Chapter Four;
It was three days after the Naomi incident, and the first week of summer has passed. Currently, Evelynn had everyone gathered at one of the picnic benches. Shoto was sitting on the table, her feet in Gaara's lap who was sitting in front of her. He had his head in her lap. Deidara was sitting beside Gaara with his back against the table, and Mira pulled into his lap Mira, of course, was blushing slightly. Sasori was sitting on the ground, cross legged, at Deidara's feet. Kiba and Sayuri were sitting, rather close, together on the other side of the table. Kiba was fiddling with his iPod, and Sayuri had her head on her arms, which were crossed on the table. Evelynn was standing in front of them. Hands on her hips, and a determined grin on her face.
"We're going to the zoo!" Evelynn informed them.
"The zoo is a place for children, Evelynn." Sasori sighed. Evelynn frowned.
"No. Tonight the zoo is doing a night time treasure hunt. So, we're going to go now, and then hang around for the night to participate." Evelynn explained.
"That's not a half bad idea, un." Deidara commented. A few of the others nodded.
"Good!" Evelynn exclaimed. "Then go and get a small bag packed. We'll meet at the parking lot in thirty minutes!"
With that, everyone took off to their own apartments. They each packed a small messenger bag with water bottles, snacks, flashlights, and most of them brought their iPods. It was an hour long drive to the zoo, and most of them dreaded the long car ride. The only one's who didn't seem to mind the long drive was Sayuri, Shoto, Mira, Evelynn, and Kiba. So, I guess not most of them minded.. Whatever. They met up at the parking lot, and Evelynn looked around at everyone.
"Is Sasori the only one with a car?!" The red-headed woman exclaimed.
"Nah, I got a car." Kiba replied.
"Oh, good. Shoto and Gaara will ride with Sasori and myself. Deidara, Mira, and Sayuri can ride with Kiba." Evelynn ordered.
Shoto, Gaara, Deidara, and Sasori all rolled their eyes at Evelynn's demanding tone, but followed what she said. Sasori took the drivers seat, Evelynn slipped into the passengers, Shoto sat behind Sasori, and Gaara behind Evelynn. In Kiba's car he and Deidara took the front seats, Mira sat behind Kiba, and Sayuri behind Deidara. After making sure they had everything they took off for the zoo.
-Sasori's car-
About half way through the trip Evelynn started to get bored. When Evelynn gets bored bad things happen. So, to ease her boredom she started to taunt Sasori. After all, what a better way to entertain yourself than to agitate your boyfriend, right? In order to do this Evelynn was casually tossing peanuts at the side of his head.
"Will you cut it out?" Sasori growled, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"I wonder if I could make one get stuck in your ear?" Evelynn asked thoughtfully as she ignored him. She tossed another peanut, and it hit just outside his ear canal. Sasori rubbed his ear against his shoulder.
"Cut it out, Evelynn!" Sasori warned glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. In response Evelynn tossed another peanut, and hit him in said eye. "Dammit!"
Sasori turned to Evelynn, and grabbed one of her arms. Evelynn's eyes widened slightly.
"Sasori, the road!" Shoto snapped.
Almost as soon as Sasori took his hands off the wheel the car started to swerve. As he reached to grab Evelynn his arm hit the steering wheel, and they almost got ran off the road. Sasori quickly grabbed the wheel, steadied the car, and pulled over to the side of the road. Everyone was in shocked silence for a moment.
"Damn, Sasori, what are you trying to do? Kill us?!" Evelynn glared at the red-headed man. Slowly, Sasori turned to the woman beside him.
"Evelynn.." Sasori said in a very low, dark tone. "I.. Am going to kill you."
Once he said that Sasori was trying to leap into the passengers seat at Evelynn. The red-head woman let out a squeal, and opened her door, falling out of the car. Sasori crawled out after her. For twenty minutes Sasori chased her around the car. Kiba had parked his car on the side of the road behind Sasori's, and the four in his car watched the two in amusement. Finally, Sasori grabbed Evelynn around her waist, and pinned her against the passenger side door. Her back was against his chest as he leaned forward, and whispered into her ear.
"If you ever distract me like that while I am driving again I will burn every single guitar you own, and every single song you have ever written. Understand?" He hissed.
"S-sorry." Evelynn mumbled. Sasori let her go, and she looked up at him pitifully.
"Don't give me that look!" He snapped, crossing his arms. He looked away briefly, but when he glanced at her again she had tears in her eyes.
"Are you mad, 'Sori?" Evelynn asked quietly.
"Oh, no.. No, no, no. Don't even try that with me!" Sasori panicked.
"I just don't want you mad at me." Evelynn whispered as she took a step towards him. Sasori looked at her sad expression and sighed. He looked away, but opened his arms out to her. Evelynn wrapped her arms around his torso, and rested her chin against his chest. "Forgive me?"
