Chapter 11!!
I will not update until the weekend.
The only reason I was able to do this one was because I woke up after 4 hours of sleep just craving to give you guys another chapter.
I want at least 6 reviews for this chapter.
Thank you for the five in the last one. It is greatly appreciated,
WeaponsMistress – my most faithful reviewer
Steffy27
xNejitenx - my 2nd more faithful reviewer
Lyneia – you have really good insight and may have a better idea than some at where the story is going.
Liandrid23
Here comes chapter 11!!
He sighed again, and raised his head to the ceiling "Just like a real brother, I won't let anyone hurt you. Not Kiyoshi and not Neji." whispered Lee, eyes narrowed in concentration.
Tenten raised her head. "Neji didn't do anything…" she mumbled.
Lee caught her gaze. "Yes he did."
"Neji's perfect!" exclaimed Tenten, before covering her mouth with one of her hands. She was surprised about her sudden outburst.
Lee's eyes softened. "To you he is an illusion." said Lee.
Tenten opened her mouth to say something when Lee raised his hand in defiance.
"Always remember this Tenten, illusions are dangerous people; they have no flaws."
Tenten lowered her head in thought. 'Neji isn't just an illusion to me, is he? I know who he is…I can see his flaws…can't I?'
"Just think about what I said Tenten." advised Lee.
Tenten nodded her head in understanding.
"Hinata-sama, I want to hear you swear that you will not have anything to do with Kiyoshi no matter what." demanded Neji, gripping his cousins' arms tighter than he intended to. She showed no sign of protest.
"Neji…" she whispered. 'I have never seen him look so helpless, even when he talks about the Hyuuga head and branch family. It's scary really to know that Kiyoshi rattled him so much.'
"I just want to hear you say it." demanded Neji again.
Hinata sighed. "Neji, I promise I will not have anything to do with Kiyoshi no matter what." obliged Hinata.
"Good." said Neji. He kissed her on the forehead and left.
"Neji…" mumbled Hinata to herself after he was gone. 'He really is far more worried than I have ever seen him before. I don't want anything bad to happen but I do have a very unforgiving feeling about this…' A frown was forming on her face in thought as she made her way over to Naruto was leading Sakura to the bar.
"He's cute isn't he?"
"Yeah…"
"Whatever."
"Come on, we're trying to get you a guy Lizdai, and since almost all guys are afraid of you, why not get a shinobi? I mean your father was an ANBU, so obviously you know what their like."
"Kamile, Sazukaimo, I told you not to talk about my father without my permission." said a very pissed Lizdai. "Also, I can find a guy by myself thank you very much. Plus this guy has been all over the brunette the bobbed haired guy is dancing with now."
"So?" asked Lilie.
"So! That is probably his girlfriend or something!" declared Lizdai throwing her arms over her head in annoyance.
"Oh I have a feeling that she might be with the red haired guy who gave her a kiss on the cheek before he left. Or that other guy who was with her that had the weird eyes." said Kamile nodding her head. (Kiyoshi's entire eyeball is black eyes, no white at all, and he has red hair in a low pony tail).
"Oh I don't know! But not with him, he seems too…."
"Too what?" questioned Sazukaimo quietly.
"I don't know…why don't you go for the bobbed haired guy, he seems weird enough for you." she scoffed as he gave a creepy thumbs up to his dance partner.
"Hey, don't make fun of his uniqueness!" exclaimed Kamile while pointing to her striking orange hair.
"Well then, why don't YOU go ask him to dance then?" offered Lizdai.
"Uhh…okay! Fine I will." declared Kamile, and she stalked over to him just as the song ended.
"Thank god…" muttered Lizdai to herself.
"That was sly of you."
"Who asked you Lilie?"
"Guys stop it!" exclaimed Sazukaimo.
"Guess what Kaimy!" yelled Lizdai.
"What?!"
"Look at that cute tubby boy at the bar. Do you see him?" she asked sweetly, with a fake smile on her face.
Sazukaimo nodded emphatically.
"He looks lonely doesn't he?" said Lizdai with a baby pout on her face. Lilie couldn't resist rolling her eyes.
Sazukaimo nodded again.
