A/N:
A/N: Some of you may have noticed that I changed the setting to "Romance"… I think it's fair for the people who don't like shonen-ai/ yaoi, since things are heading that way. Thank you all who read and, as always, extra thanks to those of you who take the time to review. Feedback is a beautiful thing. The drinking game they are playing is a traditional Japanese/Chinese one.. All credit goes to TWNJ, who steered me in the right direction in order to stay consistent with the culture. In the process I was educated and will be trying this one out sometime. ;-D I will explain how it's played for the rest of you guys, right after I give my thanks to my anon users. :-D
Insomniac – When you were talking about Sakura especially it was like I was hearing my own thoughts! Very eerie and cool. :-D I'm happy you thought the scene worked at the end… I really don't think that the story is at a point where things can get TOO mushy. As to the manga… I'm trying to keep the faith. lol … and you'll probably want to kick me, but I like Snape… :ducks: It's a sin, I know. And don't change a thing about your reviews. I love 'em just the way they are. :-D Halskr – You DO have a point there… :scratches head: To tell you the truth, I didn't think it'd fit there and then and planned on using what was said later. But maybe I should have addressed some of them… Thank you for your support and your criticism. :-D Kakashi's Dog – Thank you, hon! I'm happy you enjoy the ride. As to what the party is about… read on. ;-)
Rules of the Drinking Game
You have 7 game pieces: 3 cups of different sizes with their associated tops, that are also used as cups. One cup can fit into the other- much like the Russian Babushkas- and the last piece is a die. It's your regular die that has 6 sides- no D&D ones, lol- five sides have the numbers 1-5 in dots and the sixth side has a painted musical note. In each cup and lid there are faces and dots that correspond with a side of the die and the smallest one has the musical note. With me so far? Okay… here are the actual rules: The minimum number of players is 6. Each cup can be filled with the same or different beverages. The person sitting to the right of the host rolls first and the you continue with the person on their right and so on. Depending on the number you roll, you have to perform a task. If the guests are happy with how you did, the next person plays, if not… bottoms up, no matter how big the cup. Thus, performing the tasks becomes increasingly difficult. The tasks are as follows: 1. You need to offer an interesting FACT that the guests had no previous knowledge of. 2. You are called to pose a RIDDLE. 3. You say a JOKE to make them laugh. 4. PANTOMIME a famous saying. 5. Make a POEM –usually a haiku, which is a traditional Japanese poem consisting of 3 verses and 5-7-5 syllables- or a LIMERICK on the spot. Musical Note. Sing a SONG.
Poems, songs, saying etc are traditional Japanese ones- other than a couple I made up. Riddles and jokes.. no. Unfortunately too much gets lost in translation. WARNING there is a SPOILER about the upcoming arc, so anyone who doesn't want to know, just skip Ino's thoughts after Shikamaru, k? Sorry, I would have avoided it if I could have.
Disclaimer: I own… the D&D reference… and a dvd copy of the "Airplane", the "Don't call me Sherley!" edition. Hehehe
Tides and Ebbs of Honesty
Tide 11: Host Duties
Unlike what most people thought, chaos was not an abstract concept. It was actually the aftermath of a party with ninjas as guests.
Yamakata Ino looked around her dejectedly and longed for the days, when none of her friends were adult enough to stay out past 7 pm and miss the family dinner. Not that most of them had tripped and fallen on the adult side on the fence- which would only happen by accident, she was sure- but their chronological age allowed for adult privileges. Which was what had allowed for things to come to this in the first place. In fact, if she were back to being twelve, she wouldn't have even tried to play "Hostess"… No- actually, she would have anyway.
She sighed in resignation. Her friends were scattered almost in piles all over her home, snoring blissfully while she tried to come up with some sort of chore schedule that would enable her to clean up before her parents came back. What in the world was she thinking?
Her mind drifted to the events a week before the party. If she had only known then what she knew now, when he met Sakura that morning.
It was true that Ino came off as a spoilt, beauty-princess- which was weird considering that Kunoichi couldn't afford to be too feminine- but the people that knew her well enough had learned to see past that. And the truth was that she cared. Maybe too much for her own good at times.
And such was the time that Sakura walked past her, looking entirely troubled and lost in her thoughts. So much so, that that the pink haired girl never even noticed her. So concern jabbed her hard and she couldn't resist the urge to ask what was the matter. Or her curiosity. Care, Concern and Curiosity were the three deadly "c"s that invited the fourth into her life every time- and that was Chaos.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, forehead-girl?" she teased.
Sakura sighed. "I have to deliver some reports to Tsunade-sama, then-"
"Hold it." Ino looked at her strangely. No 'Ino-pig', not even irritation. Something was definitely up. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I just…" she sighed again and sat down on a nearby bench. "Actually, I could use an outsider's perspective on this…"
Outsider. The word wouldn't have hurt her coming from anyone else other than her team and Sakura. Things were just complicated between them and, although Ino had wanted to believe that maybe they could be like they once were, it was becoming more and more obvious that the years they had spent growing up apart had created what seemed to be an unbridgeable gap between them. Sakura wasn't the frightened, shy girl that needed her boost in order to shine. And she wasn't quite as obvious as most would think. Even Sakura seemed to forget that.
