Author's Note: WHOOT! Parteh, man! I cleared 50 reviews! And 3,000 hits! I love you guys TToTT Also, a lot of you guys apparently liked the whole Neji vs. Sasuke thing. I'll try my best to make my fighting scenes live up to your expectations!
Disclaimer: A wise man once said that Labbess should own Naruto
Sasuke: Yeah, but I bet that man wasn't Kishimoto
Me: Don't you have a fight or something?
"Now we're definitely lost!" Ino growled at Sakura, pointing accusingly. "And all because of your stupid made-up jutsu!"
"Hey, don't diss the Haruno jutsu! That's been passed down for generations!"
"Um… Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked quietly, tugging on her comrade's sleeve.
"Yeah?" Kiba's eyes lit up at the attention; anything was better than a catfight… Well, that catfight. Hinata looked about nervously and cupped her hand around her mouth, and Kiba had to bend down slightly to hear her well enough.
"Um, um… W-we've been going in the wrong direction f-for twenty minutes…" Hinata chewed at her lip self-consciously, and then added, "I was t-tracking the outside with m-my Byakugan…" Now, had it been anyone else, someone might've yelled at the poor girl for not saying something earlier! However, seeing as though it was Hinata, anyone with a heart would say…
"Wow, Hinata! You're so smart!" Ino exclaimed once she was settled down enough to listen.
"Isn't she?" Kiba asked, seeming excited for no real apparent reason.
"Why didn't she just tell us that earlier?" Sakura whined. See? No heart. "Then we wouldn't have wasted so much time!"
"Well, someone wanted to use their stupid jutsu!" Ino snapped.
"It's not stupid!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Shut up…"
"Well, you shut u–– Huh?" The group turned to face none other than the man of the hour, Shino himself.
"Sh-Shino! How long have you been standing there?" Ino exclaimed, clearly suffering from heart attack-like symptoms.
"Oh, he's been here for about two minutes," Kiba said, wiggling his nose slightly. "No, wait, make that three… no… We'll just say two and a half?"
"Why didn't you tell us, Kiba?" Sakura asked, throwing her hands up into the air. "Is your entire team lacking in the communication department?" She and Ino stared at Team 8, composed of a dog, an Aburame who rarely spoke, a shy, stuttering Hyuuga, and the over-excited Inuzuka. That pretty much answered the question.
"Can I ask… why all of you are trespassing on my family's property?" Shino muttered in a steely, emotionless voice.
"Well, see, it may sound crazy, but here's the idea…" Kiba began with a laugh, and then launched into the reason why they were all there in the first place.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"Hahaha–– This is hilarious! Where's a camera when you need one?" Naruto laughed, rolling around in the street while he held his sides. "Priceless! This is almost as good as the afro!"
"Naruto, enough," Tenten sighed as she toyed with one of her fallen weapons.
"But look at them!" Tenten did, and could not deny that what she saw was a rather pathetic if not amusing sight. She just didn't want to admit that and have two very angry, strong ninja on her tail later. But for now… She shook her head and placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Here's a little recap…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"Shishi Rendan!" Sasuke's foot neared ever closer to Neji's face, and in matter of moments the Hyuuga boy would find himself with a very nasty imprint. Not. Neji rolled to the side and thrust his hand upwards, knocking Sasuke away with a powerful force of chakra. The spiky, raven-crowned boy was tossed aside and skidded across the street briefly before flipping back onto his feet.
"What the heck?" He muttered, spitting out more blood and wiping his chin. He grasped his bruised side.
"Please! Everyone knows that's a knock-off of Lee's move." Neji smirked. "Care to remind me who has been training with and beaten Lee several times since Day 1?" Realization sparked in Sasuke's eyes.
