Author's note:
Well, people, majority rules. Shiku and Miura are going to be paired together. And what a great idea I have, too! I guess you'll just have to read on to see. I won't all be in this chapter, but you'll like it.
Also, fan positions for Okita are still open (they probably always will be…) but my good friends Pirate Shinju has informed me that she is working on a picture of him! Woot! She's also drawing a picture of Shiku and Miura together! (heart). So eventually all the wonderful pics will be posted on my profile. They'll probably be on Photo Bucket.
A big thanks to my Shinju-chan, who wrote a bit in this chapter. There will be little informative notes telling you where she started and stopped. Read her new one shot, by the way! It's called "The Greatest Gift of All".
Well, sorry for the long author's note! Now… read on!
Disclaimer: I… don't… own… Naruto…
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Losing Control: Chapter Eight
By: Maiyuko-chan
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Oh… my… god… Tenten thought, panting. She could barely even think. She had somehow wound up crouching beside (and almost under) a table at the ramen bar.
"Tenten?" a muffled voice asked. She looked up to see Naruto.
"N-Naruto…" she breathed deeply. What was he doing here? Wait, this was the ramen bar… He should be asking her what she was doing almost under his table. She sat up and sat in the chair across from him.
"What's going on?" he asked after he swallowed his food. "You don't look so good! You're really pale…"
Tenten looked around. In her state of frenzy, she wasn't sure if she should tell him. She should probably think before she told anyone, especially him.
"I kissed Shino!" she blurted. So much for thinking. Naruto stood up quickly.
"You kissed--" She leaned over the table and covered his mouth.
"Don't tell anyone!" she yelled, causing a few people to stare. "It was an accident." Naruto gave her a skeptical look. "D-don't ask!" she said.
"Okay…" he said. "So you two are hitting it off?"
"No!"
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Shino needed to assess the situation. He wasn't sure what to think, exactly, but he knew that first, he needed to get his sunglasses on. He did so, but he couldn't think past that.
Okay…
Tenten, his possible-fiancé, just fell out of a tree and kissed him. Afterwards, she ran off. And left her kunai lying on the ground.
His lips were kind of sore. She had fallen on him kind of hard. This just made things even more awkward. As if he hadn't already been thinking about wedding night.
Well, dammit.
He got up on his feet. He had to get home. He picked up Tenten's kunai, thinking it was probably best to give it back to her. He tucked the weapon into his pouch and started walking, trying to push all thoughts of Tenten's kiss and wedding night out of his mind.
And failing miserably.
He walked up the steps to his house and opened the door. The living room was empty except for his father and Miura, who were conversing quietly. Miura looked up to see Shino and she stood.
"I am sorry, Uncle." she said quietly, and bowed before she left to go outside. Shino looked at his father inquisitively, but his father had no explanation to give. Shino walked into the kitchen and sat down alone. A small bug crawled onto the table and skittered across it. Shino summoned it quietly.
It intrigued him, how it seemed to almost look up and come to him. Its legs carried it to Shino as fast as they could, and when it reached Shino, it crawled along his fingers. Shino spoke to it silently, and it spread its wings and flew off.
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Tenten yawned as she walked to the house, where she was sure Miura-chan would be. Naruto had put her in a good mood, and she had decided to treat herself to some fun. She would take Miura to the Summer Night festival, and have her join in festivities. If she played her cards right, she could get Miura to meet Shiku there by accident! She smiled mischievously.
She briefly wondered why she was thinking about this while she had her own love problems to deal with. Sigh.
She walked into the Aburame household and greeted Shino's father quietly. She walked into the kitchen where she saw Shino, who looked up at her. She blushed a bit, but smiled at him all the same as if nothing had ever happened. He nodded his head at her in acknowledgment.
"Sh-Shino-san," she started. Dammit, she blushed!
"Yes?" he asked coolly. He was glad he wore his high collar; he felt his face heating up like it never had before.
"Where's Miura-chan?" she asked as she sat down across for him. He leaned forward a bit as his kikai crawled under his skin, as if a reminder of what happened.
"She left before you came." Tenten nodded.
"Oh… so… d-do you know where she went?" He shook his head no.
Well, this was awkward.
