Okay, so I totally couldn't resist spewing out another chapter so quick, and I even made it longer than usual. ;) Also, I tried to make this chapter seem like real life, so there is a slight chance that some characters might be OOC. Anyway, onwards my lovely readers!~
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Any Familiar Things, or Ninjas. I only own the plot and OC's.
Chapter Ten
Dangers of Snake Men, Part 2
"I have to what?" I nearly screeched.
"Heh, heh. Sorry, Lyn-chan," Naruto chuckled as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. I've noticed that he seemed to have a habit of doing that when he was apologetic. "But you're going to have to share a room with one of us."
We were standing in a semi-spacious hallway underneath the deck and Naruto's bulk practically blocked the white tiled steps behind him from view. There were three doors, one to the left of us which I knew led to a full bathroom, and two to my right which both led to a bedroom. If I were to turn around in place, the hallway that we were standing in would branch off into a T intersection; one way opened up to a modern kicthen with marble counters and stainless steel appliances. The opposite way led to a grey spiral staircase with beige carpet and it would bring you farther below deck until your feet hit the beautifully furnished living room. It was painted a light and airy brown, and had a flat screen television so huge that it took up on of the walls. Not only that, but a tall glass cabinet contained every movie that you could ever imagine. A room branched off from the living room and led to an open and completely stocked bar. That is what got me. Why would you have a fully stocked bar on board of a yacht knowing that your son and his friends would be spending a weekend on? I had already spotted Naruto eyeing the door like a starving man would eye a hamburger. Funny, Naruto never struck me as the drinking type.
"Why can't all three of you guys just share one room?" I questioned, rasing my hands and placing them on my hips. Sasuke and Lee were somewhere on deck, leaving me stuck down below with Naruto. They had left their things out in the hallway so that I was free to choose a room and the person that I would be forced to share it with. We had yet to take off and were still docked, waiting until Charles was ready set sail.
"Because there are only two beds in one room, and one king sized bed in the other," The blonde whined. "And I don't wanna have to sleep on the floor!"
"Why would you have to be the one to sleep on the floor? Besides, aren't one of the rooms a Master?"
"Because," He slumped over. "There's no way that Sasuke would ever sleep on the floor or give up the Master bedroom, and he always takes up the whole bed."
I raised a brow at that.
"Not only that," He continued. "But Lee kicks in his sleep and sounds like a wild Snorlax!"
A second brow joined the first.
"I don't want to know why you know what you do," I shook my head, and eyed one of the doors with a sigh. "But I guess I don't have a choice." It wasn't difficult. I mean, I could either be roomed with a stuck-up-yet-hot duck butt, a dumb blonde, or a semi-normal Lee. Like I said before, not a hard decision.
"I'll room with Lee." I nodded to myself and turned my attention back onto Naruto.
"You don't wanna room with me, Lyn-chan?" He pouted and gazed at me with glittering blue eyes.
"No." I stated bluntly.
"Ah! Lyn-chan, you're so mean!" He cried and clutched at his heart. "Why do you bully me so much?" I rolled my eyes and suppressed a smile.
"You're an easy target. Now where am I rooming?"
"That door," He pointed to the door closest to me. "Is where Sasuke and I will be sleeping, and the other one," He nodded towards the door closest to himself. "Is yours and Lee's."
"Mkay," I nodded. "I'm gonna put my stuff in there."
"Don't forget to change into your bathing suit," He wiggled his eyebrows and dodged my hand as I tried to slap his arm. "We'll be up deck."
As he turned to go above deck, I opened the door to my room and walked inside. The sight that greeted me almost made me drop my bag in shock. The room was pretty large. The marble floor was a few shades darker than milk and swirls of chocolate brown created random designs before spirling off into nothingness. To my right was a wooden sliding door the color of a Hershey's chocolate bar and the handle glowed a light silver. There was a home movie cabinet connected to the closet door and two sliding doors hid what was probably a huge flat screen television, from sight. A few feet away from that were two windows that had the shades pulled over them and a medium sized dest sat below them with a vase which contained a single white rose. Lights were placed into the painted, decorative ceiling at random intervals and beautiful designs were cut into the wood. Two, large beds were placed on opposite sides of the room and they sat on platforms that made them appear to be floating in middair. They were perfectly made with beige shaded sheets and I knew that if I sat down, I would sink into the mattress.