"…oh," he managed, amazed at his own rare stupidity. The Uchiha hadn't seen that one coming, and now he was paying the price, pain shooting through him as Neji got into his stance again. On the upside…
Just wait 'til I get through with you… Do you have any idea how hard it is to make my hair look this good every stinkin' day? Alas, the crowning glory of the Hyuuga male was partially crisped and dirt clung to it, as well as it being matted with sweat. Not to mention burns and bruises elsewhere. Suddenly both boys' sharpened ninja senses told them to look up, but too late…
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The two were surrounded by Naruto clones, and instantly tried to fight their way out of the orange mass. However, they were so tired from fighting each other, it was no use…
"U! ZU! MA! KI!" Two clones attacked Sasuke and Neji. "Naruto Rendan!" Five minutes later, the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, and there lay Neji and Sasuke, bound with ropes and ducktape over their mouths, squirming pitifully. They'll never learn…
"Naruto!" Tenten managed after she got over the shock. She floundered for a second, but then added, "How long were you up in those trees?"
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"Hey! Look! The exit!" Sakura screeched with joy, running full blast to the rusty iron gates. "FREEDOM!"
"Is she… always like this?" Shino managed, pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose with his forefinger. Being less than social as he was he had probably already forgotten Sakura's name.
"Yes," everyone else deadpanned. "She is."
"So…" Ino mumbled, not looking directly at Shino. "Um…"
"…yes?" He asked, giving her a stoic, covered-up look.
"Nevermind!" Ino laughed, waving her hand in dismissal and marching out the creaky gates with the rest of the gang. Shino didn't even bother to give a response to that.
"OWWW!" Everyone looked up as they exited from the possibly haunted Aburame community to see Neji grasping his mouth and tearing up while Tenten held a piece of ducktape and tried to restrain Neji.
"See? Now what have we learned today?" She was saying when she caught sight of everybody and let the boy go immediately. "I mean, uh… Naruto, you idiot!"
"What'd I do? I mean, other than get out ducktape and–––OW! You hit like Sakura!" The blonde boy cried.
"What happened here? WAIT!" Sakura paused and sniffed the air, eyes almost glowing a scary red color.
"I smell… Sasuke," she croaked in a demented voice. "Where is he?"
"Um… that way?" Tenten pointed in a random direction, and to everyone's surprise, the pink-haired girl took off running and screaming some kind of high-pitched war whoop. Don't… don't ask…
"Wait, Sakura-chan! You always abandon me for Sasuke!" Naruto ran after the girl, clearly hurt.
"Well, that was––" Kiba began when Neji randomly took off running!
"I'll kill him!" was all that could be heard as the Hyuuga male took off at a dead sprint.
"Neji, what are you doing?" Tenten cried frantically, and of course she had to run after him. It was silent for a few minutes.
"D… don't let him h–hurt N–N–Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked pitifully and dashed after Tenten.
"Wha––Hinata!" Naturally Kiba had to chase after her, Akamaru close at his heels.
"G–– guys! Where are you…?" Ino trailed off and a gust of wind whisked off her words into silence. She spun around to Shino and stood there awkwardly.
"Uh…?" More silence. Finally Shino shrugged, turned, and started walking away.
"Hey, wait!" Ino ran up to catch up with him (apparently he covers distance well). "You can't leave me!"
"Why… not?"
"Because we have to go on a date!" Ino yelled, fists clenched. Seriously, couldn't anyone do anything right today? Shino stopped and stared in surprise, although Ino couldn't tell one of his emotions from the other, but turned away and continued walking again.
"Hey! I thought I told you–––"
"You don't want to date me. Trust me," he cut her off quickly. It was Ino's turn to be surprised.
"Wha…?"
"You don't want to date me. I know. You don't have to." He took a breath. "I'll tell Sakura we went somewhere… Now if you'll excuse me, I have some errands to run." Ino stood there, dumbfounded… and guilty. Had she just sensed sadness? The blonde shook her head. It didn't matter. Yamanaka Ino, soon to be Uchiha Ino, did not back down from a challenge, even if it meant biting the bullet sometimes…
"Hey!" Ino ran up to him and suddenly grabbed the boy's hand, looking all the world like the stubborn boar she was.
"What are you–––?" Shino tried to pull away, but her grip was tight.
"I said we were going on a date, didn't I?" Ino grinned, confusing Shino even more than he was already. "Now what were those errands you had to do?"