"I'll go and look for her." said Tenten as she sat up. "If you want me to, I'll make dinner for you before I leave." Shino didn't respond. "I'll… I'll just make it when I get back… Bye, Shino-san!"
She walked out of the house quickly.
Well, Shino, he thought, You handled that well.
Tenten walked through Konoha, not knowing exactly where Miura hung out. At the ramen bar? No, she'd never seen her there. Well, this was pointless. She had just needed an excuse to get away from Shino-san. It was so awkward.
Well, she may as well visit someone. She hadn't seen Ino in a while. She was probably getting her booth for the Summer Festival ready. Tenten went to the festival grounds, and sure enough, Ino was there, just finishing up.
"Tenten-chan!" yelled Ino, hugging her friend. "It's been forever! What's up?"
"Nothing much, what about you? I've been looking around for Shino's cousin but I can't find her. I just decided to visit you."
"Tenten, I have a huge favor to ask you!" said Ino excitedly. "Be in my kissing booth!" She pointed to the now-finished booth that was brightly decorated with hearts. Tenten blushed.
"N-no…"
"Come on, Ten-chan! Sakura and Hinata are doing it with me!" Tenten's eye's widened.
"Hinata?"
"Blackmail."
"Oh."
"So will you?"
"I… uhm…"
"Maybe you'll get a chance to kiss someone before you get married!" Tenten blushed at Ino's choice of words. "Come on!" Ino smiled sweetly. "You'd better enjoy your last moments of freedom. It can be a pre-bachelorette party!" Tenten smiled at the thought.
"You're throwing a bachelorette party?" she asked. Ino nodded.
"Yup! We'll even have strippers." Tenten blushed. Why not? Ino had a point. She should enjoy her last weeks of freedom.
"Okay. I'll do it. But I can't kiss a bunch of people, okay? I am engaged to three people." Ino and Tenten giggled. Tenten looked around. "Hey, when does the festival start? I thought it was next week, but it looks like it's coming sooner. Everyone's done with their booths."
Sure enough, there were brightly colored booths all along the streets. People were finishing their decorations and getting all of the last-minute things done. The street was being lit as evening came upon Konoha.
"Tenten, the festival starts tonight. In two hours." Tenten looked up in shock.
"What?"
"Come on, let's go to Shino's and get a nice kimono. You're all dirty! God, what have you been doing?" Ino started to pull Tenten toward Shino's house.
"B-but-"
"Go!" The two wound up racing toward the Aburame household, eventually jumping on rooftops. Tenten wasn't feeling very tired or sore anymore.
Ino seemed to bring the house to life once she walked in. Shino was sitting on the couch talking to Miura who had come home.
"Come on, people, up, up, up!" yelled Ino, clapping her hands on the ups. Miura sat up. "We have a festival to go to!" she said excitedly. "I have a booth to get back, too, also! Hey, you're Miura, right?" Ino pointed at said girl.
"Yes…?"
"You're recruited! Join my booth!" Ino said happily.
"B-booth? I can't…"
"Why not?" asked Ino, a little disappointed.
"I'm not allowed to go out unless everyone knows where I'm going, and I have no one to ask…" Ino smirked.
"Shino, can she come to the festival with us?" Shino wasn't sure what to say. He looked away for a moment and thought.
"I am not the one to ask." he said finally. Miura looked at Ino, curious as to what she would do. She sort of wanted to go, and get out of the house, even if this was quite… sudden. She hadn't really ever been out at night before, and it almost sounded fun.
Ino merely smirked.
"Shino-kun, I probably know more than you and Tenten-chan think. Now do you really want me to blow that little 'incident' in the woods out of proportion?" Shino and Tenten froze. Shino looked at Miura, who was slightly confused, and cleared his throat.
This was one of the reasons Tenten firmly believed that Ino could sometimes read minds, all though Naruto probably told her anyway.
"Miura can go if she wants to." he said. Miura smiled.
"I'm going to go," she said, a bit exited.
"Maybe Shiku-kun will be there, eh?" said Tenten with a smirk. Miura blushed.
"Wh-what is your booth's theme, Ino-san?" she asked, grabbing her jacket and sunglasses. Ino laughed.
"Oh, don't call me Ino-san, please! Ino is fine, or Ino-chan. Oh, the theme is-" Ino looked at Shino, who was a little bemused at the secrecy. "A surprise…" she continued slyly, looking back and forth between Shino and Tenten. Tenten blushed.
