Hey readers. I've loved reading those fantasy stories where Naruto characters end up in our current world via weird and wacky (always involving some sort of a portal) ways…so I decided, heck, I'll write one too. It will have a lot of cliché character personalities and situations (namely boy meets girl, girl already has a crush on the boy, they fall for each other) but I shall try my hardest to make it…unique…
I also love reading those conversations between the author and the characters for the disclaimer, so here's one of my own.
AUTHOR: Welcome to my beloved readers. Be ready to amazed, dazzled and stupefied by the creativity of the one and only devil's storyteller…me.
ITACHI: *walks into the frame, raises an eyebrow, turns and walks out again*
AUTHOR: *pulls out a lasso out of nowhere and throws it at the retreating Itachi* Come back here *strains at the rope*
ITACHI: *slowly pulled into view* What the hell? What are you doing to me, woman? *strains against the pulling for all he's worth*
AUTHOR: get *pant* your *pant* sorry *pant* Uchiha ass *pant* here *one last pull and Itachi lands on his butt. Author does a victory dance*
ITACHI: …why?
AUTHOR: *puppy face* I need to do the disclaimer for me…*turns the puppy face to full power*…pwease?
ITACHI: Is that it? That's why you lassoed me? *sighs* Story-teller666 does not own Naruto. She is, however, the mastermind behind the creation of the great Takara. *turns to walk out of the frame*
AUTHOR: Thank you, thank you, you're too kind *bows to the audience*. Please, you flat- OI! Where do you think your going *jumps on the trailing rope*
ITACHI: *lands on his butt a second time* WHAT? I did the bloody disclaimer. Lemme go. I gotta finish Sharingan-ing people.
AUTHOR: *sweatdrop* …Sharingan-ing? *Holds up a finger as Itachi opens his mouth to answer* Don't answer that! Just stay and read/watch the story. I need help with where to take it. You're the Uchiha prodigy…
ITACHI: *flattered* Well, yeah…*narrows eyes in realization* You just conned me into reading your story, didn't 'cha?
AUTHOR: *does a second victory dance* Yeah, baby. I just outsmarted the prodigy! *clears throat* ON WITH THE STORY
Chapter 1
Blink…blink…blink…
A ferocious shake of the head followed a slowly dropping bottom jaw. I could only imagine what they saw…a crazy wiry girl, frozen still in the middle of the grassy paddock, rapidly widening golden-brown eyes. But then again, they shouldn't be complaining.
I should probably start from the beginning. Hi, I'm Takara 'Tara' Nozomi from Australia. I live at the farm that once belonged to my parents. Or so I was told when I was first given consent to live by myself by the Child Welfare office. You see, I've never actually met by biological mother and father. Apparently, my past is exactly like of those sob stories you hear in every cliché movie. I was abandoned at an orphanage in the middle of the night some sixteen years ago. I was told of this at the age of ten, and, to be completely honest, I didn't really care.
I've been told that I've got the craziest personalities ever seen in the civilized world. That's including the last couple of centuries. Apart from the random moments I completely let my mouth loose with quite a few dirty words, and from the violent tantrums I throw in every now and then, I'm a fairly contained, yet excitable person. Talk about contradictions. I talk, but I mostly keep to myself. The only people I feel comfortable enough to talk to are my best-est best buddies Laura 'Loz' Xavier and Richard 'Rickie' Warren. The three of us hadn't even met till about two years ago, but after just one glance at each other, something clicked. Ever since then, we've – or so most people say – been inseparable.
But back to the situation at hand. It's the summer holidays, and it's the last school year. Living in the rural country, the houses are fairly isolated. There was a good few kilometers between each property. I owned and lived in a moderate-sized home, with acres and acres of free open grass land lying to the south and east of the house. To the rest surrounding was covered with green trees. The contrasting landscape was beautiful to look at, especially at dawn and dusk.
And it was in the densely packed trees that I saw the flashes of unearthly green and white. In my defense, I wasn't aware that I was inviting trouble when I went to investigate.
"Ok…" I dragged the word out. Clapping my hands over my eyes like a five year old, I spun around, facing the other direction.
"I'll just look away and when I turn around, this will all go back to normal" I hummed a little tune, the sound coming out in a slight hysterical tone.
