Wishful Thinking
by: Sakuranime
Disclaimer: (Insert usual)
I. AM. SOOOO. SORRY! (dodges various weapons thrown) AIII! I'm SO sorry, I know this chapter came out at a REALLY LATE time! I just wanted to make this chapter seem…err…UN-crappy…GOMEN NASAI! I hope you guys forgive me, but you have to understand I have only 1 HOUR on the computer! And that includes HOMEWORK as well! Since I just started high school now, I get a TON of it…(boohoo)
On other notes…57 REVIEWS! (tears) Now I can die happily…(sniffles) AISHITERU FAITHFUL REVIEWERS! I'LL TRY MY BEST TO UPDATE! And I'm so sorry if the chapters are short!
"Quotations"
'Thoughts'
(( Flashbacks ))
Chapter 5: We WILL find out!
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"Ohayo, everyone!" Sakura greeted jubilantly, waving her hand in the air. She and Sasuke had just arrived at the park. She was excited about the picnic the genins agreed on, but judging from the dark aura surrounding him, she could tell Sasuke wanted to murder her. She glanced at him.
Sasuke twirled a shuriken in his finger, twitching ever so slightly and directing his famous Uchiha glare at her.
The pink-head gulped.
Yup. Badly wanted to murder her.
Hinata looked up from unpacking the food she had brought and waved a small wave. "H-hello, Sakura," She tilted her dark-purple haired head. "Hello Sasuke-san…" Said boy nodded absently, gazing impassively out into the playground and field.
Naruto was currently building himself something that was impossible to make out, laughing raucously that Sasuke was sure that the hinges of his mouth would permanently stay opened. He shook his messy hair, ashamed of his teammate.
'And he intends to become the Hokage…' Sasuke searched for the other, more mature shinobis and, when he spotted them, did a double-take. He gawked.
Was that THE Hyuuga Neji on the swing?
And there- by the slide! Was it just him, or was Aburame Shino enjoying himself going down, then climbing back up?
Sasuke began panicking. 'Where's Nara…? He must still be sane…'
He frantically searched but the Nara was nowhere to be seen. The dark-haired boy breathed a sigh of relief. 'Must be somewhere under a tree…'
A flash of gray followed by green appeared in his peripheral vision. Another flash. A guess of who that would be sent chills down Sasuke's back but he refused to believe it.
"Haha! I'm too fast!" The voice was undoubtly Kiba's. Well, that was ok. In the avenger's point of view, Kiba was as immature as Naruto at some times.
The flash of gray, now known as Kiba, ran across the playground only to stop abruptly in mid-step.
Kiba blinked in surprise, Akamaru, who was in his jacket, yelping the same question. "Huh?" He looked down and groaned.
Sasuke's blood ran cold as Shikamaru walked up to him, his own shadow connected with the dog-lovers'. A lazy scowl was on his face. "You lost."
The onyx-eyed fellow could only watch in disbelief as the two had a verbal battle of 'YOU-CAN'T-USE-ANY-TECHNIQUES!' and 'WE-NEVER-SPECIFIED-ANY-SUCH-RULE!' It was then that the shadow-master took notice of Sasuke.
"Eh?" Shikamaru blinked dumbly. "I can't believe you actually came, Sasuke."
The still-shell-shocked boy managed a, "Yeah…me neither…"
Kiba smirked, a fang glinting in the sunlight. "Heh. Bet Sakura dragged you here."
From the sandbox, Naruto pumped a fist into the air and yelled, "ALRIGHT! It's finished!"
Naruto grinned in triumph and looked up. "Oi! Sasuke-teme! Kiba! Shikamaru! Over here!" He gestured to his sand mound. The three boys rolled their eyes and walked over to the enthusiastic fox-boy while he called over Shino and Neji.
The guys peered in at the "creation" and felt their jaw drop. It was the Hokage monument. Plain and simple. The faces of the past Hokages with definite features. Nothing unusual.
NOTHING unusual?
