Disclaimer: I do not have Naruto in my arsenal of 'own'!
It was three o' clock (P.M.) on Sunday, and Shino had FINALLY finished packing. He had brought all the necessary garments, even though his father assured him when he went camping when in the academy, they didn't exactly have a shower near. His mother frowned and told him off and that was gross, and packed Shino all the clothes he would need, namely duplicates of what he wore every single day. For all people knew, Shino would go in the bathroom to take a shower and come out in what seemed like the same thing he wore when he went in. Seemed.
So now Shino was free, and his pockets were loaded with candy, because Uncle Bob had just came on report card day. It was a miracle that he only stayed for thirty minutes. And now, he was off to do who knows what, because Shino did NOT eat candy. Now whom should he meet but they people he would be going camping with? Namely his old gang plus two people more.
"Well, well, well, looks like the old club's all back together again." Neji scoffed. People sure change after, uh, wait… They were around five when they formed the club. They graduate the academy around twelve… I'm guessing they're seven? Okay… People sure change after two years.
"Heh." Shino answered. It was true. There was Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji, another boy who was, uh, a bit unattractive in terms of looks, and… Her.
"Hey Shino! Wait, what the heck am I saying?! How come I'm the only girl here?! Yeah, that's better." TenTen corrected herself. Why was she the only girl here?!
"Club? What club? Can I join?" Naruto popped out of the blue and shot up. You know the drill now.
"No!" Shikamaru, Sasuke, Neji, and Shino chorused.
"Besides, it's dispersed now." Shikamaru brought up. "I remember that day well…"
"Gees, Shikamaru. It was just because my costume on Halloween was way cooler than yours and I got more candy. Not a big deal." Sasuke coolly said.
"Actually, if I remembered right, I was the one who got more candy and you guys started the argument then." Neji corrected.
"No, no, no, it was I who got more candy!" Naruto piped up.
"You weren't even in the club!" They all chorused again.
"Drat!" And he hopped off to harass someone else. In this case, it was Ino. And where there's Ino, there's bound to be Sakura lurking by just in case. And where there's Ino and Sakura, there's bound to be.
"Oh man! FAN CLUBS!!!!" Sasuke screamed. And where there's the…
"SASUKE DEAR!!!!" There's the…
"SHIKI-KUN!!!!" And also the…
"MY SWEET CUTIE-PIE NEJI!!!!" And last but not least, the…
"MY DARLING SHINO!!!!!" Oh, not last, because…
"AYE!!!! TENTEN CUTIE!!!!!" And I think that's it. Wait, I forgot the…
"WE LOVE YOU LEE!!!! COME BE A MUSHROOM LIKE US!!!!!"
"WAAH! Mushrooms… Mushrooms talk?!" Lee stuttered flabbergasted. He was eight, and didn't know any better. (pretend he decided to change his hairstyle earlier, just for now…)
"No, mushrooms don't talk. It was all in your head." TenTen told him. Lee was clearly in Denial City though.
This is bad… Mushrooms TALK!!!!! Oh no! We're about to be invaded by mutant mushrooms!!!! Let's all take a moment to analyze this… Poor Lee…
"So, you guys are also going camping?" Shino asked Neji, Lee, and TenTen. (who else?!)
"Yup." All three of them chorused.
"We knew you'd find us here eventually, so we hung around. We gathered to discuss how we're going to handle some… things." Neji told them all. They have all successfully outrun all there fans, (Lee's still not over that mushroom thing.) and were all now in the forest, by a small stream.
"Things? What things? We were never informed about these things." Shikamaru raised and eyebrow at him.
"Actually, no one was. Lee forgot his backpack at class and decided to go back and find it. When he entered the classroom, he saw these papers on our teachers desk, and we aren't the only ones that are going…" Neji told them slowly.
"And who are those people?" Shino inquired.
"We don't know." Said TenTen. "We just know it's no one from this academy…"
"Oh, this is bad…" Sasuke commented.
"And it gets worse, one's seven, one's eight, and one's nine." Neji told them.
"But it gets even worse." TenTen continued. Neji and Lee stared at her.
"No it doesn't." Said Neji, while Lee said:
"It does?" They all looked to TenTen.
"Oh, wait, it doesn't." She said, putting a finger to her lip while gazing upwards. "So… Are there any other girls going?" She asked Shino hopefully.
