In celebration of reaching quite a few milestones for SoH, here's something funky for all of you. Don't worry, I've been hard at work on the next couple chapters…I'm hoping to release like 3 or 4 updates before classes begin (8/24).
Just so you know, when the fic is complete, I will move this "funky chapter" to the end, and I'll probably add more scenes to this side-shot as I go. We'll see.
Okay, ready? Set…GO!
-Shikamaru- ***Remember the mall scene when Temari approached Sasuke and Hinata (you know after the SasuHina kiss?) in a music store? Well, this is sort of what happened before that, In Shika's POV, of course! (reference CHP 28) ***
Why oh why did the third Hokage appoint him this task? He had just been promoted when he was assigned this…troublesome duty. There were so many better things he could be doing to occupy his time, like sitting back watching the clouds; or, here's a thought, doing absolutely nothing.
Yeah, it was times like these when being in anbu really didn't seem worth it. Bothersome, that's what it is, nothing but a bother. Eh, oh well, as a loyal shinobi of Konoha, he was honor-bound to see this whole thing through.
The mission? Shadow the shinobi siblings from Suna.
The psychotic red-head named Gaara who glared more than he spoke, yeah that one scared him half to death. Too bad that spunky blonde kunoichi Temari wouldn't shut her trap for more than five seconds, she annoyed him to the brink of death. Not too mention the guy disguised as a drag queen Kankuro, how can you call yourself a man when you kept company with dolls? He just plain creeped him out.
Freaking weird man.
Shikamaru sighed as he watched Temari hit her brother (the one that played with dolls) on the head. Yelling at him, something about being a pervert. There goes Gaara, looking at him evilly, oh man he didn't think he could handle another glare coming from little red over there, this was such a drag.
The worst part was that this was supposed to be his day off. Stupid Chouji dragged him to this stupid mall with its stupid people and stupid stores. Since he was with Chouji, of course they have to go the stupid food court too. And what do you know, there they meet up with the stupid sand siblings. Great, there goes his afternoon.
"Hey there crybaby, you missed me so much you just couldn't stay away, huh," taunted the perky blonde with a half smile half grimace plastered on her face.
"Hey Temari," Shikamaru drawled out.
Temari looked down at Shikamaru as he had his head in his arms on one of the tables, "Ewe, you have drool on your chin," she said just before sitting down next to him.
"Just make yourself at home," was that…sarcasm?
"I will. You know, you should stop stalking me, it's a real turn-off."
Shikamaru just nodded and closed his eyes hoping that if he ignored her she would leave. Or at least stop talking, he was fine with either option.
It didn't work. She kept right on yapping away, "Besides you aren't my type…"
Kankuro cut her off with a leer, "You have a type?"
Temari glared at her brother, "I should be asking you that question."
Doll-man shrugged. Gaara just kind of…stood there, arms crossed and glare approved.
"Anyway," Temari said sharply, turning her conversation back to Shikamaru (oh joy), "I like for a man to at least put forth effort. Psh, it's not like you even try."
Chouji returned at that time and he naturally defended his best bud, "Shikamaru tries, he's one of the most intelligent shinobi in Konoha."
Shikamaru groaned, "Don't encourage her."
Temari grinned, "I was just going to say that I feel bad for Konoha if that's the case."
Not bothering with any of it anymore, Shikamaru closed his eyes again and went to sleep. It was like a gift for all men in his family, shut everything out (and everyone) and just snooze away. Man he loved being a Nara. What he didn't know was that the Suna siblings had left five minutes after his nap began.
In his haze of sleep, he heard Chouji's voice filter through, "Captain Uchiha? Captain Hyuuga?"
-THANK YOU-
-Ino- ***There seems to be some interest between Naruto and Ino; so… here is a little of Ino's POV while they all had dinner together. This is right after Tenten's tournament and before Sasuke and Neji had to leave on the mission (reference CHP 30 & 31)***
It didn't even dawn on her that she was holding onto Naruto so tightly until Tenten pointed it out as they sat for dinner. Immediately she let her grip on him drop as her cheeks lightly tinged pink. No worries, Tenten switched her focus to Hinata and her new boyfriend and then she turned on Sakura.
