Hooray! I'm happy to say that I have finally completed Chapter 5 of Team Seven Goes to Disneyland! And before I let you get on with reading it, I just want to say a few things.
First, I want to apologize for the relatively long wait, as well as say thank you for all your patience! I assure you, it will all be worth it once you read this chapter.
Second, I just want to say I really enjoyed writing this chapter (even if I found myself easily distracted from writing it...). As you can see, it is by far the longest chapter I have written so far. It came out to be just over 9 whole pages when typed on Microsoft Word. However, with all the good stuff that goes on, I'm sure you won't find yourself getting, by any means, bored.
Third, I would like to give some credit where credit is due. First, to my dear friend Ernilriel for giving me the idea for the"dog chase"part of the story thatyou will read about in the beginning of the story. If not for your suggestion,for one thing, this chapter would have been at least 3 pages shorter, which would have led to a far less interesting story, hehe.Second, to my sister Kakahsi-lover-935 for the idea of the "soggy book" portion of this chapter. If it hadn't been for that, it would have probably ended up just another annoying song kind of ride, lol. But I don't want to get ahead of myself and give away the story, so I think I'll stop with the rambling for now and let you get on with what you are truly here for...
Oh, but before I do that, I just want to once again say a quick thanks to everyone for the reviews! They've really encouraged me to continue with this story when I may have otherwise decided to cut it short. Thanks!
Okay, you can read the story now, I promise! ;)
(Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Enough said.)
Team Seven Goes to Disneyland
Chapter 5: Dog Chase and Soggy Book
"Well, it looks as if there are still a few rides around here that we haven't been on yet," Kakashi said after exchanging his book for his park map yet again. "Shall we go check them out as well?" There were nods of agreement all around with a few murmurs of "yeah" and "sure".
However, before any of them could take another step further, a voice hollered from behind them. "Over there! That's the kid who's been carrying his dog with him all over the park." Everyone turned to see the man who had spoken coming their way with three more men just behind him; he was pointing in their direction. They all turned to see which one of them he could possibly be talking about when they all spotted Akamaru peaking out from underneath Kiba's jacket.
Before anyone could utter a single word, the men stopped directly in front of them with not-so-pleasant looks on their faces. "Excuse me, young man," said the man who had led the group, "but pets are not allowed within this amusement park. If you could —"
"Pet?" Kiba interrupted angrily. "Akamaru isn't a pet. He's my best friend!"
"I understand that," the man replied, trying to remain calm, "but dogs, best friends or otherwise, are still considered pets among the Disneyland staff, and are thus not allowed within this amusement park. If you could be so kind as to —"
"Aha!" Kiba interrupted yet again. "You've gone and done it again!"
The man raised his eyebrows at Kiba as he asked, "Exactly what have I gone and done again?"
"You've insulted Akamaru…that's what you've gone and done again," Kiba replied, his voice starting to increase in volume.
"I'm sorry, but how did I do that?" The man continued to look questioningly at Kiba.
"First, you went and called him a 'pet'. Then, you had the audacity to go and call him a 'dog'!" Kiba was now yelling as everyone else just stared at him.
The man was starting to get a little annoyed at this point. "Look, I'm sorry but —"
"Don't apologize to me," Kiba retorted. "Apologize to Akamaru!"
"What? Okay, this is getting out of hand," the man said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Look, I just need to take him up to the front where they can keep an eye on him while you and your friends enjoy the rest your day in the park."
The man and his three companions stepped closer, ready to take Akamaru by force if needed, when Kakashi suddenly pointed behind them saying, "Look! There's a dog running loose over there."
"Huh?" The men turned around to look in the direction Kakashi had pointed, and sure enough, there was a little brown dog wearing a blue vest running around. The leader of the group yelled "Get it!" and the four men took off running after the small brown dog.
"Run!" Kakashi said just loud enough for group to hear. With that, they all took off running in the opposite direction to get as far from the men as they could before the men even noticed they had left.
xxxxx
"I think we've lost them," Kakashi panted once they finally stopped running a few minutes later.