Sighing, I made my way over to the bed closest to the windows and slung my bag onto it, effectively claiming it as mine. Lee would have to deal with sleeping on the other one. I took another look around the room and tried not to roll my eyes. Rich people. It was starting to sink in that Sasuke's parents must be big on having fancy, expensive things. Turning my gaze back to my bag sitting on the bed and Naruto's words echoed in my mind.
"Don't forget to change into your bathing suit!"
I almost snorted. Glancing out of the window, I almost sputtered in suprise to see that we were slowly moving away from the dock. Looked like we set sail. I could feel the boat slowly starting to rock underneath of me feet and a feeling of relief coursed through me: thank God I don't get sea sick. It finally hit me that i would be going on a three day trip and the feeling of vacation took over. It had been a long time since I had last gone on vacation, and I couldn't even remember where we went.
Sighing, I made my way over to the door and shut it tightly before turning the lock. Walking back across the room, I un-zipped my duffel bag and sorted through the clothes until my fingers brushed against the cool material of my bathing suit. I pulled it out and quickly changed before throwing my shirt back on over top of it and slipped on some jean shorts. Sliding my feet back into my flip-flops, I zipped my bag back up and left it on the bed as I walked back over to the door and left the room, shutting it behind me.
Walking down the short hallway, I stared out of the windows as the shore slowly disappeared from view. My feet hit the steps, and I climbed up them before pushing open the door that led to the deck. A cool breeze hit my face, sending tendrils of my hair flying in every direction. As I stepped out further, I enhaled the salt water scent and felt my mucles relax. That was my favourite part about the ocean.
"Over here, Lyn-chan!" The shout pierced the air and drowned out the sound of the rumbling engine. I turned on the spot and raised a hand to shade my eyes from the sun when it hit my face. Lee waved me over from his place lounging by the pool and my flip-flops clacked against the deck as I made my way over.
"Hey." I greeted.
Sasuke was laying on his back atop the water in the large pool, his dark hair splaying out around his head in a halo and he had his eyes closed. I had to repress the blush that threatened to appear on my cheeks when I noticed that he was completely shirtless. The toned mucles in his stomach were well defined and I had to turn my eyes away to stop myself from oggling. That would be the biggest downfall to this little trip. All three of the guys would be walking around shirtless. Woopie. Notice the sarcasm? I turned my head until my gaze fell on Naruto who was sitting on a green and white beach chair with Aviator sunglasses sitting atop his blonde head as he gazed out across the ocean.
"I heard that we are roomates." The voice caught my attention and forced me to turn my attention to the guy beside me. Lee stood with his hands on his thin waist and a big grin on his face. He too, was in a swim suit, but he had opted for a skintight top that looked like Underarmor, and bright green swimming trunks that clashed a little with his tan skin. When did these guys have time to change?
"Yeah," I smiled in response. "Looks like it."
"I cannot wait!" He exclaimed with a sudden fire in his eyes. "It will be fun! We can stay up all night long and talk for as long as we like!" I couldn't help but laugh at his response: it was so...Lee-like.
"Lyn-chan!" An annoyingly familiar voice yelled, his naturally raspy voice echoing throughout the ship. I turned around, only to stop short when a shirtless Naruto appeared a few feet away from me. His mucles, like Sasuke's, were well defined against his sun-kissed skin and I had to repress a groan. Really? What was with these guys and being muscular?
"Oh, hey, Naruto."
"So, Lyn-chan, are you excited yet?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"I can barely contain myself." I sarcastically replied.
"I knew you couldn't hold back for long."
Yeah, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Naruto is an idiot. He sent me a grin before he tossed his sunglasses ontop of his discarded shirt and ran towards the pool, jumping in at the last minute and cannon-balling. Water was sent flying everywhere and the front of my shirt was completely soaked through, showing the outline of my bathing suit. I wiped the water from my face and a laugh burst from my lips when I noticed Sasuke sputtering out water as he emerged back to the surface. His hair stuck to his face and completely lost its spikyness.
