~Konoha High School Art Club~

13

The Favor...

Shikamaru stood stunned in the doorway. He blinked a few times over, and even rubbed his eyes to make sure that what he was seeing wasn't some kind of illusion.

"...Saseme?" he blinked, "...What brings you here all of sudden?"

"NO WAY!" Naruto gasped, "THIS Lazy jerk is a member of the Music Club!?"

Shikamaru twitched and leaned in close to Saseme with a cupped hand over his mouth so that only she could hear him.

"...There a reason you deiced to bring Delinquent McLoud Mouth along with you!?" he hissed.

"Naruto-Kun is part of the Art Club with me..." she chuckled awkwardly.

"The Art Club, Huh?" he blinked, "You mean the club you left us for~?" he teased, " So you mean to tell me that this guy is an artist!?"

"We call him...the Artist of Chaos!" Sai smiled.

Saseme giggled.

"And so...all of the Art Club decided to come along in hopes of having a chat..."

"Man...what a drag." he sighed, "Well come on in then...we were just finishing up anyway."

"TRAITOOOOOOR~!" Kiba yelled playfully as he swooped Saseme into a headlock, "Well Well Well check it out Choji!" he laughed, "There's a traitor among us~!" he teased.

"Saseme-chan~!" Choji smiled, "It's been a long time, how are you?" he asked.

"I've been well...thank you~" she spoke between gasps as she tried to break out of Kiba's playful hold.

"Well...if Kiba ever decides to let you breathe again...I have some left over dumplings if you would like any..."

"Dumplings?" She gasped and immediately she slipped right out of the lock, causing he brunette male to stumble over himself.

It was easy to lure Saseme in with sweets.

"No! Choji!" Kiba huffed, "Don't Give treats to the enemy~!"

"Jeez Saseme...if all it took was sweets to bring you back to the Music Club...we should have got some for you a long time ago!" Shikamaru joked as he propped himself up on top of a pushed aside desk.

"Delicious~" she squealed cutely blushing, "Did you make these in Cooking Club, Cho-Chan?"

"I sure did." he smiled, "I'm glad you like them!"

"Yeah that was just all that was left that Choji didn't wind up eating." Shikamaru chuckled, "You can have the rest of them...we're done."

"Thank you~!" she beamed.

"So...What's up? What did you want to talk about?" asked Shikamaru, "Any reason the entire Art Club decides to show up at theMusic Club's door has GOT to be a good one." he smirked.

"I'll tell you what I Wanna talk about!" Naruto declared, "What the Heck is going on here!?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Asked Saseme as she continued stuffing her cheeks with the sweet dumplings. She looked like a squirrel and Gaara couldn't help but let out a snicker.

"What do you mean what do I mean!?" asked Naruto, "There's no way this is the Music Club!"

"Hey, What's your problem, man!?" Kiba growled.

"Calm down, Kiba..." said Shikamaru, "...He's new."

"But...Nauto..." Saseme gulped, swallowing down the sweet treat, "This IS the Music Club." she stated.

"Explain?" Naruto blinked as he pointed to Shikamaru, "For starters-HE'S always sleeping in class!"

"Yeah but...so are you." Argued Gaara, and Naruto twitched blushing awkwardly.

"Ehh..."

"Pffft...is this guy for real?" asked Shikamaru.

"Hmph..." Naruto snorted.

"My brother sleeps during class sometimes too..." Saseme said softly, "While Shika-kun may sleep in class...He also has the highest I.Q in our school." she stated, "It's over 200..."

"Wait...you mean Sleepy-Head over here is an actual GENIUS!?" Naruto blinked.

"Not only that..." said Saseme, "...He also writes Sheet Music...and teaches Coreography."

"So you mean...pfft..." Naruto snickered, "This guy's a dancer!?"

"Yeah? So what?" Shikamaru blinked, "There's nothing wrong with guys being dancers..."

"...Okay fine." Naruto huffed, "Then what about THIS guy, huh!?" he said this time pointing at Kiba who was growing more annoyed, "Mr. Party Guy!?"