"Evelynn.." Sasori looked down at her, sighed again, and then gently pressed his forehead against hers. "Forgiven."
"Good! Then, let's get going!" Evelynn declared as she pulled herself away from him, and jumped into the passengers seat. Sasori rubbed his temples, but went around and got into the drivers seat. Once again, they were off to their destination.
-Kiba's Car-
The four were driving silently. Kiba was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the music playing on the radio. Sayuri was laying in the back seat, her arms behind her head, and her feet in Mira's lap. Mira was bobbing her head slightly to the music playing in her headphones while staring our the window. Deidara was slouched in the passengers seat with his feet propped up on the dashboard.
"This might be fun, yeah." Deidara remarked.
"I wonder what the prize is?" Sayuri asked lazily while letting out a yawn.
"Probably something lame. Like a gift certificate to the zoo's gift shop or something." Kiba replied. "Thought I agree. It'll probably be fun to run around the zoo in the dark."
"How long is this going on anyways?" Sayuri asked.
"Ah, probably only a couple hours after they close. No doubt kids will be there, and the parents won't want them out too late." Kiba explained.
Sayuri nodded. Suddenly, Kiba pulled the car over.
"What the hell are they doing, un?" Deidara asked as he sat up.
Sayuri sat up as well, and Mira slid her headphones off her ear to around her neck. The two girls leaned forward until they were even with the two front seats. In front of them Sasori had pulled over, and he was now yelling at Evelynn while chasing her around his car. After about twenty minutes he caught her, pinned her against the car, and was whispering something to her. Evelynn looked slightly horrified, and when Sasori released her she turned to him with a pitiful look.
"I wonder what she did this time, hm?" Deidara inquired.
"I dunno, but Sasori looks pissed.. Well, he looked pissed." Kiba let out a laugh.
"How did she get him to suddenly cave like that?" Sayuri asked in amusement.
"E-evie had the b-best puppy dog e-eyes." Mira explained quietly. "Sh-she can get S-sasori to do a-anything if she give him th-that look."
"Ah." Sayuri nodded.
Once Sasori was back in his car and driving, Kiba pulled away, and followed him.
"So, does Evelynn always try to aggravate Sasori?" Sayuri asked.
"Every chance she gets, un." Deidara replied. Sayuri grinned. Slowly, she was learning to appreciate the eccentric Evelynn, shy Mira, cold Shoto, daring Kiba, calm Gaara, artistic Deidara, and impatient Sasori. What she didn't know is that they were also coming to appreciate the laid back Sayuri. Now, once again, they were headed off to the zoo.
-At the zoo-
The eight young adults all piled out of the car and stretched. Without hesitation Evelynn dragged them to the ticket booth. Deidara paid for his and Mira's, and Kiba insisted on paying for Sayuri's. Evelynn, Sasori, Shoto, and Gaara each paid for their own. Though Sasori and Gaara insisted on paying for them, Evelynn and Shoto just waved them away. Now, they were inside the zoo. It was about five in the afternoon, and the treasure hunt wouldn't begin until nine. So the eight companions decided to explore.
Mira loved the meerkats. Evelynn was fond of the tigers. Sasori enjoyed examining the scorpions. He even mentioned purchasing one eventually, but Evelynn shot that down quickly. Deidara dragged them all over to the birds of prey exhibit. There, they got to hold an owl on their arm. Mira almost fainted, because the owl fluttered it's wings and spooked her. Sayuri was particularly fond of the seals, and one of the zoo keepers even let her pet one. Kiba made sure they stopped at the wolf habitat. Gaara led them to the reptile house, where they were allowed to hold one of the garner snakes if they wanted. Shoto, Mira, and Deidara passed on that one. The final exhibit was Shoto's choice. She led them to a rainforest exhibit, and she seemed to admire the tiny lemurs the most.
At nine o' clock the zoo closed, and an announcement came over the loud speaker. Everyone was to meet in front of the lion habitat, and there they would be explained the rules. The eight young adults trooped over together. When they arrived there was one group of children, around eight years old, with their parents. Two groups of teenagers, and one group that seemed to be about the same age as Evelynn's group.
Two of the zoo keepers explained the rules. There were about one hundred paw prints on card scattered all over the zoo. Each team would be given two hours to find as many of he cards as they could. At midnight they would announce over the loud speakers it was time to come back to the lion habitat. Whoever collected the most paw prints would win a 'secret' prize. They weren't allowed to steal paw prints from other teams, and each team had to choose a name for their group.
"So, what do we call ourselves?" Evelynn asked.
"You mean you didn't think of something?" Sasori asked sarcastically.
"Shut the fuck up!" Evelynn hissed.
"What about 'Wolf Pack'?" Kiba suggested.
"That's kind of lame, un." Deidara commented. Kiba glared at him.
"How about Konoha Pride?" Shoto said calmly. "After a lions pride."
Everyone looked thoughtful.
"I like it." Evelynn grinned. The rest of them nodded.