"Idiot." He sent a cold glare at Naruto, who like always, didn't even flinch and instead dove under the water with a laugh.
I saw movement beside me and turned just in time to see Lee following in Naruto's footsteps and nosediving into the pool. Water sprayed me yet again and I flinched back in annoyance. Sasuke made his way over to the edge of the pool before grasping the ledge and pulling himself up and out of the water. His wet hair hung into his eyes and dripped down his neck and onto the deck. He reached up a hand and brushed it back before making his way over to one of the deck chairs and picked up a black and white towel before running it over his hair and patting his face dry. The second he pulled away the towel, his eyes met mine and a smirk lifted at the corner of his lips as he noticed my staring.
"Lyn-chan! Come into the water with us!" The shout belonged to Lee, and I quickly turned my attention to him, all the while trying to supress the heat I could feel rushing up the back of my neck.
"I'll pass." I crossed my arms over my chest in defiance. I was so not going to joing them in the pool because that would mean that I would have to change into my bathing suit, which meant that I would have to parade around basically half-naked. No thanks.
"Afraid?" I shot a half-glare at Sasuke when I noticed that he still had that smirk on his face.
"No." I narrowed my eyes.
"Really, now?" Amusement flickered in hsi eyes and I knew that he was just toying with me, teasing me so that I would relent and get into the pool.
"Yes, really," I said stubbornly. "Why would I be afraid?"
I let out a squeek as two arms suddenly snaked around my waist and snapped my head around only to see a head of blonde hair before I was sent flying into the water with a smack! Cool water rushed around me and down my throat and my arms waved around in panic before I was able to touch the bottom of the pool with my feet and I pushed off the concrete, and finally emerged to the surface. I sputtered out water and used an arm to push my dark hair out of my face. Water trickled down my face and into my eyes, forcing me to blink repeatedly until the burn left and I could see clearly. I sent the darkest glare I could muster at Naruto, who was on his knees laughing on deck. It didn't seem to have any effect and my eye twitched in annoyance. I was completely soaked.
"Are you okay, Lyn-chan?" I turned to Lee, who had remained in the pool and shook my head at his concern.
"I'm fine. Just wet." I sighed before making my way to the edge of the pool. There was no point in complaining about being wet now, and I clamored out before walking over to a deck chair and picking up a dry yellow towel that was sitting on it. I ran it over my face so that I could see clearly.
"Hey!" Naruto's voice objected. "That's my towel!"
"Sucks." I replied and tossed it back onto the chair when I was done. I caught Sasuke's eye and rolled my own when I saw the smirk appear back onto his face. With a reluctant sigh, I grasped the edge of my soaked shirt before pulling it up and over my head. To hell with it, I thought. Ignoring the fact that I was stripping down to my bathing suit in front of three guys, I slid off my shorts before tossing them onto the chair as well. I was making my way back to get into the pool when Naruto's loud voice pierced the silence.
"Whoa! I didn't know that you had a belly ring, Lyn-chan!"
...
"No! We are not watching that girly crap!"
"Why not? It is a good movie!"
"It's a chick-flick!"
"So? What difference does that make? It is still a good movie!"
"Shut up." A masculine voice pierced through the loud yells and I raised my head from my fist where I sat at the small table that was near the stairs of the living room. Sasuke had just made his way down the spiral steps and he now stood at the bottom of them with dripping wet hair. He had just taken a shower and was now dressed in a cotton longsleeved white shirt and black sweatpants, which I had to admit was weird seeing him in. Duck Butt had just stopped an argument that Naruto and Lee had been having for the past ten minutes. They both sat in front of the glass cabinet that contained all of the movies and were arguing over what we were going to watch. After messing around in the pool for a good couple of hours until the sun started to set, we had all dried off and headed back inside so that we could take a shower and rinse off the chlorine from our bodies. There were two full bathrooms and so after Lee and I had finished first, we came downstairs to find something to do to fill the time and decided to watch a movie after Naruto had emerged into the living room.
It was strange, really. How comfortable I felt hanging out with the three of them. it was as if we had been friends for years and it was strange how well we all bonded together. I wasn't used to this kind of companionship and I could feel a friendship starting with the three of them, including the stuck-up-duck-butt. And honestly, it scared me.