She settled by her once-best-friend and waited patiently for her to talk.
"It's Sasuke and Naruto." She breathed out, as though the two names heaved on her chest. "There was an… accident a few days ago during training- but they are both alright… physically." She frowned. "Sasuke talked to Naruto and everything should have been fine… instead, they are acting pretty weird around each other. It's like coming back from the country of Waves all over again."
Ino smiled at her friend's frustration. She remembered those days. Though no one had really spent time with another team, the thick air of awkwardness that surrounded Team 7 had given rise to gossip. No one actually found out what that had been all about. "That sounds like Naruto and Sasuke alright… They have always been like that. They have their own way about dealing with things… you should know that better than anyone. I'm sure they'll be fine."
Sakura looked up at her hopefully. "I guess you're right…"
"I am more than right. In fact, I can help." She said confidently. "My parents are going away for the weekend. Maybe we can through a party and get everyone together. We haven't had a chance like that in a very long time- plus, we never really celebrated Sasuke-kun's return to the village!"
The other girl seemed more than a little uncertain. That should have been her first clue, if she weren't too busy making plans to pay attention. "I don't know, Ino…"
"Trust me." She had smiled. "I know what I'm doing."
Well, that was brilliant, wasn't it?
She rounded the corner to enter the living room- trash bag in one hand to at least get rid of the trash that were forming small piles all over the place. Her eyes fell on Kiba, lying comfortably on Akamaru, snoring loudly. This current mess had been the direct product of his idea. And again, she had let concern drive her decisions, otherwise, she would have known that the boy's suggestion was really not the brightest of ideas.
Ino took a deep breath, wishing she could be mad at him, but fully aware that she had only herself to blame. Had anyone put a kunai on her throat? No.
"What do you mean 'no booze'?"
Part of the etiquette of being a good host, was making sure there was food and drinks for every guest. Now, by drinks it did not, by any means, advocate for alcohol. She turned around after putting the tray with the sushi on the table. Kiba was gapping at her, eyes wide. "What part of 'no booze' do you not get?"
"Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiino…" he whined, "What are we, twelve?"
It was suspicious how no one else had spoken up in her defense, but then again anyone already there was either lost in their own little world- enter Naruto and Shikamaru- or just non-confrontational about petty issues- enter Shino and Neji- or plain uncaring, unless it had something to do with food. She glared at Chouji who was already stalking the sushi.
"My parents would kill me." She fended. "And in any case, alcohol turns even the most respectable individuals into complete imbeciles."
"Good afternoon."
The voice interrupting her rant was smooth and familiar. Sai had just come in with Sakura and Lee. "Ah welcome, welcome, Sai-kun." She smiled, looping her arm around the boy's and leading him to the living room. "You too, Sakura, Lee- make yourselves at home."
It was unnecessary to look over her shoulder in order to see Sakura roll her eyes and Lee smile at her response. She really wasn't more interested in Sai than the rest of her friends, but it was worth getting that suspicious look from Shikamaru. And, no, she wasn't petty, either. It was a matter of self-protection and image. Because anyone with half a brain-cell could see how the boy-genius would soften and brighten up around the Sabaku girl- Temari, was it?- but she had noticed that it only seemed to bother her. Such mental notes and recent discoveries- about how Shikamaru was no longer a boy and that the man he had grown into was quite admirable- had faced her with the reality that what she had been looking for was really- cliché as it sounded- right before her eyes. It was probably too late for that now, though.
"Inoooooooooo…" Kiba tried again, this time drawing on the power of the 'o's. "What about the booze??"
Before she could chastise him- again- Sai had produced a sizable bottle of sake. "I brought some. I read it is a customary gift to the host."
Kiba just jumped at that. "You won't offend Sai here by denying his customary gift to the host, are you Ino?"
A tight smile formed on her lips. This was such a bad idea… and she knew it. "Of course not…"
"Do you need any help with that?"
Ino gasped, her hand flying to her chest in start. "Shino!" she exclaimed, then checked her tone. "This is not a stealth exercise, so don't go scaring people like that."
Shino was nonchalant as ever, if only a little more on the disheveled side than usual. "I didn't mean to alarm you. I wake up early out of habit." He said politely then took the bag from her and started to collect stray useless objects, sparing Kiba what seemed like a frown, as the boy's snoring picked up in volume. "When are your parents due back?"
A sigh. "Later this evening… I'm not sure I can do this all on my own, but those guys would be useless, even if I were to wake them up."
