Part Two

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

NOTE TO CHRISTIE: the original fanfic thing has been edited A LOT so you might want to read it over again...

Prologue

It has been nearly four years since Part One ended, nearly four years since they departed from each other, nearly four years to grow apart, to forget, and move on…

One day, Rock Lee was walking down the streets of Konoha singing to himself “If You Were Gay” in a teasing manner, since Sasuke had just walked by. Abruptly the song ended at “what you do in bed with guys,” as Lee had spotted Akemi walking by, one of his closest friends.
“Akemi-chan!” he called. “Come over here! I need you to do me—”
Akemi came over, all right, and slapped him in the face. “You ******* perv! I love Shi-kun, and my heart belongs to him and him only.”
Lee blinked, bewildered. “As I was saying, I need you to do me A FAVOR.”
“Oh.”
“But, when you put it that way, maybe I will find someone else.” Sighing inwardly, Lee walked off.
Akemi sighed as well. “I’m an awful person, aren’t I? Making Lee run off like that. Even though he’s butt-ugly, he’s still a good person inside.”
Just then, another girl ninja walked by, about Akemi’s age, with long, dark hair in a ponytail. Akemi had never seen her around before. “WTFMT?” asked the girl playfully.
“What the…?” asked Akemi.
“What the fluffy music teacher,” the girl explained.
Music teacher…? Akemi instantly thought of Mr. Joy, a strange man she’d met years ago who taught music at an American school. She pushed him out of her mind and turned to the girl in front of her. “Who are you?”
“Emiko is the name I go by.” She smiled. “I could ask the same for you.”
“I am Fujisako Akemi.”
“Fujisako. Hmm. Fujisako is an interesting first name.”
“Uh, it’s Akemi. Fujisako’s my LAST name.”
“Then why did you say Fujisako FIRST?” Emiko smirked. “I caught you now, didn’t I, Fuji?”
Akemi head-desked. “Oh, Jashin, you’re not even Japanese, are you?”
“Right on, Fuji. Nope, definantly not Japanese.”
“Then Emiko’s not your real name.”
“Nope.”
“You gonna tell me your real name?”
“Nope.”
Akemi rolled her eyes. “Great.”
“Nope. Just kidding, Fuji,” said Emiko. She laughed. “So, when can I meet your friends?”
“My friends.”
“The other ninjas, of course! Your comrades, acquaintances, neighbors—whatever you want to call it. I want to meet them.”
“No! I’ve known you for like two minutes.” Akemi glared at her. “Seriously, Emiko, I can’t just barge into my friends’ houses saying I met someone on the street who wants to meet them. So I’m gonna have to say no to your offer. Sorry.”
“Oh no? You forget, Fuji, I’m a ninja too! I have AWESOME-SUPER-PLOT-CHANGING-JUTSU-OF-DOOOOOOOM!” Emiko’s eyes narrowed as her hands performed complex jutsu symbols behind her back.
“Plot changing…?” But before Akemi could finish her thought, everything went black.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Chapter One