The little children named their group 'the kittens'. Which everyone older than them found utterly adorable and amusing. One of the teenage group called themselves 'the cobras'. Evelynn muttered that it was lame. The other teenage group called themselves 'wolf pack'. Kiba scowled, and Deidara had to hold back a laugh. The other group of young adults called themselves 'team tiger'. When it came time for Evelynn's group Evelynn stood at the front of her friends, hands on her hips, and declared proudly;
"We're the Konoha Pride!"
With that the zoo keepers set up a timer, and the teams were off.
-Treasure hunt-
So far the hunt had been going on for an hour. Konoha's Pride had already found about twenty of the paw prints. Now, they were silently creeping past one of the monkey cages. Suddenly, Evelynn held out an arm, and pointed up into a tree that was near the exhibit.
"Look!" She whispered. (Why they were being so quiet, even they did not know.)
Up in the tree was one of the cards with a paw print on it. It was wedged between two of the branches. The tree wasn't very tall. Maybe about ten feet, and the branches were fairly thin.
"Look!" Evelynn whirled around to face her friends. "Deidara, climb on top of Sasori's shoulders. If you still can't reach it then I'll climb up on the both of you, and snag the card!"
"Or we could just climb. The. Tree." Sasori hissed quietly. "Instead of doing one of your insane schemes."
"We can't just climb the tree." Evelynn argued.
"She has a point." Sayuri cut in. "There's one of those fence things around it."
Sasori sighed, "Fine."
With a little difficulty, Kiba and Gaara helped hoist Deidara onto Sasori's shoulders. The two swayed a little bit, but kept their balance. Deidara stretched one arm up, his other holding onto Sasori's hair desperately. Much to the red-heads displeasure. Deidara stretched out as far as he could, but couldn't reach the card. Again, he and Sasori swayed dangerously.
"Watch it, Deidara! You're pulling my hair!" Sasori growled.
"Sorry, danna, un. I can't reach." Deidara apologized.
"Well, help me up there!" Evelynn instructed.
"Are you insane?!" Sasori snapped.
"Quit being a baby!" Evelynn scolded. "Kiba, Gaara, help me up. I'll climb up the both of them onto Deidara's shoulders and snatch the card up."
After sharing a look Kiba and Gaara grabbed either one of Evelynn's legs and lifted her up so she was about even with Sasori's shoulders. The red-headed woman reached up, and grabbed Deidara's shoulders. He and Sasori swayed dangerously, and Sayuri and Shoto grabbed onto either side of the boys. Both had one hand on Sasori, and the other on Deidara to keep them steady. Evelynn pulled herself up, and wrapped her legs around Deidara's back. She then proceeded to pull herself up, and onto his shoulders. The three of them swayed again, and Mira let out a squeak.
"B-be careful!" She whispered.
"Twenty dollars says they fall." Shoto smirked.
"We're fine." Evelynn waved a hand dismissively. Then, she reached up, and snagged the card from the branches. "Got it!"
In her victory Evelynn threw her arms in the air. When she did so the little human tower they created fell. Sasori landed on his stomach, Deidara landed across Sasori's back, and Evelynn landed, sitting, on Deidara's stomach.
"Ouch, un!" Deidara hissed.
"Ha ha.. Oops." Evelynn rubbed her head sheepishly. "You okay?"
"Fine, un." Deidara grinned.
"I'm not!" Sasori snapped. "Will you two get off of me?!"
"Oh, that's right." Evelynn said thoughtfully.
Her and Deidara got off Sasori, and Deidara helped him up. The red-head grumbled something about taking a vacation. Then, the friends were off to look for more paw prints. At Midnight the loud speakers came on, and everyone was instructed to head back to the lion's habitat.
Once they were there each team placed their cards on a stone bench. The Kittens only collected five cards, but the little children were proud of themselves nonetheless. The Cobra's collected ten cards. Wolf Pack collected fifteen. Team Tiger collected twenty-one. Konoha Pride won the contest by collected thirty-six. As Kiba guessed, they won a gift certificate for the gift shop at the zoo. Konoha pride handed over the certificate to The Kitten's. They children were ecstatic, and thanked the group with hugs. Then, everyone left to go home.
"Well, it was fun." Kiba remarked on the way to their cars.
"And we won, un!" Deidara added with a grin.
"That's because no one can beat the Konoha Pride!" Evelynn declared with a grin of her own.
There were murmurs of agreement and amusement. With that, everyone headed back to Konoha University. All of them knowing very well that Evelynn had much, much more in store for them.
A/N; Wow, sorry for the super late update.! After work I had to go grocery shopping. Ugh. I hate shopping. Terribly, terribly hate shopping. So, yeah.. Like, as soon as I got home I just dumped everything on the floor. It's still kind of just sitting there.. Waiting to be put away.. Hooray for laziness.! Anyways, review! Review your little hearts out.!