Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Pieces of Our Past ❯ Chapter 8: Lizo ( Chapter 8 )

(A/N) Paralleltodarkness here - Crystalazer and I wrote this chapter together. She wrote the ending though.

 

Disclaimer - We do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. We do however, own all original characters and transcriptions in this story.

 

Chapter 8: Lizo

 

“Teams three through six, boarding the ferry to Leaf Village!” A loudspeaker boomed out announcements as Lizo and Amaya hoisted their packs into more comfortable positions on their backs and climbed up the ramp.

 

“This time, we'd better not get off-course!” muttered Lizo as they found places by the railing.

 

“But for old-time's sake, maybe I should push you overboard!” teased Amaya, poking him in the ribs.

 

“Only if you've learned to swim,” the silver-black haired Jounin joked back as the ferry began to accelerate.

 

--

 

“My treat!” shouted Jiraya as the group settled down at the edge of the woods. He handed them each a rice ball wrapped in wet bamboo leaves. At the word “food,” Naruto had suddenly awoken and was now sitting eagerly next to the fire.

 

“What is this crap?” he exclaimed as he took a bite of rice ball and immediately spit it out. “Do you have anything that tastes even remotely like ramen?” Naruto asked, thinking longingly of his favorite food. Four days was too much for the young genin.

 

“Vegetables are good for you,” replied his sensei, taking a bite of his own. “Mmm…red bean paste. Anyhow, I prepared that one especially for you, Naruto. You shouldn't waste good food.”

 

Amaya rolled her eyes, much to Lizo's amusement. “What would you expect from a hyperactive, loudmouth, guy?”

 

Naruto snapped, flinging the half-eaten rice ball as far as he could. Unfortunately, Amaya's face intercepted it.

 

“Why you little…” In a flash, she had leapt up and advanced towards him menacingly. Sensing danger, Naruto looked up.

 

Lizo thoughtfully munched his rice ball as Amaya cornered the Leaf-nin, eyes blazing with animated fury. `I'd really hate to be in Naruto's position right now,' he thought gleefully. “Naruto, you might consider running away now; if Amaya catches you, the next meal we might eat would be `roast-hyperactive-loudmouth-ninja'.” Taking this advice to heart, the blonde-haired boy sped off towards the forest, black-haired girl hot in pursuit. They disappeared beneath the shade of the tall trees.

 

Jiraya grinned, “Don't worry, they'll come back. Go back to whatever you were doing,” he turned to the spit, roasting a few sea bass he had caught along the coastline. Hirana was talking about the journey to Sand, and Lizo was discussing other important matters with Zaki.

 

“I'd hate to be in Naruto's position,” Lizo chuckled. “He's lucky if he can come back alive. But hey, do you think if I did that to her, she would hunt me down and kill me?”

 

“Nah,” Haizaki replied, smiling slightly. “She's biased; she won't hurt you half as bad as she'll hurt Naruto. You'd get away with a couple of scratches while Naruto maybe a broken arm at best.”

 

“You sure about that?” Lizo asked, raising an eyebrow. “She seems to yell at me an awful lot.”

 

“You've known her longer than I have, so she has more to yell at you about,” Haizaki smirked. “Looks like you can't get away from women that easily.”

 

“Damnit,” Lizo cursed. “I would live my entire life contentedly if I knew that Amaya wasn't after my blood every ten minutes. What an evil bitch.”

 

“If she hears you, you are so dead,” Haizaki warned. “And besides, she's not THAT bad… just a little irritating sometimes.”

 

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Lizo yelled. “DID THAT RICE BALL GO TO YOUR HEAD?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN AMAYA ISN'T THAT BAD!” He stopped, glancing around quickly to make sure that Amaya wasn't standing right behind him. After a few moments, he backed slowly away from Haizaki.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“What?” Zaki looked confused, while Lizo's face was trying to decide whether to look gleeful or scared beyond belief.

 

“Isn't it obvious?” he asked, and Zaki shook his head slowly. Lizo groaned.

 

“Haven't you ever noticed how she never yells at you, nor whacked you, NOR THROWN SOMETHING SOLID AT YOUR NOSE?!” he asked, his voice rising, and Zaki paused, and nodded.

 

“I can't believe it!” Lizo fell on the sand and was rolling around, making abstract tracings in the sand, overwhelmed with laughter.

 

“WHAT THE HELL IS IT?!” Zaki screamed at his companion, which made Lizo stop…eventually. When he was rid of all his laughter, he said matter-of-factly,

 

“She has a thing for you, mate.”

 

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” Zaki shrieked, his face turning several shades of red. “WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!”

 

Lizo anime fell. “Man, you are beyond clueless when it comes to girls, huh? I mean, you can't even understand something that simple. Look, I'll put it in simpler terms: She likes you.”

 

Zaki shook his head. “Of course she likes me, we're teammates. What, does she hate me?”

 

Lizo faceplanted right then and there. “No, she LIKES you.”

