Kin: Sorry for taking so long on this new chapter. I had writer's block for the last two scenes... and I got distracted by my Quizilla account. xD;
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own the plot.
Chapter 3 – Of DDR, and the Sabaku Siblings!
Whoosh! ...Smash!
The small, lime-green ball flew across the court and smashed into the railings behind one of the two competitors, who looked pretty darn surprised. He fell back onto his rear end, shakily, and grinned to his opponent.
"Nice work, kohai." He said to the Sasuke, who stood casually at the other end of the court, dressed in a white shirt and dark-blue shorts that reached his knees. He simply put his free hand on his waist and the other swinging the racket around near the ground.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders lightly.
Watching from behind the railings, Ino squealed fanatically at Sasuke's victory over the head of the Tennis club, while Sakura watched on amazedly.
"Sasuke-kun!! That was totally amazing! You're so cool!" Ino shouted enthusiastically to him, waving at him from beside Sakura.
"Takada-senpai was rumoured to be ready for the school-wide Tennis tournament. Sasuke-kun beating him really is something," Sakura said, smiling dreamily at her dark-haired crush.
Sasuke grabbed his water-bottle from his duffel bag, and took a sip from it. His onyx eyes then flashed over to meet with Sakura's emerald ones, before quickly looking away again as Takada called him over. Sakura smiled a little, feeling hopeful from this moment. And then Ino butted in to said moment, (thus ruining it completely,)
"Oooooh! Did you see that, forehead?! Sasuke-kun looked at me!" Ino said excitedly.
"No he didn't!" Sakura gasped, turning to Ino with a glare. Ino glanced at Sakura curiously, then smirked,
"Ah... Is forehead jealous?" Ino asked coyly.
"I am not, you pig!!" Sakura screeched indignantly. Over with Sasuke and Takada, Sasuke discreetly rolled his eyes,
"I just look in their direction and they'll argue... Not even me and Kiba argue that much." He thought to himself, then looked to Takada.
"Your technique is very impressive, Sasuke-kun. We'll accept you into the Tennis club, but... this doesn't mean you'll get to be a regular yet. I am still your senpai, after all." He said, and grinned cheekily, "You'll be collecting our tennis balls, I'm afraid." He said with a chuckle.
"Che!" Sasuke scowled, "Stupid rules..." he thought.
"OI! Chicken-butt!!" came a familiar voice, causing Sasuke to put his face in his palm, and Takada to choke back a snort.
Sasuke sighed, and turned to where Kiba was waiting at the entrance to the court. He was currently getting told off by Sakura, who was threatening him with her fist. Ino was also glaring holes in his head and asking him what that nickname was implying, exactly.
"I have to go," Sasuke bowed his head to his senpai slightly, and Takada nodded. With that Sasuke grabbed his duffel-bag, and his drink, and joined Kiba and the girls. "Kiba... What is it?" he asked, choosing to forget Kiba had even made that rude comment on his hairstyle.
Kiba gestured a 'take it easy' to Ino and Sakura, and grinned to Sasuke, "Me, Naru, Shikamaru, his girl, and her little brothers are all going to get drinks, and play some DDR. Are you coming with'?" Kiba asked him.
Sasuke folded his arms, "And if I don't want to come..?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not an option, dude! You still owe me a rematch in DDR, you cheater!" Kiba balled his fist at Sasuke and Sakura and Ino glared at him.
"I don't cheat." Sasuke said, smirking at Kiba.
"Yeah! How dare you accuse Sasuke-kun of something like that!!" Sakura spat at Kiba, balling her own fist at him again.
"You're just jealous, because Sasuke-kun could beat you at anything, be it a sport or an arcade game! There's probably nothing, that Sasuke-kun isn't a natural pro' at." Ino said, seeming smug as she folded her arms and smirked at him.
"Shut up!! You stay out of mine and Sasuke's affairs; it's none of your business anyway!" Kiba growled, glaring at the girls.