Yup. NOTHING unusual…
…which was why it was also an EXACT REPLICA of the REAL Hokage monument!
Neji's white eyes widened. "You did that?"
Akamaru yipped from his master's shoulder. "H-holy shit…" Kiba translated, mesmerized at the sand monument. "It's exactly like the real thing!"
"Of course it is!" Naruto showed a peace-sign with his fingers. "The great Uzumaki Naruto made it!"
"Hmm…interesting…I never knew you could sculpture…" Shino said quietly.
"Yeah…like making a sand-replica of the Hokage monument will do you any good in becoming Hokage…" Sasuke said, but he, too, was amazed. Who knew Naruto possessed such artistic skills?
"Hey guys!" Sakura called from the picnic blanket set out underneath the cherry blossom tree. "LUNCH TIME!"
Naruto was a blur and the first to arrive by the startled Hinata. Sakura laughed, amused by his antic. The more "mature" boys of the group shook their heads and proceeded to walk calmly to the cherry blossom tree.
Ino came into view, a handful of various flowers protruding from a basket in her hand. Tenten was beside her, her kunai holster bulging from the quantity it carried.
The blonde waved. "Hey Sakura!" Tenten soon followed suit.
Sakura smiled brightly, looking at her newfound friends. "Hiya, Ino, Tenten! Let's eat lunch now! Hinata makes really good food!"
"Ramen, ramen, ramen…" Naruto chanted like a mantra gleefully when he reached the picnic area.
Hinata blushed, reaching into the ginormous knapsack and pulling out a bowl of ramen. Steamed, cooked, and complete with chopsticks and all. "H-here, N-Naruto-kun…"
The fox-boy's eyes turned into saucers. "Oh, COOL! Hinata-chan, how did you do that?"
The Hyuuga-heiress gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, how can you just take out an OPEN, STEAMED, COOKED, and HOMEMADE ramen without having spilled in your knapsack?" Naruto stared at her in wonder.
"It's a mystery…" Sakura said mysteriously, a shadow crossing her features. The more, quote on quote, "mature" boys reached them.
"Hey, guys!" The cheerful pink-head greeted. A mix of 'heys', 'yips', 'hello', 'hi' and whatnot replied in answer.
"What did you cook up, Hinata?" Kiba smacked his lips in anticipation as he took a seat on the red and white patchwork quilt.
Tenten took up a seat next to Ino, who took a seat next to Shikamaru, who took a seat next to Sasuke, who sat next to Sakura, who sat next to Hinata, who Naruto took a seat next to, who Kiba and Shino sat next to, and who Neji sat next to, ending up next to Tenten. The end formation was of a circle.
"Actually, I cooked it all…" Neji muttered stoically, if it was possible to just admit you did something totally uncharacteristic in a calm way. Hinata blushed, embarrassed at this new comment.
"Y-yes...I helped Neji-nii-san…" Hinata twiddled her thumbs shyly.
Everyone gaped at them.
"Hyuuga can cook?"
"Whoa!"
"SERIOUSLY?"
"Cool!"
"I wish Shikamaru can cook…"
"Hey!"
"N-Neji…cooks?" Tenten sputtered, receiving a glare from said cook.
"And what if I do?"
"N-nothing…it's just…so…how should I say this…?" The weapons-master wondered aloud, still amazed at the new found fact about her teammate.
"Weird?" Sasuke supplied.
Sakura raised her hand. "Ooh! I know! Un-you?"
"Queer?" Shino said from behind his white coat.
"Cool?" Ino said helpfully.
Shikamaru muttered, "Random?"
"It's so…weird, un-you, queer, cool, and random!" Tenten settled finally. The white-eyed jyuuken-master scowled. Quite handsomely, in Tenten's opinion.
"Is it that hard to believe that I can cook?"
A chorus of answers followed.
"Yup!"
"YES."
"Baka."
"Eh…"
"More like impossible…"
"Well, I almost went into shock when I first saw you cooking, Neji-nii-san…" Hinata said upon remembrance.