"Shino and I can help…" Hinata said, walking into the room. She rubbed her eyes and covered her mouth as she yawned. She also checked on Kiba before looking around. There was no need for Byakugan to assess the extent of this particular mess. "Where do we start?"
The girl's good manners only served to remind her of her bad ones presently. It wasn't just a matter of being a gracious hostess- she honestly liked taking care of people. People and flowers. "Oh, what am I thinking? Do you guys want breakfast?"
The two members of Team 8 shared a look, then Hinata smiled. "I think it's best we get this over with. By the time we're done, maybe the others will be awake and we can all have breakfast together someplace outside."
She couldn't really be certain as his overcoat shielded his mouth and the dark sunglasses hid his eyes, but she thought that Shino might be smiling as well. But even if he weren't, it was hard not to smile back at the genuine and quite infectious smile that Hinata had graced her with. Wordlessly, they started to work together.
"So…" Shino spoke up rather unexpectedly. "I guess you might consider your party a success, all things considered."
If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Shino had just cracked a joke.
"Success!" Naruto called out, all happy. His previous two 'unsuccessful' attempts before this one, that had forced him to drink up his sake, may have had something to do with his spirits being lifted. It had to be that, because the fact that Sasuke had not, as of yet, made an appearance seemed to place a dark rain cloud over him. "I have a good one this time."
Most everyone rolled their eyes. Ino in particular felt like banging her head on the table, not having consumed nearly enough sake to deal with this.
Yes, of course, it would have been dull to just nurture a drink all night- they had to play a game. Lucky for her, her parents did not have the exact set required- meaning that there were no really big cups. Kiba had explained the rules- several times, with true proficiency on the matter making more than one of them think 'what the hell?'- and assigned the number 1 through 5 to the cups and a musical note to the smallest one. Then he had proceeded to explain the tasks- which he had to reiterate every time they rolled the die for the first round and some of the second. By the beginning of the third round they had all become pretty proficient themselves and much less sober.
An essential host duty was to entertain the guests, but she was rather certain that this had gotten a bit out of hand.
Naruto had just landed another 2- a riddle. Thus far, he had given them one riddle already- the age old "How do you catch a squirrel? Climb up a tree and act like a nut"; which wasn't really a riddle, so he had to drink up from a pretty large cup. Turns out the number one ninja in surprising people was also a surprising lightweight. They figured that one out, because for the second round he had rolled a 5 and the limerick he had come up with was "The bastard's hair is black, And if I could, I would break his back, But because he's a bastard, And acts like a dastard, I'll call him bastard bastard."
Ino firmly believed that they'd all concede that he had completed his task- even though the fifth verse was supposed to rhyme with the two first, but, really, who keeps track?- but Naruto had jumped ahead of their speed of speech and downed that second cup too. Maybe it wasn't that he was faster than sound, as much as they had been rendered speechless and dumbfounded for a few crucial seconds.
"Naruto! It had better not be one of those again…" Sakura warned, who had passed with flying colors the song task- singing "Rising, rising is the moon, Large & round, round round one, Plate-like full moon will rise soon. Hiding, hiding is the moon, Behind the clouds, dark clouds, black black clouds, Plate-like full moon will hide soon."(1), which was lovely- but had to drink up when for a joke she came up with the pretty obvious word-game "konyaku, konyakuu". No one cared that she 'would eat konyaku tonight'.
"No, Sakura-chan- you're gonna love this one." He cleared his throat and tried not to laugh in glee for the ingenuity of his riddle. "What do you call a fish with no eye?"
"Fssshhhh." Ten-Ten replied from across the table. Spat was closest to what she did, actually.
A number of disturbed looks were exchanged all around. Ino figured that half of them had drunk enough to wonder what 'i' and 'eye' had in common, the rest of them were just too dumbfounded that Ten-Ten- the skilled, measured kunoichi- would come up with the answer to a childish riddle that easily. But then again, she had already surprised him with easily slipping to a relaxed, sillier mode when she had to pantomime twice already . The first was the old saying "Even monkeys fall from trees" (2), her impersonation of a monkey had been so unexpectedly comical that it was an easy guess. So, she had one drink for that and another for the second saying, which was "Fall down seven times, get up eight times". She proceeded to fall down those seven times, but Neji had to help her up for the eighth time.
Said Hyuuga shook his head, then blinked a couple of times- probably due to the subsequent vertigo brought on by the sudden motion. He frowned at her. "Why would you even know such a thing?"
Now, Neji was by no means part of the sober-bunch, having provided the story about his curse seal as his fact that the rest didn't know- which everyone already did know, so it earned him the biggest cup of sake- and second round having him come up with a joke. He probably could have- or so Hinata claimed- but, if Naruto was a lightweight, Neji was a freaking featherweight in comparison. Something about Ten-Ten answering seemed to have insulted his perception of her, because he stared at her accusingly.
Ten-Ten smiled sweetly at him for a moment; then she burped.
Naruto had his drink with a shrug, not having managed to stump all the guests.