"I should think so," Asuma said, also panting. "I'd say we ran clear to the other side of the park."
"That's fine by me," Kiba said after catching his breath, "so long as they don't get their filthy hands on Akamaru."
"Kakashi, was it me or did that small, brown dog look very familiar?" Kurenai asked.
But before Kakashi could answer — Poof! — a small brown dog wearing a blue vest was sitting in front of them. "They shouldn't be of any more trouble, Kakashi," the dog said.
"Thanks again, Pakkun," Kakashi said.
"Gah! Did that dog just talk?" Kiba asked, shocked to see a talking dog.
"Yup," Kakashi replied, grinning.
"Cool!" Kiba exclaimed as he rushed over to pet the little dog.
"Oh great," Shino muttered. "Just what Kiba needs, a talking dog."
"I think he's kind of cute," Hinata said as she joined Kiba in petting Pakkun.
"Yeah, he is cute," Sakura agreed. "But Kakashi, if you don't mind my asking, why's he here? I mean, I've never seen you summon him except for the time we had to track Sasuke down."
"I just thought he'd make a suitable distraction so we could get Kiba and Akamaru away from Security," Kakashi answered.
"I thought I recognized him," Kurenai said, more to herself than anyone else.
"Well, as much as I love all this attention," Pakkun said, "I think it's about time I head out."
"Thanks again, Pakkun," Kakashi replied, giving a small wave.
"Yeah, thanks a ton!" Kiba added just before — Poof! — Pakkun was gone from sight. "Aww, but I was hoping he'd stay and go on the next ride with us," Kiba whined.
"Yeah, well he isn't exactly the most social dog there is. It's rare for him to stick around long once he's completed a mission for me," Kakashi explained. "Besides, I think he'd rather be as far from here as possible after the little adventure he went on as Security chased him around the park."
"I guess you've got a point there," Kiba replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Everyone then stood in silence for a few moments, not sure what to say. "So…um… Where are we?" Naruto finally asked, looking around.
"That's a good question," Kakashi replied, also taking a look at their surroundings. "I got so caught up in getting away from security that I hadn't been paying attention to where we were going."
The rest of the group joined in looking around to figure out where they were. After a couple of minutes of looking, Gai yelled, "Over here guys! I think I've found a ride or something." The rest of the group came running over to join him in front of as sign that read: Splash Mountain.
"Hmm, let's see," Asuma said as he consulted the park map. "Looks like we're clear on the other side of the park from Tomorrowland. Now we're all the way over in Critter Country."
"Aw man," Lee moaned. "I wanted to go on the rest of the rides over there."
"No worries, Lee," Gai replied cheerfully. "We still have plenty of time to return and go on the rest of the rides in Tomorrowland. Until then, let's see what this Splash Mountain ride has in store for us."
"I hate to say it," Kakashi said, turning to his "rival", "but you've actually come up with a good idea." Gai, having completely missed the implied meaning that his ideas were usually bad, simply gave his usual good-guy pose and led group to find the end of the line.
"Hmm…looks like another long wait," Kurenai said when they had found the end of the line. She pointed out a nearby sign that said "Approximate wait time: 1:15". "Perhaps we can use a fast pass here as well?"
Everyone looked around to see if there was indeed a fast pass station nearby. A few moments later, Shino pointed in the not-too-far-off distance. "There's the fast passes over there."
"Cool!" Naruto cheered as he ran off to get his fast pass first. Everyone else followed close behind and soon they found themselves walking through the FAST PASS line as they had done when they went on Star Tours.
xxxxx
Meanwhile, Itachi could once again be seen walking around Disneyland in search of Naruto. His pace was much slower than earlier as he walked around, clutching his stomach.
He had by no means intended to return to his search so soon; he still felt pretty ill from his experience on Star Tours. As a matter of fact, he had been hoping to take a nice, long nap after the experience. However, just as he became comfortable on a secluded bench in Tomorrowland and had begun to doze off, he had been woken up by a small group of men running past in pursuit of a small brown dog.
