A Visit to the Naruto World

Chapter Eleven: Team 7 Sets Out

Emily slept in the next morning, then took her time to get to the gate. She was sure Kakashi would be late. And besides, they couldn't possibly leave without her, right? She was the whole reason behind the mission, according the Kakashi.

"Where have you been, Emily?" Kakashi asked when Emily arrived with a doughnut in hand. "We've been waiting for you."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Sakura exclaimed. "YOU JUST GOT HERE TEN SECONDS AGO, KAKASHI SENSEI!"

"Well, now that we're all here, why don't we get a move on?" said Kakashi. "First thing first, a debriefing... Those of you who paid attention in class may remember some of what you learned about the Earth Beings whose souls get sucked into the Anime Dimension."

"I remember, Kakashi Sensei," Sakura said, suddenly converting to a Princess Knows-it-all. "The more an Earth Being watches anime, the more likely it becomes that a vortex will open up and suck a part of the Being's soul into the anime worlds. It literally falls into each different anime sub-world at once. That part got kind of confusing, because then Iruka Sensei started talking about other sub-worlds, like One Piece, Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, and stuff... Anyway, it is then up to the owner of the soul and the Anime Genie to decide which sub-world he or she will go to to retrieve his or her soul."

"Good, Sakura," said Kakashi. "At least someone was paying attention in school. That is exactly right. When the soul-seekers are brought to us, we have the responsibility of locating the Soul Piece-- for which we have specialized ninja-- then form a team to assist the soul-seeker in re-uniting with his or her soul."

"So... where's my soul?" asked Emily as loosely as she may have been asking where the bathroom is.

"As far as our Locator Ninja could tell, it's somewhere in the Sand Village," said Kakashi. "They apparently had some problems, since your soul is apparently pretty dim."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Emily.

"Oh, nothing," said Kakashi. "Shall we get moving?"

Naruto immediately ran up ahead, ranting about how excited he was to be on a mission. Sasuke hung back, and Sakura walked devotedly beside him. Emily stayed beside Kakashi, looking up at him from time to time to admire his beautiful face-- though from the side she was walking on, all she could see was mask.

"I'm hungry," said Emily.

"Are you kidding?" Sasuke groaned. "We've only been walking for less than an hour."

"All I know is that I'm hungry."

"I am, too!" cried Naruto, turning to run back toward the group. He plopped down on the ground, swung his bag around, and opened it up to pull out a little bowl of ramen.

"What are you going to do with that, dummy?" said Sakura. "You need hot water for that."

"Oh, yeah," said Naruto. His face fell.

"I brought candy bars," said Emily, swinging her own backpack off her shoulders.

"Who said we could stop for lunch?" said Kakashi. "We're on a time limit, you know. We've got less than forty-eight hours to get your soul piece and return to the village."

"A couple minutes won't hurt," said Naruto, taking a candy bar from Emily.

"Can't you eat a candy bar and walk at the same time?" Kakashi sighed, pulling Naruto to his feet by the scruff of his neck.

"Okay, okay!" Naruto frowned.

The group continued their way west. The sun slowly rose up into the sky and grew warmer and warmer. 

Emily's feet began to burn. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck. She was having a hard time keeping her breath. She didn't usually do a whole lot of this walking business back at home.

"We'd get there so much faster if Emily were able to leap through the trees with us," Sasuke pointed out sulkily.

"We'd all be so much pleasanter if you were able to be less of a duckbutt," Emily snapped back breathlessly.

" 'Duckbutt'?" Sasuke repeated, offended.

"We're making good time," Kakashi interceded. "We should be at the Sand Village by late afternoon."

"If Emily makes it," said Sasuke. "She's starting to look like she's going to pass out."

Emily had to agree with Sasuke there. Her lungs felt as if they were being ripped open. Her legs were beginning to feel weak.

"Well, we'll go as far as we can before she collapses, then," said Kakashi.

Emily made it another quarter of a mile, then gave up when they came to a steep hill. She fell down to her knees and gasped for breath.

"Need.... Dr... Pepper," she gasped.

"You don't need a doctor," Kaskashi sighed.

"No, Dr. Pepper is a drink she's always raving about," said Naruto. "She apparently didn't pack enough for the trip."

"What you need is water," said Kakashi. He held out his canteen for her, and she took it and greedily chugged it down. "Not so fast."

"Boy, what a weakling," said Sasuke. 

"Can you walk anymore?" asked Kakashi.

Emily shook her head. She was too exhausted.

"All right, then," Kakashi sighed. "I guess I have no other choice. Get on."

Kakashi had turned around and knelt down, holding his arms out behind him. Emily turned red and squealed internally. 

KAKASHI IS OFFERING ME A PIGGY-BACK RIDE!!!

She stood up shakily and climbed onto his back.

Sakura and Sasuke watched skeptically and Naruto laughed at her.

"And if you even try to remove the mask, I will not hesitate to drop you," warned Kakashi.

Emily was too thrilled to even think about taking off his mask. She had her arms around his neck-- her face was close to his face! She felt as if she were going to pass out from the thrill.

"Now maybe we can move faster," said Kakashi.