"No." He replied shortly.
"Why did I come then?! I look like a weirdo, hanging out with boys!!!!!" She whined, kicking the dirt on the ground.
"No, it just looks like you have five boyfriends." Shikamaru pointed.
"WHAT?!" TenTen screeched, enraged. We know that Neji, Shino, and Sasuke would never do something like that. But they almost did. "Why you!" And she shoved Shikamaru into the stream nearby.
"WHOA! Great, I'm soaked… Mom's going to fume…" He sighed as he looked at his clothes. TenTen swiveled on her heel and proceeded home. That left Shino, Neji, Sasuke, and one drenched Shikamaru. Oh, and Lee was there too.
"Now what?" Neji asked.
"How's about we stroll around town to the old cemetery?" Shikamaru asked.
"Cemetery?!" Lee gasped. "First mushrooms talk, now this! The worlds being invaded by martins!!!!" And this little piggy went to market. To buy asparagus. (if you've read my Survivor fic, you'd know, if you haven't, you'd find out later.)
"I'm up for it." Shino said.
"Me too." Neji said. He didn't want to look like a chicken.
"How's about we go over to my house and have dinner? Because you look awfully wet, Shikamaru." Sasuke commented. He didn't want them to know that he was scared. But he wasn't, was he?
"Yeah, but last time we went there, we weren't allowed to speak, whisper, slouch, or improperly chew. Plus, all you did was ditch us and talk to Itachi." Neji pointed out. "And you guys have already been to my house."
"Mine's too." Shikamaru said. All eyes were upon Shino.
"Me? Okay I guess…" Shino shrugged. "Mom will probably be overjoyed, seeing she says I'm too anti-social… I'm just afraid she'll go over-board…"
"I don't mind." Shikamaru said. "Remember when you guys came over? All my mom did was cook dinner. No dessert."
"True…" Shino answered. "I just don't know why we ever spilt up…"
"You know, I don't know." Neji confessed.
"Me neither." Sasuke second.
"Same here." Shikamaru also answered.
Silence.
"We never did give it a name." Shino said finally, breaking the silence.
"Yeah we did." Shikamaru sighed. "Well actually, we didn't, but I thought you guys all knew it was 'Shikamaru and the Other People'."
"WHAT?! No way, it was 'Sasuke's Band of Pennies and Nickels'!" Sasuke retorted.
"What's up with the English money?! And it was 'Neji's Club of Superior'! Me being the superior on!!!" Neji shot.
"Um… Actually, I thought it was just 'The Unofficial Club'." Shino told them. "And I think the name was what separated us all…" Shino added.
"You know, I think that was it, the name." Shikamaru thought out loud. They were walking through the market place, which dominated the nighttime with all their hand-made paper lanterns and other little trinkets. Sasuke was about to buy a couple bags of candy, but Shino stopped him.
"Don't waste your money." He told him. Sasuke was a bout to pay.
"Why not?" He asked.
"Here. I have tons at home. I don't eat sweets." Shino told him as he handed him a candy bar. Sasuke kindly told the clerk he didn't want it anymore. The clerk said it was okay and shot Shino a glare. Shino shrugged it off.
"Why do you have so many at home if you don't eat them?" Shikamaru asked as Shino handed him another candy bar. Neji refused, saying it ruined his teeth and his Mom forbids him.
"Then what the heck do you eat?" Sasuke asked him.
"I eat bread, eggs, and I drink milk." Neji simply replied.
"What about water Neji? And the other things?" Shino asked him. Boy did he miss those guys. Maybe that's why his mom calls him 'anti-social'. He wasn't, it's just that he didn't like anyone else beyond those people. Maybe even TenTen, but she's too busy chucking stuff.
"Yeah, fruits and veggies too. But it's just cooler to have people assume you only eat what you need to eat. Girls go for that kind of stuff." Neji answered.
"Girls? Since when do you- Oh… I get it.." Shikamaru snickered.
"What? Oh man, you don't mean- Heck no!" Neji answered, but his embarrassed face told everything. He looked at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded, and he and Shikamaru sprang into a singsong taunt.
"Neji and TenTen, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes l-"
"Come on guys, stopped teasing him. Girls do that kind of things." Shino defended Neji. "Besides, we're here already." Shino pointed to a HUGE house, no, let me rephrase that, mansion.