"…what's with her, un?" I heard the voice and groaned. Clutching my hair wildly, I spun on my heels and glared at the ten oddly dressed people standing confusedly on my yard.
"You" I spat, an accusing finger pointing at the blonde. A raised eyebrow replied. "What the hell are you lot doing here? You're not real…you're…not…" I trailed off, finally throwing my hands up, beseechingly, at the sky.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
"Um" the orange masked male took hesitant steps towards me. "Do-do-you know Tobi?" he titled his head.
Immediately a hand descended loudly on the black spikes.
"You idiot, un" the blonde glared at the cowering mask "you just gave away information about yourself to a stranger."
"Aah, Tobi is sorry, Deidara sempai" the other male replied.
"Argh!" the blonde growled "SHUT UP, UN!"
I watched the exchange with growing amusement. A grin weaved its way onto my face, until I stood there listening, smiling like a Chesire cat.
"You're team work sucks" I pointed out to the two. Both turned towards me, as though realizing my presence.
"Who the hell are you?" a silver haired man scowled furiously at me. He fingered the blade of his scythe, pinkish-purple orbs narrowed in suspicion.
"Why should I tell you?" I fired back "I was taught not to talk to strangers".
"Wha- you lil fu – " he began angrily, starting forwards. However, a tall menacing aura stepped in front of him, halting him in his tracks.
"Control yourself" the quiet, yet threatening, order was tossed over his shoulder before ringed eyes turned their focus on me.
"We're new here" he began in a calm tone "we aren't sure how we ended up here. So we were hoping for…directions" he glanced around the surroundings, which were mainly trees.
I stared at the face, dotted with multiple piercings. Blinking myself out of my daze, I looked at the others.
"Holy shit" I swore, recognizing every single one of them. "Y-you're th-the A-a-a…" I stuttered to a halt. All eyes bore down on me, making me fell two feet tall.
"You're the real deal" I breathed out.
"Real deal?" a questioning glance went up. Some looked at each other and shrugged.
"Um, yeah" I was starting to feel more than a little uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "You're…you're the….Akatsuki" the last word was whispered, but it was heard.
The silence that followed was deafening. Then, almost instantaneously, as one, all the members took exactly two steps away from me, and at the same time pulled out weapons of all forms and sizes.
"What do you know of us?" a blue haired woman, Konan, demanded. Her fingers held a piece of paper.
"A lot" I laughed weakly, before slumping onto the ground. Ignoring the few exclaims of surprise, I held my head.
"Hehe" I laughed. "This is so crazy, I don't even care that there are pointy things being pointed at me".
I took a deep breath, and pulled on a blinding smile. I looked at the startled faces.
"I'm Nozomi Takara" I offered, climbing to my feet "you can call me Tara". I turned to walk back to the house, only to stop as a kunai embedded itself right before me. Looking to my left, I lifted an eyebrow at Uchiha Itachi. The said person watched me through dead eyes.
"Where do you think you're going?" Kisame inquired, a feral grin on his face.
"Uh…home" I made a gesture that went along the lines of 'duh, obviously'.
"What makes you think you'll stay alive?" Kakuzu questioned, black tentacles waving about.
I placed a finger to the corner of my mouth. "Gee, I don't know" I mocked, screwing my face up in exaggerated thought "probably 'cause, in this world, you guys will be SCREWED without my help" I smirked.
"In this world?" Sasori's creepy puppet face looked up at me.
"What you still think you're in Ame, or Fire country, or where ever the hell you were?" I questioned, waving an airy arm at the trees. All of the members pondered on the question.
"Just where exactly are we?" Itachi asked, his voice mellow. A blush fought to show on my face, as I tuned out my inner fangirl.
"Australia" I replied, the smirk still visible. When I saw the confusion on his face, the smirk widened.
"Sorry, Itachi. But Australia isn't a place you learned in geography at Konoha" I wagged a finger at him.
His onyx eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"
"Oh, nothing" I said, spinning on my heels. I started to walk towards my house a second time. This time, nothing was thrown. A few steps were taken, before I turned to look at the lost ninjas.
"You coming?"
For those who've never had ninjas in their house, let me tell you this: they are hopeless. Sure I understand that their profession requires them to spend a great deal of time outdoors, but seriously. The way they looked at the kitchen table and chairs makes one question their own living arrangements.
The question fell out as soon I saw Pein brush his fingertips along the surface of the graphite bench top.