"Let's just go, Ino-chan…"
"We have an hour and a half to get back, guys," said Ino. "Shower and get ready! Hurry! I'll wait." Miura put her jacket on a nearby chair and took off her sunglasses.
"Tenten-san, what if I get caught?" she asked, Tenten looked at Ino and smirked.
"Ino-chan has good methods of getting out of trouble." Tenten said, absolute faith in her voice. Ino smirked.
"Leave it all to me." she said with a vixenish smile. "And Shino, you can come too and we'll say it's a date for you and Tenten. You can wander off or whatever, we'll just say you stuck with her."
Shino thought for a moment. If anyone could pull something like this off, it was her. He still didn't want to disobey the Lady Hokage, though. Perhaps he would spend most of his time with Tenten, or at least around her. Besides, a real date would be especially awkward. After a bit of thought, he agreed.
Tenten jumped into the shower as Miura went with Ino to grab a cute kimono. Shino was left alone for about half an hour. He sat down on the couch and waited.
Soon, Ino and Miura came running back, the former holding two kimonos in her hands.
"Tenten has her own kimono, right?" Ino asked Shino, who only shrugged. Ino sighed.
"You should know this stuff! You're probably going to get married!" she took Miura's hand and dragged her into a random room to get changed. Shino didn't realize that it was his room until Ino started to marvel at all the books in there. He sighed, defeated.
Tenten suddenly came out of her room, holding her untied obi around her waist awkwardly.
"Ino-chan? Can you help me?" she called. She turned to look at Shino, whom she hadn't realized was there.
"Oh! Sh-Shino-san! I'm sorry…" she said awkwardly. Shino studied her a bit more closely. Her hair was down, after just getting out of the shower. The smell of her shampoo drifted into his nose, and his kikai crawled under his skin a bit. Lilac. Her hair was longer than he'd expected, and it almost looked like Kurenai-sensei's, the way it framed her face. She was almost kind of cute…
"I'm busy!" Ino yelled out of the room, snapping Shino out of his thoughts. "Sorry! Miura-chan is just so skinny; I can't get this obi tight enough!"
Tenten blushed a bit.
"Shino-san… do you know how to tie an obi?" she asked. "I'm really sorry, I've tried, but I can't do it myself. I have a really bad angle." Shino blushed under his coat, glad that no one could see him like this. This was increasingly awkward. He merely nodded and got behind Tenten, took the obi in his hands, and started to tie it.
She could feel her face heating up slowly as he tightened each knot. His hands were skilled enough, and it reminded her of something Ino had once said:
"If he's good at tying knots, then just imagine how good he is at untying them."
Her hair fluttered down to her back for a moment, and Shino took the time to brush it away and over her shoulders, making her blush even worse.
Tenten felt Shino step back from her and she turned around.
"Shino-san, about the thing in the forest…" Shino's face turned dark under his coat. He merely nodded.
"Tenten-san, it was my fault as much as it was yours." he said as he considered her face that was practically glowing. The way she looked up at him was child-like, and she was very short compared to him. She started to tie her hair up in the two buns.
"Okay…" she said. "I'm really sorry about it anyway…" She finished the buns in record time, and they looked as good as ever. She sighed in relief. "By the way, Shino-san, I have a question for y-" Ino barged out of the room in a dark blue kimono with pink floral print on it.
"Hey, guys, make way for Miura-chan!" Miura blushed as she walked out in a lavender kimono that went up to her knees. The sleeves were pulled up toward her elbows with string.
"It looks great, Miura-chan!" exclaimed Tenten. Miura blushed even more.
"I don't get to take my sunglasses or jacket…" she said uncomfortably, looking at her cousin.
"Don't worry about it, Miura-chan." said Ino. "You look awesome, no worries. And if anyone tells you otherwise, I'll kick their ass!" she yelled as she pumped her fist in the air. She looked at everyone.
"Alright, let's go! Tenten, roll your sleeves up and hike that kimono up toward your knees!" Tenten did so without argument.
Ino soon started the group off to the festival.
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Kiba breathed nervously as he entered the Hyuuga estate. This was it, now or never. He was dressed up nice (enough for an Inuzuka). He had even showered and put on a normal clean jacket. He was particularly proud of himself, because he smelled like daisies (because that was the kind of shampoo he had used. Hana had told Kiba that girls liked daises).