The trash was not the only thing in heaps around her living room. Her team mates were in a heap behind the couch as well.
Chouji was lying flat on the floor, sleeping soundly as a newborn baby, with Shikamaru having found a comfortable pillow on his belly. She smiled softly at them. Shikamaru's expression morphed into a frown and she wondered what kind of intricate plans and strategies were troubling him even in his sleep. Ino reached out to sooth his expression with a soft stroke on the cheek, but stopped. She was so stupid.
And it was no wonder that those two were on the floor, because the couch and arm chair were otherwise occupied. Neji and Ten-Ten had fallen asleep on one side of the couch, with Sai slumped on the other. The dark boy looked peaceful in his sleep, his face relaxing from the forced expressions of his waking hours. Her eyes moved to the other two ninjas; Ten-Ten's head was resting on Neji's chest, one arm draped across his chest. Neji was resting a hand on her waist, the other cupping her hand on his chest almost assuringly. Ino tilted her head at them. The positioning betrayed an ease that suggested this wasn't the first time they had been like this.
Ino smiled, then looked over to the armchair, where Sakura and Lee had fallen asleep. This one was a different image entirely. The two were simply sitting together, heads resting together, holding hands with their fingers intertwined over a very nice drawing of the two of them. The beginning of something deep and comfortable. She was honestly happy for her friend, but something inside her still ached to have what she had. Well, not with Lee, but… perhaps someone special.
Her eyes darted to Shikamaru for a moment, then she shook her head and forced a smile as she caught Shino looking her way for a moment.
"One!" Ino smiled.
Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. What is one again?"
"An interesting fact that rest of us don't know." Chouji offered with a smile that mirrored Ino's. "Including your team mates."
The boy genius frowned at his childhood friend. "Troublesome."
In truth, Shikamaru had had it very easy for the previous two rounds. Of course, he wouldn't know what one was, because he was used to getting 2s. Riddles were something that a genius like him could appreciate and tease people with, but Shikamaru was never one to show off- nor was he a man of too many words. Thus the first riddle had been "When I say my name, I no longer exist. Who am I?". The riddle was met with silence and- even though "silence" was in fact the answer to it- the boy did not have to drink. The second time they had all- all, because even the naturally sombre ones had had a drink by then- complained that first riddle had not given enough clues, so he went for something more descriptive. "My first, though water, cures no thirst, My next alone has soul, And when he lives upon my first, He is then called my whole." And it took a few moments to specify that it was 'whole' and not a 'hole'. Descriptions and clues for "sea-man" aside, the result was very much the same.
Shikamaru thought for a moment. "I won't become a Jounin until I think I can be half as good as Asuma-sensei."
Ino shared a quick look with Chouji, then quickly looked down, her hand unconsciously clutching on to her vest. What Asuma meant to her and Chouji paled in comparison to who he had been to Shikamaru. And really, Team 7 might have lost a team mate, but hopefully no other team would know what it meant to lose their mentor. The world crumbled and reality shifted into something that Team 10 could no longer recognize. No one could or would ever replace Sarutobi Asuma. They were orphaned.
It was a host's duty to mediate and keep things nice and light, though, and it fell on her to dismiss the heavy atmosphere that had suddenly settled in the room. "And having students would drive you insane." She noted with a smile- and it was genuine because the idea of the genius trying to mentor loud kids amused her to no end. "With your luck, you'd get the loudest of them all."
A small smiled curved Shikamaru's lips, recognizing and appreciating her gesture. Then he placed the die in front of Shino, who was sitting on his right.
The Aburame boy took the die in his hand a sighed.
Most had to hide a smile, because, kind as the fates had been to Shikamaru, it had been the exact opposite with Shino. First task had been a song- which drew a huge fit of laughter from Naruto(4) for reasons no one could really understand. Shino had glared at the blond and just gulped down his drink. Task number two had been to tell a joke. He didn't even try, but proceeded to drink his second cup.
The die rolled across the table and landed on 5. So it was a poem or a limerick this time. "The first cold shower, even the monkey seems to want, a little coat of straw." (5)
There was silence for a moment, as most had expected that he would pass this one up- other than Team 8. Hinata was smiling softly- knowingly. Kiba simply retrieved the die with a pat on his friend's back, smiling that canine grin of his.
"Shino here has a soft spot for haiku poems." He smirked. "My turn."
Out of everyone, Kiba had been the most excited about the game. Ino envied how comfortable he seemed with being silly and share things. His first roll had been a fact and he chose to share that one time, when he was a kid, his sister had sprayed him with pesticide, because he claimed he got Akamaru's flees in order to skip school. To this day he had refused to admit that he had lied to her even though Hana had given him the chance in good humour or literally threatened to beat the confession out of him. For the second round, he had to pose a riddle. "what kind of keys don't open doors?". It was witty in a 5-year-old kind of way, but he still had to drink up, because Chouji knew the answer to that one- "Donkeys, Turkeys and Monkeys".