"What, you lot never been in a house before?" I enquired. A laugh bubbled at the tip of my tongue.
He threw a sharp glance at me, before returning to his inspection. I sighed, and walked into the kitchen. Pulling out pots and plates, I turned my attention to cooking dinner.
Not too much later, the smell of simmering pasta sauce had all ten of my visitors in the kitchen. Tobi bounced a little in excitement, his masked face moving in all directions as his attention went from one little thing to the next. Hidan sniffed the air and mumbled curses under his breath. Kakuzu was eyeing the microwave and oven. Konan walked over to me, still cautious, and peered at the red sauce.
"What the hell is that?" Kisame towered over both us girls as he stared at the bubbling liquid. His face was caught between questioning, disgust and curiosity.
"Food" I replied, miffed at the expression. Seizing a plate piled with cooked pasta, I ladled the hot sauce over it. Placing it on the counter, I picked up the next plate. Soon, there were eleven plates filled with hold yummy food, ready to be eaten.
"Let's eat" I offered a plate to Konan. She looked at me in surprise, then in suspicion.
"You might have poisoned it" she accused, glaring through narrowed eyes.
"What the fuck?" I rolled my eyes. "Fine, starve. You'll just have to eat whatever you find in the pantry. I'm gonna go and have REAL food". With that, I marched over to the couch, ignoring the looks of amusement and incredulity.
Grumbling under my breath about over-cautious ninjas, I snatched the remote off the couch, glared at Sasori who was occupying my favourite spot and settled on the floor.
"What are you doing?" the red headed puppet master's eyebrows climbed up towards his hairline. He was staring at the remote that was being pointed at the black screen.
"Watching TV" I mumbled through a mouthful of pasta. As the screen flickered to life, various noises were heard: the most prominent being Hidan's cursing.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" the Jashinist screeched, pointing wildly at the moving pictures.
"WOAH!" that was Tobi.
"Whaz going on in h…WHAT THE HELL?" Deidara literally slid to a stop as he stared at the TV.
"Geez" I muttered "don't you guys know what a TV is?" Blank looks replied. Pein walked in, and froze. He narrowed his eyes at the box, clearing wondering whether the inanimate object was harmless or not.
"What's a T…V…?" Kisame dragged out the unfamiliar term, nervously poking the said thing with Samahada.
"You watch things, like the news and other entertainment shows in it" I replied, smirking at Itachi, who was slowly edging away from the blaring sound speaker. His face was set in a scowl, and he dug a finger into his ear – no doubt going temporarily deaf at the sudden booming.
"You…watch…things in it?" Pein turned his stare to me.
"Yup" I giggled, patting the floor next to me "wanna join me?"
Exchanging a glance that clearly stated 'I think we're stuck with a loony', with Konan, our dear Leader-sama settled himself on the couch. I huffed and turned back to entertainment.
"Fine" I said, lips pouting. But that was soon forgotten as Monsters Inc came on. Completely ignoring the unsettled nins, I laughed my way through the movie, only pausing during the ad breaks to take a peek at the baffled crowd.
"So…" I raised an eyebrow at Hidan. He turned his head, his eye twitching.
"What the hell do you mean 'so'?" he hissed, the twitch never stopping. "What kind of a crappy story was that?"
"Hey" I was quickly on defence "do NOT insult Mike, Sully and Boo".
"Exactly my point…who the hell names their kid 'Boo'?"
"Well…you know people named Na – " I froze, horrified at the close call.
"Named what?" Zetsu spoke from the corner. Both black and white sides were watching me guardedly.
"Nothing" I busied myself with collecting the dishes that had previously been filled with food. "Looks like you guys had to eat what I made" I noted.
"Hn" Itachi kept his onyx eyes at the TV.
"Yeah, like that's informative" I snapped at the Uchiha prodigy. There was no reply.
"Would Tara-chan like some help?" Tobi pranced forward. Before I could either accept of reject his offer, the plates had disappeared out of my hands. A neatly stacked pile appeared in the sink.
"Uh…" I blinked, then rubbed the back of my head "thanks?"
"No problem" Tobi chirped. He bounced over to me and seized my hands. Then dragging me along behind him, the nin bounced up the stairs to my room.
"What's all these pictures?" he inquired, in an innocent tone that didn't deceive me. I looked to where he was pointing and my heart almost stopped.
