In which pranks lead to heat
Candlelight flickered on the table, as spurts of laughter and conversation surrounded the table. As darkness fell like a velvet cape over the sky, a cheery atmosphere enveloped the Hyuuga Mansion. Food was served, exclamations resounded, and delightful jokes were made.
And of course, our two little pranksters were glaring at each other the whole time.
"I think I should go get the first course," Hiashi announced, getting up.
Neji stood up as well , and smiled grimly at his mother. " That's alright , mother. I'll get it for you!"
As he walked into the kitchen, he grabbed the serving plate from the cook and sprinkled mounds of salt on one of the plates. He used a bit of genjutsu to make sure the plate went to TenTen.
Then he took a glass of water and filled it with vinegar. He then mixed it thoroughly with water and spelled it as well, to make sure it went to TenTen. One of his cousins, Hanabi, came in and grabbed the other plates as well.
They walked into the dining room, and everyone started to clap as they set the plates down. TenTen resumed her glaring at Neji and Neji settled into his seat, glaring as well, but a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
"Here you go!" Hiashi said cheerfully as she passed around the plates. TenTen grabbed a plate and a glass of water and Neji stared at her out of the corner of her eye. This was going to be good...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ino yawned as she settled down on the couch. Takashi had asked her if she had wanted to come, but she declined, saying she wanted to stay at home. She had ignored TenTen's pleading looks and before TenTen had left, Ino left her with some advice.
"Never accept ANYTHING Neji gives you alright?"
She hoped that TenTen was going to have a -cough- uneventful dinner.
She leaned back against the cushions and grabbed the remote control as she flipped through the channels. Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Who would it be at this time?" she mumbled as she got up from her rather comfy position and stalked over to open the door.
Suddenly a crash of thunder sounded as her fingers touched the doorknob. Ino jerked back, her eyes wide. She peered out the window and gasped
"It's not even raining! There are no clouds! So why is there thunder?"
Suddenly all the lights flickered out in the house. Ino let out a stifled shriek as the doorbell rang again.
"Don't worry, something must be wrong with the electrical circuit, you can check later, don't worry..." She repeated as she opened the door, ever so slowly.
The door creaked, (which she was absolutely sure it didn't, because Takashi had oiled the hinges just yesterday) and standing before her was a huge scarecrow, shadowed by the dark.
"AHHH!" Ino screeched and stumbled away, but the scarecrow had opened it's mouth and green ooze spurted out, hitting her on her chest, stomach and face.
"EWWWWW! AHHHHHH! EWWWWWWWW!" She yelped, not sure which one scared her most. The scarecrow began to laugh, it's body shadowed and it's laugh haunting and deep.
But as Ino inched away, her breathing fast, her heart thumping against her chest, it's beats pounding against her throbbing ears, the scarecrows laughs began to sound more human, not deep and haunting anymore, and the thunder was gone, even though the lights were still cut down.
The laugh was familiar... She had heard it waaaaaay too many times...
"SHIKAMARU?" she screeched.
The scarecrow burst into more laughter as it pulled it's head off and there, with flashing, mysterious black eyes and hair stood Shikamaru Nara, the master prankster of all time.
"HA! You should have seen your face! Oh my god, that was soooooo funny!" Shikamaru gasped through fits of laughter.
Ino growled. "That is so not funny! You scared me half to death!"
Shikamaru just gasped for breath as he took off the scarecrow clothes, dressed in khaki pants and a blue shirt. He just grinned as Ino tried to calm her pounding heart.
"How the hell did you do that? Why did you do that? Most importantly, you are going to be DEAD when I'm done with you!" Ino screamed as she leapt at Shikamaru trying to land a punch.
Shikamaru just grabbed her around the waist and swung her inside the dark house and closed the door. Ino couldn't see Shikamaru and could only feel his hands around her waist. It gave her a fluttery feeling deep inside her chest, but the feeling that was dominating her right now was her ego and Shikamaru sure as hell deflated it!
"Let me go, Shikamaru and GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" she yelled.
Shikamaru laughed.
"Fine! Bye!" he said and his hands left her waist and she could hear his step as he went to the door. The door clicked shut.
"Thank you, God!" she muttered. "What the hell was that fool thinking? I swear, he's going to get it tomorrow!"
She began to walk carefully, through the hallways, putting one foot ahead of the other, trying to find the kitchen. She knew that in one of the cupboards, there were some candles.
"Damn!" she swore as she nearly ran into a vase. She stumbled away from it and she could hear her head crack as she stumbled against the table and hit her head against the edge.
She fell to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw was worried black eyes swirling around in her sight and soft words, "Ino? Ino, speak to me!"