 

“I know. We're friends.”

 

“DAMNIT!” Lizo shouted, getting more and more frustrated. Forcing his voice to go back on a more regular level, he said in a forcibly calm voice, “Let me put it in perspective for you,” he held the index finger of his left hand up to Zaki's eyelevel. “This is you.” Then, he held up the right index finger and showed it to him. “This is Amaya.”

 

“I still don't get it,: said Zaki, scratching his head in puzzlement.

 

“This is what she thinks of you:” he put the two fingers together.

 

“I don't understand.”

 

“Okay, let's see how else I can put it.” Lizo almost felt like pelting his friend with exploding tags, but retained himself.

 

“Zaki: she likes likes you.”

 

Realization dawned on Zaki's face. “Oh… I see… Why didn't you say so in the first place?”

 

Lizo almost pulled out a kunai to stab Zaki. “Damn you, you're so dense. That's what I've been TRYING to tell you for the past ten minutes!”

 

“I'm a little slow today; I just spent a long time listening to Amaya and that kid Naruto arguing over who could stick their tongue out the farthest!” Zaki replied defensively.

 

Lizo rolled his eyes. “Well, getting past that point, you do know what that means, don't you?” he looked at Zaki knowingly, who blinked for a moment, then with a half-strangled cry, flew backwards into Suoh, who fell onto Hirana, who asked Lizo what was going on with a slight annoyed look in his normally calm and nonchalant eyes.

 

Lizo blinked innocently and told him that he had no clue.

 

Zaki quickly straightened up, and pointed to Lizo. “DAMN YOU, AMAYA WOULD NEVER TRY AND KILL ME!”

 

“Well no duh,” he rolled his eyes. “What did you think?”

 

Zaki blinked. “I interpreted it as she was after my blood.”

 

Lizo promptly dropped back onto the ground and didn't move.

 

“Lizo? Are you okay? Lizo?” Zaki waved a hand back and forth across his friend's closed eyes.

 

“I'm not here right now,” came the muffled reply, “I'm out to lunch and I'll be back in five years.”

 

--

 

“I wonder where Amaya is…” Hirana looked towards the forest.

 

“Naruto is never late for lunch,” agreed Jiraya as he took the fish off of the spits.

 

“Maybe we should go look for them,” added Zaki worriedly as a sudden, sharp scream came out of the depths of the forest, followed by a distant buzzing sound.

 

“Holy shit…” muttered Lizo. “This can't be good for my health.”

 

--

 

“Holy shit…” muttered Amaya as she and Naruto were surrounded. “This can't be good for my health.” As far as she could tell, there were seven of them: three girls and four boys. And they definitely did not look friendly.

 

“Any ideas?” she asked in a hurried whisper and Naruto grinned.

 

“Just one,” he muttered back, “On my count.”

 

“But it's seven against two! We'll be crushed!” she muttered, and he jerked his head backwards.

 

“Can't you see yet?” he pointed his kunai tip at one of the female ninjas, than at another.

 

Realization finally dawned on her. “Oh, but Naruto, we're still outnumbered.” The blonde haired boy smiled slyly.

 

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” With a bang, seven more Narutos appeared beside them.

 

`Shadow Replication,' thought Amaya, `A forbidden technique; that bastard isn't a total loser then.'

 

“Who's outnumbered now?” he asked with a glint of smugness in his voice. All seven enemy Shinobi laughed simultaneously.

 

“You think you can defeat us with a simple Shadow replication?” laughed one of the male Shinobi, a lanky, orange-blond boy with his long hair braided down past his waist.

 

“You make me laugh.” continued another, holding up hands that were nearly the size of watermelons.

 

“Where is the rest of your party?” asked a female, eye hidden beneath dank, dark bangs.

 

“Not here, why?” replied Amaya before she realized what was happening. “How did you know that…have you been tracking us?”

 

“Perhaps we have been…” said a voice behind her. Naruto gave a grunt of frustration.

 

“Enough talk, ATTACK!” Simultaneously, all seven of the Narutos' tackled the opposing ninjas. At the same time, they sprang forward.

 

--

 

Lizo couldn't sleep. Well, he couldn't sleep well, anyway. He had fallen into a troubled doze, only to be met with tortured screaming and the splattering of blood in the deep cloudy fathoms of his mind. The nineteen-year-old Jounin rubbed his head; abruptly, he had sat up in bed and hit his head on the bottom of the bunk above. Cursing loudly, he suddenly looked up, listening intently for any sign of movement. There was none. If she woke up, there would be hell to pay. Thankfully, there was only the groaning of bedsprings as his roommate turned herself into a more comfortable sleeping position.

 

Adjusting his gray-blue eyes to the room dimly lit only by the moonlight, he checked the clock on the wall. It was 2:16 in the morning.