"Ah…" I fumbled for an answer as the rest of the troop walked in, curious to know what had gotten Tobi excited. They all stopped and turned to look at me as one. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have been pissing myself by now.
Pein took slow, deliberate steps towards me. He wrapped a hand around my upper arm and lead to my chair.
"Sit" he said, curtly. I obeyed, dropping onto the wheelie chair as quickly as possible. "Explain" he jerked his head towards the Naruto themed playing cards I had plastered on my cupboard door. Itachi was examining the pictures carefully, especially the ones of Sasuke.
"Um…" I started to fumble with fingers in a very Hinata – like manner. "They…uh…they're playing cards…" I offered.
"What the fuck?" Hidan scoffed, incredulity spreading across his face.
I nodded vigorously. "It's true" I emphasized. "You can pull it off and turn it around" Kakuzu followed my instructions, pulling one off. Slowly he stared at the plastic for a while, before handing off to Sasori.
"Lemme fucking see that" Hidan demanded, striding forwards with his hand stretched out.
"After I've finished looking at it" Sasori never took his eyes off the card he held in his hand. The puppet master blankly looked at the pictures before passing it to Kisame.
"I've got one for all of you, too" I perked up. Rummaging through the top desk drawer, I pulled out a plastic box. "See?" I waved it around.
Tobi snatched the box out of my hands. "Tobi wants to see" he exclaimed, dumping the box's entire contents on the bed. He gasped, then clapped hands together like a child, before grabbing the cards with his picture on it.
"Hey, un" Deidara exclaimed, holding up a card with him on "I'm on it as well, un."
One by one, each of the Akatsuki members moved forwards and looked at the cards. Relief had me sighing shallowly. I smirked as I watched Pein narrow his eyes at a particular card.
"Where didja get these from, un?" Deidara was close to mirroring Tobi's bounce as he grinned at me. His visible blue eye sparkled, as the blonde waved a card in the air.
"Somewhere" I shrugged, grinning despite myself. The ninjas' excitement was contagious. "So…" I dragged the word out, instantly catching Pein's attention "…am I off the hook?"
"Off the hook?" Kisame frowned in confusion.
"It's a saying" Pein explained shortly. He turned to me. "And…yes. For now" he added, threat clear in his voice.
"Ok" I managed an over-brightly smile.
Sighing I snuggled deeper into my thick warm blankets and quilts. The frosty, early morning air somehow managed to get to my nose tip that I had poked out of my cocoon. Wrinkling my nose at the uncomfortable temperature, I wormed my way further down. I was at the border of half wake and dreamland, when the cold temperature got to my entire body.
"Aargh!" I screamed, jerking upright to see who had pulled all the warmth off me. My eyes narrowed at the sight of orange.
"TOBI!"
Grumbling I made my way into the kitchen. Ignoring the sniggers from Deidara and Kisame, and the swearing from Hidan, I pulled out my breakfast cereal and bowl. Stomping over to the fridge, I pulled out the milk and slammed the door shut.
"What's gotten you in a foul mood this morning?" Sasori watched me perform by daily morning ritual.
"Tobi" I replied shortly. Sitting down on the couch, I turned on the TV to watch the morning cartoons.
"Not a morning person?" Kisame enquired, settling down next to me. The cushioned chair sank a few inches.
"No shit, Sherlock" I replied, still fuming about the earlier incident. I started to shovel cereal into my mouth, not wanting to continue with anymore conversations for the moment.
"Ooh…" Hidan mocked "the bitch has a bite". I tuned him out, focusing entirely on X-Men.
I ran a critical eye over the ten ninjas cramped into my living room. I sighed, smirked and giggled at the odd sight they presented, both individually and as a group.
"Ok" I called out, stopping all conversations. As twenty eyes turned to me, I cleared my throat.
"We need to get you more…" I paused, searching for the right word "…inconspicuous."
"How?" Pein crossed his arms.
I grinned, holding up a peace sign. "Easy" I winked. "Here's the plan" I dropped my voice, adopting a serious tone. They all leaned forwards slightly. "We..." I paused, dramatically drawing out the moment "…go shopping."
I can tell you more than four people face planted.
"Shopping?" Hidan smacked his forehead. "My dear Jashin sama" he sent up a pleading glance to the ceiling.