"Why don't you go ask him to dance!!" exclaimed Lizdai waving her hands in the air.
"What a great idea!!!" chirped Kaimy. She bolted over to Choji.
Lizdai sighed. "I am amazing…" she muttered to herself.
"Just when I thought you couldn't get anymore sneaky." scolded Lilie shaking her head in disappointment.
"Oh Lilie look!" she said to the normally impassive girl. "He looks like he wants to dance!"
"Lizdai…" she threatened a blood vessel popping her forehead.
"What?" she said with an offended look on her face.
"I don't dance!" she yelled.
She stormed away, surprisingly in the direction of the creepy guy she pointed at.
Lizdai's couldn't stop the overly large smile that kept on expanding across her face. She raised her arm above her hand; fist clenched, and brought it down in victory. "Yeah!! Score Lizdai: 1, everyone else: 0."
"Hope I didn't interrupt you, but um…this girl." he said motioning to the girl behind him. "Told me that I should tell you to ask that girl to dance." he said pointing to a short girl with pure white hair that was flipped out at the cheeks.
"Ohh…okay Lee. I'll do that." obliged Kankuro with a confused look on his face, he let go of Temari's arms.
"Go easy on Ino-chan okay?" whispered Kankuro in to his sisters' ear before departing.
Temari just scoffed in protest and made her way back to the bar.
"Score Kamile: 1, Lizdai: 1." muttered Kamile under her breath, a proud smirk developing on her face.
"So Kamile that is a very unique name." commented Lee.
"I know, eh?" agreed Kamile giving him a thumbs up. Lee's jaw dropped and eyes goggled.
"Your-r your-r doing the nice guy-y pose!!!" exclaimed Lee pointing at Kamile.
She held her stance and raised an eyebrow. "Nice guy pose?" she looked confused.
"Yea!" Lee imitated her giving her a thumbs up in return. He was starting to cry in admiration.
"Oh!! Well I guess for me you can call it a nice girl pose." she recommended.
"Nani?" asked Lee with a quizzled look on his face.
Kamile's face fell. "Because I am girl."
"Ohh!!"
'He might be a little too weird…even for me…' thought Kamile as her face turned to a frown.
"Three dances in a row is a bit much don't ya think?"
"Well I don't see anyone else who wants to dance with you."
"Hinata would."
"Uhuh." said Sahitzu shaking her head in disappointment. "She seems to be back with the Naruto guy."
Kiba's face fell.
"Don't stress it Inu." she consoled placing her hand on his cheek lightly.
He looked up at her face with a scowl that she seemed not to notice. 'I really wish she'd stop calling me stuff like that.'
"Don't blame her for something she can't control. Just like I don't blame you for liking her." said Sahitzu as she removed her hand from his cheek.
Kiba pursed his lips. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing!!" yelled Sahitzu her face reddening at her unintentional confession.
Kiba pouted. "Hey, you said that you think that cats are better than dogs, right?" he asked.
"No…I said that I know cats are better!" exclaimed Sahitzu loudly.
"Whatever, dogs are better."
"No cats are."
"Matte, Matte. What I was going to say is, since we both believe our animal is the better one, why don't we face off at the festival so we can fight for our families supremacy and honour!" offered Kiba overconfidently.
Sahitzu had a smirk that matched his own. "You're on."
Kiba's face faltered at her eagerness, but was able to hold up the façade.
"March 27th and 28th weekend the reputation of dogs in going down!" declared Sahitzu.
Kiba winced at her loudness. "Not if I have anything to do with it…" mumbled Kiba.
"What? What did you said?" asked Sahitzu raising her ear to his mouth.
Kiba sighed. 'Even I am not this annoying.'
'What the hell is he doing? Why is he walking over here? What the fuck did Kamile tell him to do?'
Lizdai's thoughts were running a mile a minute, and she tried helplessly to withhold her forever changing thoughts from her facial expressions.
"Uhh…yo." said the man who has walking up to her as he waved his hand at her.
"Hey…" she mumbled in return looking down at the floor in embarrassment.
Kankuro raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'What's with her?' He held out a hand to dance.
"I-I would rather not." she said not even raising her. "I have a rough night."
