Eheh. Would it make any difference on how I'm going to be brutally murdered by you guys if I said that I had completely forgotten about this story? No? Well, alright, then. Can't blame a girl for trying.

14. Fiery Glow

After getting a permit, Miki and her family were allowed to build a bonfire in their backyard one night. She invited me and, as a result, Sasuke over to join them, and we brought out the supplies to make s'mores as it started to get dark out. I jokingly offered to call Naruto to join us and was punched in both of my arms by the cousins in a remarkable team effort, and then we settled down on plastic chairs around the fire, eager to begin. I was politely offered a graham cracker by her mother, and I started to construct my own delectable treat as the adults talked about another time they had done this a few years back. "Miki had a problem with dropping her marshmallows into the fire, and she'd always want to get it back with the stick. "Oh, it's still good! Ten second rule!" " The old man chuckled at his daughter's irritated growls. "Ah, those were the days, alright."

"Daaaaaad!" The embarrassed teen threw her marshmallow at her father, who only laughed as he dodged it expertly and handed her another one for her stick. Pouting and glaring at me and Sasuke when we couldn't suppress our snickering, she let her marshmallow hover over the hungry flames as she sulked in her chair. Shaking my head, I glanced at her cousin and watched him as he turned his stick to roast it evenly over the fire, almost as if he had experience with this sort of thing. Funny, I never thought of him as a s'mores kind of guy. Mentally shrugging, I focused on creating a sandwich with my graham crackers and taking a bite out of the savory treat.

"Mmm . . ." I licked my lips and sucked on my fingers for the bits of chocolate and marshmallow that had stuck to them. "This is awesome! I haven't had s'mores in years. My family used to have a bonfire every New Year's Eve, but we kinda fell out of the tradition."

"Not enough time?" Miki's mother hummed in understanding when I confirmed her suspicions. "Well, your parents have to work, so that's understandable. They're probably too tired to stay up late." The conversation picked up from there, drifting from busy lives to what their vacation would be like, until the adults yawned and decided to take their leave. "Don't stay up too late, now!"

"We won't," I reassured them, ignoring Miki's indignant scoff as I watched her parents walk inside the house. The silence stretched between the three of us as we ate our marshmallows, and then I decided to break it as I turned to her and asked, "So, doing anything big this summer? I'm just gonna stay home and be lazy most of the time, I hope."

"You mean other than going up north?" When I nodded, she put a finger on her chin thoughtfully and hummed. "Hm. Well, I was thinking we could go to the beach sometime. What do you think?"

"Sure!" I grinned at the thought of playing in the waves and relaxing in the sun, but an apathetic grunt from my other side alerted me to Sasuke's dislike of the idea. "Oh, come on, a little sun'll do you good, you vampire." Reminded of a song and beginning to hum the tune, I waved my stick in time with the beats as the other two constructed more s'mores. Boy, that'll be a blast! I was already deciding on what swimsuit I was going to wear as the crickets and cicadas made their own music in the darkness of the night, and my eyes rested on the fiery glow of the campfire in the center of the circle of chairs as I went over the possibilities. I could always wear the dark blue one . . . don't I have a matching skirt with it?

I was brought out of my thoughts when Miki made another suggestion for conversation. "Hey, let's play a game! Like . . . Would You Rather!" She grinned at the idea, as if remembering some hilarious games in the past where she had forced someone to play–aka me. Rolling my eyes at my own less pleasant memories of the questioning, I was interrupted from protesting when she turned to Sasuke to taunt, "Hey, emo kid, play with us! You're always all grumpy and "hn"-ful."

Well, crap. If she's determined enough to try convincing him, then I'm never getting out of this game. Sighing heavily at the misfortunes I was sure to encounter this time, I waited halfheartedly for her to go on with the reason she really wanted to play this game: To torture me.

"Alright . . . Harmony!" I sighed at her predictable choice and waited for her ridiculous question. "Would you rather . . . sleep in a bed of snakes or a bed of hornets?"

I made a face at the decision. "They're both horrible! I mean . . . God, why would you do that to me?" I grimaced as the dim firelight cast an eerie glow on her smirk, making her look like a ravenous monster looking to devour my soul–or maybe that was just my imagination at work again. Shaking the image away and forcing myself to make my choice, I sighed irritably and mumbled, "Snakes, I guess . . . although they freak me out." A snort from the only male there caused me to glower at his amusement. "Hey! Shut up!"

"Okay, okay," Miki waved away the impending one-sided argument, "your turn, Sasuke."

". . . hn." His eyes slid between us as if sizing up which would give a funnier response, and then he turned to me with a grin at the resigned expression on my face. How did I know he'd pick me? "Harmony, would you rather . . . sit in a room with Naruto for an hour, or with me?"