"Sasuke!" Naruto sprang up from the soft, white rug that sat underneath of the glass coffee table and shoved a movie case into the air as if he were showing off a prize he got from a competition. "Tell Lee that Inception is way better than Burlesque!" He basically spit the word in distaste and waved his arm around. Sasuke raised a brow and padded across the floor until he was standing next to the coffee table and in the center of the semi-square that the black and white couches created. Lee rolled his eyes from his seat and turned his attention to me.
"Burlesque is so much better than Inception, right Lyn-chan?"
I blinked as the three of them turned their attention to me and was suprised by how calm I was at the attention. A couple of days ago I would have blushed bright red and stuttered in embarrassment, but now I just rolled my eyes.
"I really don't care," I responded. "Just chose one."
"But that's the problem!" Lee cried.
"Just watch both of them, idiots." Sasuke scoffed and walked over to an empty couch before colapsing down into it. He sank into the cushions and I wondered about just how comfortable they were.
"I don't want to watch that girl movie." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.
"Then pick something else." Sasuke drawled out.
"There's nothing good in there." The blonde's scowl turned into a pout and he turned to throw a glare at Lee.
"How is there nothing good in there?" I voiced. "There's like, more than a hundred movies in there."
"They all suck compared to Inception." Naruto whined and I rolled my eyes with a huff and stood up from my chair.
"Move." I bluntly ordered Naruto as i made my way over and he moved out of the way so that he wasn't blocking the cabinet anymore. I bit my bottom lip as I scanned all of the titles and slowly made my way down the rows and rows of movies. I mean really, how many did one family need? Sighing through my nose, I finally reached up and pulled a case down from the shelf as it caught my eye and turned aorund to hold it up for the rest of them to see.
"Insidious?" Naruto questioned, examining the movie in my hand. "I never took you for the scary movie type."
"Yeah, well," I shrugged. "It's this or Burlesque."
Naruto quickly snatched the case out of my hand before tossing Inception onto the coffee table. I rolled my eyes yet again and watched as the blonde walked over to the complicated looking DVD system and pressed a button to make the disc tray slide open.
"I wanted to watch Burlesque," Lee pouted as he picked himself up from the floor and returned the movie to the cabinet. "Is Insidious really scary? Because I hate scary movies."
I repressed the words that wanted to spill from my mouth, and instead made my way over to the light switches near the bottom of the staircase and flipped them off until the only light came from the opening prieviews on the overly large television screen. As Naruto padded his way over to an empty couch with the DVD remote, I walked across the room and sank into the other end of the couch that Sasuke occupied. I leaned back against the arm and stretched my legs out just until there was a few inches of space between my feet and Sasuke's, who was stretched out as well.
"No one answered my question," Lee whined as he sat on the last unoccupied couch. "This movie isn't scary, is it?"
One hour and fourty minutes and I found myself being clutched so tightly that I thought my lings would be crushed. Lee sat next to me on the couch and had his arms snaked around my torso and was currently squeezing the life from my body as he hid his face into my shoulder every few moments. When Lee said that he hated scary movies, he meant that he really hated scary movies. Naruto had spead out on the couch and laughed everytime Lee let out a slight scream and I had to supress my giggles at times. It was hard not to laugh when a teenage boy let out girlish screams. Sasuke had glanced over at times as Lee clung to me and a look of serious contemplation would cross over his face before he would turn back to the screen. Weirdo. The credits finally rolled and Naruto lazily lifted himeslf from the couch to turn the lights back on. As soon as the bright lights flooded the room, Lee detatched himself from my person with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, Lyn-chan."
"It's fine, Lee." I smiled to show him that it was okay before standing up from the couch and stretched out my sore mucles. Glancing to my left, I looked out of the big, tinted windows only to see that it was nighttime and the moon was fully out and shining onto the ocean waves. The boat rocked back and forth and seemed to have a calming affect on my body.
"Now what?" Naruto asked as he colapsed back onto the couch he had previously occupied.
"What time is it?" I ignored his question.
"Around one in the morning." Sasuke answered, turning his onyx eyes on me. He had been acting weird ever since the movie started and I raised a brow.
