Persepolis130
Yea, more reviews!! Thanks so much! I'm so glad someone other than me thinks this stuff is fun, and I really appreciate the pairing/mission suggestions. You all rock!!
Notes: Underage persons (koff Kiba koff) should not drink. Additionally, alcohol is not good for dogs. They really shouldn't be allowed to drink "Hinata's special punch."
CHAPTER 4
Shino sat alone at a table, observing his fellow genin. A small plate of food sat before him, untouched. During the performance of a covert mission observation was no time to eat.
Though Akimichi Choji obviously felt quite differently. Shino turned his eyes toward the rather portly member of Team 10, who was munching at a nearby table and conversing jovially with his teammate, Nara Shikamaru.
"Yeah, but if you had to pick the absolute prettiest, who would it be?" Choji was asking.
"None of them," Shikamaru responded.
"No, if you HAD to pick one!"
"I'd rather not."
"But that's not the point!"
"This is getting tedious."
"You think Hinata's pretty?"
"No."
"What about Sakura?"
"No."
"Well, how about--"
"Knock it off, would you?"
"You're no fun."
"Pfft."
"Hey Shikamaru?"
"What?"
"You do LIKE girls, right?"
"Why would you even ask me that?"
"You'd still be my friend if you liked Sasuke."
"I'm leaving."
Shino contemplated the situation. Evidently "leaving" meant that Shikamaru was going to put his head in his lap and cover his ears. It was probably too much effort to actually go anywhere. Shino got no read on this boy at all.
Choji didn't seem particularly suspicious either, though he was certainly asking a lot of questions about who Shikamaru liked. It might just be normal conversation though. Shino wasn't exactly an expert on what friends talked about. Or enemies, for that matter. Though he did know bugs front and back.
Even taking that into consideration, he was rather sure what Uzumaki Naruto was doing was not making him any friends.
"Hey, I remember you from class! You look way prettier than you used to. Wanna dance?"
"I don't think so."
"Oh... hey, wow, your hair looks great! Wanna dance?"
"Get lost."
"Uh... Hi! Remember me? I was in the chuunin finals! Doesn't a pretty girl like you wanna dance with such an excellent ninja?
"In your dreams."
"Hmm... hey there! You wanna--"
"Get bent."
Yes, Shino decided, Naruto was definitely trying to get any girl he met to dance with him. Though Shino wasn't quite sure if the objective was to actually get one of them to accept, or if it was just to ask.
Pondering for a moment as he watched a petite redhead in a black cocktail dress smack Naruto senseless, Shino decided that the asking must be the mission. After all, the missions were drawn randomly, and if someone like Uchiha Sasuke had had to get a girl to accept an offer to dance, that wouldn't have been much of a mission.
Of course, there was always the possibility that Naruto was asking every girl in the whole room to dance because he was just that strange. Shino wasn't exactly an expert on social guidelines, but he was rather sure Naruto didn't tend to follow them. What socially conscious human being would wear a tie with a picture of ramen on it?
And Shino hadn't seen Naruto drinking any of the punch...
Satisfied for the moment with his evaluation of Naruto's mission, Shino turned his head to the side, careful not to appear too intent on scrutinizing the others. His teammate Hinata was sitting timidly next to Haruno Sakura, Rock Lee, and Yamanaka Ino. Tenten and Hinata's cousin, Neji, were standing nearby talking to them. Tenten was grinning winningly and holding Neji's hand, and Neji was... also smiling. Very suspicious. And a bit creepy, to be honest.
The bug genin's eyes narrowed behind his dark glasses. What was going on...?
"And your dress is so amazing, Tenten!" Sakura was saying.
"It really flatters your figure," Ino added, stroking the fabric of Tenten's large, fluffy pink skirt.
"Yes, you look just like a... like a princess!" Hinata added, blushing.
"Fantastic!!" Lee gave a thumbs-up, though he seemed much more interested in examining Sakura's dress than Tenten's.