The die cruelly landed on the musical note. "A song, huh?" Kiba smirked and jumped on the table, striking a boastful pose- hands on his hips, chest out. "Cherry blossoms gracefully bloom over the fields that lie, High up is the castle wall, where have warriors gone?" he accompanied the words theatrics, putting a hand over his brows as if to shield his eyes from an imaginary glare, "Where is the moonlight that brightly shone up high, Shone upon the warriors who drained the glasses dry?" And for that he picked up and drank- not from the small musical note, but a random bigger one. "Where is the moonlight that might have shone so bright, Shone upon the warriors' swords gleaming through the night?"(6)
The kunai came out and, however much they were enjoying the theatrics, Ino knew it was time to stop him. Being a hostess was a fulltime job. "That was wonderful, Kiba!" she clapped. "I didn't know you were so talented."
The compliment served its purpose in distracting him. He smiled and gave a small bow at the appreciative applause he got. Hell, if he had gone before Sakura, they would have demanded a lot more out of her. But, oh well. Ino was happy to find that whatever clouds had gathered previously had been entirely dispersed.
"Oy, Lee!" Kiba called out to the Greek Beast of Konoha, presently engrossed in some sort of conversation with Sai. "You guys sure you don't want to play?"
Alertness broke through the alcohol haze for both Ten-Ten and Neji at the suggestion. Lee smiled at them and gave his "good guy" pose as an assurance. It seemed to work. Sakura was just smiling, charmed. Ino had to wonder if it was the sake, because really, this was so much different than the Sakura she once knew, that she had to wonder if she was possessed or something. Or maybe someone had kidnapped the real one and this was an impostor. Ino liked this one more so maybe she wouldn't tell on her. And maybe she'd also wait until she was sober enough before she pointed any fingers. She doubted she even could point the right way in her current state.
"I appreciate the invitation, Kiba-kun, butI will have to decline." Lee said, politely as ever, "When I drink alcohol I go into a blind rage mode and more or less demolish… things."
"Uuh…" Kiba scratched his head. "Never mind then."
Naruto chuckled. "So that's what happened to that restaurant…"
Ten-Ten scrunched her nose. "It's not funny, Naruto. We're still paying for it."
"Gai-sensei considered it a lesson in accountability." Lee explained and Neji nodded solemnly in confirmation, then turned to Sai. "But Sai-kun could join in if he wants."
The pale boy smiled, as he always did. "No, thank you." He said. "I may not understand relationships and bonds to the fullest yet, but I know that I get easily inebriated and I may say inappropriate things. Besides, I am enjoying Lee-kun's company."
"You better not be filling his innocent mind with perverted, Sai… or else." Sakura warned, the glaze in her eyes and the flustered skin making her look more menacing, if possible.
Naruto and Sai cowered slightly, having had tasted her punches. The clear "hazard" sign that seemed to glow in neon lights over Sakura's head, seemed to be entirely lost to Lee, who watched her as though she was the most gracious, sweet creature ever to walk on this earth. Love was blind.
"Okay, then. I guess it's my turn." Chouji said, focusing. "I feel like… sharing a fact."
"You know, you can't do that- that's cheating." Naruto accused.
Chouji had had the uncanny fortune in getting tasks he could easily tackle. The first round he had feltlike saying a joke. Said joke- "Why did the sword cross the road?Because it was strapped to a chicken."- incited a brief argument between Chouji and Naruto as to whether it was a joke or a riddle. The second time he focused on getting a 5, because he just remembered a good limerick. And he got it. "There once was a samurai from Kyoto, The sword he carried was Koto, My blade it is sharp, He was heard to remark, And the rest of the mounts are by Goto."(7)
And sure enough, the die landed on 1.
Ten-Ten arched a brow. "Ever consider gambling?"
The chubby boy smiled, satisfied. "I'm carrying a grudge towards my team mates." He said seriously enough to get an alarmed look from both Ino and Shikamaru. Then he smirked. "Neither of them bothered to tell me that the way I was wearing my hitai-ate as a genin made me look like I was wearing some very patriotic underwear over my head."
The "fact" drew a laugh- less than sober in certain cases- from everyone, including Chouji. After a moment, he took the one cup and drank the contents. Ino took that to mean that he wasn't actually serious about the grudge. That boy could be a true, fearsome menace when irked- which didn't seem to happen unless the word "fat" came up.
A small, pale hand retrieved the die, as the riot of laughter subsided. Hinata closed her hand around the die and sighed. Even as she sat adjacent to Chouji, she did not seem to share any of the boy's good luck. Everyone knew that next to Shino, Neji and Sasuke, Hinata was the most introverted of them. And, unlike Shino, she wasn't unreadable. Unlike, her cousin, Neji, she didn't exude that air of quiet confidence. And unlike the Uchiha, she entirely lacked the sense of hubris and aloofness that came so easily to the raven. She was politelyreserved.