He knocked on the door a few times, and Neji answered. Neji looked at him and smirked. Did he know what was going on? Damn that Hyuuga! Kiba and he had never really liked each other…
"What are you doing here, Inuzuka?" he asked, slightly amused. Neji smirked even more after sniffing discreetly. "Daisies?" he asked.
"Is Hinata here?" he asked. Neji smirked even more.
"Yes. Why?" Oh, the Hyuuga bastard was enjoying it.
"I was just going to ask her to hang out at the festival with me." Neji almost smiled, and it looked really creepy to Kiba. "Just as friends," Kiba added quickly. The smile grew wider, and more twisted.
"I will go get Hinata-sama for you, Inuzuka-san," he said. Giving the poor Inuzuka one last smirk, he stalked off into the overlarge building.
…Okay… Now what?
Kiba had no idea how long it would take for them to return, and he was left in the wide open doorway. He decided to enter. Looking around, he studied all the intricate artwork that hung from the wall and top class furniture. Damn, these people were filthy rich.
Noticing a small table with drawers that was placed right next to the front door, he studied the wood. It was really… nice-looking. There was a glass figurine on top of it, shaped like a bird. An eagle, actually. What was with these Hyuuga and birds? He walked over to it to get a better look. It was perfectly shaped and sculpted, and looked extremely expensive.
He felt his little kid instincts set in and he reached out and poked it lightly with one finger…
CRACK
…and instantly regretted it. There was now a long, vertical crack that ran down along the front from where Kiba poked it. How the hell does glass break that easily! He gently turned it around so that the crack was facing the wall…
CRACK
…and it broke in half. He sweat dropped and looked at it in despair. For something that looked so expensive, it was extremely fragile. He suddenly heard footsteps coming down the hallway. It must be Hinata and Neji…
In a panic, he took the two halves of the figurine and stuffed it in one of the drawers of the table. Hopefully no one would notice…
"…Kiba-kun!" said Hinata happily, pulling up the sleeves of her pale blue kimono. Neji trailed behind her with the same sadistic smirk on his face.
"Hey Hinata-chan!" Kiba said, feeling his face heat up. She was really pretty in a kimono. Neji noticed and smirked. The Hyuuga boy left the room and entered the hall and Kiba sighed in relief. Neji was gone, and now he was alone with Hinata. Perfect.
"Hinata-chan, you look really nice," said Kiba shakily. He put his hands behind his head and tried to look relaxed. Hinata smiled at him.
"Kiba, you're dressed differently," said Hinata shyly. "Y-you look good, too…" Kiba blushed like mad. She liked what he was wearing! Thank you, Hana! This was the perfect time to ask her out…
"Hinata-chan, I want you to kn-know something…" Kiba said unevenly. He trailed off when he saw Neji and Hanabi poking their heads around the door to the kitchen, where he could see right behind Hinata, with immense smirks on their faces. Hanabi was mouthing the words: "Come on, do it, do it!"
"I… uhm… well…" He looked at the two Hyuuga behind Hinata. The fact that they were there wasn't helping. "I was wondering if you… maybe…"
Neji was smirking, almost laughing, and mouthing the words, "Choke. Choke!"
"If you wanted to go to the festival with me as friends because Shino can't go with me!" he yelled. He couldn't do it with her good-for-nothing relatives giving him crap! Hinata stepped back a bit, surprised at the outburst. Neji and Hanabi disappeared behind the door, and with his sharp hearing, he could take notice of girlish giggles from Hanabi, and snickering from Neji… or was it the other way around?
"Uh… Kiba-kun, I can't go with you…" said Hinata apologetically. "I'm… I'm working at a booth…" A blush spread across her pretty face. Kiba sighed. "But you can visit me there!" she said quickly, trying not to disappoint her friend too much. Kiba smiled again.
"Done deal, Hinata-chan! I'll see you at your booth!" he said as he left.
Hinata stood still, alone in the kitchen in thought. Hey…
Wait a minute… she was in a kissing booth!
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The lamps were lit in Konoha, decorating the streets. There were booths crowed all over the place. They lined the streets, and young children ran everywhere waving around their new prizes and toys.