 

Why did they keep coming back…even after seven years? Why couldn't he leave them behind and move forward? Why couldn't he sever the ties that had bound them…both of them…did he even want to? There were just too many questions, and not even one answer to what he asked himself since then. Unable to sleep, he slipped out of his room, careful not to wake his sleeping companion on the bunk above his. Amaya never had any sleeping troubles…heck, she could out-sleep a rock.

 

Lizo made his way silently towards the balcony and leaned against the railing, staring at the dark, swirling mass of water that was the sea. In a matter of hours, they would arrive on the shores of Konoha and meet up with the ninjas of Leaf. The Jounin smiled inwardly.

 

`I wonder how Naruto's doing?' he wondered. They had parted ways seven years ago; no doubt he had to have matured some. Or maybe, he stayed the same way all this time. With that particularly bizarre blonde haired kid, one could never tell.

 

“Is this where you were, you bastard?” Lizo turned to see Amaya behind him, hands on hips and glaring. She was accompanied by Hirana, who looked to be half-asleep at the most.

 

“Now that we've found Lizo, can I go back to sleep now?” asked their former sensei, who yawned and rubbed his eyes, rocking back and forth slightly.

 

“Yeah, sure,” replied Amaya distractedly and Hirana tottered back into the interior of the ferry.

 

“I thought you were asleep,” said Lizo flatly, watching the back of Hirana's back as it was swallowed by the dark corridor beyond.

 

“A lot you know,” his teammate replied angrily, “What were you thinking, getting us all worried and all? I think it was very irresponsible of you, Kaikoza Lizo.”

 

Lizo raised an eyebrow and ran his fingers through his hair. “You? Maemi Amaya, of all people, worried, and you think I was being irresponsible? Who are we talking about, you or me?” He could practically see the blood boiling and the steam coming out from her ears. He grinned, adding insult to injury.

 

“Hey, I'm serious! I'm surprised your yelling didn't wake up half the second floor! When I saw you were gone, well…what was I supposed to think?” Lizo could see that Amaya was genuinely worried. He took a step towards her.

 

“Listen, I'm sorry. I just needed to clear my head, okay? I'm nineteen, seven years older than I was when I was twelve, and I've got a lot more sense under my belt now. Besides, don't you think I can take care of myself?” he smiled warmly, but Amaya still looked doubtful. She brushed a strand of hair back from her hair and folded her arms.

 

“Amaya, just relax.” He tried to lighten the mood. “It's fine; tomorrow, we'll be at Konoha and we'll be able to see all our old friends. Just think; after seven years, we'll be able to fight together again, just like old times! Won't it be nice to visit Naruto and Jiraya and everyone?”

 

Amaya groaned, “Naruto? Oh no, is he going to yell `KONOHA!!' in my face again? The first time was too much. Not much of a friendly first greeting, if you ask me.”

 

Lizo laughed, “Yeah, you must admit, that was pretty funny. We should probably go visit old Granny Tsunade while we're at it, eh?”

 

Suddenly, the female Jounin's features blackened. “And we have to tell her…” her fellow Jounin sobered up immediately.

 

“I thought that after seven years…we would be able to say it freely…” he mused, eyes clouding over with thought, “You know that she did take a liking to him…overly talented little beast, he was…” he forced himself to chuckle and heaved a fake sigh, putting on a horribly fake cheery voice.

 

 

“Well, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day, you know.” He slung an arm around Amaya's shoulder and steered her towards the doorway.

 

Amaya looked up at him. “You know, Lizo, you were always a terrible liar.”

 

“Well,” he replied, “I got it from you,”

 

They both laughed as they made their way back to their room.

 

--

 

Amaya had to admit, those ninja clones were irrepressible. In a matter of minutes, they had taken down the four shadow replications that the enemies had conjured up. The remaining Naruto copies disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

“And how does this help us exactly? We're still outnumbered!” whispered Amaya desperately as she and Naruto were back-to-back now, surrounded by the real ninjas, all of which were at least one year older. They had to be Chuunin level at least, the way they handled their weapons was admirable and deadly at the same time. Even the fat tub of lard in the group moved with the fluidity of water.

 

The tall, braided boy grinned evilly. “This time,” he said, forming a hand seal, “that brat isn't here to save you. KARYUU ENDAN!!” There was no place to run this time, and no Zaki with his water barrier to save them. Amaya stared dumbly at the fast approaching wall of flame. She could feel the immense heat gathering as it burned all in its path. She could see Naruto out of the corner of her eye; he looked as dumb-stricken as she did. Blinking once, he began to form a hand seal. But Amaya knew it was too late.

 

At least, she thought so.

 

The face of her brother blazed before her eyes as a voice shouted something she could not comprehend. A sudden weariness enveloped her and as she slumped forward, she felt secure hands take her by the shoulders and then, she was flying.

 

“Shut the hell up, Lizo,” she muttered to herself.

 

“I didn't say anything,” Came the indignant reply but Amaya couldn't hear him; she had already fallen asleep.

 

(End Chapter 8)

 

(A/N) Please read and review!