Of Hotels and Roommates Chapter 10: Three-Fourths Underground
Arigaku had ditched her outrageous shawl, autumn-print dress and heels for something more practical. Cargo shorts, buckle-up sandals and a short-sleeve T-shirt were what donned her body now. He hair was back into a simple ponytail and she had a small fanny sack attached to her side.
Slowly, she crept along the passage. Her hands glided across the wet stone walls, helping to guide her along. Small pools of water remained gathered on the channel floor, while beads of it rolled down the walls. The moisture in the air was so thick it landed on her body and dripped down at an immensely fast pace.
Reaching a seemingly random point on the walk, Arigaku stopped. She tapped the floor with her foot twice, then slapped her palm against the wall. The rocks beside her opened to reveal an adult human-sized hole. She dashed into the opening, leaving the doors to close promptly.
Kiba opened his eyes as best as he could. It was incredibly dark. He faced iron bars, and beyond that was the empty space. Strangely, he began to feel very claustrophobic.
The ground was slightly bumpy, and moist as well. Kiba's legs felt like jelly, and he tried to move his sleeping arms, but to no prevalence.
Kiba lifted his head and turned it to the right. Neji sat awake against the single rock wall (the rest being caged), perpendicular to Kiba, while Sasuke was opposite Neji and far away from Kiba, curled in a ball in the corner. As soon as Sasuke saw Kiba stir, the Uchiha ran over almost worriedly and grabbed onto the dog-charmer. "Are you ok?! Did anyone hurt you?"
"Don't touch me, man!"
"I was just seeing if you were ok…"
"That doesn't mean you need to touch me."
"Would you two kindly shut up? I've been trying for twenty minutes to break open these bars, but it appears that they are enforced with some type of special chakra. The rocks as well. This is making me so angry that I can't do anything! I just feel like punching something!" Neji put it, sounding slightly impatient, and causing Sasuke to let go of Kiba and run to the Hyuga.
"Don't do that, Neji! You might hurt yourself…"
"Whatever, Sasuke. The others are still asleep and it looks like they might be coming to soon. Why don't you go help them?" Neji suggested. Sasuke nodded vigorously before stepping beside Lee and Kiba. Neji fallowed behind Sasuke and speculated Lee carefully.
"No need to inspect me Sasuke. I have been awake before Neji, and have been assessing the situation," Lee announced, rolling onto his back from his stomach. Sasuke backed off from Lee, who was about to present a very analytical side of himself that the others had rarely heard.
"The way I look at it, either the others have found out about our currents states and are searching for us at this very moment, or they have been abducted as we have. I am curious as to why Sakura, Ino and Tenten are not with as. I am also taking a guess that Shino is not present because of his bugs' gas absorbency and breaking down techniques. I was informed of this superior skill weeks ago when I started a conversation with Shino himself," Lee finished, sounding every bit like Shikamaru, or in some cases, Shino. He then stared blankly at the ceiling, trying to think the situation over more and find any other possibilities for escape.
"Wow. That was deep, but it was really heard to take seriously while looking at your face." Choji said childishly, rolling over to face the rest of the group from his position on the other side of the entrapment.
"Why would you say that Choji? Lee never did anything to you," Sasuke said meekly. Choji stuck his tongue out and began to blow raspberries at the rest of them. Neji rolled his eyes, while Kiba said nothing.
Lee gave a disgusted look before continuing on with something else. "It has also come to my attention that we are all acting strangely out of character. Examples: Choji being childish and sticking his tongue out at us, and Sasuke's overly worried state of being. I have also noticed the Neji is rather impatient, and I have yet to figure anything out about Kiba, besides the fact that he does not wish to be touched by anyone."
"I don't know why I feel like this. It just came on all of a sudden. Being in this small cell is making me sick," Kiba provided, his expression portraying antipathy.
"Aa. You are showing symptoms of claustrophobia. In other words, you feel sick or nervous in small spaces," Lee observed. "Being close to people in those spaces is almost doubly-worse, and I am surprised that you have not started to vomit from the tension."