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaa…?”
“I think she’s waking up!”
“Good. Whoever did this to her is going to pay, I’ll make sure of that.”
“Can you hear me? Heeellloooo?”
“Wake up, Ke-chan, please. I need you.”
Akemi’s eyes slowly cracked open, with great effort put into releasing each lid. The world was a swirl of color, the voices hallow and unrecognizable. Nothing seemed real anymore. If she hadn’t been sure she’d opened her eyes, she would have thought she was dreaming. She was in a bed in a room she didn’t remember ever being in before, and there were people here with her, beside her bed. What had happened? The last thing she could remember clearly was talking to Lee… no, talking to… Emiko…
The voices continued on, squealing “she’s awake!” and things of that sort. But one voice stood out from all the others, one that made her hair stand on end.
“Akemi-kun, mon cherie, are you all right?”
Oh, Jashin, no. The voice. No, anyone but HIM. Not here. Not now. This couldn’t be happening. But the blurs of color around Akemi gradually came into focus, and here he was, in flesh and blood. It had been… years… since she’d last seen him. She’d been dreading this inevitable moment forever, and now he had finally come, after all this time.
“Lumiere?” Akemi croaked tentatively.
“Akemi-kun!” cried Lumiere.
She blushed. He’d never been able to get it quite right, but couldn’t he have learned by now that it was “chan” for girls and “kun” for boys? Was it that difficult a concept to grasp?
“Akemi…” Lumiere seemed to ponder over the past, over her name. “Long time no see, eh?”
Akemi forced a smile onto her weary face. “Uh, yeah, I suppose. Nice to see you too.” But inside, her thoughts could only scream, *No, no, NO! Not HIM! Anyone but Lumiere! Please!*
Lumiere grinned, not picking up her silent signals of protest. “Oh, Akemi, there is so much I could tell you… but how is your life going?”
“Uh, good. You still work for Prince Adam?”
Before Lumiere could reply, Shikamaru pushed his way through the crowd, shoved Lumi aside, and ran up to the bed. “AKEMI!”
Akemi’s face brightened. “Shi-kun!”
“Are you okay, Ke-chan? Who did this to you? What happened?”
Akemi racked her brains, pulling memories from even the most exhausted brain cells. “I was talking… to Rock Lee… you know, just talking, nothing, uh, romantic or anything,” she added quickly, in response to Shika’s raised eyebrows. “And then this girl came over… her name was Emiko, I think. She was foreign, and she was talking about music teachers, and she said she wanted to meet ‘my friends.’ Oh! And she was talking about her jutsu. She said she could… she could… I’m sorry, Shi-kun, I can’t remember. And then… and then, well, I fainted.”
Shikamaru frowned. “Akemi, I don’t think anyone named Emiko has visited the village today. You know, records are kept of who enters and such.”
“But… oh! I remembered, she said her name wasn’t really Emiko, that it was just what people called her. She would tell me her real name, though. It was probably something foreign. Hope that helps.” Akemi shrugged.
Shika looked behind him. “Kiba?” For the first time, Akemi took in the image of her friends standing there: Naruto, Gaara, Neji, Ino, Kiba, Lee, and of course, Lumiere stood beaming on the sidelines, not really her friend at all. Shikamaru told Kiba to call Izumo and ask for the list of visitors to Konoha today. “Listen for names that sound foreign. Or the name ‘Emiko.’”
Kiba left to call her, and returned a few minutes later. “Everyone who entered today had a Japanese name, and I didn’t hear any Emikos,” he reported. “She must have been your imagination, Akemi.”
“My… imagination? Okay, Kiba-kun.” Akemi remembered Emiko clearer than anything else in her mind right now, but she dropped the subject. She didn’t want Shikamaru thinking she was some kind of nutcase who hallucinated strange foreign girls in the street on a regular basis.
“Akemi-kun!” That would be Lumiere again. She didn’t even need to hear his drawling French voice to notice it; the “kun” at the end of her name was enough.
“What, Lumiere?” Akemi asked dryly.
“Well… it has been a while… and I was, um, wondering… if you were… um…” He blushed, turning away from her, as if he’d realized what he was going to say was dumb. This was new. Lumiere, embarrassed? Maybe he had matured after all in the four years since they’d last talked.
“If I was what? Spit it out; you can’t keep this from me forever. I’m a mind reader, remember?”
Lumiere fumbled with his words once again. “Well… are you…?”
Akemi sighed, exasperated, and probed through his mind for the answer. Her eyes widened in horror as she read his thoughts like a book, instantly wishing she hadn’t. “Am I…”
“…single?”
Akemi’s mouth opened and closed over and over, but no sound came out. Finally, Shikamaru came to her rescue and saved her the trouble of answering. “No, Lumiere, she’s not single. She is married.”
“Who is the lucky groom?” Lumiere stared Shika down. “Surely not you, Shikamaru?”
“Yes. Me.” Shika smiled in a mocking sort of way, as if silently saying, “Ha ha, I got her first.”
“And you stopped being so lazy long enough to propose to her? Or did unlaziness come with age?”
Shika’s smile dropped as quickly as it had come. “I have no quarrel with you, Lumiere. In the past we have had our differences, yes, but now as long as you stay away from my wife, we can be no longer enemies. Maybe even friends.”
Lumi’s lip curled downwards. “Oh. I will consider your, uh, generous offer.”
Akemi looked around at everyone. She was so thankful to them for coming to see her, and yet, there had to be some other reason they were here. “Did you all seriously come here just to make sure I was okay?”