"Come on and win a prize! Hit the target with a kunai and you can win a lovely trophy!"
"Dunking booth over here! You can dunk someone in the water over here! Come right up! Don't be shy!" Many people attracted attention to their booths.
Ino laughed happily, overwhelmed with girlish excitement. Tenten joined her. The two girls yelled out loud.
"Kissing booth, right over here! Pay the right price and you got it!" Hinata and Sakura joined in laughter. Miura was even getting into it.
"This is so fun!" Sakura giggled.
"It's only just beginning!" said Ino. "The festival has begun!" And, as if on cue, the first round of fireworks exploded, the colors bursting all around.
Shino was feeling really uncomfortable right about now. Had he known that the girls were running a kissing booth, he would have stayed home and set a date for later. He was sitting in the back of the booth, trying to blend in with the darkness. Even his own cousin… he shook his head.
"Our first customer is here!" Ino said excitedly. All the girls, even Miura, crowded around the front.
"Hey! How much money do you have, Naruto?" said Tenten teasingly. Naruto blushed.
"I'm only coming over to say hi!" he yelled. "Everyone is looking at me funny…" Ino laughed.
"Well, Naruto-kun, are you gonna get a kiss or what?" Naruto smirked and took out his little frog wallet.
"How much are you charging?" he asked.
"I'm sure we'll give a discount to our first customer, what do you think, girls?" said Sakura. "I think we should charge him… oh, two dollars and fifty cents." Naruto's eye's bugged out in a comical way.
"What! You should give me a kiss for fifty cents!" he yelled, a big grin on his face. Miura laughed. She was beginning to really like these people.
"That sounds like a good price for our first customer!" said Hinata, who was almost drunk with happiness. Naruto smiled even wider.
"So who'm I kissing?" he said playfully.
"I say Ino should kiss him!" yelled Sakura. Ino's face was bright red, even in the evening light. Naruto smirked.
"Pucker up, Ino-chan." he said in a mock-seductive voice. Ino blushed even harder.
"Fine." she muttered, and leaned over to peck him on the lips.
"Hey!" said Naruto indignantly. "That was nothing! I'm paying fifty cents! Come on!" he laughed. Ino's face turned even darker.
"You ripped the man off, Ino!" said Tenten. Sakura and Hinata joined in the teasing as Miura laughed. Naruto pouted.
"C'mon, Ino-chan…" he said, pretending his feelings were hurt. Ino blushed deeply.
"F-fine!" she leaned over for another kiss.
Shino sighed silently and closed his eyes. This was to be a long night…
And it became longer when Shiku appeared.
"Hey, Shiku-san!" said Tenten happily. "What are you up to?" Shiku smiled.
"Nothing much, just looking around Konoha! So what kind of booth are you running?" he asked cheerily. Tenten sweat dropped. There was a big sign overhead that said 'Kissing Booth'…
"Shiku-san, this is a kissing booth." Ino informed him. "So you're Nakashima, the boy that knocked over all the booths the other day?" Shiku blushed.
"I'm terribly sorry for that… I am quite clumsy sometimes…" Ino sighed.
"No kidding. So what are you here for? Tenten?" Tenten flushed and coughed loudly, walking over to Shino in the back of the booth. She also noticed Miura, who seemed to blend in with the dark all of a sudden.
"Oh, I was only here to say hello!" Shiku looked in Miura's direction. "Oh, Hi, Miura-san! I didn't know you were in this booth!" Miura looked up in shock having been noticed, and her face instantly turned red.
"Oh, I… I… uhm… I-Ino-san invited me and I--" she stammered horribly with her words. "It s-sounded fun…" Ino and Sakura looked at each other slyly. The two were still engaged in that bet…
"I call this one." whispered Sakura.
"You can't do that!" Ino whispered back.
"I just did! Pig-girl!
"Billboard brow!"
"Ugly pig!
"Forehead!"
Shino only sighed. It was starting to get cramped in here… He looked at Tenten, and made eye contact with her. She blushed and looked away.
(A.N: The following was written by Pirate Shinju. And was edited -just slightly- by Maiyuko-chan, the author.)
"So, what's it gonna be, Shiku?" Sakura asked as Ino pouted and looked away. " Are you gonna take the time to kiss one of the girls?"