Ino had noticed that, in spite of her shy nature, the Hyuuga girl had a talent for underplaying how strong she really was. Her strength need not be advertised or made known- unlike most of them- but it was surely there. And, just as it happened with most things, Hinata kept it to herself. The worst situation for her seemed to be being shoved into the spotlight. Which was what this game did. As if that weren't bad enough, each round, the die had landed on 1 for her, forcing her to share a previously unknown fact about herself. Kiba had winced in sympathy. Shino had come close to glaring at Naruto, who had talked her into playing.
The first fact had been that she had come up with a new technique for Juken. That was easy, if not a little awkward, when Neji asked her why she didn't use it in training. Hinata said that she intended to perfect it first, because Juken was dangerous on its own, without adding untested variables, but agreed to demonstrate it for him- so all was well in the Land of Hyuuga. The second time she rolled a fact, she tensed up and thought for a moment, then admitted that before spending all this time with Shino, she used to cringe at the sight of bugs. Shino had smiled at that.
The die rolled across the table- "Please not another 1, please not another 1."- and landed- again- on 1. Hinata slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"Oh, come on, Hinata…" Ino tried to comfort her, not just as a hostess, but because she honestly felt for the girl. "Just tell us your favourite color."
"Cobalt blue." Kiba offered off-handedly. "Most of us know that."
Hintata blushed madly.
"I didn't." Naruto interjected, making her blush that much worse.
"Because you are a Dobe." A new voice supplied.
And sure enough, Sasuke was there crossing the room to join them. Ino blinked a couple of times. To be honest she had just about given up on him coming over as it was getting pretty late. "How did you get in, anyway?" she asked somewhat baffled. "The window?" and there was a time in her life that she actually fantasized about him walking in through her window at night.
"Yes." He admitted, but immediately added. "But I did knock on the door first. Quite a few times."
"Ah, yes- sorry… It's been rowdy." Ino smiled embarrassed- because that had not been very host-like of her- and pulled up another chair, that she conveniently placed next to Naruto, pushing Shikamaru a bit to the side. "Sit down please."
Through all this, Naruto, who had seemed to brighten up for a moment, went quiet, a small frown clouding over his eyes. And, even as Sasuke seemed unaffected by the shift in the blonde's mood, the tension seeping from the boy had a detrimental effect on everyone else's mood, who didn't quite know what to make of it. Sakura gave a very eloquent I-told-you-so look at Ino, which only served to steel her commitment to see this through.
"Well. It was Hinata's turn." She smiled. "Go on, Hinata."
The Hyuuga girl looked from Naruto to Sasuke for a moment, then closed her eyes and smiled somewhat sadly. "The boy I like, likes someone else."
It seemed as though Kiba was about to mention that they also knew that, but Shino placed a hand firmly over his mouth. The overall reaction of Team 7- new and old- was rather intriguing. Sai's attention was suddenly focused on the table, Sakura seemed rather troubled and Sasuke frowned slightly at Hinata, the look in his eyes betraying a form of disbelief.
As to Naruto, he seemed blissfully unaware. He leaned into Sakura, who was sitting on his left side. "Sakura-chan… you'll probably think I'm paranoid or something, but I think everybody is looking at me…"
"Jus'shuddup, baka Naruto." She blurted and rose from her chair to walk over to Lee and Sai.
Ino used that as an excuse to skip her turn. She had to drink up once in the first round, she couldn't think of a joke and a second time in round two, because she was too distracted by the mess that was becoming of her home to come up with a riddle. And really, she couldn't afford to get drunk the way things were going- other than entertaining a hostess also had to clean up after her guests. "You guys continue, I'll just make sure that Sakura is okay."
It barely registered in her train of thought, that taking herself out, meant that Naruto was next.
The house was finally starting to resemble a home instead of a pig-house.
Ino winced at the unintended pun; Sakura would have immediately connected the dots for her if she had heard that one. It was rather fortunate that she was not in the habit of speaking to herself, like her mother was when she was cleaning the house. She had always been afraid that she had picked up that silly trait on some subconscious level. One of her biggest fears was that, for all her skill and dash, she would end up being a housewife. Nothing scared her quite as much as being average.
"Where do you want these?"
Shino's timing was, as everything else about that particular nin, impeccable, even if those trash bags in his hands were a rather alien sight. She smiled gratefully at him. "If you can leave them in the kitchen, I'll take them out later."
Aburame Shino had surprised her more than once with his gentlemanly manners, even as they didn't get to spend much time together. "I will take them out now. I could take yours too, if you're done."
"I couldn't-" she said quickly, slipping back into her hostess mode, but by then Shino had formed a clone, using his Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu, that stole away her smelly burden. "Uh… thank you…" she said, discreetly checking herself and the floor for stray bugs.
"No problem." He replied. "We need to get going anyway. Kurenai-sensei is meeting us for breakfast."