There was a murmur of yes’s throughout the crowd. Naruto nodded vigorously in his hyper way. Some people never change.
“Well, thanks everybody, it means a lot to me. But can you, uh, leave please? I want to be alone with Shi-kun right now.”
The others slowly and obediently filed out of the room. Soon the only ones left were Akemi, Shikamaru… and Lumiere. “Uh, Lumi?” Akemi asked. “Could, you, uh, you know…?”
Lumiere gave a hallow laugh. “But of course, Akemi-kun. I will leave you alone in bed with your darling husband.” He walked out the door, curtly slamming it behind him.
Shikamaru loosened the moment the door closed. “What was that all about? I thought he’d never leave.”
“Shi-kun, what happened after I passed out?” asked Akemi.
Shika sighed. “Well, Lee found you lying on the sidewalk and brought you to this house—”
“Which is?”
He frowned, as if trying to recall something that was just a little bit out of his reach. “I don’t know, actually. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place before. By the time I got Lee’s call, I was too worried about you to think about it. And don’t interrupt; I’m getting distracted.”
“Sorry.”
“There, you did it again!”
“Sor—”
“So Lee called me, as I already said, and I came to find you. He called a few people, but it seems word got around. From what I heard, only half the people who came were alerted straight from Lee. And I know he certainly didn’t invite FRENCHPERV.”
Despite herself, Akemi giggled. It had been forever since she’d thought about his old nickname. “So how’d Frenchperv know to come?”
“Who knows?” Shika shrugged. “He just showed up at the door.”
“Was he in Izumo’s records?”
“No. Kiba said everyone who entered Konoha today was Japanese, remember?”
Akemi blinked. “But even if I DID imagine Emiko, Lumiere still had to get in somehow. He’s real and you know it. There’s something strange going on here.” She smiled. “Hey, Shi-kun, remember Dave?”
Shikamaru laughed. “Oh, do I! Remember Cogsworth?”
“Sasugay?” supplied Akemi.
“Babette?”
“Faith?”
“Those two priests?”
“Khai?”
“Khai…” Shikamaru shook his head. “You were quite the main attraction for boys back then, weren’t you?”
“Yeah.” Lost in memories, the two stared off into space for a minute or two.
Suddenly the door burst open. “Akemi!” A dark-skinned boy with a ninja headband over his long, black hair ran inside. “I couldn’t come before because I was learning how to be a NINJA! But now I’m here! Are you okay?”
Akemi smiled. “I’m fine, Bakiri.”
“Believe it!” The Egyptian boy laughed. It had been four years since he’d lived with the Pharaoh in some year B.C. not relevant to this story. Now he was a beginning ninja, trained by Naruto in the ways of god-jutsu.
“Bakiri, can Akemi and I have a few more minutes to ourselves?” asked Shikamaru gently.
Bakiri nodded. “Okay.” The 11-year-old slowly departed (like, from the room, not the world), and closed the door behind him.
~*~
“Naruto-sensei?” Bakiri asked, finding his sensei in the hallway.
“Bakiri-kun?” Naruto replied.
“What happened to Akemi?”
“No one really knows. Lee just found her on the street out cold.”
“Is she gonna be okay?” asked Bakiri, worried.
Naruto put his hand on his student’s shoulder. “She’ll be fine. Kemi’s a tough girl. I’ve seen her survive worse.” Seeing the boy still concerned, he suggested, “Want to go out for some ramen? Special treat.”
“Okay, sure.” Bakiri allowed himself to be led off to Ichiraku, still wondering who would have the nerve to hurt his Akemi. She was one of the only people who had ever truly cared for him, and he hoped the mysterious culprit wasn’t still out there, plotting to do even worse.
~*~
“So…” Lumiere eyed the others. They were all sitting apart from each other, looking around the house or occupying themselves some other way. Most of them he knew from his travels, but some were new faces, or at least ones he’d just forgotten. Making small talk was hard when you hadn’t seen someone for four years. “How is life going in Konoha?”
They ignored him. Not one reply.
“How is ninja training going?” Lumiere ventured nervously.
“We’re done training,” scoffed Ino, looking at him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We were done a looooooong time ago.”
“Oh. So,” Lumi said, turning his attention to Gaara, “sand. What is up with sand these days?”
Gaara’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Shut up, Frenchperv.”
Lumiere chuckled self-consciously. “Oh, that old nickname! Ha ha. What is your name again…? Gaga?”
“It’s Gaara,” he correctly coldly, turning away again.
Lumiere looked from Gaara, to Ino (who he remembered as the “sexy blonde girl”), to Kiba (the “boy with the dog”). He thought of “hyper ramen boy,” off somewhere with that Egyptian kid, and “eyelash boy,” in the hall outside. He thought of Shikamaru, but mostly of Shika’s wife, Akemi, who had once been the love of Lumiere’s life. Now he’d moved on, of course, and was dating Renee Bimbette, a blonde woman who was shallow, pretty, girly, and rich. Renee had a pretty face, but she could never compare with Akemi Fujisako: dear Akemi, strong Akemi, HIS Akemi. He’d come so close to winning Akemi over, but at the last second, he’d blown his chances with her and blown his happiness away, and Akemi had fallen for Shikamaru instead. Life as Lumiere knew it was over, and could never be the same again.
Finally, one by one, the ninjas got up and went home, to their families or hobbies or just a quiet place to sit and think. With no place to go, no home to turn to, Lumiere stayed.
Shikamaru also stayed, by Akemi’s side, telling her everything would be all right as long as they were together. But secretly, in the depths of his mind that Akemi never went, he was really wondering if saying she would be all right was a promise he could keep.