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"Agh! I missed it again!" Ino cried as she hopped about.
"You might… want to start at the lower branches," Shino said as he plucked a few leaves off the tree in front of him.
"But… you said that the best leaves are farther away! I can't let those bugs have a mediocre meal just because I'm lazy!" Ino jumped and barely was able to balance herself on the tree branch.
"Be careful," Shino warned, still wondering why the girl had decided to join him in the first place. He looked at his hand briefly, still a bit stunned, and then looked back at Ino.
"Almost… there…" Ino swung up, dropping leaves as she went which Shino hastily collected.
"I don't think…"
"Ha! Here we go!" Ino cried triumphantly, bouncing from tree limb to tree limb. "Wow, I didn't think I went so––––hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh!" Ino slipped on one of the branches and found herself hurtling towards the ground. Bracing herself, the girl tried to make a handseal with her hands to concentrate her chakra flow to her feet, but it was no good. Whumf!
"O–ow…" Ino rubbed her head and opened one eyes, flinching. For some reason she hadn't been completely flatten–––
"Do you…mind?" Came a murmur from underneath her.
"Sh–Shino!" Ino blushed and got up immediately, dusting herself off. She offered him a hand up, which he accepted.
"Omigosh, I am so sorry! I was in the tree and it–– and then––" Ino found herself turning red under the cool gaze of the boy. "Um, yeah…" Suddenly Ino began to giggle. It started out small and hidden, but as she grew more and more aware of the situation she ended up laughing out loud. Eventually she found that all her embarrassment had slipped away.
"Sor… sorry…" She managed at last as she wiped a tear from her eyes. "
"It's…" The boy paused, then added, "Are you… okay?" Instead of waiting for a response Shino pushed up his sunglasses and picked up the bag of leaves.
"Yeah, anyways…" Ino cleared her throat. "Um… thanks. Sorry about that." Shino shrugged.
"I need to get these to the bugs," he said.
"Right!" Ino nodded. "Your cousin's bug collection. I haven't forgotten. Here." She picked up part of the bag.
"You don't need–––"
"Geez, this thing is heavy!" Ino grunted slightly. "How many leaves did we get?"
"You don't need to help me with it." Ino stared at Shino for a moment, then laughed again.
"Of course I need to help you with it! You can't go through life doing everything on your own." Shino blinked behind his dark glasses. Had she just…? She looked away. This was all so strange… she was very strange. The Aburame boy glanced in her direction again, and sighed. This was going to be a long day after all.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"…and that should be the last one!" Ino breathed with relief, placing the leaves inside the caterpillars' cage. "Wow… One day they'll be butterflies…"
"Monarch butterflies… to be exact," the little girl who was dressed rather similarly to Shino muttered.
"Really? I'm afraid I don't know a lot about insects." The child made a gasping noise then covered it up with a yawn.
"Momoka, I think it's time for your nap," Shino murmured from behind Ino.
"Oh…" The girl sighed and walked towards the house. "Thank you, Shino–niisan, Ino-san." She bowed before leaving the two. A hush came over the room filled with cages of insects.
"Your little cousin was really cute," Ino announced as they collected their things to leave once again. Shino shrugged it off. "I didn't know you helped out with that sort of thing."
"I'm… training to be the next clan leader," he admitted. "Helping out with the family…" He felt a little shy revealing this; he didn't tell things to many people.
"Really? That's awesome!" Ino replied enthusiastically as they stepped outside. "It really is a beautiful area once you know where to look."
"Healthy vegetation attracts insects…"
"Hey! That's right!" Ino snapped her fingers. "I know a ton of plants that attract different types of butterflies; maybe I can come over some time and plant them!" Shino was tempted to show his surprise, but instead he whispered, "That would be much appreciated."
"So it's a deal, then!" Ino smiled, holding out her hand. Shino glanced at it for a second warily, and then shook it lightly. "So, where to now?" Her companion pulled out his list of duties he had carried with them all day, and perused it quickly.
