MEANWHILE!!!
Kiba had just reached the house and flung the door open so the doorknob got lodged in the wall. "I'm here!" he announced.
He looked in the house only to see Shikamaru and Shikataro getting ready to leave and go to Chuck E. Cheese.
"Say, where's Tashoku?" Kiba asked.
"She left a little while ago to go to…uh…someplace else." Shikamaru answered.
"With Kobiru?!" Kiba gasped. "And the boys who will molest her?!"
"Uh…I guess." Shikamaru said.
"So they're not coming to Chuck E. Cheese?!" Kiba demanded.
"You can't expect them to." Said Shikamaru. "They're all teenagers so they don't belong there."
"But we're going there to celebrate Senjou's graduation!" Kiba said. "We were going to surprise everyone!! Including him!!"
"Oh." Said Shikamaru. "If I had known, I wouldn't have let them go."
"Looks like we'll have to go get them now!" Kiba said.
"No, I have to take Shikataro to Chuck E. Cheese." Shikamaru said, pushing past Kiba and leading Shikataro out the door. "You understand, of course. I'm sure you'll have an easier time finding him without me tagging along anyway."
With that, Shikamaru and Shikataro started their not-so-long journey to Chuck E. Cheese.
"FINE!" Kiba said. "I'll go look for them MYSELF!"
Then Kiba left in a huff to sniff out the teens.
MEANWHILE!!!
"So have you and Lee ever thought of having another one?" Sakura asked Tenten since the four wives were standing idly by outside the balls area with Neji.
"Oh no." Tenten laughed. "Well…I kind of do… I want a girl…"
"I know how you feel." Ino said. "I say, never give up until you succeed!"
"I can see that." Tenten said. "The only thing is…I'm afraid of…you know…"
"Getting another hideous child?" Neji suggested, not taking his eyes off Hichou.
"Elegantly blunt, but I suppose." Tenten said, looking a little offended. "I figured after Lil Lee, why not try again? I guess I was pushing my luck."
"Hinata, you're so lucky you got a girl on the first try." Sakura said. "I think I speak for ALL of us when I say we all wanted girls. That's why Naruto and I had another child!"
"Oh?" said Hinata. "I suppose…but I said before… Kiba wanted a boy at first…"
"I feel as though all of your conversations some how come back to you talking about how much you wanted girls." Neji said, rolling his eyes.
"Even YOU can't deny that a little girl in your life would do some good!" said Tenten.
"Watch me." Neji said.
"When Sasuke was younger, I used to dress him up in all sorts of crazy dresses and put make-up on him." Ino giggled.
The other girls giggled too at first, but then something dawned on them.
"Wait…" started Sakura.
"My son, Sasuke." Ino clarified.
"Oh," said the girls as they continued their chuckling.
"And sometimes, I'd dress up Inoshi too." Ino confessed.
"That's a completely normal phase." Tenten assured her. "I dressed Lil Lee up in anything I could find around the house."
"That is the ONE upside of having boys." Sakura agreed. "Being able to dress them up like girls."
"Really?" Hinata asked. "Is it really all that fun?"
"Is that a trick question?" said Sakura.
"Oh…" Hinata said, feeling a little sad that she was now missing out on good fun.
"I'm sure if you asked Kiba to, he'd let you dress him up like a girl in a heartbeat." Ino said.
"No, no, I don't think so." Hinata said timidly.
"Sure he would!" said Tenten. "You've practically got him under your thumb. All you have to do is tell him that it would make you happy if he wore a dress and I bet he'd do it."
Hinata started blushing. "I don't agree…" she said.
"You can deny, deny, deny all you want!" said Sakura. "But it's plain for all of us to see that that man would do ANYTHING for you." She sighed. "I only wish I could say the same about Naruto…"
"Is it not working out between the two of you?" Ino asked, though I don't even think she'd be able to convince herself that she was concerned.
Sakura sighed. "No, it's nothing like that." She said. "It's just… sometimes our relationship is a little shaky. Nothing a bit of family counseling can't fix in a jiffy though!"
"I think Sasuke would dive in front of a train to stop anyone in his family from getting killed." Ino said. "I think it has something to do with the massacre of the clan when he was a kid, you know."
"Gee, you think?" said Sakura.
"What about Lee?" Hinata asked Tenten.
"Oh he's…" Tenten began but then was at a loss for words. That's when Lee poked his head out of the confines of the ball room.
"Hey Tenten!" he said excitedly. "You sure you don't want to join the fun?!"
"I'm sure, Lee." Tenten said tenderly. "Have fun."
"Okay, suit yourself!" Lee said as he went back in the room where Shika, Cho, Lil Gai, Hichou, Kajitsu, Hana and Gai were all frolicking and playing the Eskimo way.
MEANWHILE!!!
"And that's how I got my hook." Kakashi said, just finishing up his story to little Senjou.
"Your hook?" Senjou asked, looking mortally confused. "Then… how come you don't have a hook now?"
"Ahh…" Kakashi said. "I managed to collect up my severed hand and preserve it in a jar for many, many years. Then, I had the finest plastic surgeons sew it back on."
Senjou looked utterly amazed beyond words.
"…They can do that?" he said finally.
"Yes they can." Kakashi said.
Chouji, Shino, Kurenai and Asuma were the only other ones at the table. They, too, were at a loss for words.
"Kakashi, you're confusing the poor boy." Kurenai said finally.
"Hm…when's Shikamaru going to get here?" Chouji wondered aloud.
"I was just thinking the exact same thing!" Asuma said.
"Did someone say my name?" Shikamaru said, coming out of nowhere.
"Shikamaru!" exclaimed Asuma and Chouji as they got up to welcome Shikamaru properly. Shikamaru sat himself down across the table with a wall on one side and Shikataro on the other side, solely for protection.
"So what took so long?" Asuma asked.
"We were sleeping." Shikamaru answered truthfully.
"How splendid!" Chouji said.
"But where are the other kids?" Kurenai asked.
"Um…Kiba's finding them." Shikamaru said vaguely.
"Does he know about…you know?" Kakashi said, gesturing his head slightly towards Senjou who was currently looking blankly at Shikamaru.
"I didn't even know about 'you know'." Shikamaru said.
"That's because you were sleeping when we planned 'you know'." Shino pointed out.
"What is 'you know'?" Senjou asked.
"You don't need to know." Said everyone at the table as they leaned over to pat Senjou on the head at the same time.
