MEANWHILE!!!
"And do you remember that horribly dorky kid that EVERYONE made fun of?" laughed Tashoku as she continued to converse with Sasuke Jr. about the good ol' days.
"Wait…you mean that kid with the huge glasses, bad haircut, appalling sense of style and enormous braces?" Sasuke Jr. asked as he tried to picture the kid in his head.
"That's the one!" exclaimed Tashoku.
"It's hard not to remember a kid like that." Said Sasuke Jr. "I wonder what happened to him…?"
"He probably died because someone finally put him out of his misery." Tashoku said, rolling her eyes. "I just regret that his ugly face is plastered across all my class pictures so I wouldn't be able to forget him even if I WANTED to."
"BIG SLIDE!!" yelled Hichou randomly since he, Inoshi, Sasuke Jr. and Tashoku were nearing the peak of the strenuous climb. He bounced up and down excitedly while beating on the double tube that Inoshi was holding.
"Stop doing that!" said Inoshi.
"It's fun!" said Hichou.
"It's bad enough that I have to go down the slide with you AND carry it all the way up the stairs but I don't need you annoying me!" said Inoshi.
"I have to go down the slide with you?" said Hichou, suddenly stopping all his activity and getting the saddest look on his face in the entire world. He looked like he was going to burst into tears if someone even LOOKED at him weird.
"Are you bipolar or something?" Sasuke Jr. asked.
"I want to go down the slide with Tashoku." Said Hichou as he leaned up against Tashoku's legs.
"Me?" said Tashoku, sounding a little surprised. "Why me? What sort of bond do you have with me that would make you want to go down the slide with me?"
"I want to go down the slide with you!" said Hichou in a whiny tone.
"Tashoku, it doesn't matter who you go down with, it's over in a second anyway." Said Sasuke Jr. "He's going to cry if you don't go down with him."
"Oh man…" said Tashoku. "Fine…"
"YAY!" cheered Hichou.
"Look, it's almost our turn." Sighed Tashoku as she took the double tube from Sasuke Jr. and put it in the area of the slide.
Sasuke Jr. gave Hichou the thumbs up while Tashoku's back was turned. Hichou gave him the thumbs up back. Then the two of them were off down the slide!
"Wait…did you just conspire with Hichou against Tashoku?" Inoshi said since he was a little lost.
"Yeah." Said Sasuke Jr. "So?"
"You conspired…WITH HICHOU?" said Inoshi, making sure he understood as he put the tube on the slide.
"Yes, Inoshi, I did." Sasuke Jr. replied. "That kid is a lot smarter than he chooses to lets on. After all, he's a genius."
"You don't KNOW that!" said Inoshi as if he were offended. And he probably was because he knew that he himself was not a genius but Hichou was and that made him so jealous.
"I guess you missed the entire tournament yesterday." Said Sasuke Jr. with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I was there!!" said Inoshi angrily.
Sasuke Jr. decided that maybe next time he would tell Hichou to demand to go down the slide with Sasuke Jr. so he didn't have to go down with Inoshi.
MEANWHILE!!!
Sasuke Sr. could hear the voices of his small children and wife calling his name. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see them standing there.
"Wha…?" he said as he sat up.
"Are you all right, Dad?" Hana asked hysterically.
"You were unconscious for a long time." Said Senjou.
"Sasuke, I told you that you weren't in any condition to fight someone." Said Ino. "Just like I told YOU, Naruto, that he wasn't in any condition to fight someone."
"I SAID I was sorry!" said Naruto.
Sakura hit him on the shoulder.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Look, Sasuke, I'm sorry I beat you up in front of your kids." He said finally.
"Beat me up…?" Sasuke said, blinking a few times. Then he remembered and stood up, taking many steps away from the group that had been looking over him. As he sulked and thought briefly, it suddenly hit him. He wasn't the same ninja he always had been. It HAD been ten years since his last fight.
"Sasuke…" said Ino tentatively as she approached him.
"But…" Sasuke started. "I was a jounin before he was even a chuunin!"
"I know, Sasuke." Said Ino, giving a discrete dirty look to Naruto. "People change. We all know you were a good ninja back when---"
"That I was a good ninja?" Sasuke said as if it had just occurred to him.