Drowsily, she mumbled, "Shikamaru...my Shikamaru..."and slipped off into darkness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Hiashi rose his glass and clinked it with his fork. The table quieted as he spoke.
"Here's a toast to the new (a/n: Insert last name of your choice here) family! Welcome to the neighborhood!"
Takashi grinned as everyone clinked their own glasses. Hiashi grinned. "Time to eat!"
Everyone dug into their food eagerly and TenTen took a spoonful of her food. As she ate, a disgusting taste filled her mouth and she nearly gagged.
"Is something wrong?" Takashi whispered at TenTen. TenTen shook her head and reluctantly ate another piece. This time, it was too much. With a "Yuck!" she spit out the food into her napkin.
Everyone at the table quieted. "What's wrong, TenTen?" Hiashi asked. Neji could not hide the smirk growing on his face.
TenTen shook her red face. "Nothing, Nothing, I just need some water..." She grabbed her class and downed it quickly. NOW, her face turned pale and quickly shifted into a sickly green as she raced for the washroom. Miraculously, she found it and they could hear her –ahem- emptying her guts.
Neji had to hide his snigger by turning it into a cough as everyone leapt from the table to find out if TenTen was okay.
As TenTen walked in, pale and angry, Neji leaned back against his chair and said to no one in particular, "Great food, isn't it?"
TenTen nearly leapt at him in her fury, but a warning glance from Neji stopped her. She dropped into her chair. Time for REVENGE!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
All she woke up to was a splitting headache. A blur of light hovered over her as she groaned from pain. Clutching her throbbing head, she tried to rise.
She found that she was on a couch, her head hurt badly, everything was dark, there was two candles in front of her and a black haired boy was standing next to her saying, "Ino, love, I was worried sick!"
Well actually, no.
This BLACK HAIRED BOY was sitting on the couch, leaned back and popping a can of coke, watching the basketball game on the T.V.
"Oh, he just missed it! By like one inch! Oh, god, why'd you have to send him out! He didn't foul, that other player ran into him! Oh my god, they're going to score. Score, Score... THEY SCORED!" He jumped up, spilling coke all over Ino.
"AHHHHH!" she screamed as Shikamaru jumped from the surprise.
"Oh...hehe...your awake..." Shikamaru stuttered.
Ino narrowed her eyes. "Like you'd even care."
Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest and Ino got up growling under her breath.
"You are the worst person on EARTH, Shikamaru! Just go to hell, and give us all a break!" she said venomously as she trotted towards the kitchen, blinking to hold off a headache. The throbbing seemed to have died down, but she could feel a pulsing ache at the top of her head.
Great. She was pranked by Shikamaru, the lights went out, smacked her head on the corner of a table, and woke up to Shikamaru spilling coke on her. Just a great evening, wasn't it?
Shikamaru rushed up to her. "Look, I'm sorry, alright?"
Ino ignored him, as she headed for the garage. The moon was shining high as she opened the garage, looking for the power circuit. Annoyingly, Shikamaru was right behind her, helping her open the garage, helping her pick her way through all the tools and bikes..
Ino stared at him, confusedly. Was he trying to apologize for the way he treated her? Well, he may have actually changed!
Ino shook her head in confusedness as she opened the power circuit... suddenly, a huge splash of the same green ooze that Shikamaru had squirted at her, splattered onto her. She leapt back, screeching in horror. As she finally regained her senses, she could hear Shikamaru laughing his head off.
"Oh, the old tricks...always the best!" Shikamaru sputtered. Ino was now through. She hated his guts!
"Look, Shikamaru." she said through clenched teeth, the tone of her voice commanding attention.
"I do not want to put up with your pranks. I have no idea why your here. You're making my life hell ever since I came to Konoha and I don't know why I bother with you. Don't you ever feel guilty the way you treat others? Get your act together and leave, because I NEVER want to see your face again!"
Shikamaru stood there, illuminated by the moon through her whole speech. His expression was serious as he turned around. Ino sighed. Wow. She never thought she had it in her...
All of a sudden a hand grabbed hers and swung her in a circle making her squeal in horror as she twirled and landed against someone's chest. Looking up slowly, she met the intense eyes of Shikamaru.
"I still want to see you, my Ino. I still want to see you..." he whispered, his voice deep and thorough. She shivered as he swung her away from him and his hand let go of hers, his footsteps resounding in the dark as he walked away.
Ino was left with a pounding heart and the feel of Shikamaru's body against hers still around her. She had to breath a couple of times before she could feel slightly normal again.
She bent down and touched the green ooze and smiled slightly. Shikamaru Nara...the master of pranks...