Seeing the word Security on the backs of their shirts, he decided it would perhaps be best if he saved sleep for later. He wasn't exactly fond of the thought that the security guards from earlier in the day would find him fast asleep on the bench and thus take him into custody before he even had a chance to defend himself.
So Itachi got up and returned to his search for Naruto, figuring that the sooner he grabbed the kid, the sooner he could get away from the wretched amusement park and back home to the comfort of his own bed.
Of course, he once again had to deal with the problem of finding him again. Why was it that every time he thought he was one step closer to completing his mission, he instead soon found himself falling two steps behind? This mission was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth.
xxxxx
"We're going on another ride! We're going on another ride!" Naruto wailed in his annoying singsong voice as they finally reached the front of the line.
"Can't you just shut up for five minutes?" Sasuke growled.
"Nope!" Naruto replied quite cheerfully. "We're going on another ride! We're going—"
THWACK! Naruto was on the ground again for what seemed the hundredth time today. He looked up to see a rather angry Sakura looking down on him. "Shut up already!" she screamed at him.
"Woah!" Kakashi grabbed a hold of his student before she could get at Naruto again. "No need to get so angry." The rest of the group simply stared at her, surprised at seeing her lose her temper like that; she looked rather scary. The fact that she had stood up for Naruto the previous day seemed a long forgotten thing of the past.
Even Sakura looked surprised at herself. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I guess I just snapped." She looked down at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone.
"No worries," Naruto said as he stood up, rubbing the lump on his head. "It's not like it was the first time, right?"
Sakura laughed at this. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Right, now that that's all settled," Kiba said, "how about we finally get on the ride?"
"Oh yeah!" Naruto replied. "I completely forgot about going on the ride."
"How's that possible?" Sasuke asked. "You had been singing about it just before Sakura beat you upside the head." Naruto ignored this as he jumped into the first available seat.
"Right, then," Kakashi spoke up. "How about we do this as teams again? Save us from any useless arguments and such."
"Sounds good," the other three teachers replied. So, with that, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi climbed into the first log, right behind Naruto.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Naruto cheered as their log-boat started to drift away.
"We're next! We're next!" Lee exclaimed as he jumped up and down in place, his team indeed being right behind Naruto's.
Just then, another log floated up. Lee jumped in before it even came to a complete stop. "That's the spirit, Lee!" Gai exclaimed over-enthusiastically. "Come on Ten-ten and Neji. This ride is sure to be great for your springtime youths!"
'Why me?' Neji thought to himself as he climbed into the log right behind Ten-ten. Their log then drifted off as well, followed by yet another.
"Wahoo!" Kiba cheered as he swiftly jumped in front. "Come on Hinata! You can sit right behind me!"
"Um…okay," Hinata replied as she sat down right behind her teammate.
'Good, that means I won't be stuck behind him,' Shino thought to himself as he sat down behind Hinata. Kurenai followed close behind, and they also started drifting away.
"Guess that just leaves us," Asuma said. "Come on guys. Get in."
Ino and Chouji sat in their log first. Shikamaru, however, just stood there simply staring at the log-boat. "Ugh, this stuff is so troublesome," he sighed as he finally sat down in the log behind Chouji.
Meanwhile, as Asuma climbed in the log with his students, Naruto's voice could be heard echoing throughout the ride, singing along with the music: "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, my, oh my, what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headin' my way, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay."
"Not another one," Sasuke moaned.
"Not another what?" Sakura asked, turning around to look at Sasuke.
"Another annoying, catchy song, that's what," Sasuke groaned. 'Why did I have to get stuck with him, of all people, on my team?' he asked himself for the millionth time.
"Oh, it's not that bad," Kakashi replied. Sasuke turned to glare at his teacher, and found him humming along with the tune while, once again, reading his book.
