AN: Kudomeya~ Thanks so much. Yeah, I had a fun time choosing names for them. Just wait till you see the shenanigans they get into.
And to Muna Luna Beth and Allora, fanofanime, randomgirl110, Nightshadegirl, and redtippedquill, special thanks for adding this story to your favorites or putting my story on your Alert list.
And I'm a giddy over the fact that it's only been three days, and over 100 views! This is awesome! Thank you everyone who is reading this and has contributed to this amazing feat.
Disclaimer: Yet again, I state the fact that I do not own Naruto nor its characters. I just own the five girls that are obviously my characters… well kind of. I have a feeling that my friends would pummel me if I said I owned them completely. Yeah, I don't own my friends… that would be just wrong.
Chapter Four: Independence Day
Roxanne woke up the next morning with something heavy on her stomach. She opened her eyes to see Gryffin, the size of a Chow Chow grinning victoriously with a rat clenched between his teeth. He dropped the bloody carcass on her stomach and provided innocently, "I got breakfast."
Trying to keep the previous night's dinner in its place, she replied, "You can have it. I'll make myself toast."
A month had passed quickly, they could hardly believe it. They started feeling the pain of missing their family and other friends back at home after a couple days within getting there. But there wasn't much they could do. After two weeks of living there, they put the dragons in the Forest of Death. Gaara accidentally let it slip that no one went in there except during the genin's second exams to become chuunins. At that time, they had grown to the size of a healthy Clydesdale.
They had seen them once a day after that, and the dragons made sure that nothing like giant snakes got them. The girls taught their dragons morals and basic courtesy, and the dragons taught the girls the basics of using their powers in return. The dragons had a ton of animals to hunt for, so the girls didn't seem suspicious by buying lots of meat.
Fred's head popped off her pillow, smiling at the new day. It was beautiful, and it was the Fourth of July. She quickly jumped off her bed and dressed in her festive red jacket, white tank top, and blue jeans. She put red, white, and blue make-up on and greeted her friends in the apartment hall who wore similar clothes.
Rox dressed in a red long sleeve, off-the-shoulder t-shirt, a white tank-top under it, and blue jean shorts. Ronni wore a white t-shirt with a print of golden retriever puppies on it standing in front of an American flag, along with jeans. Lynne wore what could be considered a relatively traditional patriotic outfit. She wore a thin white chemise, a vibrant red corset, and blue skinny jeans. Each had matching make-up. Ronni even had face paint. They then set off for the hotel.
Cordi walked out of her room to the cleaner-than-last-time kitchen. Gaara and Kankuro sat at the table eating the breakfast that Temari made for them. Today, it looked as if the food would not be toxic, which was a good omen for the rest of the day. Gaara and Kankuro looked up at her and donned confused looks at her get-up. Kankuro put down the chopsticks holding the dumpling he was about to put in his open mouth.
"Uhm," Kankuro started.
Temari stepped in front of her with a confused face, pointed at Cordi's clothes, and asked, "What … Darling what is this? What is this random splash of color for?"
Cordi was wearing a shirt that had a blue painted stripe along the front with white stars in it, and red and white stripes parallel to the blue one, going diagonally down from her left shoulder to her right hip, and worn blue jeans. In the white stripe between the red stripes, it read, "God Bless America." She had her hair tied back in a red, white, and blue ribbon. She wore red, white, and blue make up, and face painted cheek streaks.
"It's the Fourth of July," Cordi stated, walking forward and grabbing some bacon and a dumpling, along with a pair of chopsticks to eat. She set her plate down and turned her back to them to walk to the counter for some coffee.
The back of her shirt read, "12-7-1941 9-11-2001," at the top. Then the middle had a picture of two firefighters in a bunch of rubble raising a flag. And at the bottom it said, "We will never forget."
"You're not actually wearing that to the festival today, are you?" Kankuro asked. Gaara wasn't even curious about that. He was too busy pondering what they would never forget.
"Yes, I am!" she replied proudly, setting her coffee on the table and starting to dig in.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Gaara grumbled. He opened the door to see four girls dressed similarly to Cordi. "Why are all of you wearing the same thing?" he asked, his face skeptical.
"Didn't Cordi tell you?" Ronni asked. Temari, who could be seen just behind Gaara in the doorway, shook her head. Gaara just scowled. "It's the Fourth of July!" She replied cheerily.
"We know that much," Kankuro grumbled, eyes narrowed in annoyance. His brother had removed himself from the doorway, so Kankuro was now able to see the rest of the group. Ronni, Rox, and Lynne he had seen, but Fred he had only heard of. He gave her a once over, memorizing her womanly features. She was very pretty, he had to give her that. But the vivid green in her eyes was what caught him the most. They were like sparkling emeralds set on a pale face surrounded by dark brown hair. Those eyes, he felt he could stare at them forever. He nodded to her, eyebrows raised slightly, showing he obviously liked what he saw. Then he gained a slightly guilty face and turned back to his meal.
Fred wasn't one to not notice when a guy was checking her out. She smirked at the poor puppet master. Then followed the other girls into the kitchen.
"Happy Independence Day guys," Cordi said to the girls before putting a dumpling in her mouth.