"I think… we've got everything done." He was about to put away the slip of paper again when Ino suddenly snatched it out of his hands.
"What's this?" She pointed to the last line that wasn't crossed out. "'Dancing Lights'… What's that?"
"Oh. You wouldn't… be interested in that," Shino mumbled as they came to the gates. "It's… far from here."
"No! I really want to know!" Ino insisted, startling even herself. "I mean… it sounds like a lot of fun…"
"It's not exactly what you would call fun…" Shino sighed as he took note of Ino's begging expression. "If you want to come, though…"
"YES!" Ino yelled, punching the air. Shino immediately hushed her; Aburames, after all, do not have a penchant for noise. Usually, anyways…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
"That was really good! Man, your mom can cook!" Ino sighed with satisfaction as she got up from finishing her bento. "That omelet especially… Hey, can you cook like that?" They ere walking along a pathway that seemed somehow familiar to Ino, but she couldn't place it.
"Occasionally," the ever–mysterious Shino replied. "We're almost there."
"Really? I'm so excited!" Ino squealed, and then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I'm a bit hyper."
"I see."
"Heh heh, yeah… It's kinda getting dark, isn't it? Geez, I didn't realize it was so late." Ino looked up, and was about to say something more when all of a sudden she gasped. "This… this is…" She blinked, and took in the sight. "This is the field of flowers Akamaru took me to!" She laughed in amazement.
"I knew Kiba was following me," Shino muttered to himself, but Ino didn't hear.
"This is fantastic!" The blonde girl ran into the blossoms and danced around. "They look even more beautiful at night!"
"I suppose…" Shino offered, then suddenly looked alert. "It's time."
"Time…?" Ino all of a sudden found herself surrounded by millions of glowing green lights coming up from the flowers, intermingling with the night sky. Shino walked over and stood beside the girl, taking in the sight.
"What… are they?" Ino managed.
"Fireflies," Shino whispered simply, as if saying any more would taint their beauty. The flecks of light continued to spin about the two, and it was a while before Ino was able to break the spell. Somehow, though, she managed to.
"Did… did you find this place?" Shino nodded. "What is it called?"
"Called?" The boy regarded his companion in a perplexed manner.
"Yeah. Doesn't it have a name?"
"Oh. Yes. It's called… " Shino took a breath. "Field of Dancing Lights." Immediately he turned away, apparently embarrassed at such a title.
"Field of Dancing Lights," Ino repeated, grinning. "That's beautiful. Very… poetic." Shino looked up.
"You… think so?"
"I know so," the girl assured him. The Aburame boy stood there quietly for a second, and then, unbeknownst to Ino, gave a secret, covered up smile. Quickly, however, it disappeared and he adjusted his glasses.
"Hey, look!" Ino shouted abruptly, pointing up to the velvety star-studded heavens. "A shooting star! Make a wish!" Instantly Ino's eyes were closed as she did just that, whatever her wish was, she seemed earnest about it. Shino blinked as the white ball blazed above him, knowing he only had a few seconds. Taking a breath, the boy closed his eyes and wished. There was a peace that fell in upon the field.
"Should I… tell you what I wished for?" Shino asked awkwardly, clearly unused to that sort of thing. Ino gasped in horror.
"NO! Absolutely not!" Shino was taken aback at her intensity. "You can't ever do that! Then it won't come true."
"…oh." Shino thought for a moment. "Am I… allowed to think about it?"
"Of course," Ino giggled. "Yes. Think about telling it to me." She smiled. "Maybe one day both our wishes will come true?"
"Maybe," Shino agreed, but in his head he was saying something else. He could picture it clearly.
"Shino, what did you wish for?" Ino was asking, the same smile upon her lips.
"Well…" He answered, hesitant.
"Please?"
"I suppose…" He took an inner breath. "I wished… for many more nights, just like this one. With you."
Sorry, I know it's kind of a sappy ending, but I thought it would be okay because it was Shino, and he just rules. Are you guys ready for Chouji, who's next chapter (I'm assuming you guys all figured that out)? I'll be working on it! You guys just read and review. Until next chapter…