A lump threatened to form in her throat, but she easily fought it down. Alcohol had mellowed her too much. "Okay, I'll wake Kiba-"
"Don't." Shino sounded adamant. "Kiba can be… unpredictable, when woken up. Have Hinata do it."
Ino watched him and his clone walk out of the room. Curiosity would one day be her downfall, but not today. She would take Shino's word about letting sleeping dogs lie. The pun drew a smile from her.
It was easy to find Hinata- all she had to do was remember where two particular ninjas had settled after most of the others had fallen asleep. And sure enough, the Hyuuga girl was standing in the small terrace, carefully watching Naruto and Sasuke who had fallen asleep on a swing.
It was an endearing sight. Naruto had just about buried his face on Sasuke's neck, his body slumped against the raven in a rather oddly comfortable at that uncomfortable angle. As to the Uchiha, he had one arm draped around the blonde, his face settled on the boy's golden hair. One had to wonder how on earth they had ended up like that during the night.
"I thought you might be here." Ino said as a way of announcing her presence.
Hinata glanced at her for a moment, then back at the boys. No blush, no nervousness. "I'm predictable that way, I suppose."
The comment had a sour undertaste to it that the blonde girl didn't quite get. "Shino asked me to tell you to wake Kiba. Apparently, it's an A-rank mission or something."
The smartass comment made the other girl chuckle softly, muffling the sound by covering her mouth with her hand. "That's rather accurate, actually…"
They stayed there, enjoying each other comfortable presence. Ino thought that perhaps she hadn't spent enough time with a lot of people she could have been closer friends with. And in any case, she felt that Team 10 had a strong bond with Team 8 and Yuhi Kurenai. Sometimes she viewed her as a surrogate mentor. Maybe the party would mark a new beginning for some of them; new bonds, if they were lucky enough.
"So…" her curiosity finally won over- there was that question that had haunted her since the previous night. "… Who does Naruto really like?"
Sasuke watched Naruto as he waved and gestured in a sorry attempt to pantomime a riddle. And really, Ino might not have paid that much attention to Sasuke, if the blond had been a little more discreet about shooting those blatantly venomous glares his way.
"A bee to a crying face?"(8) Chouji asked, looking as uncertain as he sounded.
Just about everyone had thrown in a guess, only to be dismissed by Naruto.
"Don't cover your head but expose your ass."(9) Kiba tried only to get another 'no'. "Hey, even a fool has one talent."(10)
The blonde frowned at him, unsure if it was an attempt at solving his riddle or a verbal jab. "No." he smirked. "I suppose you guys lost, so I'll tell you."
"Laughter cannot bring back what anger has driven away." Sasuke said, cutting him off. "Right, Dobe?"
Naruto was quite vehement in his response. Not because he lost in the round- whatever it was, it ran deeper than that. "Exactly right, Teme."
"This isn't going very well." Ino lamented.
Sakura had already given up on them and was currently posing with Lee for Sai, who had offered to draw their portrait. Though it was a really sweet gesture on her teammate's part, she looked edgy for whatever reason. "I told you so… it's been this bad for a while." She said, then frowned at Sai. "You keep it nice and pretty, Sai… I mean it."
Lee looked from the table that the drinking game was still going, to Sai who was engrossed in his work then smiled at Sakura. "I'm sure they'll work it out, Sakura."
"Yeah, yeah… so was she." The pink haired girl pointed at Ino.
"Keep still, please." Sai chastised.
And just in time, because Sasuke rolled for his turn. "One. What does that mean?" he asked, with no real interest.
"That means, Teme," Naruto smirked, a little too happy about this turn of events, "that you need to share a fact that no one here knows about you."
Something sparked in those charcoal eyes. The raven's brows furrowed for a moment, then smoothed as though whatever had troubled him had been a passing cloud. "I'm sorry."
The blonde frowned again, agitation morphing his features. "What's that supposed to mean? You won't even bother to give this a go?"
"No." Sasuke breathed deeply, then started again. "It means, that I am sorry… Naruto." His lips thinned, as discomfort and tension overtook his body. "No one here knows… how sorry I am for what I have done… and said. To you."
The silence was so thick in the room, that only the sharpest kunai could perhaps cut through. The reactions varied from shock to outright skepticism. The great Uchiha was capable of apologizing. Ino much doubted that he would have taken that leap in humility for anyone other than Naruto. Even Sai had looked up from his drawing, his dark eyes zeroing in on the raven.
Not too surprisingly, the most shocked out of all of them was Naruto himself, who stared at Sasuke wide-eyed. His cobalt eyes searched those charcoal depths for some sort of confirmation that he meant what he had said. Finding it, he smiled. For a moment there, it looked as though as he was going to hug him, but instead he fiddled the table with his fingers. "Thank you, Sasuke…"
Sasuke cleared his throat and held the die for Shikamaru, who didn't move to retrieve it.
