Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...
10: Face Up, Punch and Run
Hinata and Sakura beat Sasuke and Naruto to the flagpole. Sakura leaned against the pole and started to mutter curses to calm her nerves.
"You're early," Naruto announced, sneaking up behind Sakura.
Both girls jumped and then the pink-haired girl spun and punched the blonde's arm. "Not funny, Naruto," she growled, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, you better have good reasons as to why we're about to hurt our sister or I'm gunna break both your noses."
"I thought we've already gone over this," Sasuke said, smirking.
"Better reasons," Sakura hissed, grinding her teeth unconsciously.
Naruto shrugged. "Because, that's why."
Hinata looked at him and murmured, "What are you? Five?"
Sakura started at her with an impressed expression. "Nice." Hinata smiled sheepishly. "Okay, besides noting that 'because' isn't a substantial answer, what are we here for again?" The green-eyed of the four flipped her hair and hugged her torso with her free arm.
Sasuke and Naruto exchanged mischievous looks and then turned back to the girls.
"Are you seeing that?!" Ino whispered incredulously, crouching down behind the brick wall.
"No," Shikamaru said sarcastically. "Yes, I am. What are they doing?"
"I'd love to tell you, but your guess is as good as mine," she told him, peeking around the side of the school.
Shikamaru sighed. "My guess is that they're talking about…us. Since I know I didn't do a fantastic job at hiding our being together, I don't think that any of them are happy about it."
Ino gasped and shot an accusing glare to her sisters' backs.
Itachi pulled out a handgun from his jacket and aimed it at the window where he could see Deidara and Sasori. He smiled as aimed the gun between the two. He pulled the trigger and a bullet ripped through the window and hit the wall beyond. The glass shattered and Deidara screamed.
The two lovers looked out and Itachi aimed his gun at Sasori.
Ten-Ten jumped when she heard a gunshot. She ran to her window and looked around. When she didn't see anyone near her house, she went to her closet and pulled on her tennis shoes. She hurried down the stairs and out the door; she sprinted down the street, glancing at either side of the street. She stopped when she saw a house with a shattered window and a man in a tree. Ten-Ten stood there for a minute, staring at the man; once she realized he had a gun and was aiming it at one of the two men inside the house, she started thinking of a plan. She wasn't sure why she was risking her life for some strangers instead of calling the police – after all, the only gun she'd ever dealt with was a water gun – but she was high on adrenaline and had a plan.
Ten-Ten took off her shoes and crept over to the tree. She was so glad she'd practiced climbing trees while Sakura and Ino had been cheerleading. She heaved herself up onto the first branch and started scampering up the tree as fast as she could. Once she was level with the man on the other side of the tree, she hugged the tree and inched her way to his branch, keeping extremely quiet.
He finally noticed her when she was standing next to him. They stared at each other for a minute and then he swung his arm, pushing the gun to her chest. She blinked, glanced down at the gun and then went blank – she completely forgot how she was going to get rid of this guy. So she lifted both her hands to his chest and pushed Itachi out of the tree.
Sakura and Hinata stared, open-mouthed, at the two boys in front of them. "You two are out of you stupid minds," Sakura breathed, amazement evident in her voice. "But…if it's done right, it's harmless." Hinata nodded helplessly. "So…We'll help."
The two boys exchanged a high-five. "Yes!"
"But not for you," Hinata reminded them. "It's because we don't want our sister to date one of you slobs."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear the insult and say, 'Fair enough,'" Sasuke replied calmly.
"Then we're going home. See ya," Sakura said, turning on her heel and walking away.
"Are we sure about this?" Hinata asked softly on their way home.
"No. That's why this plan will never be put into action," Sakura replied casually.
"They aren't helping us," Sasuke told Naruto. "They think that it's better they don't interfere in their sister's love life. Well, I think that it doesn't really matter. We don't really care about how badly we mess with Shikamaru's love life, right?"
"Right. Now can we go home? My feet hurt," Naruto whined.
"Always have an excuse to get away from school. You're such a baby," Sasuke said, walking away.
"I am not! My feet really do hurt!" Naruto cried, following his brother.
"Whatever, Naruto," Sasuke called over his shoulder.
Shikamaru and Ino walked home in silence. They had left earlier than their brothers and sisters, eager to get away from them.
Ino got to her door and opened it when Shikamaru caught her shoulder. "If they try anything, we'll just get them back, okay?"
She smiled and said, "Okay." She went in and called for her sister. When there was no reply, she started to panic. Ten-Ten never left the house when she knew she was in trouble. She ran back outside and caught Shikamaru, telling him about her worries.
"I bet she's alright. But if you're so panicked, let's go look for her," he told her.
Ino nodded, fighting back her scared tears. They ran down the street, looking around.
Itachi hit the ground, staring up at Ten-Ten. She felt horrified. What if she had killed him? She'd never killed anyone. The two men from in the house ran outside.