"…fine. I guess you guys can't eat then." Neji settled, smirking at his advantage.
Sakura's eyes widened. "WHAT? NO! I'M HUNGRY!"
"Eh…" Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, but secretly was hungry. "I guess if it isn't poisonous or anything…"
"I'M HUNGRY TOO!" Naruto bawled.
"YEAH!"
"Me too!"
"Neji…if you don't feed me, I'll go hungry…"
"I'll try some…"
Neji's eyebrow twitched. There was one TOO many noises for his liking. "Alright, alright! Just…be quiet…"
"Yay!" Sakura cheered happily, and reached over to hug the startled Sasuke.
"Wha- Sakura? What are you doing!" Sasuke fought an oncoming blush.
Ignoring the Uchiha completely, Sakura looked thoughtfully up at the sky. "Uhhmm…I'll have a miso ramen, for now, chips, a strawberry smoothie, oden, Chinese vegetable rice, and vegetable noodles, please!"
"'For now'?" Everyone's eyes widened for the umpteenth time that day. This girl sure had a stomach to match!
Hinata pulled out the items asked and set them in front of the hungry girl.
"Ano sa, ano sa!" Naruto shouted. "I want the same thing as Sakura-chan!" Sasuke winced at the noise volume.
"Keep it DOWN, dobe…no need to kill my sense of hearing…" He admonished.
Hinata handed the specified orders to Naruto, who was grinning idiotically by then. Everyone else thought he looked funny while she was the sole person thinking he looked cute. The Hyuuga looked at the others. "What do you guys want?"
Shikamaru cracked an eye open from his resting position on the grass. "Tempura."
"Oooh! I've always wanted to try Hyuuga-made spicy-noodles with pork." Tenten said excitedly. A near-invisible blush appeared on Neji's face but Sakura caught it amidst eyeing her miso ramen, chips, vegetable rice, and smoothie. She smirked inwardly, one thought crossing her mind:
'He likes her!'
Hinata smiled. "Oh, the Hyuuga-made spicy-noodles with pork were invented by Neji. They taste very good." She complimented, causing the other Hyuuga's blush to redden a fraction.
Tenten smirked, which suspiciously looked a lot like Neji's. "I'm sure they are…"
"Saying something there, Tenten?" Neji raised a brow.
His smirk was still on her face. "Nothing at all, Neji."
"And you guys?" Hinata placed Tenten's order in front of her.
"Hmm…hamburger with a mandarin chicken salad on the side!"
"I'll have the stir-fried rice with chicken on the side, please.."
"Miso soup, rice, and assorted side dishes!"
Naruto grinned broadly, licking his lips to begin eating. "Itadakimas-…eh?" He looked around as if looking for something. Everyone looked at the boy curiously.
"What is it N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked nervously. She didn't want to seem embarrassed in front of him…especially him.
"Do we have any chopsticks or spoons?" Naruto questioned.
The purple-haired girl let out a small gasp. Immediately, she began digging into the over-sized knapsack; checking all of the compartments but found nothing. "I can't find anything!" She moaned.
Neji quirked a brow. "I thought I told Hanabi to put it in…"
"Now how are we going to eat?" Kiba groaned while and looked at his plate of assorted meats sadly.
Sakura bit her lip. She glanced at Sasuke to find him already staring at her. 'Should I…?' She asked silently.
'No!' Sasuke mouthed back.
'But-'
'No buts!' He shot her an intense glare. 'If anyone finds out about you, a person who can do magic and whatever, who knows what they'll think? They'll hound me until I die!'
The pink-haired girl frowned. 'But…the food…'
'Who cares? It doesn't look that good…I mean, Hyuuga cooked it.' Sasuke looked at the vegetable-fried rice and bourbon chicken on his plate. In truth, it looked delicious. But he was Sasuke. An Uchiha. He wouldn't admit that his rival could cook better than him.