"Yeah right. I promise you that if you dance with me I will be able to top double-time anything you went though tonight." he offered without removing his hand while developing a very deep frown as he reminisced about what happened during the night.
Lizdai smiled sadly. 'That's probably right. He looked really pissed after he parted with his brunette and the two guys with weird eyes.'
"You going to dance?" he asked. 'Yeah, rough night my ass. This girl is so strange.'
"Okay, sure." she raised her head and took his hand. 'Why am I acting so weird? I mean I normally fight with guys, and now I am getting embarrassed beyond belief……he's not even that cute!'
Kankuro took her waist respectively, and her hands went to his neck.
"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself." Kankuro shrugged his shoulders. "Namme wa desu, Kankuro."
Her eyes went wide. 'My shinobi father was killed when the sand attacked Konoha years ago and the ones who attacked were the children of the Kazekage and one of them was named Kankuro.'
"Anate no namme wa?" he asked.
"Lizdai. Are you named after Kankuro of the Sand." asked Lizdai with a glare on her face.
Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise. 'She knows who I am?'
He shook his head. "No, I am Kankuro of the Sand."
She immediately pushed away from him, her face was livid.
"Nani?!?" demanded a pissed Kankuro.
His anger was nothing compared to what was radiating off of Lizdai.
"You're Kankuro of the Sand?!!?" she yelled, her eyes pleading for it not to be true.
"That's what I said, wasn't it?!" retorted Kankuro.
She began to storm off. He grabbed her arm before she got more than a meter away.
"Let go of me!"
"Not until you tell me why you're getting so upset for!"
"Traitor!" she whipped with venom in her voice.
Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" asked Kankuro.
"You're from Suna! You people were Konoha allies and then betrayed them at the chuunin exam! You helped in the killings of our Hokage, many ANBU and other shinobi!"
Kankuro winced. 'We will never be forgiven for our actions will we?'
"That's in the past."-
Lizdai cut him off. "Yeah it's in the past but some people are still experiencing the repercussions of your actions!" she looked down at the floor in thought.
Kankuro smiled sadly as realization hit him. "Who died that was close to you?" She raised her head.
"My father." she mumbled.
"Then you probably understand that we had to do that because it was an order."
"That doesn't mean you have to betray our village."
Kankuro shook his head. "I am certain that your father being an ANBU was forced to kill many people he didn't know, nor he knew anything about." Kankuro sighed. "You have to be a shinobi to understand. We are all bound by the same laws, you follow the orders given to you, and you never question them. Any good ninja doesn't let emotions get into the equation. We know that any mission may be our last. We are simply the tools of our countries will."
"I know…" mumbled Lizdai. "That's why I refused to become one."
Kankuro pulled her towards him, but Lizdai resisted.
"I am not a shinobi yet how is it I still feel the effects of their world."
"It's not fair is it?"
"No. Especially when people like you can live in it without any losses."
Kankuro shook his head again. "My father, the Kazekage was murdered and impersonated by a former Konoha ninja, and sannin, Orochimaru. This was when we were given the orders to attack Konoha." he stated his voice devoid of any emotion.
"How do you do that?" asked Lizdai her voice cracking.
"What?"
"State the death of your father without any feelings. Shinobi really are emotionless beings."
"That's not true."
"Prove me wrong." she crossed her arms in front her herself.
"My brother and sister and I are closer to each other than our father ever was. Akatsuki is targeting my jinchuriki brother, and my sister has been taken advantage by one of their members in attempt to get to our brother." stated Kankuro, his expression becoming pained.
"So the rumours are true." muttered Lizdai to herself, her arms falling to her sides, Kankuro caught one and pulled her towards him. This time she didn't resist.
"Looks like there are more to people than meets the eye." mumbled Kankuro.
"I could say the same for you." retorted Lizdai with a sad smile.
"Gomen-nasai, about your father." apologized Kankuro.
She nodded her head in acceptance.
"Naruto-kun?"
He turned around from where he was standing in between Sakura and Choji, who were sitting at the bar.
"Nani Hinata-san?"
"Umm…"
Sakura nudged him from behind. "Go on." She encouraged.
Hinata's eyes were darting around everywhere, and her face was turning red, it looked as though the alcohol was wearing off.