"We will not!" Sakura and Ino said together, glaring back at him.
Sasuke sighed, and grabbed the collar of Kiba's uniform, dragging him away from them without a word of warning.
"Sasuke-kun? Where are you going??" Sakura asked, surprised.
"Home." Sasuke muttered, "And you better not follow me this time," he whispered with a scowl. Ino shook a fist at Kiba,
"Don't think this is over, dog-breath!!" Ino yelled at him.
"Ooh, nice insult! I don't think I've ever heard that one, before!" Kiba called back sarcastically, pulling down the skin under his eye and sticking his tongue out at her. Sasuke pulled him around a corner and let go of his collar, flexing his hand a little before putting it in his pocket.
"Like I was saying, Kiba, I beat you fair and square at that stupid game last year because you wouldn't stop bugging me about your little challenge. I didn't use any tricks. Face it, it's because I'm better than you, at it." Sasuke said. Kiba snorted, glaring heatedly at Sasuke. Then, he remembered something, and grinned widely,
"Yeah, but Naru kicked you ass at it, if I remember." He said with a laugh.
Sasuke's eyes widened with surprise at the sudden comment, and he turned away to hide his embarrassed blush,
"Shut up, Kiba..." he said lowly.
"You're right. No tricks. She beat you fair and square!" Kiba said, and threw his head back to howl out a laugh, holding his stomach.
"Kiba!!" Sasuke turned back to him, glaring at him. Kiba pocketed his hands, not affected by the infamous Uchiha-glare,
"And hey, maybe today is your chance to reclaim your oh-so-precious Uchiha glory, if you were to come with us to play DDR." Kiba said coolly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes,
"Hn." He turned away quickly, and began walking towards the changing rooms so he could get changed out of his sports gear. Kiba walked after Sasuke quickly,
"So... Are you coming?" Kiba asked Sasuke, who ignored him completely. "HEY! Chicken-butt, did you hear me?!" Kiba asked. Sasuke stopped, and glared at Kiba, before smirking,
"Narumi's going down, this time." He muttered. Kiba laughed, and put his hands behind his head as Sasuke went inside the changing rooms,
"Good luck with that, dude. She's like the champion at this game!" he called after Sasuke, but got no answer. "Mission accomplished. Who's the man? I'm the man!" He cheered inwardly to himself with a toothy grin.
"Ugh, where the hell are those guys? Kiba's taking forever to get Sasuke!!" Narumi said, leaning against the entrance to Tokyo's most popular arcade and looking to the pale blue skies with a frown set on her face.
Beside her, Shikamaru sat slouched back on a bench with his hands behind his head with his eyes closed. To his left sat Temari, now dressed in casual wear that consisted of a peach, low-collared shirt with long sleeves and a beige skirt, with a necklace around her neck and knee-high brown-leather boots.
And to her left, a boy Narumi's age sat with his arms folded and his eyes closed. With his eyes closed, it looked like the area around them, were just black patches; which seemed kind of threatening. His hair was a maroon red, and to match he wore a shirt of the same colour, along with dark-green trousers.
Standing nearby with his chunky headphones on, stood a boy with light brown hair and a big nose, wearing a black hooded jacket with some sort of explicit motif printed on the front, along with scruffy looking jeans that had holes in them.
These two boys were Temari's little brothers, Gaara and Kankurou, who attended her school as well. Gaara was relatively familiar to Narumi, but Kankurou in contrast (who never really socialised much,) was almost a stranger to her.
"Stop complaining, Narumi," Temari scolded her, not looking to her as she spoke. Shikamaru nodded,
"Yeah, you're annoying when you're like that. They'll be here any minute now, so calm down already." He agreed.
Narumi frowned at Shikamaru and Temari, "A match made in heaven, indeed." She thought to herself.
"Naru!!" came Kiba's voice and Narumi perked up.
"See? I told you, they'd be here any minute." Shikamaru commented.