All the while, Ino kept herself silent. Stealing glances at the blonde male sitting beside her. He was kind of cute, not devilishly handsome as Neji and his friend Sasuke. But still, he was cute.
Naruto looked over at her and they caught eyes, no one noticing as both turned their heads away from one another with a slight flush to their cheeks.
Okay. That was weird.
'Get a grip on yourself!' she yelled out in her mind, 'he's not that cute!'
Everyone became quiet as Sakura made eyes at Sasuke, Ino just shook her head. Sakura had always been like that. They were the best of friends for probably too long now, so she knew her all to well. Anytime one of Sakura's friends found a cute guy and started dating them, Sakura eventually talked herself into liking the boy too. It caused a lot of friction between them as child-hood friends and teenagers. But after so many ups and downs between them, both just decided to grow up and leave their fanatic days behind them.
She hoped Sakura wouldn't try to get in the way of Hinata's new love interest. Because seriously, when has the Hyuuga girl ever had a boyfriend? And Sasuke is like, way hot. But he was also really rude. Unlike Naruto who was beyond nice. Naruto was funny too, sweet, charming, and oh my Kami why is she sitting here daydreaming about him!
She chanced another glance at him, good he was watching Sasuke feed Hinata with a warm light in his eyes. Wow, Naruto's eyes were really blue, vividly so. She could get lost in those eyes, it was like gazing into the ocean. Like now, the way he was looking at her, it just felt like waves were crashing into her body.
Wait…he was looking at her?
Damn, she had never blushed so much in her life! Not even over the awesomely hot artist Sai, the one that she had fought Sakura over for years while in high school – only for him to turn out homosexual. Figures, any man who felt comfortable enough to wear a shirt bearing his midriff was probably not into women. They were still good friends actually, her and Sai. Hell, she actually served as his wingwoman a few times while at some club. He always called her beautiful though she doubted he actually meant it.
Her mind was just whirling today. The hell, why did she just start drifting out into left field? Oh right, anything to keep her thoughts from returning to Naruto. It wasn't her fault, it was so incredibly hot the way he just lifted that crazy man like he was nothing. He protected her, threatened someone for her. She couldn't call herself a woman and not find that totally sexy. Something about the whole territorial thing really turned her on.
And oh, his muscles…mmm, she remembered every flex they made as her arms were wrapped around his. And oh crap was she in trouble. She looked down and found their hands holding onto each other…again.
He didn't pull away.
Neither did she.
This time when their eyes met, it was all smiles.
-THANK YOU-
-Rock Lee and Gai-sensei- ***Here is what happened when Rock Lee finally met Neji and Tenten's old sensei, Maito Gai. This is just a fun little something that I simply couldn't resist! (reference CHP 31)***
Neji twitched.
Tenten blinked twice.
With his fuzzy eyebrows getting bushier by the second, Gai stomped his foot and moved into a dramatic pose, with his thumb out and teeth gleaming, "I'm the mighty green beast, Maito Gai."
Lee continued to look on in absolute wonder as Gai twirled around in a circle to show off his manliness. The young version of Gai dropped his mouth open in awe.
"Might I say, young man, that you have impeccable taste! Why green is my favorite color in the entire universe."
Neji and Tenten started to back away…slowly. What? You try not to be blinded by the awesome light gleaming from Gai-sensei's perfect toofers.
"YOSH! Neji, your sensei is really cool!"
Gai laughed heartily, slamming a hand on Lee's shoulder, "Why thank you, young man. So, what's your name?"
"Rock Lee!"
"IIIIIII like it!" Gai enthused.
"U-um," Neji stuttered out, "Gai-sensei, Lee is a fitness enthusiast too, you two should train."
"Y-yeah…we're going to…uh…go now," Tenten helped.
Thankfully, they both escaped with their sanity intact.
"So Lee, is that true?"
"It is Gai-sensei!"
"Well then, how about a challenge!" another epic pose, "We'll start with 200 laps around the dojo…on our hands."
"That would be," Lee teared up, "totally awesome!"