Even Konan sighed, a small smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. "And how exactly does shopping help?" she questioned, her tone mild.
I scowled at Hidan. "It will help" I stomped my foot. Narrowing my eyes at the Jashinist, I turned to face Konan.
"I can take you shopping, and you can see how things…work…around here" I was struck by a stray thought. "And I need to buy somethings."
"Like what?" Itachi inquired, a delicate eyebrow raised.
I pointedly stared at the black and red cloaks and the fishnet shirts. "Like real clothes, for example".
Kakuzu immediately crossed his arms. "We don't have the money" he intoned, ignoring the many skeptical looks he received.
"Liar" I blatantly said. "You pickpocket everyone and everything, and steal from the people you kill. There's no way in heaven, or hell, that you'll end up with no money."
"Oh, she's good, un" Deidara muttered approvingly to Sasori. The red head gave a non-committed grunt.
Pein sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, carefully avoiding all his piercings. When he reopened the Rinnegan, they had a resolute look in them.
"Itachi, Konan, Deidara" he pointed to each as he called their names. "You three will accompany Nozomi-san on this shopping trip. Get as many items as possible" he turned to walk out of the room, but paused at the door. "Oh, and Kakuzu, give them the money they need."
I pumped my arms in the air in victory, and gave a thousand watt smile at the grumbling man. "Cough it up, Kakuzu-chan."
I couldn't help but grin at the sight of Konan, Itachi and Deidara observing the train station in a curious, yet guardedly manner. Then I sighed, as I realized that Pein had chosen the most normal looking people out of the group to accompany me on this expedition. Inwardly thanking Pein, I ran a critical eye up and down the three.
Konan, dressed in jeans, boots, singlet and checked shirt looked like your average rural girl – plus ridiculously blue hair. But the colour would pass for dyed hair. Itachi was in a pair of jeans, runners and t-shirt. His long hair was tied as it always is, but the casual clothes and the easiness he displayed had me and many other females in the vicinity staring. Deidara was dressed like Itachi, but he displayed a more cute school boy look. After much arguing, we (as in Konan and myself) had managed to convince Deidara to shorten his hair length. This resulted in a rough cut that had his blonde hair reduced to just below his collar. The new hairstyle matched perfectly with the clothes he wore. All three looked like any other person here.
"The train departing to Flinders Street station is arriving at platform one" the loudspeaker announced, jerking me out of my musings.
"C'mon" I motioned to the other three to follow. Like lost puppies, the female and two males kept right at my heels. I stepped onto the train and looked around at the empty carriage.
"Look at that" I laughed, before claiming a seat next to the window. When the others didn't copy, I sighed and looked seriously at them. "Are you three going to stand up for the next hour and a half?"
A quick glance was exchanged, before Itachi settled next to me and Konan and Deidara sat opposite us. Fighting the inner fangirl that battled to be let out, I quickly faced the window, hiding the blush that formed on my face.
I waved a hand in front of Deidara open mouthed face. The expression was frozen, and I turned worriedly to Itachi and Konan, each looking stunned at the sheer size of the building before them.
"Um…hello" I stared to poke Itachi's arm, feeling the hard muscles. The Uchiha snapped his eyes back to you, before glancing awestruck at the construction.
"That's big" he stated. That seemed to get Deidara and Konan back to earth.
"Are you kidding?" Deidara exclaimed. He waved his hand around. "Did you even see the building? It HUGE."
By now people were sending us weird looks. I smiled nervously at a few, while discreetly stepping on Itachi's foot. He nudged me slightly in understanding and slapped a hand over Deidara's mouth.
"Relatives from overseas" I smile apologetically at those within range. A few nodded in understanding, while others shrugged and moved on.
"Shut the hell up" I hissed at the three under my breath. Then hitching a smile on to my face, I walked into Melbourne Central Station.
"Just where are we going?" Konan asked, easily keeping up with me due to her long legs. All three ninjas had their eyes moving constantly, snapping from one thing to the next. A few times I even heard a quiet gasp.
"Clothes store" I tugged her hand. "I hope you know the others' sizes." Pulling a shirt off the rack, I held it up to inspect it. "Do you think this'll fit Hidan? Or Kisame?"
"I don't know" Itachi managed to look annoyed and super cool at the same time. He wandered to the next aisle, and pulled out a pair of pants to look at.