"Oh, whatever!" she snapped at Shikamaru, irritated, "Kiba-kun! Sasuke! Nice to see you decided to show up," Narumi said with a big grin, putting her hands on her hips and watching as the two boys walked towards the group.
"Now that we're all here, who's up for a DDR competition!?" Kiba asked excitedly, clenching his fists. Narumi's hand shot to the air,
"I am!!" she chimed rather loudly. Sasuke sighed, putting his palm to his face,
"So loud... It's like they're trying to embarrass me on purpose." Sasuke thought, looking to the people who were in turn, staring at their group. Shikamaru was also thinking around about the same thing,
"Tone it down a little, would you? Troublesome," Shikamaru said, cleaning out his ear a little with a frown, "Anyway, count us out." He said and Kiba and Narumi turned around to face them.
"What!? So why did you even come with us, if you weren't going to join in??" Narumi asked. Shikamaru raised his eyebrow,
"Do I really strike you as the DDR kind of person?" he asked her calmly and Narumi sweat-dropped.
"Err..." she trailed off.
"Besides, I've got an interview to attend right now." Shikamaru said, sounding sarcastic and rolling his eyes. Narumi, Sasuke and Kiba raised their eyebrows at him questioningly.
"Don't phrase it like that, Shikamaru-kun..!" Temari sighed irritably, "Look, it isn't my fault if my little brothers want to watch over us on our date." She said, putting her hands on her hips. Narumi gasped,
"A date..?!" she asked excitedly. Shikamaru sighed miserably, hanging over his torso, as Gaara and Kankurou got up and joined them.
"That's right. Their first date... And their last one, if he doesn't pass the test!" Kankurou said with a smirk. Gaara merely nodded his head without a word, in agreement.
-
Temari-senpai's little brothers, Gaara and Kankurou. I don't really know Kankurou very well, but as for Gaara? He's cool; a bit on the weird and quiet side, but still pretty cool. A lot of people tend to avoid him, from what I heard; it's probably because of those rings around his eyes (which none of us know the reason for... does he have insomnia problems?) and his un-talkative-ness.
But despite all that, he's a nice guy and he cares about what happens to his brother and sister... And he's really understanding, too; A good listener.
As for Kankurou, all I know is that Shika's in for a real challenge, winning this guy's approval over. He's as stubborn as a mule, and Shika doesn't have much motivation as it is!
Heheh. Good luck, Shika. You're gonna need it!
-
Temari sighed at her brothers' words, and waved Kiba, Narumi and Sasuke off, "So you guys go on in without us, and have fun.. See you some other time, maybe." She said to them.
Sasuke ignored her, and looked away, while Kiba shrugged and nodded, and Narumi mock-saluted. She grinned,
"Shika, call me later to let me know if you're still alive!" she said with a teasing tone. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and nodded. Narumi grabbed her fellow DDR-competitors arms and tugged them inside the arcade, "See you later, guys!" she called to Shikamaru and the Sabaku siblings before disappearing inside.
Shikamaru waved weakly, then felt Kankurou's rough hand on his shoulder and looked to him.
"Let's find somewhere to eat first!" he said with a smile that looked quite angry, instead of the expected happiness or excitement that a smile usually meant.
"What a drag... It's like 'Meet the parents'." Shikamaru thought, gulping, "Sure..." he said nevertheless.
Around ten minutes later, Shikamaru, Temari, Kankurou and Gaara were standing together near a cafe. Kankurou stepped a bit ahead of them, folded his arms, and looked around a bit, before spotting a menu and grinning. He turned to Shikamaru,
"Oi, Nara! I'm thirsty!" he said and Shikamaru looked to him with surprise.