[IGGY]

Chapter Two

Suki ran down the hall of the building where Akemi was. She hoped that nobody really hurt her best friend. She skidded to a halt in front of Lee and blushed darkly when his beautiful eyes rested upon her. She had a schoolgirl crush on the ebony-haired jounin, there was no denying it. She asked him, "Lee, h-hi! Where's Ke-chan?"
"In the room with Shikamaru-san."
Suki nodded and took a seat on the floor. She was a fiery redhead, but she was very docile right now for Lee's sake. Ever since she was an academy student, she had admired Lee's energy and determination. To her, he wasn't only a splendid ninja. He was a splendid man.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

The door to Akemi's room creaked open and Shikamaru walked out. He saw Suki and smiled. "Hey, Suki. Are you her to see Akemi? Go on in." He walked past Lee and into the room where Lumiere sat. But, seeing the Frenchperv, he moved on to the next room over.

[IGGY]

Suki ran through the door, smiling at Lee before asking Akemi, "Hey, Ke-chan. How are you?"
"Well. I was just unlucky."
~*~
Lee and Shika were the only ones left save Lumi. Lee started to talk randomly to Shika quite boredly. "Shikamaru, I've been wondering, how did you, you know, pop Akemi the question? Where were you and things like that?"

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

"We were in our house one day, and I just looked into her eyes... and asked her. I knew she loved me from the start, so it wasn't hard." Shika shrugged. "Why? Are you thinking of asking someone?"

[IGGY]

Lee smiled. "No. There's no reason to ask anyone if nobody loves me enough to say yes."
~*~
Suki blushed. "Hey Akemi, do you... well, I like someone. He's nice, and passionate, and very, very cute. But I don't know... whether he likes me."
"Just play it by ear, Suki. See how it goes. Trust me."
"O-okay."