"Thanks for you help, Mr Helpful" I shot back at him. Then I help the shirt up to Konan. "What do you reckon?"
Trying to sit with a million huge, 'about to burst', plastic bags is not an easy feat. I had to shift my position almost every two minutes to avoid slipping off the seat. After about the tenth time, I gave into the frustrated growl.
"Argh!" I smacked the tight plastic. "Stay still".
"You know" Konan watched me, amusment clearly written all over her face "yelling at it doesn't help".
"Not true" I immediately pointed a finger at my female companion, losing a couple of bags to the floor in the process. "Yelling lets you get the frustrations out".
Deidara smirked as Itachi closed his eyes. "You would know it from experience" the blonde teased, placing heavy emphsis on the second 'would'. I poked my tongue out in a childish reply.
"Why would you have any doubts about that?" Itachi murmured, a ghost of a smirk visible on his face. I scowled at the darked haired male.
"At times like this, I prefer your monosyllable answers."
This time, a smirk actually flashed on his face. "Hn."
"Yep" I nodded approvingly. "Good boy"
An eyebrow twitched.
Not surprisingly, it was Tobi who answered the door. The masked man bounced around the four of us as we staggered into the living room, laddened with shopping bags.
"Thanks for you help, un" Deidara glared at his partner. The reciepient, however, was too busy being distracted by the newly bought items.
"Ooh" he squealed, holding up a t-shirt with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle print on the front. "Tobi wants this one" he announced, hugging the article of clothing to his chest.
"You can damn well have it" Hidan wrinkled his nose at the grey shirt, before turning his attention to the bags. He yanked out a checked shirt. "I'll take this" he announced. Konan grabbed it out of his hands.
"No" she stared calmly at the furious Jashinist. "This is for Kisame" she handed the said thing to the blue man, and pulled out a grey-blue sweat shirt "this is for you". A slight smile made its way onto her face as she took in Hidan's expression.
"WHAT?" he screamed, waving his hand in the air "WHAT'S WITH THIS SHIT?"
"Oi" I walked up the screaming immortal, and poked a finger in his chest. "I chose that" I glared "and you better wear it". Narrowed eyes ended the discussion. "I'm gonna go make lunch".
As I walked to the kitchen, I heard Hidan's muttered curses. "Stupid bitch…crazy fucker…"
I grinned. "Love you too, hun" I yelled sarcastically.
"WHAT?"
I looked up as a chortling Tobi sprinted past me. I sighed.
"5…4…3…2…" I counted down "…1…"
"GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE, UN! I'LL KILL YOU" a blonde bomber sped past in a whirlwind.
"BUT SEMPAI'S MAD"
"OH? YOU DON'T SAY, UN. AND WHO MADE SEMPAI THIS MAD?"
"…TOBI?"
"OI! WHY ARE YOU SAYING IT LIKE A QUESTION?"
Pein walked into the room. He sighed and glared at the two yelling idiots. When this seemed to have no effect, he turned to Kisame. A short jerk towards Deidara and Tobi prompted the big blue fish-man into action.
He strode to the two, grabbed one in each hand by the collar and dragged them back to his leader. After dumping them unceremoniously at his feet, Kisame silently returned to his paper.
Pein stared down at the two figures on the floor. "What" he began in a dangerous tone "do you think you're doing?"
Tobi bounced upright. "Deidara sempai's being mean" he whined. The high pitched sound made everyone in the room twitch and succeeded in driving Hidan to stalking out of hearing vicinity. Pein clenched his hands into fists, breathing deeply through his nose. Gritting his teeth together, he turned his back to the blathering idiot and followed Hidan out.
"Um…" I managed to hold in the giggle that threatened to burst out of me. "That went well" I finished weakly, unable to stop the smile that slipped into place.
"It could have been worse" Kisame didn't look up from the paper he was staring at. A frown marred the blue, surprisingly handsome, face. "What the hell does all this say?" he demanded, thrusting the paper in my direction. I shrugged, not interested in reading the news.
"Dunno, don't care" I returned to what I was doing before being interrupted – searching for the can of whipped cream I knew that was hiding in the pantry. It was while moving aside a packet of noodles that the thought hit me.
"Wait" I whipped around to Kisame "you can't read what it says?"