"So, buy something to drink, then." Shikamaru shrugged. Kankurou smirked,
"Would you ask Temari-nee to pay for her own drink, if she was thirsty, too? How not-gentleman-like! Minus 5 points," he said. Shikamaru stared at him a moment,
"You've gotta be kidding me..." he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose, "Of course. Temari wouldn't want me to pay for her drink. She's independent, has her own part-time job and she likes to use the money she gets from that. Why should I force her to do otherwise?" he asked Kankurou. Temari grinned at Shikamaru, and folded her arms,
"He's right, Kankurou." She told her brother. Kankurou snorted indignantly,
"Whatever! Since I came down here out of the goodness of my heart just to watch over you guys, the least you could do is pay me back. Get me some Aiza cola!" he said, pointing to the menu. Shikamaru looked at the price on the menu, and groaned,
"Eh? But that's the most expensive kind that you can get. What a drag," he looked to Temari for support. Temari put her hands together and asked him to try to put up with him. Shikamaru just sighed and began bringing out his wallet.
Kankurou turned to his little brother,
"Gaara! You're thirsty too, aren't y-" he paused when he spotted Gaara staring point-blank at him with zero emotion showing (like usual). Kankurou sweat-dropped, "G—Gaara... You're doing that staring thing again. It's freaking me out...!" he said and Gaara finally blinked.
"Oh..." he turned to Shikamaru, "I'll just have a glass of mineral water, please." He nodded his head briefly, asking for the cheapest drink on the menu. Kankurou sighed,
"Looks like Gaara's not on my side, then. Why did I expect him to help, anyway?" he wondered to himself.
The song 'Love, Love Shine' came to a close, and Narumi leaned back against the support railing, letting out a breath of relief. Over on the opponent's stage, Sasuke leaned on the support railing in front of him, panting lightly and scowling. Behind them, Kiba began laughing,
"Ah, it's too bad, eh Sasuke? Losing to a girl again, that is! Hahahah!" Kiba held his stomach as he laughed. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to glare heatedly at him.
Narumi laughed, "Aw, don't let it get to ya, Sasuke. I am Tokyo's DDR champ' after all!" Narumi said, bragging. Sasuke turned his glare to her, and shook it off after a moment,
"Hn, whatever. I'm going to get a drink." Sasuke said, walking away from them with his hands in his pockets.
"Running away...?" Kiba asked, grinning impishly. Sasuke paused in his departure to twitch involuntarily, and then continued walking without a word, a scowl now on his face.
Narumi laughed, and looked to Kiba,
"You're really mean to Sasuke, you know that?" she asked him. Kiba raised his eyebrows at her, then shrugged,
"Eh! It's a guy thing, Naru'." He replied. Narumi shrugged,
"So, do you wanna go against me? You've been watching me kick Sasuke's ass for twenty minutes now." Narumi offered. Kiba gulped, and raised his hands,
"Err, no thanks." Kiba said, "I am not getting myself embarrassed, losing to you, Naru'. No way in hell." He thought.
"So, how was your first day?"
Kakashi looked up from putting his keys in his small green car to see someone familiar standing nearby, leaning onto a black and silver motorbike. Her dark-raven hair hung over her sharp hazel eyes, her lips quirked into a familial smirk. She was dressed in a black mini-skirt and corset-like shirt with a beige jacket over it, a necklace with a shark-tooth hanging from it around her neck.
"Oh, hello Anko-san." Kakashi nodded.
Anko pushed herself off of her motorbike and strolled over to his side as he opened the door to his car, "What a great greeting... So, your day. How was it?" she asked again, leaning her arm on his car.
"Hmm. It's peaceful enough so far. Nothing out of the ordinary. It's just like any other highschool." Kakashi said.
"And have you met her yet?" asked Anko interestedly.
"Ah, yes. Just as planned, I'm her home-room sensei. She has a few friends so she's doing well," Kakashi agreed. Anko nodded a few times, then sighed heavily,
"It's so boring without you around! You should've never took this job; you were better at the job you used to have." Anko poked Kakashi's arm roughly, frowning at him.
"Hm. Is that so?" Kakashi blinked, "I'm doing fine where I am right now. We always have the evening to hang out, if that's what you were after." He said.