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Shikamaru frowned. "Oh, really? I'm sure there's someone out there, Lee. Someone who's just too afraid to say so."
~*~
Emiko ran into her house, panting. Making plot twists in the RP used up a lot of her chakra, and she was glad to have gotten home safely. In addition to making Akemi pass out, she'd also gotten Lumiere to Konoha without a viable reason, and placed herself there as well, all in one day.
She sighed. Konoha was lonely. Where was Brian, the boy she loved? With his wife, probably, she thought bitterly. Emiko was dying to plot-twist Brian her way, away from Christmas Eve's beatings and into the ninja's waiting arms, but she somehow couldn't bring herself to do it. She loved him, but she wanted him to be happy, too.

[IGGY]

Suki smiled. "Thanks, Ke-chan."
~*~
Suki closed the door and said to Lee, blushing furiously, "Lee-san, would you like to train with me later?"
"Sure!" Lee gave her a thumbs-up, which made her blush and thank him before calmly walking off, breaking into an excited run after she exited the building, punching the air.
"YEAH! SCORE!" Suki was so happy that Lee said yes. "Maybe he even likes me...!"

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Now Shikamaru, Akemi, and Lumiere had the building to themselves again. Ignoring the Frenchman, Shika approached Akemi's bed. "If you're feeling okay, we could go home now," he said softly.
Lumiere overhead and slowly turned the knob to the outside world. Not without looking back, he ran to Emiko's house and knocked on the door, slowly breathing in as three steady raps sounded through her house.
Emiko answered the door. She seemed preoccupied by something. "Yes, Lumiere?"
"I need a place to stay. I still do not know why you even brought me into this plot."
She winked mischieviously, opening the door wide enough for him to step through and into her house. "Come on in; my home is yours. And about bringing you into the plot..."
"My past was here, Emiko, not my future. What good is looking back?"
Emiko smiled sadly. "Fate is an odd thing, Lumiere. You'll see soon enough."

[IGGY]

Chapter Three

Akemi smiled and got up. "Sure. Hey, S-Shika? I need to talk to you about something important."
~*~
Suki put her hair up so it wouldn't get in her way during the battle, but there was one red, wavy strand of hair that always went into her face, no matter how much she blew it out of the way. She finally decided to let it go and got up, heading for the training ground.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

"Yes, Akemi?" asked Shika patiently.
~*~
Bakiri chewed thoughtfully on his ramen, thinking about Akemi. It had been so long since anything had endangered her, and yet he was thinking about something else. He didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help wondering what had become of his parents, his BIRTH parents, and his siblings back in Egypt. Thinking of the life he could have had... but, due to a plot twist, didn't.

[IGGY]

Akemi blushed and wrung her hands worridly. "I know we technically already have a family, but, um, should we have... our own?" She meant children and hoped Shikamaru knew what she was talking about.
~*~
Naruto looked at Bakiri and noticed he was deep in thought--not normal for an 11-year-old. He shook his pupil's shoulder. "Hey, Bakiri-kun, what's wrong? You look upset, believe it!"

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

"Believe it, yeah," said Bakiri, smiling at the words he'd known would have to come out of his sensei's mouth sooner or later. "I was just thinking about my parents. My... birth parents, Pharoah Rameses II, and his 32nd wife, Nefrekke."
~*~
"Children?" Shika blushed slightly and said a bit too fast, "You mean like you and me, together, like go through the whole thing, and, um, reproduce?!" He looked into Akemi's eyes, calming down a bit. "If we're ready for it, physically. But emotionally, I would do anything for you. Yes. Perhaps."

[IGGY]

Akemi's eyes widened and she blushed, looking away. Fully involved in her shoes, she muttered, "Not NOW. Like, when we're READY!"
~*~
Naruto smiled, patting his student gently. "It's okay. Believe it!"
~*~
Suki reached the training ground a little early so she could practice. It wasn't long before the dark-haired man came walking out of the bushes, his dark green and orange clothes blending with the trees. Suki blushed as his large, round, enchanting eyes targeted themselves on her. She stood up and stuttered, "Hi, L-Lee. I have t-to tell you something..."