"Well I don't know about you guys," Naruto stretched his arms, causing them to crack as the bones popped back into place. "But I'm hungry."That reminded me that we hadn't eaten anything since we boarded the ship and my stomach growled in agreement.
"Me too." I added.
"Let us go and get some food then!" Lee exclaimed and jumped to his feet, seeming to return back to his normal self.
"The kitchen should be fully stocked." Sasuke stated and rose from the couch, pulling down his shirt when it bunched up above his stomach.
"Come on, already!" Naruto whined as he raced to the stairs and ran up them until he disappeared from view. The rest of us followed behind him and took a right as we emerged from the staircase. All of the lights were still on and it gave off a calm and homey feeling as we made out way into the kitchen. Surprise, surprise, the starving blonde was already digging around in the fridge and I silently wondered at how he was able to quiet his hunger for so long. I made my way over to the counter as he started pulling out lunch meat and stacked it onto the island that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
"There should be some more stuff in the pantry." I followed Sasuke's line of vision and nodded as I made my way over to the closet that sat in between the kitchen and dining room and opened it up. It was a complete walk in, and after scanning the items on the shelves, I grabbed a few bags of chips before I reamerged and dropped them onto the island next to the lunch meat. Naruto already had a stack of sandwiches in front of them and snatched up a bag of Doritos before tearing them open and eating them right out of the bag. I followed everyone else's example and made a ham and cheese sandwich and dug out a healthy portion of Doritos from Naruto's bag.
"What do you guys want to drink?" Lee asked as he peered into the stainless steel fridge. "There's Coke, Pepsi, orange juice, appel juice, milk, and water." They just had a whole assortment, didn't they?
"Coke." I said at the same time that Naruto shouted "Pepsi!" We looked at each other before Lee handed out the drinks and I pushed myself up onto one of the counters before digging into my sandwich. A few minutes of silence passed before Naruto broke it.
"So are we getting to the island tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Sasuke spoke after taking a swig from his Coke can. "Sometime in the afternoon."
"I cannot wait!" Lee exclaimed. "It has been a long time since I have been there."
"I dunno," Naruto interjected. "Something about that place has always rubbed me the wrong way, 'ya know? There's something not quite right about it."
"What?" I snorted. "Is it haunted or something?"
"Maybe," Sasuke spoke up, a smirk appearing on his face. "Legends say that there's an ancient ninja burial ground-"
"Wait," I interrupted with raised brows. "An ancient ninja burial ground? Really? Since when have ninjas ever been real?"
"You don't believe me." Sasuke's smirk deepened.
"Of course not. It's not logical."
"You know," Naruto added. "Konoha's ancestors were said to be ninjas."
"And you actually believe that?" I was skeptical. I mean really, ninjas?
"Hey, it could be true." Naruto shrugged.
"Anyway," Sasuke continued. "This island was created about a century after all of its inhabitants were whiped out and people have been accounting for supernatural phenomenon for years now. Some even say that when you wander off at night, you can spot the ghosts of the ninja who fought in the war. Others have claimed that you can still hear the sounds of shuriken clanking against each other."
"G-ghosts?" Lee questioned, wide-eyed.
"Yeah," Sasuke took another drink from his can. "And legends say that they can sense the living through their chakra."
"Chakra?" I spoke up. "What the hell is that?"
"Chakra?" Naruto said. "I know what that is. It's stuff you write on those boards with, right?"
"Naruto, that's chalk." I shook my head.
"Oh."
"Chakra," Sasuke started. "Is the molding of the physical energypresent in every cell of the body and the spiritual energy gained from exercise and experience, or so they say. Once molded, it can be channelled through the chakra circulatory system, which is to chakra as the regular circulatory system is to blood, to any of the 361 chakra points , called tenketsu, in the body. It's said that through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, the chakra can then be manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water, exhaling fire or creating illusions."
Silence overtook the room before I finally bursted out laughing.
"Really? Where'd you hear that crap from? I mean seriously, it's not possible to breathe fire."
"You'll never know, will you?" He questioned, and his trademark smirk was back on his face. Yeah, we wouldn't have to worry about made up ninjas, but we would have to worry about something much worse thatn fictional creations, and we would figure that out soon.
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