"…I don't know…" Shiku said hesitantly, inspecting the booth. "Are you sure this is legal?"
"Of course it's legal!" Ino exclaimed. "It's not like we are running some kind of brothel!"
"Well, if that's the case, I guess it wouldn't hurt…"
Sakura smirked and glanced around for her victim. Seeing that she was still in her 'make no movements and maybe he won't notice me' stage, she strolled over and pulled her by the arm up to the front of the booth, ignoring the timid girl's silent protests.
"Here. You can kiss Miura. Pucker up, you two." Sakura said with a teasing smile. Shino felt his protective brotherly instincts take over for a split second but chose to ignore them. He didn't want to be the party pooper. It would be troublesome to listen to their whining…
"Sure!" Shiku said. "Why not?
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Neji shuffled around the Hyuuga house in a haze of boredom. Most of everyone was currently away on missions or attending that foolish festival. Sighing, he took a seat on a stool in the kitchen, only to get electrified. He jumped up and inspected the chair in shock. Shrugging, he took a seat again.
ZAP
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed suddenly. "I'll go to the stupid festival, just leave me alone you stupid author! Maiyuko-chan would never do that!"
Yes, the electric chair was my doing. But what can I say? He needed to get his lazy ass to the action.
Stopping only to put his shoes on, Neji headed to the front door and paused. Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it...
"Hey, didn't there used to be a statue here?" He wondered to himself. He knew this, because he had broken and fixed it many times before. He had a feeling that that thing was cursed. Figuring that someone probably just finally gotten rid of the damn thing, he opened the front door and departed.
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"B-But, I don't think this would be very a-appropriate…" Miura stammered. "I-I mean… Shiku-san and I j-just met…"
"But that's the beauty of a kissing booth!" said Sakura. "You don't have to have a reason. C'mon, Miura! He's a paying customer."
"…O-okay…" Miura replied in a small voice as she leaned in to lightly kiss him on the lips for a couple seconds. It was a little awkward, considering that she had never kissed before, but it was still cute and Sakura smiled with glee.
"C-Can I help you?" Hinata asked as a new customer arrived. He was tall and okay-looking and she had seen him around the village a few times before. She had always assumed he was gay, but since he was here, it sort of proved that theory wrong… The man pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to her.
"O-okay… Who will it be then?" Hinata asked, taking the money and putting it in a jar.
"The one in the back." He said with a smile. Hinata turned around to see who he was talking about.
"Tenten?" she asked. Said kunoichi looked up upon hearing her name.
"No. The other one." Once again, Hinata turned around but saw no one else. Unless…
"You mean… Shino?" she questioned incredulously. He nodded and smiled. Well, what do you know? He WAS gay…Tenten started to giggle uncontrollably and Shino gaped in shock.
"I'm s-sorry, sir, but he's not… p-part of the booth…" Hinata stuttered, but this time not because she was shy. This time, she stuttered due to the fact that she was trying to keep from laughing.
Meanwhile, Ino watched the little scene between Miura and Shiku played out in anger. She wasn't going to let forehead girl get the best of her! She would see to that—Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she saw someone in the crowd. A malicious grin slowly spread across her face as a plan formed in her head. She would never see it coming…
Leaping over the counter of the booth, she took off into the crowd, much to the surprise of everyone else.
By the time Hinata had finally gotten rid of the Shino-obsessed man, Ino was back dragging a confused Neji along with her. Everyone looked at her curiously.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, this one asked specifically for you!" Ino exclaimed. Everyone gaped. Neji…and…Sakura? No way…
"He…what?" Sakura asked.
"I…what?" Neji said simultaneously.
"You heard." Ino said. "Give him what he wants, forehead."
"What is the meaning of th--" His words were cut off as Sakura grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him across the counter before pressing her lips against his. The poor Hugo's eyes widened and he froze, having no idea what he should do. Once he was released, he stumbled back in a haze of confusion and embarrassment and Ino reached into his pocket for his wallet. Pulling out a five dollar bill, she put it in the money box and pushed him back into the crowd.
"Thanks for choosing the Yamanaka kissing booth! Come again!" she called as he stumbled away, red in the face.
(A.N: The rest was written by the actual author of this fic. Thanks, Shinju-chan! You did amazing!)
Ino looked at Sakura angrily.