Ino looked over and realized that the boy genius had fallen asleep. It too a rather forceful nudge from her to wake him, but she did. The blonde girl smiled, her rekindled sense of accomplishment filling her with new life that her drowsy teammate did not appreciate too much. "Guys, I think that's enough drinking. How about, we all move to the living room to chat and relax over dessert?"
There were no actual objections to that, so it was safe to assume that they were sake-ed out.
Ino smiled.
It had been a great day.
Hinata batted her eyes in surprise at the sudden query. "What?"
"Yesterday you said that the boy you like" – and she made gestured towards Naruto- "likes someone else. It couldn't be Sakura, because that's something most of us knew… and you are not the type to cheat. So who is it?"
The other girl smiled again- that sad, bittersweet smile. "They look perfect together, don't they?"
Well, wasn't that confusing… "Who?"
"Yes. They do."
Both girls jumped at the comment.
Kakashi was towering over them, his Icha Icha book in hand. "Ohayo- Ino. Hinata."
"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino gasped. "You want to give us a heart attack or something?"
"Just here to pick up my charge." His visible eye turned into a crescent to suggest he was smiling. "I trust he behaved himself? We have the right to execute him if he didn't, you know."
"Shut up, Kakashi…" Sasuke mumbled, bounding out of the swing, which inadvertently landed Naruto face-first on the hard wood.
That was enough to wake him. "Wha…?". Kind of.
"Goodmorning, boys. Slept well?" Kakashi asked faking innocence.
"Kakashi." Sasuke warned.
"Your face will look a lot scarier once you throw some cold water in it and your hair is no longer all over the place." The Jounin noted.
Hinata hid a smile. "Ohayo, everyone… I'll go wake Kiba."
"Hinata!" Ino stopped her. "Maybe we can have lunch one of these days?"
The other girl nodded, her smile widening. "I'd like that."
Shikamaru was coming out just as Hinata was going in and she nearly bumped into him. They exchanged their goodmornings and he and he walked out into the terrace to join the others. "I could have sworn I had something to do today…" he mumbled, holding his head in what seemed it be a rather bad headache.
"Maybe it had to something to do with a certain Suna kunoichi, who's been waiting at the Gate for about an hour now?" Kakashi said casually.
Shikamaru's eyes widened impossibly and all blood drained from his face. "Shimata!" he cursed and rushed off.
"Temari won't be too happy with him…" Naruto mumbled. "And she hits so hard too…"
"Naruto, will you join us for breakfast?" the Jounin invited.
The blonde brightened, then scowled. "I can't. Baa-chan wants to see me for my physical." he said, then looked at Sasuke. "Maybe we can have dinner though, after you're back from your training."
The Uchiha smiled slightly. "I'd like that."
"I'm not invited?" Kakashi faked hurt. "What a cruel way to treat your old teacher."
Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "You are a really bad actor, Kakashi…"
Ino escorted them to the door, chatting with them about nothing at all and waved goodbye as they went their separate ways. After she had closed the door, she leaned against it and sighed. Everything was back under control. Everything was better than it had been before the previous night and her mission was over.
"YAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The primal scream and the accompanying sound of broken glass and startled yelps, froze her in place for a moment.
So maybe she was not done being a hostess just yet.
That's chapter 21… 21 pages long… and not because I planned it either. This required tons of work so I hope that it's enjoyable for you… Next one will be an Ebb for Temari… :-D
Love you all.
Ja,
M.
Notes:
(1)The song is called Tsuki (Moon) and those are the first two verses. In Romanji it goes like this: "Deta deta tsuki ga, Marui marui manmarui, bon no you na tsuki ga. Kakureta kumo ni, kuroi kuroi makkuroi, sumi no you na kumo ni." … for those of you who care…
(2)"Saru mo ki kara ochiru", meaning that even experts make mistakes, also sometimes as a warning like "pride comes before the fall".
(3)"Nana korobi, ya oki" is an encouragement to persevere.
(4)This is a pun for the filler episode "Shino Laughs"… Shino actually song a pretty dirty song. It's one of the fillers that made the filler arc worth watching.
(5)This one is a classic haiku by Matsuo Basho. "Hatsu shigure, saru mo komino wo, hoshige nari"
(6)This one is a beautiful traditional song called Kojo No Tsuki (Moonlight on the Ruined Castle). In Romanji : "Haru koro no hana no en, Meguru sakazuki kage sashite, Chiyo no matsu ga e wake ideshi, Mukashi no hikari Ima izu ko.… Uurutsurugi ni terisoishi, Mukashi no hikari ima izu ko"
(7)This is actually a samurai sword limerick.
(8)Means, misfortunes seldom come alone. Romanji: Nakitsura ni hachi
(9)Means, you have to be careful not to expose your weak point while attempting to protect yourself. Romanji: Atama kakushite, shiri kakusazu
(10)Means, even a fool must be good at something. Romanji: Baka mo ichi-gei