"Are you okay, yeah?" the blonde called up to her. Ten-Ten looked down at them and realized that she'd seen them before. They were the two who almost hit Shikamaru and Neji. And one of them was her brother.
She sat down on the branch before sliding down to the next and then the next until she was within jumping range, and then she jumped. She stared at the two men and nodded. "Fine." The redhead looked as uncomfortable as she felt. The blonde went inside and a few minutes later, he came out with a phone to his ear. Ten-Ten glanced at the unmoving Itachi; she was pretty sure he was unconscious since his eyes were closed now.
"Are you sure you're okay?" the redhead asked, concern evident on his face as Ten-Ten looked back at him.
"I'm fine!" Ten-Ten snapped. "Anyway, why was he here?"
"You saw; he was trying to kill us," the red-haired man said.
"I know that, Sasori. But why?" Ten-Ten asked impatiently.
"God, you're still really pushy. I don't know. Probably because Blabber-mouth over there spilled that we almost hit Itachi's little brothers and he was really pissed off about it," Sasori replied, getting angry.
"I didn't say anything about anything, yeah!" the blonde called and then returned to his phone call.
"Who is he, anyway? You're current boyfriend?" Ten-Ten inquired mockingly.
"Deidara and I have been together for two years," Sasori responded, folding his arms across his chest. "What's you're problem? You didn't have to save us."
"I didn't know who you were! If I had, I would have let him shoot you!" Ten-Ten screamed, feeling like she was near tears. "And you're not even going to thank me for being so stupid?"
"Thank-you for being a moron," Sasori said with a mocking smile. At that moment, the cops showed up; Deidara hung up the phone and walked over. "Who's this, yeah?" he asked.
"One of my little sisters," Sasori told him without looking away from Ten-Ten. "And she's still a bitch."
"You're still a jack-ass," Ten-Ten spat as Shikamaru and Ino suddenly ran up to them.
"Oh my god, Ten-Ten! What happened? Are you okay?" Ino cried frantically.
"I'm fine. I just pushed Itachi out of the tree." Ten-Ten looked past her sister and Shikamaru and watched the police handcuff Itachi.
"I wonder where Kisame is, yeah," Deidara whispered to Sasori.
Shikamaru stared at Ten-Ten looking horrified. "You pushed Itachi out of a tree and got him arrested?!"
"The arrested part was his fault," Ten-Ten said, pointing her thumb at Deidara who cried, "Hey!"
Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto arrived just as Itachi was getting shoved into the cop car. "Tell me that wasn't Itachi," Sasuke whined, walking up to the group.
"It wasn't Itachi?" Ten-Ten tried.
"What was he doing here?" Sasuke cried, his arms shaking.
"Trying to kill us," Sasori interjected, giving Ten-Ten a quick glare. She felt like crying. There was a stunned silence from the ones who hadn't been there to experience it.
"I'm off my adrenaline high," Ten-Ten announced. "And I have no idea what I was thinking."
"I don't think it had anything to do with your adrenaline," Sasori told her.
"Shut-up, you two! Please," Hinata said, her voice quieting as everyone stared at her in surprise. "Nothing really has changed, has it? Sasori's still a jerk and Ten-Ten's still mad at him. We get it. Now please be quiet for a few minutes."
A police officer came over and started talking to everyone. The only people who really knew anything were Sasori, Deidara and Ten-Ten. Itachi was in the same gang that Sasori and Deidara were planning on leaving. The officer wanted to take away Sasori and Deidara but somehow, Ten-Ten convinced him not to. Ten-Ten wasn't sure what was going on with her that day, but she had a feeling she'd regret it the next day.
When the rest of the police left, Sasori and Deidara turned to Ten-Ten. "Why'd you do that?" Sasori asked, confusion and gratitude mixed on his face.
"I don't know," Ten-Ten told him honestly. She turned around when she heard someone walking up. She guessed that one of the boys behind her had called Neji – she figured it was probably Sasuke – and told him to come over.
"What did you do?" he hissed, glaring at Ten-Ten.
"Saved a life or two?" She was getting tired of this already. "What did you want me to do? Watch him kill these two guys?"
Mixed emotions crossed Neji's face as he took that in. He resorted to anger. He reached out and grabbed the collar of Ten-Ten's shirt. "I thought I told you to stay out of our business." His brothers were panicking and her sisters were screaming at Neji; Sasori and Deidara looked indecisive.
She glared at him for a minute and then said, "This isn't your business. It's mine. If I do something reckless, it's my choice. If I kill your brother, that's entirely up to me."
Neji let go of her and growled, "You wouldn't."
Ten-Ten stood up, on the verge of tears. "You don't want your brother in jail! You're up against all your brothers! They look up to you, I see it, and all you want to do is get your brother out of jail!" She paused, breathing hard, tears streaming down her face. "You care about him even though you know what he's doing is wrong."