The way my eyes widened and jaw opened in horror was enough to make Miki hysterical, and I squeaked, "Wha–that's even worse! I mean, Naruto's loud and overactive, while you're . . . you!" Dismayed to make such a difficult choice, I bit my lip as I turned my eyes to the fire as if for guidance. "Uhh . . . crap. That's hard."

"You have to make a choice," Miki's sing-song voice was very smug, "or you'll have to pay the price!"

Oh, geez. Last time I had to "pay the price," I had to run down the street with my underwear on the outside of my clothes screaming gibberish while she stumbled after me laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. Not wanting to endure such a horrible fate like that again, I narrowed my eyes and glared at her before turning to Sasuke to say, "Much as I love that idiot blond, I'd rather keep my hearing and deal with your harassment. So, you." He looked a bit satisfied by my choice, and I was wondering if he would have been offended had I picked Naruto after all. Brushing away the thought for now, I looked at Miki with an eager grin. "My turn! So . . ." I took her crossed arms and bored expression as a challenge. "Would you rather hang out with Sasuke for the entire day–"

She almost leapt out of her plastic chair. "Nope! Whatever the other option is, I take it!"

"Or have another year of Ms. Cauldik's class. Okay!" By the crestfallen look on her face, she hadn't expected such a terrible thing to be suggested, but she stood by her decision defiantly as she stuck out her tongue at her cousin. "Your turn, Miki!"

"Okay. Harmony." She grinned when I winced, knowing that I knew how much trouble I was in after doing that to her. "Would you rather . . . have someone watch you sleep, or shower?"

"What?" I physically drew back at the bizarre question, my gaze flickering over to the blue-garbed ninja who looked suspiciously indifferent towards the question. Oh God, now I'm paranoid. Trying not to look like an idiot, I picked the obvious answer: "Sleep, duh! Can't believe you would even ask that . . ."

"Miki." Both of us jumped at the unexpected call and glanced curiously at Sasuke. His expression didn't reveal any of his thoughts, and I silently thanked God for letting me slide this time. I'm more afraid when I can't see him plotting evilly. "Would you rather have someone watch you shower . . ." Here, his lips quirked slightly, and the shadows the fiery glow cast on his face made him look especially demonic. "Or, would you rather hang out with me for a day?"

"Ouch," I commented quietly, then ducked my head when she cast me a furious glare that said "watch it." Yikes, she's got a tough choice. But hey, it's indirect payback for all of the things you've done to me! Silently rooting for her cousin and planning to reward him liberally next time I had the chance, I waited impatiently for her answer. Come on, it's not like you'll die if you take a shower. Haha, I'm so evil. I must be secretly part Uchiha.

". . . ugh. You're a jerk, Sasuke." Making a face at the both of us, she bit her lip anxiously before sighing dramatically and throwing her hands up in the air. "Alright, alright, fine! Since you guys are so desperate to get me to hang out with Sasuke, I'll pick that." She shivered and rubbed her arms like she was cold, or as if she felt unclean after saying such a thing. She jerked a thumb to the ninja that had just questioned her and growled, "Okay, tough guy, riddle me this: Would you rather have to hang out with Naruto for an hour . . . or . . ." She was really working her malicious expressions tonight, it seemed. "Make out with him?" I was too frightened of her to point out she had skipped me.

He immediately gagged as if he had a cherry stuck in his throat, and both of us burst into hysterical laughter as he went on to make disgusted grimaces at his cousin's suggestion. I barely managed to choke out, "At least if you're kissing him, he'll be quiet!" I was then the target he practiced with by throwing several branches, and he tossed a marshmallow in between Miki's eyes to make her stop and stare at her nose in bewilderment.

"The first option," he was loath to decide, although considering the lingering scowl on his face it was the much better option in his opinion. He then jerked his head in my direction to remind me to ask, only uttering a disgruntled, "Hn."

"Hm . . . okay." I stared across the lawn to try to gather my thoughts, but then something startled me into forgetting all about our little game: Another glimpse of the pair of blood red eyes that watched me expectantly. I gave a sharp gasp at the sudden interruption of my thoughts, and literally a split-second after the shadowy figure had disappeared Sasuke was on his feet and glancing around to find out what had scared me. I pointed at the spot the eyes had been, and as he went to investigate it I mumbled, "That's the second time I . . ."

"What?" Miki was immediately by my side with a concerned look on her face, and she asked carefully, "What do you mean, "second time?""

I returned her frightened stare calmly, something that didn't match how rapidly my heart was beating. "I saw him before. I mean, I didn't really see his face, but I–"

"Do you know who it was?" Sasuke suspended my explanation for something more important, and he gave me a serious look that revealed he already had an idea of the mysterious person's identity. I nodded grimly, not wanting to voice my feelings but knowing it had to be done, and told him all that he needed to know.

"He had red eyes . . . the Sharingan."

~Fin~