"Whoa… It's even bigger than yours, Neji…" Sasuke commented.
"Yeah, I guess… But the Hyuuga house is still consider the largest because I guess they include how many people live in it also… It's just us. Well, it's just dad and I. Mom doesn't have the… You know… But she doesn't mind." Shino told them as he went inside, they all followed.
To put the details in simple terms, imagine the Palace of Versailles, and what they stepped into was the Hall (or room, whatever) of Mirrors.
"Whoa… How much is your electric bill?" Neji asked.
"I don't know…" Shino shrugged.
"Isn't it scary to live in this huge thing alone?" Sasuke asked.
"Not really. We get tons of ghosts every night." Shino shrugged. They flinched.
"G-Ghosts?!" They shivered.
"Don't worry, it's the type that talks. There use to be a group of hippies that moved from America over here. They're pretty nice." He told them.
"H-Hippies?!"
"Oh! Shino! You've brought friends!!!!"
"Hello Mother. This is Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji. They go to the academy with me. I met them at the Christmas dance when I was five." Shino told his mom. (let's just call her that, okay?)
"Five?! Why didn't you invite them over sooner! You must stay the night. The ghost hippies went to visit their friends in America, so we're ghost-free tonight!" She told them. They sighed in relief.
"I'll have to call my mom though." Shikamaru told Shino's mom.
"Me too." Said Neji.
"Also I." Sasuke added.
"Don't worry boys. It's a reunion party at our house today. Everyone, even your parents are spending the night. You know we all went to the academy together." She told them. Man there's a lot of parties in Konoha. No, that's just me…
"Oh, okay." They all said.
"They should be here in an hour, but the Inuzuka's and Kurenai (if you've read my other fic, she lives right behind them) are already here." She told him. "they have a son, you know, Kiba? And his sister (who's name is never really mentioned yet)is here also. Oh dear, there's the doorbell, should be Gai and Asuma. They might have dragged Kakashi here also. He's going to take you camping tomorrow." Shino's mom continued. Boy does she talk a lot. No, that's me again… (I don't even know if he has a mom)"Now scoot!" She told them as Shino led them past the kitchen on their way to his room. They found Kiba there.
"Hello, Kiba." Shino greeted him, though he secretly dreaded that he was there. His sister looked at them, and then went out the door to the back porch without a word.
"Hey Shino. Wicked mansion you've got. Aren't you guys so glad that Naruto won't be here? So, will you guys help me with my homework?" Kiba spoke rather quickly.
"Yeah." They all agreed, to the first part. Then they realized their mistakes. Too late.
"Awesome! Thanks guys! I'll just tell you the questions, and you guys will tell me the answer, seeing you don't have your homework with you!" Kiba smiled. They all groaned.
"Nah. We'll just look at Shino's." Shikamaru told him. Kiba's smile fell.
"Yeah." Sasuke agreed.
"What about me?" Neji pouted. He was in another grade.
"Guys, we didn't have any homework. It's Sunday that's Kiba's make-up work." Shino pointed out to them.
"Come on guys! Please!!!" Kiba begged.
The guys looked at each other.
"Sure. We'll leave Neji with you seeing he's a bit more educated than the rest of us." Shikamaru told a very grateful Kiba.
"What?!" Neji screamed, but Shino, Shikamaru, and Sasuke were already running off to who knows where, and Neji did not want to get lost. So what choice did he have but to help Kiba with his homework? I mean make-up work.
I don't think I'll be doing what I promised last chapter, at least not for a while…
The REAL next chapter preview: The huge sleepover… Including girls… The only problem is, they have to share rooms. Two-by-two…
"No! I'm sleeping with Sasuke!" Ino screamed as she smashed a pillow onto Sakura.
"NEVER!!!! Sasuke's sleeping with ME!" Sakura shot back as her pillow collided with Ino's face.
"Why don't we pick names?" Shino offered as he took an extra cup and had everyone put his or her names in.
Be warned of many, many crazy and unexpected things. Will Naruto be included? And what happens when Lee props water balloons on everyone's door so they'll be wet before the night is over? What will Itachi and Kiba's sister do? And what about the camping trip?! Who are these three mysterious (not really, you'd probably have guessed already) guests that will be joining them? What about poor TenTen? The only girl on the trip, or is she?