"That didn't count." she said callously. Sakura smiled.
"Yes it did."
"No it didn't! The rules were that--" Ino stopped and looked around. She was getting confused stares from the other occupants of the booth. "Ahem!" she cleared her throat. "We'll finish this later." Sakura smiled.
"Ino, I'm going to take a break." said Tenten. Ino looked dup.
"Okay. Hey, are you going to get food?" she asked.
"Pig!" cried Sakura.
"Not a pig!" roared Ino. "Will you please buy me some pork, Tenten?" she asked sweetly. Tenten backed away and nodded. "I'll pay you back tomorrow." Ino said happily.
"Alright," said Tenten. She looked at Shino, whom, she had noted, looked slightly uncomfortable. "Wanna come?" she whispered to him. He nodded and stood up. The two walked out of the booth as the other girls chatted aimlessly, waiting for another customer.
Shino and Tenten walked to a stand and got Ino's pork, and Tenten got dumpling for herself.
"Shino-san, I'm sorry that you got dragged along with us. I know you're not enjoying yourself…" She smiled weakly. Shino shook his head.
"I'm alright, Tenten-san." She smiled even wider and offered him a piece of her dumpling. He shook his head and held up his hands. She stuffed the piece in her mouth.
"I'm going to get this to Ino. You don't have to come if you don't want to." Tenten smiled. Shino smiled lightly under his coat.
"I'm okay. I will go with you." he said. The two reached the booth and Ino, Sakura, Hinata and Miura looked up from their conversation.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Tenten playfully.
"You," said Hinata, a grin adorning her face.
"Eh?" Tenten's face took on a bemused look. Ino laughed.
"We were just talking about your hair. Have we ever seen it down?" Tenten flushed.
"N-no… and you won't anytime soon!" she said. "You won't ever! So there!" she stuck her tongue out playfully and grinned.
"Why not?" asked Sakura. "We're all so curious…" She grinned mischievously. Tenten looked at the four other girls suspiciously. Shino remembered when he saw her hair down. Was he the only person there that had seen it? He smirked under his coat.
"Hey, Shino-san, I think that if you get married to Tenten you should make her put her hair down for the reception." said Ino teasingly. Echoes of agreement came from several other girls there. Miura laughed a little.
"Wh-why not, Tenten-san?" she asked with a smile. Tenten blushed.
"It just gets in the way. Especially in this season." she replied, looking all around at her friends.
"How long is it?" asked Hinata, curious as well.
"That's a secret," teased Tenten. Shino smiled.
Mid-back, he thought. Tenten looked at him for a moment, as if she had known what he thought. He simply looked at her with a stoic expression and an eyebrow raised. She turned back to everyone.
"Why… do you wanna know?" she asked. Suddenly, Sakura and Ino jumped on Tenten and held her down as Hinata reached for the ties in Tenten's hair to pull them out. Suddenly, Tenten disappeared in a poof of smoke and became a piece of broken wood. The girls looked up and saw Tenten sitting on top of the fragile roof of the booth.
"Ha!" she said victoriously. "It ain't gonna happen!" She flashed them the peace sign and jumped off the roof, landing lightly onto the ground. Sakura, Ino and Hinata. Miura simply stood in the booth, laughing softly. She was really enjoying herself and it showed.
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Kereto Okita was feeling particularly bored. These Konoha nin were so… naïve. Not one person had suspected him here at the festival tonight. All he had to do was wear a mask and pretend to be part of the festivities. How trusting they were.
He sighed slightly. He needed people in Konoha. He needed… connections. He needed money, and this was a nice, rich village. If he could just get a few good ninja to follow him, he could take this village easily and make some good change.
He smirked under his mask and stopped. What a surprise… It was that bug ninja he had encountered a few days ago. Aburame Shino. He had proved to be powerful. Not as powerful as himself, of course, but he hadn't died from his reverse-justu. He had, in fact, taken it quite well.
He would be a good ally. Okita smirked. He did seem like a devoted Konoha-nin, though. Okita studied the Aburame boy more closely now, but inconspicuously. There was a girl with brown hair in two buns next to him outside of the booth, taking to some other occupants of the booth. The… kissing booth. He smirked. How lovely. He didn't seem to be participating, though.
Who was that girl beside him? She was obviously of interest. He got closer to the group, listening.
