggles died flat. She was suddenly looking down.
“Sakura…?” Michiyo tentatively reached out to Sakura.
“Michiyo… I don’t feel so good…”
“What?! What do you mean?”
“How would you react if I told you that… Ino and I are best friends?...”
Michiyo stared. She looked down, realizing the silence.
“Well…” She measured her words carefully. “I’d say that you two have quite a rivalry over Sasuke going on…”
“Yeah… and I feel so bad… for making fun of her like this. Somehow…”
Michiyo’s eyes flew up to Sakura’s face.
“Well of COURSE you feel BAD! Didn’t you just tell me you two are best friends?!”
“Y-yes, I did!” Sakura’s stunned face was inches from Michiyo’s.
“Then excuse-me, but I’d like to say that in my opinion it’s pretty darn STUPID to give up a friendship over a boy!!”
Sakura stared as she watched Michiyo calm down.
“S-sorry… I get worked up over that sort of thing… it hit a nerve…” Michiyo muttered some incomprehensible things running her fingers through the grass. She breathed out twice and closed her eyes. Her eyebrows creased together again before relaxing.
“Whew… I’m OK now. Don’t worry about it…”
“Are…you sure…?”
Michiyo cast a slightly angry gaze on Sakura before flicking her eyes away again.
“Yes…”
“I-if you don’t… mind me asking… what exactly… did that bring up? The friendship between me and Ino that you’re worried about…”
“Worried…?” She snorted. “Worried… more like disappointed and…and, and, furious!!” She flung out her hand in the air in front of her.
“…Let me explain. You see, you have to hold on to friends. In my opinion. …You know I’m not from around here, right?”
Michiyo looked over at Sakura questioningly. Sakura met her gaze and nodded.
“Yes. I’m not from around here. In fact I’m not from the Land of Fire, as you call it.”
‘As you call it…? What is she saying?’
Michiyo cast a careful glance over at the girl. Guarded, even.
“Sakura… I hope. I truly hope, with all my heart, that you can keep a secret. If you can, and keep a secret of this magnitude.” Michiyo’s eyes became suddenly somber. She looked off into the distance as she spoke. Sakura looked at her, unsure of what was coming next.
‘What does she mean by secret? How important is it??’
Michiyo looked directly into Sakura’s eyes. Sakura felt as though she was being examined to the tiniest cell, and penetrated to the very soul.
“Sakura. I would not have even bothered bringing this up if I didn’t think you couldn’t be trusted or able to keep this secret. I’m letting you know now, that just knowing this information can get you quickly…”
‘Can get me quickly…’

“Or, brutally killed.”

Sakura’s blood froze, and for a second, she didn’t see the pretty, red-haired purple-eyed girl in front of her. It almost seemed there were shadows at her back, and she seemed to be shrouded in a veil of light. She wasn’t red-haired either, or a young girl… but those eyes, those eyes that were STILL staring STRAIGHT at her!! Into her!! What-
“I suppose I’ll have to tell you later. But sooner or later I’ll tell you the secret, when I can trust my life to you. And yours to me. But, I’ll tell what I CAN trust you with.”
Sakura gulped. She was almost… scared. In fact, she was nearly terrified.
“I… lost my best friends. One died honorably. The other died a dog’s death. And the last, who I swore to protect… well, it didn’t work out too well. After a while… I won’t tell you that, no. But, I trust you, you know. So trust me. Please. As one friend to another. I’m not from here. I’m not from the Land of Fire.”
Sakura finally got her courage up. “But, you already”-
“I know. Sakura, I’m NOT from the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, the Land of Lightning, the Land of the Waves, the Land of Water, The Land of Snow OR the Land of Earth!”
Sakura stared, unsure, and unclear and most likely thinking she was completely out her league.
“How-I mean-where ARE you from?!! What ARE you saying?!! That’s all the countries in the world there are!!”
Michiyo looked at Sakura meaningfully.
“Are you sure?”
“….What…?”
“Why don’t you research the world a little more? And even if there WERE more countries, I couldn’t tell you. I don’t remember a thing…”
Michiyo stood up.
“It was lovely talking to you.”
All seriousness, matter-of-fact and the somber tone had dissipated with that sentence.
“I have to go now. I can’t wait to see you later!” Michiyo waved, and jogged down the path. She was gone in 10 seconds.
“Michiyo…?”
‘I don’t think… I’ll forget the look in her eyes when she looked at me, or when she looked off into the distance…! She’s so different, so much more. I wouldn’t be surprised if she surprised everyone...’
Sakura tilted her head to look at the sky. She sighed and tried to make sense of it. She failed. So she relaxed, and thought of nothing but everyday things. She was sitting back on the bench when she saw Sasuke leaning on the tree across the path.