"Yes." Said Ino as she tried to gently rub his shoulders to calm him. "Don't you remember? You chose to quit being a ninja not because you were bad, but because you just didn't want to be one anymore. Remember killing Itachi? Good times, right?"
"Right…" said Sasuke, even though he wasn't about to admit that he didn't recall the actual events of killing Itachi. He just remembered showing up and, strangely enough, could see Itachi choking on a salami sandwich. But Ino, Shino and Lee assured him that he had a grand battle with his brother and the images in his memory was just due to a mixture between all the genjutsu Itachi enjoyed to use as well as the blow he suffered to the head. There HAD to be a battle, though. He had the scars to prove it.
"There, so no problem." Ino decided.
"But I always used to beat Naruto." Said Sasuke.
"Hey Sasuke, it was just a lucky hit, right?" said Naruto after Sakura had shoved him forward again. Even though he was SO tempted to spit out, "Always USED to!!" and then throw in an evil cackle.
"Okay…" said Sasuke cautiously.
Naruto cleared his throat and looked to Ino and Sakura for approval.
"Don't worry dad, you're still the coolest!" said Senjou. There was a short pause in which everyone reflected. "So…can we go on waterslides now?"
MEANWHILE!!!
"I'm glad that you came back, Kiba." Said Hinata as Kiba came over to the edge of the wave pool and sat down on one of the chairs. He crossed his arms and scoffed.
"Don't worry, Hinata, I'm not scoffing at YOU." Said Kiba.
"Hey!" said Lee. "I didn't know you'd be so upset! I'm sorry!"
"Hmph." Said Kiba. "I WOULD withhold important information for you concerning your oldest son if not for the fact that Tenten did absolutely nothing to me so I have no reason not to tell HER… as long as YOU don't listen."
"What kind of information?" Tenten asked, climbing out of the pool. "Is he all right?"
"I don't want Lee to hear." Said Kiba.
"Oh fine!" said Lee, covering both his ears.
"Did something happen?" Tenten said, sounding concerned.
"Yes." Said Kiba. "Something terrible."
"Oh my god." Gasped Tenten. "What?"
"Is Lil Lee okay?" Lil Gai asked, getting out of the pool.
"No!" said Kiba. "And, as we speak, horrible things are happening to him and nothing can be done about it!"
"Tell me!" said Tenten.
"Should I be listening to this?" Lee asked. "You all look distressed."
"Quiet Lee!" said Tenten.
"Kiba, tell them." Said Hinata.
"It seems…" Kiba began, taking a deep breath. "That…Kobiru has taken an unhealthily strong liking to your son!!"
Everyone was ready to gasp and sprint to Lil Lee's rescue but they suddenly stopped and questioned Kiba's interpretation of horrible and terrible torture.
"Kiba…" sighed Hinata, slapping her forehead and shaking her head in an extremely disappointed fashion.
"You SCARED me!" said Tenten.
"And you're not STILL scared?!" Kiba said as if nothing else in the entire world could possibly confuse him more.
"I was expecting something like…Lil Lee was attacked by murderous rapist jounin ninjas or…he drown in a pool!" said Lil Gai. "But what's wrong with Kobiru liking him? All the girls like him!"
"Really, Kiba." Said Tenten, climbing back into the pool.
"I don't see why you can all be so calm about this!!" yelled Kiba.
"YAY!!" exclaimed Lil Gai as he leapt into the pool.
"RRRRGH!!!" yelled the lifeguard as he started tearing all of his hair out and turning bright red. "NO JUMPING INTO THE WAVE POOL!!!"
MEANWHILE!!!
Neji was reading the book about the Aburames when he suddenly looked up and over at Kobiru who was stroking Lil Lee across the forehead while he slept. "You thought HE was my son?" Neji said randomly.
"What?" said everyone in the cabana.
"He LOOKS like you." Said Kobiru.
"No he does not." Said Neji.
"Yes he does." Coughed everyone else in the cabana.
"Did you have an affair with Tenten?" Shino asked, not even looking up from the Hyuuga book.
"No." said Neji, looking beyond offended. "As head of the Hyuuga clan, I cannot just shenanigan around with married women. It would set a bad example for the rest of the Hyuugas who are discouraged to have relationships outside the Hyuuga household."