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
TenTen smiled as dessert came riding in. After her vinegar and salt accident, she was nearly on the edge of rage. She was going to make sure that smirking Hyuuga boy went down!
She smiled as Hiashi announced, "Vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, people! Hope you like it! There will be some apple pie for others who don't want it! Alright?"
Everyone just squealed at Hiashi's announcement and dug into their ice cream. TenTen leaned back evilly, watching as Neji poured huge amounts of chocolate syrup onto his ice cream. He looked at his ice cream strangely, but shrugging, he took a huge spoonful and swallowed it all.
TenTen snickered as she watched Neji's face. It turned pale first.
Then purple.
Then blue.
Then red.
Then green.
And he leapt up, running for the washroom as well. Everyone stared at each other wide eyed as they could hear Neji emptying his guts as well.
"Twice? In a day?" Hiashi muttered as everyone raced over to the hallway to check if Neji was okay.
TenTen leaned back in her chair. Life was good. After switching the syrup bottle, with another filled with mud and water, carefully mixed to look like chocolate syrup, she knew that Neji would be livid.
And livid he was! Neji came back, a dark red aura around him, looking like he wanted to rip out TenTen's throat.
Hiashi coughed as they all settled down, finishing their desserts subdued. He cleared he throat and said with his eyes on TenTen and Neji.
"I am so sorry for tonight's events. I have no idea how such...events could've happened. I hope that you will forgive us..." he trailed off, his face ashamed.
Takashi quickly rose. "No, no, we had a wonderful time! I loved the food, and my family loved the variety! We are lucky to have you as neighbors."
TenTen and Neji both held back a grimace. Lucky? Yeah, right!
As Takashi and Hiashi talked, the whole family jumped as they could hear music coming from the front parlor.
Hiashi grinned. "How 'bout some dancing?"
Neji's cousins began to giggle, as some guys walked in and took their arm. TenTen stared at them confused. Where did they come from? Were they servants? Or friends? Or what?
Takuro growled. "Dance? Where did this come in? Our plan was to have dinner, leave and we're all happy!"
TenTen nodded, her face scrunching up as the Hyuuga's spread out around the ballroom.
Hiashi suddenly winked at Neji and pointed towards TenTen. Neji stared at her, with full, complete horror. He shook his head as hard as he could, but Hiashi gave him a stern glance and Neji's heart dropped.
Neji turned as slow as he could to TenTen who stood on the sidelines with her brother. He went up to her and muttered, "I have to dance with you..."
TenTen stared at him, wondering if he was talking to her. "Huh?'
Neji glared at her. "I have to dance with you, are you deaf?"
TenTen glared back. "Shut up, you complete asshole, I am so not..." but then she stopped, seeing the look on Takashi's face, "...going to wait around here, I'm going to dance! Let's dance!" she said with fake enthusiasm.
Neji grew wary, as TenTen reluctantly took his hand, making sure they were only touching fingers as he led her out to the center. Hoping for a fast song, he waited for the next song to come. Suddenly, a romantic slow love song came on and both TenTen and Neji groaned.
"No..." they both whined.
Carefully, Neji put his hands on her waist and TenTen put her hands on his shoulders. They danced with a feet of distance between them, glaring at each other the whole time.
"You know, this whole prankster business could've been totally avoided if you had kept you trap shut and didn't try to diss me up!" TenTen muttered, angrily.
Neji gaped at her. "Right. Your the one who called me, and let me quote,'self indulged idiot.'"
TenTen huffed, disbelieving. "Really. So the time you took me and Ino's underwear and posted it on the flag pole was just 'payback' for me calling you a 'self indulged idiot.'"
Neji nodded. "Yeah! And remember today? You squirted red paint at me!"
"You put vinegar and salt in my food!"
"You switched the chocolate syrup with mud!"
"You are so going to get it, Neji!"
"You are going down, TenTen!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
As this fight was going, they were totally unaware that they had moved so close, their noses were almost touching and their bodies were squished together. The music stopped and everyone started to clap at the pair.
TenTen and Neji stared at each other, horrified, then at the crowd, then at their position and leaped away from each other.
"EWWWWWWWW! COOTIES!" They screeched and everyone sweat dropped. The night really was eventful for our hero and heroine, oh and for Shikamaru and Ino as well. The heat is rising, very Veeeeerrrry quickly! Better put it out before out characters do something they regret! Like...fall in love!
Ew! Cooties!
Omgshness! I'm sooooooooo sorry I haven't updater in a while...
It's just...I didn't feel like writing
XD
And guess what's on Wednesday?
MY BIRTHDAY!
WOOOOOOOOOOO!