"Isn't Tenten's dress just too pretty, Neji?" Ino asked, nudging the boy.
All eyes turned to Neji, who gave a momentary look of panic before smiling broadly once again and declaring, "Of course!"
Now Shino was no expert on fashion, but he was pretty damn sure Tenten's dress was awful. She looked like a deranged ballerina. The others seemed to truly like the frightening, fluffy pink abomination, but Shino could tell that Neji thought it was just as appalling as he did. Yet Neji was pretending he liked it... and that he liked holding Tenten's hand.
Hmm... Pretending he was having a good time...
Suddenly, Tenten let out a squeak and dropped Neji's hand. "I love this song!! It has the best beat! Who wants to dance?"
"I will!" Sakura volunteered.
Lee shot up out of his chair at once, only to be pushed immediately back down by Sakura. "Not you," she told him.
"You want to dance, too, Neji?" Tenten asked.
"Ah, haha, I really have to... ah... use the bathroom! But don't mind me!" It was a good save.
Shino's observation was suddenly cut short when Kiba slid into the chair next to him, plopping a sloshing glass of punch in front of his teammate.
"How's it going, my man?" Kiba smacked him on the back, a silly grin on his face. "The girls are super hot, huh?"
Shino admitted he was no expert on alcohol. In fact, the sip that Kiba had given him earlier had been his first drink, and it was only enough to make his stomach feel a little funny and make his bugs crawl about a bit more hurriedly. Despite that, he was pretty sure Kiba was well on the way to being drunk.
"I haven't really tried the food yet," was Shino's reply.
Kiba blinked, eyes a bit glazed.
"Haha, good one!!" He finally shouted, smacking Shino again on the back, "The food thing!"
"Any news, Shino?" Kiba whispered too loudly.
"Neji and Naruto like the cheese and crackers." Shino told him.
Kiba blinked again, looking dazed. "Oh, I get it!" he proclaimed at length. "Good work, my friend!"
Looking down at the punch he had brought Shino, Kiba seemed to have a sudden epiphany. Pulling Akamaru out of his jacket, he set the dog down on the table. "Here, have some of Hinata's special punch, Akamaru! It's really good!"
Shino gaped as the dog started slurping down the foamy pink liquid. Not that anyone could tell he was gaping, due to his trench coat collar. But that only allowed him to gape without fear of being found out.
Not being an expert on the matter, Shino wasn't positive, but he was fairly sure that dogs shouldn't drink spiked punch.
"Wow, so that's... seventeen points for us already, Shino," Kiba said as Akamaru slurped at the drink. "We're going to win for sure!"
Shino felt vaguely hypnotized by Akamaru's little pink tongue flicking in and out of the pink punch. Flick, flick, flick. For some odd reason, he felt vaguely dirty watching it.
Suddenly putting his arm around Shino's neck and drawing him close, Kiba said secretively into his teammate's ear, "You watch the guys, I'll handle the girls. Oh, and I'll handle 'em, alright!!"
"..." was the only response Shino could think of, but he thought that summed it up rather well.
Kiba then patted his dog, grabbing him back up and putting him into his jacket again. Akamaru woofed, and Kiba laughed in that wolfish way he had. "I told you it was good!" he said. "Speaking of which..."
Reaching out and grabbing the glass of punch that Akamaru had just been drinking, Kiba downed what remained, setting the empty glass back down next to Shino. Shino felt the bugs squirm inside of him, a sure sign that he was weirded out. Sure, making your body into a home to thousands of swarming insects was a bit odd, but drinking out of the same glass as your dog was just wrong!
Shino watched as Kiba turned out toward the dance floor, pausing after only a few steps. Striding back to the table, Kiba grabbed the now empty glass and headed toward the punch bowl.
Sighing and looking out over the dance floor, Shino saw Sakura and Tenten... He blinked. What the hell was Tenten doing? She had to be the worst dancer on the face of the earth! She was making weird grinding motions with her pelvis and pumping her right fist up and down above her head.