"I do feel like I'm going to throw up…"
"Well go over there! We don't want it on us!" Choji yelled, making a sour face. Sasuke gave a fleeting glance at Choji before moving over to the other side of the cage with Kiba, just to make sure he would be ok.
"Can you guys like, take a chill pill? Everything is fine! Totally…fine…" Kankuro had finally woken up, and was currently flopping about on the ground.
"Everything is not fine! We are trapped in here and we haven't found a way out!" Choji screeched, flailing his arms about in the air.
"Dude… trust me. I know it looks bad…. but sis'll come through…" Kiba finished confidently and illogically, laying one of his legs over the other and putting his hands behind his head. He continued to lie on the ground while a pregnant silence engulfed the room.
The silence was broken by a yell. "Where's Akamaru!?"
Yagami lifted his hand to his drinking glass, preparing to take a sip, when he heard a muffled yell. Growling, he got up from his chair. "Must be the prisoners…" he mumbled, then stepped down from his rock pedestal to the ground floor. He rubbed his arms to try and warm them up, before walking around a corner and disappearing into the shadows.
"This sand is very creepy. That man up there is creepy, you know that? I can't believe this shit! Holy shit! The sand tickles. Are we there yet?"
"Ino, can you shut up?! God! It's always creepy this, creepy that. Close your mouth for once in your life…"
"Oh, I'm sure it always creepy this and creepy that. Yeah. Right."
"Ok. Guys, can you please quiet down? I'm glad Hinata didn't get hit by the gas too. I'd have died already…"
"Too many people talking at once is confusing, useless and distracting," Gaara commented. Shino and Naruto said nothing. The others were being too loud to hear the comment at all. Temari sighed.
After stepping out into the hallway, all the ninja formed a line. Gaara took the lead, arms crossed lazily and face blank. Shino came next, face as blank as Gaara's. Naruto was third; Hinata on his back. He had a subdued expression on his face and his posture suggested that he was slightly upset. Behind those four were Sakura who was very irritated, Ino who was giggling constantly, and Tenten who was almost as irritated as Sakura. They were walking along as fast as they could with their weak legs, and the sand did the rest. The substance moved around them rapidly, keeping them from falling or stumbling. If one appeared to be falling, Temari would call from behind them to Gaara, who'd summon more sand.
Finally the troop had almost reached the lobby, but it was then that Shino saw a fatal flaw to their plan. He stopped in mid stride beside a soda and ice machine combo. The others crashed into him from behind, Naruto and Temari muttering obscenities, and Sakura, Ino and Tenten voicing them. Gaara, sensing that the others had halted, turned around expectantly. Hinata began to hear stifled voices…
"We cannot take these three in there like that. We are sure to be questioned, and that might delay or put off our plans indefinitely. Not to mention others that might have seen us. Gaara's gourd is not very inconspicuous, nor is Temari's fan." Shino stepped closer to the soda machine, which was almost directly next to an unmarked door. The others fallowed. From the end of the hallway it appeared as if no one was there, but the shinobi were actually in the small cubby, made for the purpose of putting the machines, and giving people a place to stand so as not to block the hallway when getting ice and/or drinks.
"Well, I can use a scroll to hide them, but I'm not very good at the technique. I guess I could attempt it…" Temari tried. Shino nodded to her and she took her fan off of her back, setting it against the wall. Gaara reluctantly gave his gourd to his sister, who held it for a few seconds before sighing. "Where can I do this? I don't see any available places, and I'd only delay us further if I had to walk all the way back to the rooms."
Hinata's eyes fluttered as Gaara answered with, "Open that door and check for people, and if no one is there use it." Temari looked almost apprehensive, but opened it anyway. Seeing nothing, she grabbed her fan and headed inside. Shino shut the door behind her. A zipping sound could be heard, signaling that Temari had opened her pouch and pulled the scroll out.