"Awe Lee, you are one kewl cat," Gai mentioned while doing an awesome dance just before both of them got on their hands.
"Thank you, Gai-sensei!"
Romantic jazz music was heard in the background as a fellow pupil was practicing on her saxophone, just as one of the dojo keepers dropped down a background of an orange and pink sunset getting ready for a play tomorrow morning.
"No problem Lee, shall we?"
"Yes Gai-sensei!"
It was the start of a beautiful, new relationship.
-THANK YOU-
Okay, enough with that random-ness. If you don't want this posted up as a chapter, let me and I'll take it down…just thought it was kind of fun. I did these "shorts" to thank all of you for the support so far, it's been pretty awesome.
Special Mentions: To those that I am always asking questions and bouncing ideas off of. Thank you.
Darth-Taisha: You. Simply. Rock. Totally, your writing is awesome, I love everything you release. We have a prodigy in the house, I recommend all of you to check her out. Epic, you have such mastery over your characters and words. Everything an author strives for. Thanks for everything.
Catriana: You are one awesome chick, from your stories to your personality. I beg everyone to check out her work, it's amazing. I literally stayed up all night, just to catch up with everyone else on her stories. Do you know how long it's been since I've done that? Beautiful writing.
cheh: What can I say? Talk about finding a blessing in disguise. Your insight is amazing, and I've really enjoyed working with you so far. You make an awesome beta, exactly what I was looking for. You are the sensei and I am the pupil. Thanks! "CHEH-SENSEI!"
G: You know who you are; you silly, silly woman. You crack me up (literally put the Crack, in Lady Crack!) Everything from Sass-koo (Sasuke), to Lady Sundae (Tsunade), it has been a treat going over this ficlet with you!
To those who have reviewed and kept me going…without you, I would have lost faith in this fic a long time ago…so thanks for everything: ImCutePoison, Saki-Hime, lazyguy90, onlyluna, ppeach2, NanamiYatsumaki, IheartThor, Lunetaylina, Cottonstarlin, worldreminiscence, Likes To Smile, native-kitten, in your dreams as well, and JB Chick. Your support with at least 10+ reviews from each of you is awesome, really, can't thank you enough.
You know my heart goes out to everyone who has reviewed and left some feedback, so thanks! KagomeMarie, Chilly Wind, FlapJack Lover, fire19, winterkaguya, FullStop, Akira Nishikawa, kibagaaralover18, Undercoverbarbie, binky-and-jaden, Kiki Alessandra, lady sweet pink, MissGreenBrier2013, animefreak03, kenni no. 1, Kisa Yamashita, ninfrida, Rebekah-San., sama101, sn0fl0w3r, XxLOV3islik3aROS3xX, Ariennel, blonde2121, champylin, DeathAngel69, dragoney3, DrSweetnSour, Fairy.p, ForsakenKilika, HinaHyuugaSan, lovin'my'mysic, Mizundastudz, NaruSasuNarulover, renji504, sandy, SeharJH, TheAweOfTheBeautifullyBroken, xtinaglamour, 21me21, , Amaya Nara-chan, blackmoon124, blipblop, BloodInTheNile, Cerawitch, Chaosgiver, CheezingIt54, Chibi-Kyo-Chan, chinew, CryInDownpour, Deviling, Devil's-X-Spawn, deviltwit, Don Weaso, frogflower, GinsengH, goddesslestat, H-Choco-b0t, hemantha, Hitenisababe, KiSaurousRex, Kurumi-chan, LaClem, Lady-Wood, .LLL, loyal december, majinme, Merek Keram, NothingLessThanReal, panda, rudicaltony, SasuHinaFTW, SatiricFable, snobells, Top-Kid, umeboshi-girl, Venus914, xiLynnx, XoX-Dark-Angel-XoX, xREILAx, Yosh-cosplay, YuMmYsWiRlZ1, and zangetsuichigo13.
Sorry if I missed anyone or if your pen-name is mis-spelled (that was hard work man!).
Finally, thanks to all of you for helping SoH reach over 500 reviews, 60,000+ hits, and all the favorites and alerts.