The shark-man glanced up. "No…I just can't make out what the words are" he sheepishly grinned "I forgot my glasses at the lair".
It took all in me not to gape at the man known (in the anime and manga) as the Bijuu-less Jinchurikin. Who would've thought that such a powerful character will be needing reading glasses. Another hit whammed into my head. I wonder what other quirks the others have. An evil smirk weaved onto my face, my brain already scrambling around to put together plans and pranks.
"Uh oh" Tobi pointed dramatically at my face "Tara chan looks evil" he squealed, before running around like a headless chicken.
"Shut up" Deidara snarled, managing to land a hit on top the masked man's head. He then turned, and stopped as he saw my face. A twitch of the eyebrow later, he slowly backed away from both me and Tobi.
"He's right about the face, though" the blonde muttered.
I returned my attention back to the pantry. "I heard that".
RING RING…RING RING…RING RING…
"WHAT THE F*** IS THAT?" Hidan roared, striding into the living room.
I scowled. "Shut up, you freak" I retorted, walking to the phone and snatching up the receiver. "Speak and be heard" I announced, ignoring the raised eyebrows directed at me.
"Hey" a cheerful voice replied "whazzup?"
"Rickie" I squealed in happiness. "How are ya bud?"
"Meh" I could see his shrug. "Not too bad…" he trailed off. I had an inkling of what was coming up next.
"Come on…say it" I sighed.
"Could you open your front door? I kinda need the toilet" his grin could be heard. I placed the receiver back into its cradle.
"What…who…" Deidara kept looking between me and the phone, unsure as to whom (or what) he should direct his enquiries.
"Phone…communication device" I provided, making my way past nine others. Upon reaching the front door, I pulled it open and stood to a side. Rickie bounded straight inside, heading in a bee line to the toilet.
"Nice to see you too" I yelled at his retreating back.
"TOILET" he screamed in joy. I sweatdropped.
"Jeez…don't go hugging the loo" I said, heading back to the living area.
"Who was that?" Pein questioned, ringed eyes serious. I waved an airy hand.
"Just a crazy pal of mine"
Kisame snorted. "Any pal of yours would be crazy" he smirked.
I smirked back. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Heh"
"How long is he staying?" Sasori inquired, arms crossed. He leaned against a wall, his face maintaining an indifferent expression.
"As long as he wants" I replied, glaring at the suddenly tense group. The sound of toilet flushing made me turn to grin at the boy who sauntered into the room, a look of victory gracing his features. But that soon changed as he registered the others present.
"Um…"he began hesitantly "…I don't know how to tell you this Tara, but YOU HAVE COSPLAYERS IN YOUR HOUSE!" he pointed out.
"Yes, thank you genius" I snapped sarcastically.
Silence. "Why do you have cosplayers in your house?"
"Cause I wanted to".
"What's cosplayers?" Pein jumped in. I muffled a groan on exasperation.
"Never mind that" I turned to Rickie "did you need something? Other than use the toilet…"
"Uh" his eyes were still glued adoringly on Konan.
"Oi" I snapped fingers into front of his dumbfounded face.
"Oh yeah" Rickie jumped. "I wanted to ask you if you're going to the Manga fest coming up."
"Mangafest?"
"Yep" a vigorous nod "It's in the city". I considered the idea.
"Sounds appealing" I said slowly. My eyes roamed to Kisame who was watching with a confused expression. A grin slowly unfurled on my face. "In fact, I think I'll take up the offer".
"What?" Rickie blinked.
"What?" Pein raised an eyebrow.
"WHAT?" Hidan glared and Tobi cocked his head.
"Anyone else?" I asked, irritated. When no one replied, I sighed.
"Um…what are they going to go as?" Rickie jerked his head to Kisame.
"As themselves, duh!"
"Oh…oh yeah".
"Whoa" Deidara walked forwards, holding up his hands. "What's going on?"
I slung an arm around Rickie shoulder. "You, my friend, are going to see yourselves from my point of view".
"Huh?"
Ok, so this chapter didn't have a lot going on in it…I swear to put more action into the next chappie. It's just I lost inspiration half way through, and then got it again…then lost it again…long story short, I'm ready to keep righting. The first few updates may or may not be regular…I've got sooooo many assessments and tests to do….year 12 is NOT - I repeat – not fun…only have a three or four months to go…I WLL SURVIVE!