Sakura glared hotly. 'Well too bad, because I want to eat! I'm HUNGRY! This is for the sake of FOOD!'
Before Sasuke could stop her, she twisted around so it would look like she was getting something from behind her. The spirit-genie pointed her finger on the mat on which they all sat on.
"Forks, spoons…and oh, chopsticks too." She said softly. Her index finger glowed a light pink. Instantly, about a dozen eating utensils appeared on the mat. Smiling secretly to the slack-jawed Sasuke, she gathered the utensils in her hands and turned to face the rest of the genins who were currently debating on whether who would go to get some chopsticks.
"I think it should be Naruto!" Ino voiced loudly.
"WHAT?" The blonde protested. "Why me?"
Ino shrugged sheepishly. "Well, you're probably the fastest out of all of us…"
"That's not true!" Kiba argued. "I'm part dog!"
"And your point is…?" Tenten asked skeptically.
"Dogs are fast!"
"Uhhh…guys?" Sakura asked with a broad smile. "So sorry to break up your lovely conversation, but…" She showed them the utensils in her hand. "I've got some spoons, forks, and chopsticks!"
"Alright!" Naruto cheered. Hastily, he grabbed a chopstick. "Itadakimasu!"
Shikamaru reached for a chopstick from Sakura's outstretched hand. "Where did you get these? I didn't see you carrying a bag of any sort…"
"Uhh…well…" A panicky look overcame her features. She stole a glance to the dark-haired boy. 'HELP!'
"I brought it." Sasuke said quickly. The pink-haired girl gave him a grateful smile.
But, being the lazy-ass but still extremely smart ninja he was, Shikamaru pressed further. "I don't recall seeing you bring a bag…"
"I hid it in my pocket." Sasuke replied curtly and calmly, although inside, he was a torrent of nervousness.
Naruto scrunched his face is displeasure. "Whaaaat? These chopsticks were in Sasuke-teme's pockets? Eww…"
"Stop being such a baby, Naruto! Now, let's dig in!" Sakura said, a bit too hastily, it seemed to Hinata.
Sakura glared at the fox-boy out of the corner of her eyes, attempting to get the message through. It took a couple of seconds until Naruto's eyes widened in remembrance and he mouth an 'oh!' Sasuke rolled his eyes and passed the utensils to the other ninjas.
The Hyuuga girl looked at the others to see if they caught anything. The other genins had a tiny glimmer of question at their behavior, but nothing more. Was Sakura hiding something? And it seemed Sasuke and Naruto knew as well.
Hinata looked at Neji but she didn't say anything. He nodded, understanding her message. Neji passed the information to the others. One by one, they agreed in silence.
'What are they hiding from us?'
One way or another, they will find out by the end of this picnic day!
But for now…
"Ne, Sakura-chan, are you going to eat that California roll?"
"Of course!"
"Dobe, get your chopsticks off of my California rolls…I'm warning you…"
"Aw, please?"
"NO."
"Sakura-chan, what about you? Just one...-"
BONK!
"OW!"
"DON'T STEAL MY FOOD, NARUTO! I'LL RIP OUT YOUR INTERNAL ORGANS AND FEED THEM TO THE DOGS IF YOU DO!"
Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Neji, and Hinata quietly ignored Team 7's bickering and instead concentrated on slurping and eating their own food. However…
"SAKURA!"
"NARUTO!"
"SASUKE?"
"STOP TAKING OUR FOOD!"
-owari-
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FINALLY! Please don't kill me..anyone…xD (dodges frypan) Oo (runs away) I'm not going to write the author responses because…well, it's time consuming…(smile) TOO TROUBLESOME! So I'll opt for just writing the names…
Thank you to…
TenTen4Neji
left-alone
chibiaddicted
how could you
pei-chan
lexy499
darknessreigns4ever
iluvanime493
freakenout
Foxy Hyuuga
Drunkdragon
Li09
Dark angelic kitty
Trialchild 15
Nadramon
THANKIES!