'One of these days,' Sasuke thought, 'that book is going to end up getting thrashed. Wonder what he'll do then?' He grinned at the thought as he turned around to look straight ahead once again.
In the meantime, Ten-ten and Neji had their fingers shoved in their ears, trying to block out the horrible screeching that was Lee and Gai's attempt at singing along with the music. "Ugh! This could this get any worse?" Neji asked his female teammate.
"What?" Ten-ten hollered back. She could barely hear herself think with all the racket.
"I said…Oh, never mind," Neji yelled back, realizing Ten-ten wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. He shook his head to let her know to just forget it. She understood and turned back around in her seat and tried to cover here ears even harder, but to no avail; there was absolutely no way to drown out Gai and Lee's terrible singing.
Not too far behind them, Kiba seemed to have come up with the same idea as Naruto, Lee, and Gai. "Let's sing, along Hinata and Shino."
"Um, no thanks," Hinata replied in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.
"Not a chance," Shino also replied, quite stubbornly.
"Suit yourselves." Kiba shrugged his shoulders and suddenly broke into song as well, with Akamaru also joining in with some of his own musical howling. "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, my, oh my, what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headin' my way, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay."
"What on earth is that noise?" Shikamaru asked. "Sounds like there's a pack of dying wolves or something up ahead."
"No idea," Ino replied, "but it's hurting my beautiful ears!" She clapped her hands to her ears in attempt to block out the horrible screeching.
"Whatever it is," Asuma said, "I hope somebody puts it out of its misery, and soon."
A few minutes of so-called singing, screeching, and howling later, Naruto's team began to slowly ascend a rather steep conveyer belt thing.
"Aw, man! It's over already?" Naruto whined as they came to a stop towards the top.
"Duuno," Sakura replied, taking a look around.
"Strange spot to stop a ride," Sasuke added as he, too, glanced around at their surroundings.
Suddenly, they were moving again – slowly at first, then gaining speed each and every second until they were plummeting down a huge waterfall! Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all ducked in their seats, afraid they might very well fly out of them. As Kakashi was immersed in his book, though, he didn't even notice they were falling down the waterfall. That is, not until — Splash! — they had reached the bottom of the drop and water splashed all around them.
Having ducked on the way down, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had avoided the majority of the water and so remained pretty dry. However, Kakashi had no such luck. Because he had been so captivated by his book, he had been unable to react in time to avoid any of the water, and as a result, he was soaking wet.
The three students sat up and turned to glance at their teacher. Seeing his hair flattened to the top of his head, dripping wet, they could no longer contain themselves; they burst into laughter.
"That…has…to be…the funniest…" Naruto gasped in between laughter. He was unable to finish his sentence as he burst out in yet more laughter. He could barely control himself. Sakura and Sasuke were having a hard time breathing, they were laughing so hard.
Kakashi simply glared daggers at his students, unable to think of any words to express how he felt at that moment.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity to the drenched Kakashi, their log came to a halt and they were able to climb out and wait for the others. It was at this moment that Kakashi noticed something far worse than his being soaked to the bone. It had to be the absolute worst thing that had happened his entire life!
Not only had he been cruelly soaked by the massive load of water that had splashed him at the bottom of the waterfall, but his book had also been dealt the same fate! The book, his precious beloved book, had been drenched to the point that it was now falling apart, bit by little bit. Kakashi fell to his knees and raised his hands to the sky in a desperate sort of manner as he cried out, "NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Just then, Lee, Gai, Ten-ten, and Neji were climbing out of their own boat-logs. "That ride was the best!" Lee cheered.
"Lee, you've said that about every ride so far," Ten-ten sighed.
"Yeah, well, this time I mean it. It was awesome!" Lee turned to Ten-ten and gave her his good-guy pose.
"It was indeed," Gai said, grinning from ear-to-ear as well. "Definitely great for those still in the springtime of their youth!"