"Um…correct me if I'm wrong but didn't the time of conception take place prior to you being appointed the head of your clan?" Shino asked.
"Yeah!" said Chouji. "Can you PROVE that he's not really your son?"
Neji knew he didn't HAVE to prove it to anyone since it's not like their opinions mattered to him, but he didn't need horrible rumors being started that he had an illegitimate child… WHICH HE DID NOT. When he was about to spout out that Lil Lee had no ability when it came to ninjutsu and genjutsu, he remembered that Lee and Tenten had told him that it was a secret that they preferred other people not to know.
"Well…the white eyes of a Hyuuga is a dominant trait." Neji said. "And, as you can plainly see, the first son of Lee and Tenten does not have the white eyes."
"Oh." Said everyone with a nod.
"What's this all about?" said Kobiru. "Does Lee not look like his father?"
"…Not really…" coughed everyone else in the cabana.
"Is it really that drastic?" Kobiru asked.
"Let's just put it this way." Said Shikamaru. "The only trait that the two of them share is hair color."
"Geez…" said Lil Lee since all the talking had awakened him. If he had a dollar for every time someone asked him if he was adopted, he'd have… uh… well, let's just say that he'd have a whole bundle of money.
MEANWHILE!!!
"I wish Kobiru was here…" said Tashoku sadly as the group of four walked away from the end of the slide. "She said that we could go on the Tunnel of Love."
"You and her?" said Inoshi, looking confused.
"No, stupid!" said Tashoku. "Me with Sasuke and her with Lee. But it would just be weird if just Sasuke and I went…"
"I think it would be weird in general." Said Sasuke Jr., trying to avoid eye contact. It would take a moron to not realize that Tashoku SO wanted him, but he was used to that sort of thing. But still, that didn't make it any easier to crush a poor girl's heart. For little did ALL girls know… HE'S GAY AND LOVES MEN!!!!
Just kidding.
Sure, he doesn't have a girlfriend yet but that doesn't mean girls should leap on him! In his opinion, there was too much to be done to worry about a silly girl who was only interested in him for his looks and didn't care a thing about his personality. And it was extra weird for Tashoku to be all over him because he thought of her on the same lines as a cousin…even though… well, he didn't really HAVE a real cousin… the closest he had to a cousin was Shikataro. But he considered all the kids at the reunion to be his cousins.
"How much longer do you think we're going to stay at this water park?" Hichou asked. "I'm bored and I've gone on enough slides! Besides, I miss my dad!"
"Then go back to the cabana." Said Inoshi.
"I can't go by MYSELF!" said Hichou.
"Yes you can." Inoshi said irresponsibly.
"No he can't!" said Tashoku. "Let's take him back to the cabana and maybe Lee is feeling better so we all can go in the Tunnel of Love. Except for you, Inoshi. You can stay and wait for us."
"It's not like I want to go in the Tunnel of Love anyway!" said Inoshi.
"Honestly, Sasuke, I don't know HOW you deal with living with him!" said Tashoku as if Inoshi wasn't standing right there. "I'm just glad you didn't turn out like he did."
"What does everyone have against me anyway?!" demanded Inoshi.
Sasuke Jr. chose not to answer. But he knew it all rooted back to Inoshi's hair pulling phase when they were very young children. Ever since then, poor Sasuke Jr.'s never been the same.
"So…to the cabana?" Tashoku asked.
"YEAH!!" said Hichou. Sasuke Jr. gave Hichou a look that obviously told them it was time to put more evil plots in action. Hichou understood because he IS a rather bright kid. "I want to hold YOUR hand, Tashoku!"
"No, I'm sure you don't!" said Tashoku, trying to keep a smile on.
"Yes I do!" said Hichou, running up so he was in between Tashoku and Sasuke Jr. Then he grabbed hold of Tashoku's hand so she wouldn't have been able to get away unless she hurt him.
"I thought you didn't like me because I was unpure." Tashoku said, trying to make him go away.
"No, I LOVE you!" said Hichou as he nuzzled Tashoku's hand.
Tashoku sighed as she looked at Sasuke Jr., shaking her head. Sasuke Jr. smiled nervously and shrugged. "What can you do?" he said hesitantly.