"What do we do about the other situation?" Gaara began the conversation, trying to feign interest.
"Well, you lazies could carry the girls. I'm the only one doing lifting." Naruto felt a little jolt, then Hinata was off his back.
"I'm sorry I'm such a burden!" She attempted to pardon herself, but only ended up making Naruto feel bad. "I wasn't sure if I was able to walk, and I still feel a bit groggy, but I'm fine now!"
"Nice job Naruto!" Sakura screeched, grasping at the air wildly, trying to free herself from the sand. Ino laughed and started to twirl her head around in a circle.
"Agreed," Tenten added.
"I didn't mean to-"
"Well you did!"
"Sakura… I was just saying-"
"I know what you were saying!"
"No…"
"Insulting her like that! And you didn't even say you were sorry!" There was a silence for a few seconds. Hinata wanted so badly to defend Naruto: to tell Sakura to mind her own business, or even to just be quiet, but she couldn't. Naruto's next statement took her breath away.
Hearing a disturbance, person working at the front desk came running down the hall, hoping to find the source of the noise and prevent a violent situation. Gaara withdrew his sand, and Sakura, Tenten and Ino fell to the ground.
"You know why I couldn't apologize? Because you wouldn't shut the fuck up, Sakura. I'm sick of being ridiculed like this! I used to like you, but now… It's easy to see why I don't! It's also easy to see why the gas affected you the way it did: it's bringing out your inner personality!" Naruto sucked in his breath, fists at his sides. His finger nails had grown partially, and his teeth had as well. He was slightly hunched over, and the three scars that were present on each side of his face were seemingly growing.
Shino's eyebrows were raised slightly above his glasses when Naruto began again. "Sakura," he started. Gaara uncrossed his arms. "You are-" Ino and Tenten laughed cruelly towards Sakura. "A huge,-" Temari opened the door to see what all the commotion was about. "Mean,-" Hinata felt like she was going to faint again. "Bitch!" Naruto stalked off angrily.
The manager face faulted, but regained his self-possession. He knew not to interfere with peoples personal lives, so he did the only thing he could. "Miss, what are you doing in the closet? That is for authorized personnel only!"
"Oh…" Temari quickly shoved the scroll down the back of her shirt, stepped forward, and closed the closet door. "Sorry."
"Very well. I will be getting back to work now. No loitering in the hallways, please." He turned on his heal and glided back to his desk.
Through the whole turmoil, from the point where Naruto had started to fight back, Sakura had worn the expression of a fish gasping for air. Her mouth opened up and then closed, while her eyes were directed straight forward, and her arms hung uselessly by her side.
Hinata felt obligated to consol Sakura, but she was (cruelly, wrongfully, sinfully) enjoying the distraught girl's appearance and mental state. Never before in her life had she taken pleasure out of someone else's pain, but she guessed that even she deserved the chance, right?
Before Hinata could form a smile of mirth, Shino was on top of the situation. "Hinata, why don't you go look for Naruto. He seems to take a liking to you."
Hinata stopped her hand that had come up to prevent her almost-smile form being seen, and looked at Shino. "W-what?"
"…"
"O-ok…"Hinata left.
As she walked away, Shino started with up again with, "Temari, would you be so kind as to carry Sakura on your back? I think you are the only one that can handle her," he whispered. Reluctantly, Temari nodded yes.
"Gaara, would you take-"
"I will take the blonde one."
"…Ok. And I will take Tenten. Temari, do you have the sealing scroll?"
"Yes." Temari pulled it out from her shirt and stuck it in her weapons pouch, closing it.
Each of the three fully-operational ninja grabbed their luggage, and walked into the lobby. The site of Gaara voluntarily letting a drunk person cling onto him was the highlight of Temari's day.
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HAHAHA no. I don't like the last section. An update, at least. Probably many mistakes. Reviews are appreciated. Title explanation: Arigaku; 1/4. Yagami; 1/4. the boys; 1/4. The rest are above ground, hence three-fourths underground. Clever.