Neji just sighed and shook his head, which happened to be sopping wet. 'First, I have to deal with their horrible screeching. Then, I find my beautiful hair ruined by that wretched waterfall. Why is fate always so cruel to me?' he thought to himself.
"Oh? What's this?" Gai had just noticed Kakashi on his knees, sobbing. 'My eternal rival, on the ground…crying?' he wondered to himself as he made his way over to Kakashi and his students.
But before he could say anymore, there was a loud "Woot!" from behind him as Kiba jumped off the ride and made his way over to Naruto and the others, closely followed by the rest of his team. "That was awesome! Wasn't it, Naruto?"
"Yeah! First, there was that great song. Then, out of nowhere the huge waterfall! Best thing ever!" Naruto cheered back, just as excited as ever.
"Oh, Kakashi! What's wrong?" Kurenai had just noticed Kakashi kneeling on the ground, face buried in his hands, and he appeared to be crying.
However, before Kakashi could reply, a very angry voice came from behind them. "I can't believe it! I went through all that trouble to make sure my hair was perfect for Sasuke, and what do I get? A huge splash of water comes up out of nowhere and ruins it!"
At the mention of his name, Sasuke turned around to see a very angry Ino, followed by her teammates, making her way over to him and the rest of the group. He quickly looked in a different direction, not wanting her to know he had heard her. He was having enough problems as it was for the day, and didn't need a moody girl making things worse.
"Calm down, Ino," Shikamaru replied quite calmly. "I doubt Sasuke even cared about your hair."
'You've got that right,' Sasuke thought to himself. At least someone seemed to understand him.
But Ino seemed to think otherwise. "That is so not true!" Ino screamed in Shikamaru's face. But before she could prove her point any further, she spotted Sasuke a few feet away and stopped, embarrassed by her behavior in front of the boy she practically worshiped.
"Calm down, Ino," Asuma said calmly, placing his hand upon her shoulder to be sure she kept her cool. "Besides, from the looks of things," he said as he also noticed Kakashi kneeling on the ground, sobbing, "you're not the only one upset. What's up, Kakashi?" He made his wave over to his fellow teacher in hopes he could help him out.
Finally, Kakashi seemed to regain his composure, and he stood up. He still had tears streaming down his cheeks, but he at least seemed to have better control over them. "My precious book has been ruined!" he wailed, as he once again broke into uncontrollable sobbing.
"What?" Kurenai replied, shocked by his answer. 'All these tears over a stupid book?' she asked herself, though trying to keep a look of false concern on her face so as to not upset Kakashi even further.
Kakashi simply held out the remains of his soggy book, unable to say another word. Everyone else just sweat-dropped, unable to believe the great Kakashi, who had already been through many hardships, could become so upset over one, simple book.
"Well," Asuma finally spoke up after a few moments of awkward silence. He looked around at all the nearby faces, and noticing a few not-so-happy ones, he said, "How about we call it a day, shall we? We still have a couple of days to come back and see the stuff we haven't yet seen and go on rides we haven't yet been on. I think for now, we just need to back to the hotel and relax a bit."
"Sounds like a plan," Gai agreed. "I must say, it has indeed been a rather stressful day, and it would do us all some good to take a bit of a break from it all." The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement and they all slowly made their way back to their hotel rooms to get a bit of rest and relaxation.
So, what'd you guys think? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know, so that I know whether I should truly continue this story, or simply write the end of it in the next chapter. Also, any suggestions and such for upcoming chapters are gladly taken into consideration (as you saw for yourself if you read my A/N at the top). I can assure you they will not be taken lightly and may very well be added to may already growing list of ideas that I have typed up and saved to my computer. And you can be sure that I will reply to your reviews on my profile page. I post up my replies as soon as I read your reviews, and as I'm on the computer a lot lately, it's usually not very long after you've reviewed.
So, with all that said and done, I take my leave of you to get to work on yet another fan fiction I have started (details can be found on my profile), as well as to get a start on Chapter 6. Until then, hope you have enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to your reviews!