"I play an instrument, you jerk!" Kiba barked, "What do you got, huh!?"

"...Uhh...well...all right..." Naruto blinked, "And...food boy?" he questioned, "Didn't you just say he was a member of the cooking club?"

"Yes...and I also sing to." said Choji, "In fact, Saseme and I used to do a lot of Duets together..."

"Hold on...back track~!" said Naruto, shofting his gaze back to a blushing Saseme, "...YOU can SING too!?" he grinned cheekily, "Curiouser~ and Curiouser~" he teased.

"Th-That was a long time ago!" Saseme blushed as she tried to fight against a teasing Naruto.

"Yeah..." said Shikamaru, "Then Sai-Senpai came along and took her away from us~"

"I did no such thing!" said Sai.

"Bull crap, you didn't!" laughed Shikamaru, "You sucked her into that black hole of yours that you call Art and then you never gave her back!"

"That was her choice~" Sai chuckled, "I had no part in that~"

"Uh-huh, you can't fool me, Senpai." Shikamaru snickered, "You totally stole our girl and you know it!"

"I'm sorry Shika-kun!" She bowed apologetically and he laughed gently before leaning back on his wrists.

"...Ahh...well." he sighed softly with a shrug, "...It suits you, anyway~" he smiled, "So what's up?" he asked, "You come to beg to re-join our awesome Music Club~?" he teased, "...Please do...we need a female singer!"

"Actually...Shika-kun..." Saseme began, "...It's the Art Club that I wanted to come and talk to you about..."

"Oh yeah?" Shikamaru blinked as he leaned forward to listen.

"We seek the support of The Music Club...to help Support our Art Club as well." said Sai.

"Support the Art Club?" Shikamaru blinked, "You mean like What Sasuke did with The Kendo Club?"

"Precisely." said Sai, "If we can get the Support of the other School Clubs...it may increase our chances of getting a sponsor to save The Art Club."

"Hmm...I see..." said Shikamaru as he pondered a moment, "It makes sense..."

"You will help us...won't you, Shika-kun?" asked Saseme with her hands clasped together, "After all...Music is an Art too..."

"Hmmm..." Shikaru hummed a moment as he stared into her eyes and sighed.

"Saseme...you and me have always been good friends." he stated, "You know I'll help you...anyway I can." he smiled.

"Good friends huh?" Naruto blinked, "How good?"

"Well...honestly..." Saseme stated, "Shika-kun, Cho-Chan and Ba-kun and I...we've all been in the same class since kindergarten." she stated.

"Yeah WE used to be the crew she rolled with until Sai-Senpai kidnapped her to the Art Club~" Kiba grinned.

"I didn't kidnap her!" Sai denied while Kiba laughed.

"We used to get into a lot of trouble, the four of us..." Choji chuckled.

"Trouble!?" Naruto gasped, Saseme was a trouble maker!?"

"More than that~" Shikamaru chuckled, "She was the Ring Leader~" he teased.

"I just keep learning more and more fun facts about you~" Naruto teased as the poor Uchiha Girl tried to hide behind her hands.

"Oh yeah...had her hair cut short and everything...she and Sasuke even used to switch places with each other!" laughed Shiamaru.

"Okay that's enough story time!" Saseme huffed, "So...you'll help?"

"HaHaHa all right all right." Shikamaru chuckled, "Yeah, we'll help...but...I actually need a favor too...I mean...if you can."

"A Favor?" she blinked, "Of course." she stated, "So to clarify...I do this favor for you...and you help support the Art Club?"

"You bet Saseme. I'll gladly do that for you." said Shikamaru, "Hell...if you do this favor for us...I'll even JOIN your Art Club!"

"Really!?" the Art Club members gasped and exchanged glances with each other.

"Heck yeah...I mean..you need more members too, right?" he asked.

"Well...more members certainly wouldn't hurt." said Sai, "We're always accepting ner members."

"Yeah, I'll join the Art CLub Too!" said Kiba, "...If Saseme agrees to come back to the Music Club~"

"We'll see~" she chuckled, "So tell me..." she blinked, "...What's this favor?"

To Be Continued