Horrified, Shino found that he was unable to look away from the spectacle. His eyes were glued firmly to Tenten's perplexingly twitching shoulders, jerking neck, shimmying knees, and unsightly pink tutu-like dress that bounced outlandishly up and down with her bizarre motions. For no reason that he could explain, Shino felt his bugs scurry about at a panicked pace, his face flush a hot red color, and his pants become abruptly far too tight. Shino was no expert, but he had a sinking feeling this wasn't good.
Suddenly, the loud music pumping out of the huge speakers went silent, and Tenten halted, much to Shino's relief, yet somehow, chagrin. Looking up at the DJ's stage, Shino was shocked to see Rock Lee standing with the microphone. What in the...?!
XXXXX LEE INTERLUDE XXXXX
The stage was finally set, thought Rock Lee as he gazed out upon the busy ninja dance hall. Everyone was here now. They were all watching. It was time for him to complete his mission.
Spotting Sakura next to Tenten on the dance floor, Lee set his jaw and made long, purposeful strides toward his angel of perfection, his burning eyes full of fervor.
He had a declaration to make, and Sakura would be the first to know. He was going to bear his heart in front of EVERYONE, just as his mission instructed.
Weaving in and out of dancers, he approached. Tenten and Sakura seemed to be enjoying themselves, and had been dancing next to each other for the past few fast songs. Sakura looked simply lovely, especially in her stunning green dress, though Lee had to admit that Tenten was an absolutely incredible dancer.
"Sakura, my darling," he said, bowing to the cherry-blossom goddess when he reached her, "I am about to do something that I would not, in my wildest dreams, have imagined myself having the opportunity to do."
When he noticed that the coloring of Sakura's lovely face suddenly matched her splendid dress (and his splendid body suit), he decided that she might be a bit upset. Though the green was still lovely, of course. To comfort his beloved, he boldly took her exquisite hand in his and continued his announcement.
"Do not fear, my love! What I am about to do is Truth. And Truth cannot be hidden in the confines of our hearts! Truth, like a lovely flower, must bloom forth into the world to bless us all with its beauty!"
He was quite proud of this declaration. It sounded even better out loud than it had in his head.
"Uh..." his astoundingly well-spoken darling began as she yanked her hand out of his, "Wouldn't you rather... uh... dance with Tenten and me?"
Panic gripped Lee's insides as a confused Tenten was thrust toward him. At last, an offer to dance, and he was unable to accept! Oh, love was a challenging affair!!
"Alas!" he bemoaned, "I am afraid that I am forced to decline at this time. However, I promise to join you later this evening! Truth can wait no longer!!"
Sakura gasped as he turned away, and he thought he heard her lamenting. In disappointment, of course. Soon, my love, soon! he thought. But now for his mission.
Giving the tongue-tied Sakura a final brilliant smile, Lee made his way to the DJ, thanking the powers that be for allowing him this opportunity. For giving him the ideal mission! The sheer perfection made his heart pound in his chest.
Now was his chance! The DJ gave him a strange look when he begged for the microphone, but in the end, Lee obtained the instrument with only a few tears. The DJ shut off the music, and suddenly, the bowl-cut prodigy had the attention of the entire hall. It was now time to accomplish his mission:
DECLARE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE YOUR SENTIMENTS OF LOVE AND ADORATION FOR THE MOST ASTONISHINGLY AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL CREATURE YOU'VE EVER LAID EYES UPON!
Oh, Gai-sensei, he thought as he raised the microphone to his mouth, If only you could be here to see it! To see me bare my heart and soul in front of everyone! To proclaim my deepest emotions, my greatest love! And now the whole world will know! There will be no denying the Truth! The Truth will set me free!
"Attention Everyone! I have an announcement to make! I LOVE--"
And it was at that point that Sakura passed out.