"So, what are your plans for the wedding, anyway?" asked a girl with unusual pink hair. Wedding, eh? So Aburame had a fiancé? A girl with blonde hair piped up.
"Are we invited?" she asked. The girl with two buns in her hair blushed.
"Of course your invited! And… and the stupid engagement isn't for sure!" she said, looking uneasily at Aburame. The boy remained stoic. So… commitment issues? So what was this girl's name?
"Tenten-san…" said a girl with long black hair. The girl looked up. So the name was Tenten, eh? "How long are we to be here?"
"I don't know. Is there anytime we should go back home?" The two girls discussed the matter as Aburame Shino looked around his shoulder as if he felt that someone was watching…
Okita smiled sadistically under his mask. This may be easier than he'd thought. He could find information on Aburame's fiancé… Tenten wasn't a terribly common name.
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"Hi, guys!" a loud, cheerful voice said.
"Hey, Kiba!" Ino and Sakura yelled, looking at each other competitively.
"Hi, Kiba-kun." said Hinata timidly. Kiba looked at her.
"Hinata-chan… you're working… here?" he asked, looking at the booth with surprise. Hinata nodded.
"Kiba-kun, I… uhh… Ino wanted me to help her with her booth, so I said I would." Kiba looked nervous. Okay, she wasn't going out with him yet, so there was absolutely nothing to worry about…
"So… uhh… how many… how many guys have you kissed yet?" he tried to sound like he was teasing, but Ino and Sakura picked up the uneasiness with expert ears.
"Not yet, Kiba-kun!" yelled Ino, determined to beat Sakura.
"Oh, no, Kiba-kun. of course not!" yelled Sakura, while glaring at her blond friend. Kiba looked at them uneasily.
"Okay…" he said slowly. "I… guess I'll go." he said, looking at Hinata with a small smile. "Hinata-chan, I'll walk you home after everything's done if you want me to!" Hinata smiled.
"Thank you, Kiba-kun, I'd like that." she said. Ino and Sakura sighed and sat down in their seats an sighed. Oh well, maybe next time.
"Hello, my youthful friends!" yelled another voice. You guessed it! Lee. "I hear you're running a kissing booth!"
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"Did you have fun, Miura-chan?" asked Tenten as they came into the house.
"Yes," said Miura happily. Shino followed the two of them, relieved that there was practically no one in the house that was awake right now.
"I'm tired…" Tenten yawned. Miura nodded.
"Goodnight, Tenten-san." she said tiredly. "Goodnight, cousin. Thank you very much for allowing me to go…" she gave Shino a smile. He simple nodded. Miura walked into the hall and into her room.
"Thank you, Shino-san." said Tenten quietly with a bow. She started toward her room.
"Tenten-san." said Shino, halting her in her steps. She turned around with a questioning look. "You were going to ask me something." Tenten's face took on a blank look for a moment, but then she remembered.
"Oh, yeah… It wasn't anything important. I was just going to ask… why are your eyes different from everyone else in your clan?" Shino froze, and Tenten immediately regretted asking. It was obviously something personal.
"Y-you don't have to answer. I'm sorry." Tenten said quickly. Shino shook his head.
"It's fine. My mother was a part of a clan with unusual eyes. She had no bloodline limit." he looked at her. "She left us. That's all."
"Oh…" said Tenten, looking down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." she said with a smile. "I hope you have a good night. And thank you for the… date." She smirked. Shino smirked as well.
"Good night." he nodded in her direction.
"'Night!" she said with a small wave, walking into the room.
As soon as she got there, she crashed on her bed with a long, drawn out sigh. She forgot all thoughts of pajamas and just kept her kimono on. For a moment she thought.
Is it better to have a dead mother or a mother who left you?
In the end, she determined that she was the lucky one.
Author's note:
Oh, Shinju-chan is awesome! For all you Itachi x Sakura fans, she's writing a new fic called Yaketsuki--be sure to go check it out. I think it's great.
God, I feel like I should write less for these chapters. I mean, this was like eleven pages. Damn. I mean, all my chapters are long, but it takes forever to update… sigh. I suppose it's a lose-lose situation. Anyway, enough of my rants! I may add a little bonus chapter soon! Hoorah! You will love it. YOU WILL!