Her sisters all looked away, pain evident on their faces. Neji looked as though he was going to either hit her or run away. "How would you know?"
She stared at him as she said, "Because my brother's in the same gang as your brother and he's been in jail seven times. He's killed so many innocent people, I lost count. But I still care about him!"
"You're lying," Neji stuttered, sounding like he was trying to defend himself even though he didn't know how.
"Why don't you ask him?" Sasori asked, stepping forward. "I have been in jail seven times and I have killed a lot of people. And I'm sorry Ten-Ten's mad at me still."
Ten-Ten looked down and sighed. "It's just a grudge."
"Just?" Deidara asked sarcastically behind Sasori. "Damn, Sasori. What did you do to her, yeah?"
"He didn't do anything. I was just mad at him because I didn't like what he was doing," Ten-Ten told him as Sasori opened his mouth to respond. "And I'm sorry too."
"It took them three years, but they finally got over it!" Sakura cried behind them. "I'm shocked. I didn't think they'd ever speak to each other again. I guess I was wrong. What's next a hug?"
"Don't push it," Sasori and Ten-Ten said at the same time and Sakura covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide a laugh.
"My head hurts!" Naruto said, throwing back his head.
Hinata brushed past him as she and her sisters walked off. "Don't worry, I'll tell you tomorrow. Bye, Sasori!"
Sasori waved and then looked at the boys on his front lawn. "Are you here to fix my window?" he asked and all the boys ran off. "Alas, looks like we're going to have to call someone about that. But for tonight, what do you suggest?"
"A sheet, yeah?" Deidara offered, shrugging as they walked into their house. "Or we could board up the window. Or, I know, we'll use that one tablecloth that Konan gave us last year for Christmas, yeah!"
"I like that one…" Sasori said as he shut the door behind them.
A/N: I decided that Sasori being their brother would make for a great surprise. That and I was on a major writers block and I didn't know what to write in this chapter. That's why it might suck.
To my reviewers (I got some new ones…I hope they haven't abandoned me…):
From: velcroSUNSHINE
yes it is :
Please update soon!
To: velcroSUNSHINE
Er…Kay…:)
From: LuckyRika
Lol, i wuz just kidding last time :P
besides, if longer chappie's take u longer 2 write u can't update sooner and
that not kool(XD)
keep up da fantabulistic work-- hehe, itd be so funny if sasuke dyed sakura's
hair blue(her reaction XP)
sorry 4 ranting(again), just luv that idea... so kawaii .
update soon!
or else... no dessert
To: LuckyRika
No dessert? –sniff- sad…Anywho…Hehe…Did I do good with this chapter? Did I? Did I?
From: Sora no Aoi
Graet fanfiction...guys luvs pranks..girls go mad...INTERESTING!
YOU SHOULD UPDATE SOON!
To: Sora no Aoi
AH! I tried! I tried! Look at my profile! Look at my profile! No more yelling at Darkmoonphase!! –hides in corner and assumes alarmed expression- I don't do so well under pressure…
From: Maki-Zushi
I wonder why they didn't tell Tenten? Good chapter.
To: Maki-Zushi
Hehe…Me is secretive. Oh, btw. I know I didn't tell what they were planning, but I'll say later. Somehow…
From: NeonAlchemist
great chapter! i can't wait to read what Sasuke, Sakura and the others have
planned.
To: NeonAlchemist
Whoops. Well. Keep in mind that just because I didn't say what they planned this time, doesn't mean I won't later. Keep an eye out for references in later chapters. I'll explain what they planned later.
From: SasuSaku best fan ever
I
To: SasuSaku best fan ever
You…Never mind. At least you put the effort into hitting the review button…And I thank you for that.
From: sakura's twin954
luv dis story update soon!
To: sakura's twin954
Your penname scares me a bit…
From: Apple Bubblegum
OOH! (i don't remember if i reviewed this chapter? HAH)
POOR HINATA! somehow, i can't really picture Naruto being mean, and i always
feel really sorry for Hinata... i'm turning into a bigtime NaruHina fluff
fan(:
neways, update soon pwz!
To: Apple Bubblegum
I'm so proud. Your penname is the only one next to Shashay202's who doesn't have the red "misspelled" line under it. I like you for that.
You wouldn't have been able to review if you already had – it wouldn't have let you.
I can picture Naruto being mean. It just looks a little OOC…And I know. I'm always picking on Hinata. Don't worry though. She gets her revenge and stands up for herself. You won't feel sorry for her for long!
What's wrong with NaruHina? I mean, it's not as good as SasoDei, but still…
From: ShayShay202
O! please keep going! i really like your story!
To: ShayShay202
I am ever grateful that your name doesn't have a red "misspelled" line under it. You have no idea how much I appreciate that. I like you now, just for that.
I'm working on it, I'm working on it. But thanks. Glad you like it.
Like how I'm replying now? I do…It makes my life easier…Please review.