Anko smirked,
"Then, let's hang out right now!" Anko said. Kakashi blinked,
"Huh? Where?" he asked. Anko laughed,
"Ha! Where! At 'Dingo Dango', of course!" she said, thrusting a thumb in another direction. Kakashi ran his hand through his hair,
"Ah, of course. I should have known that." He nodded.
"Let's go, then!" Anko said.
"Right." Nodded Kakashi.
Pretty soon, everyone was done with what they'd come downtown for; Shikamaru and the Sabaku siblings had returned from the 'interview', and Narumi had challenged just about any willing competitor she could find at the arcade and won them all. Thanks to her little DDR-craze, though, her legs were now pretty much useless.
She rode on the back of her unwilling steed, Sasuke, grinning and waving at Shikamaru.
"I guess you don't need to call me about it anymore. How'd your big date go?" Narumi asked Shikamaru, who grumbled. He held up his now empty wallet with a sour look,
"How do you think it went? I was saving up money for a new IPod. What a drag..." he said, shaking the empty wallet to demonstrate the lack of money. Temari chuckled, and roughly patted her boyfriend's shoulder,
"Sorry about that, Shikamaru-kun. Thanks for putting up with it," she said with a smirk.
"Your brother has expensive taste in food and entertainment." Shikamaru commented with a frown, glancing at the two younger siblings of Temari, "Kankurou I mean." He added, flinching under the questioning gaze of her red-headed brother.
"Giving up, already? You quitter. If you want to date my sister, you have to have the resolve." Kankurou folded his arms.
"He's like the classic case of stubborn and protective relative..." Shikamaru thought tiredly, "I never said I was giving up. I gave too much effort to tell Temari that I like her." He said to Kankurou and Temari blushed discreetly.
Kankurou frowned, "We're going home, Temari. Gaara, you coming?" he asked, turning on his way. Gaara followed mutely, shaking his head disapprovingly at his brother. Temari nodded,
"I'll be there in a second," she said, and turned to Shikamaru, grinning, "Thanks for today. Maybe next time we can be by ourselves, and go to that hill of yours to watch some clouds." She suggested to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru's lips quirked to a smile, "I'd like that." He nodded to Temari, "Talk to you soon," he waved lightly to her. Temari nodded, and thought for a second. She then smirked, and went closer to him. "What are you-? Oh..." Shikamaru trailed off, surprised as Temari withdrew from pecking him lightly on the cheek.
Temari then jogged away to catch up with her brothers, leaving Shikamaru to feel his cheek with a surprised expression.
After a moment's silence, Narumi couldn't take it anymore, and spoke up,
"Oooo! Way to go, Shika! You old dog, you!" Narumi cheered, flailing in Sasuke's grip as he tried to keep a hold of her.
"Oi! Stop that, or I'm putting you down!" Sasuke gasped at her, gritting his teeth frustratedly.
Shikamaru turned to them with his hands now in his pockets, "Why are you carrying her, anyway?" he asked them.
Kiba laughed, "The loser had to carry the winner home." He explained. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows, surprised that oh-so-perfect Uchiha Sasuke had lost at something. He'd mention it to the fan girls but their reactions would be too annoying.
"I see. Well, I've got to go if I want to catch the last bus to my place. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Shikamaru said, waving lightly before pocketing his hands and walking past the three friends.
"See you tomorrow, Shika!" Narumi waved and Sasuke struggled to keep a hold of her again.
"Let's go home!" Kiba announced, and Sasuke and Narumi nodded. The three began on their way home together.
...to be continued!
NOTE-
1. Japanese Tennis Clubs: I read about it a little, and apparently, freshmen ('kohai') can't participate in actual games. They mostly look after the balls and rackets, watch their senpai play, and maybe have games with each other if their upper-classmen aren't around. People who watch Prince of Tennis will know better than me, of course.
2. "Love, Love Shine" by Riyu Kosaka. It's the only DDR-like song I could think of. Maybe we'll have more DDR fun later; if you guys can help me out with finding DDR songs, that is.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.