Naruto smiled knowingly. He grabbed one of her hands that she was hugging herself with.
Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something when Naruto cut her off.
"Let's dance Hinata-san."
He dragged her to the dance floor.
'I really hope I don't faint.' pleaded Hinata inwardly.
"Hey you!" waved a girl who was heading towards Choji.
He stopped shoving his chips into his mouth. "Nani?" he asked his speech was impeded by all the chips in his mouth.
"Umm…I was just wondering if you would want to dance?" proposed Sazukaimo.
Choji's face froze.
"Come on Choji." quipped Shikamaru, who was on his other side of him, as he whacked him at the back on his head.
Choji shook his head to rid himself of his freeze.
"Are you joking?" asked Choji.
"No!!" declared Sazukaimo with a pout on her face
"Oh okay sure." mumbled Choji as he jumped off of his stool and headed towards the dance floor with his partner.
"Good for Choji, I was about to ask him to dance if she hadn't, he looked so lonely." commented Ino from beside Shikamaru.
"How thoughtful of you Ino." complemented Shikamaru lightly.
Ino developed a proud smile on her face. Then it faltered as she looked behind her.
"Nani Ino?" asked Shikamaru not even looking at her.
"Temari's coming."
Shikamaru winced.
Ino put a hand on his arm comfortingly.
"Go ahead." offered Ino.
Shikamaru's widened in surprise.
"Nani?" he managed to get out.
"Just go. I am not in the mood for dancing right now. I am still a little rattled if you know what I mean. But just promise me something." said Ino.
"Nani?"
She giggled. "Is that all you can say, 'nani?' Anyway just promise me that you'll save the last dance for me." proposed Ino.
Shikamaru nodded with an appreciative smile on his face.
Temari grabbed him.
"Come on scrawny boy."
Ino rolled her eyes.
"Hey Ino!" greeted Tenten as she took Choji's spot and sat beside Sakura. She motioned to Shikamaru's seat.
Ino scooted over.
"How is Lee doing?" asked Sakura.
Tenten just pointed to where he was dancing enthusiastically with his partner. She seemed a little bit confused by all his peculiarities.
Sakura and Ino giggled.
"Are you going to dance at all Shino?" asked Tenten. He was on the other side of Sakura.
"No. I don't dance." he stated then returned to his conversation.
"Oh! I didn't see her, who are you talking to Shino?" asked Sakura.
Shino leaned back on his chair so they could all see the very tall girl he was talking to.
"My name is Lilie." she said. "Nice to meet you." she nodded to the three other girls before returning her attention to Shino.
Sakura, Tenten and Ino were in shock. 'Shino is talking to a girl other than Hinata.' they all thought in unison.
"Where is Neji?" asked Sakura.
Tenten just shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't you want to dance with him?" questioned Ino.
She shrugged her shoulders again.
"What happened between you two?" demanded Sakura.
"Nothing."
"Nothing my ass." stated Ino, while she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
Tenten ignored her.
"You are going to tell us no matter what hun." threatened Ino with her with her hands in her mind control jutsu formation.
Tenten rolled her eyes. She was unfazed. "Do whatever you want to."
Ino's face fell. "Tell us." said Ino motioning to Sakura who nodded.
"We're good at listening." said Sakura.
Tenten sighed in defeat and began telling them the whole story other than Kiyoshi's abusiveness.
The night continued without anything overly abnormal. Everyone was dancing to their hearts content, with a grand assortment of partners. Kiba and Sahitzu organized their competition for the festival between their two loyal animals, and promised to get together to finalize the details. Temari wouldn't get off of Shikamaru the entire night. Naruto caught Hinata before she collapsed to the ground when he tried to kiss her, but she was okay. Lee bragged to Kamile about the springtime of youth, and Sazukaimo bragged to Choji about all her families' special recipes. However during the entire night, Neji was no where to be seen.
End of Chapter 11!!!!
Where is Neji?
Final chapter of the arc one coming up! 'The last dance.'
Translation:
Matte- wait
Nani – what
Anate no namme wa – what is your name
Namme wa desu – my name is
The next one will be up sometime during the weekend and I want at least 6 reviews for this chap!
Much love,
temariXshikamaruluva