"Right back at you!" Lynne said happily.
"What's Independence Day?" Temari asked, her face contorted in confusion.
"Our nation's birthday," Roxanne stated quickly. "We celebrate what happened July 4, 1776, every year."
"What happened?" Kankuro asked, face riddled with curiosity and anticipation. Gaara kept his usual scowl, and Temari took a seat to hear the story.
"Well, after the French and Indian War, otherwise known as the Seven Years War, England or Great Britain, same difference really, I guess, was in debt for the extreme cost of it. So they taxed the colonies to pay off, but the taxes started to get ridiculous because they didn't listen to the representatives of the colonies. So the colonies got sick of it, and revolted, starting with Boston Tea Party, where patriots dressed up as Native Americans and ransacked a ship delivering tea to the colonies, which also had heavy taxing. After that, the English didn't take too kindly to the revolts, so they sent their army to 'calm' things down, but the colonies fought back, starting the Revolutionary War. In this war, the colonies became the first country to officially whoop Great Britain's ass, becoming their own country. The official date it started was July 4th, 1776, and they called themselves the United States of America, when the Declaration of Independence was finished and signed by the Continental Congress and sent as a message to the King of England. And we have held up our reputation to whoop anybody else's ass who tries to disrupt the peace we have," Fred explained, winking to Kankuro who blushed. "Yay US!"
"Hm," Kankuro replied, intrigued by the story, pushing the blood that had run to his face back down. He scratched his chin, wondering what else to ask.
"You can check the stories on one of my papers," Lynne added. "I had to write a report on the Revolutionary War for my history class, last year."
"What happened December 7th, 1941?" Gaara asked.
"It was the day Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a major military base in the U.S., was bombed by Kamikazes from Japan," Rox explained, "DURING a war that we weren't involved in until then." She shut her eyes in silent reverence and added, "It's considered one of the bloodiest days in history."
"Well, what did you do? I mean, if I was leading a country and we got attacked, I would have retaliated," Temari stated. She didn't realize that the Wind Country had done something similar to the Fire Country during the Chuunin Exams they had participated in.
"Well," Lynne started, "we dropped two nuclear bombs on them; one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki."
"What's so special about dropping bombs?" Gaara scoffed.
"Well, these bombs were special bombs," Ronni stated, a huge grin on her face. "They not only explode things, but the radiation from them caused a deadly and painful disease called Cancer." She seemed oddly cheerful about this little tidbit of trivia.
Kankuro's and Temari's faces visibly paled as Gaara just blinked. The other girls just furrowed their eyebrows. "You know, you really shouldn't be so excited about that information," Fred stated frankly.
"Well I find it invigorating," Ronni stated. "Our revenges are always interesting. It's nice to see we hit others back with more force." Ronni finished her small argument with a sharp nod of her head.
"Ri-ight," Fred stated.
"What about the other date?" Gaara interrupted, growing tired of the sisterly debate.
"Hm?" Cordi asked.
"On your shirt. September 11th, 2001. What happened then?" Gaara asked slower.
"Oh," Cordi said, feeling stupid for not catching on what he meant. "That day several people hijacked four airplanes. Two hit the Twin Towers, otherwise known as the World Trade Center. Another hit the Pentagon, where all our military leaders and CIA – which is kind of like our version of ANBU – are housed. The last plane was headed towards The White House, which is where the leader of our country lives, but several passengers were able to overthrow the hijackers and that plane crashed in a Pennsylvanian forest instead. It's also considered one of the bloodiest days in history." Cordi stopped to remember what happened.
"That was the day we were supposed to come over and hang out at your new house," Ronni said to Cordi and Rox.
"I remember. But our dad came by the Elementary and Middle schools and picked me and my sister up early. Like thirty minutes after school started, because the bombings were at what, 8:00 in the morning?" Cordi replied.
"Yeah," Rox said somberly.
"So, this happened recently?" Temari asked, kind of worried.
"Well, about eight years ago," Lynne replied, fiddling with her key necklace that she always wore.
"What did you do to them?" Kankuro asked curiously.
"Well, the hijackers obviously died, but we hunted down the group they were working for, which started the War on Terror, which we're still fighting, as far as we know," Fred explained, pursing her lips. "Our older brother and sister are currently fighting in that war." She reached for Ronni's hand who grasped Fred's and squeezed her grip tighter to comfort her.
"Our older brother and one of our cousins is in it too," Rox added, squeezing Cordi's hand.
Sensing the emotional state this was going towards, and not really wanting to go down that road, Gaara stated, "Well, the festival should be starting up anytime now. Why don't we head out?"
Everyone nodded their heads and exited the hotel room. "So are there going to be fireworks?" Ronni asked.
"Yes," Kankuro stated shortly. "It is a festival, isn't it?"
"Oh, right," Ronni said, quieting back down.
"That just means we REALLY get to celebrate the Fourth, like a proper American would on Independence Day!" Rox exclaimed, clapping her hands in her excitement.
The festival started with a lunch in the village square for all the visitors and villagers who had assembled for the Chuunin Exams the following day. There was an excited buzz amongst the people, who ate and laughed together. Cordi and Rox smiled. This was reminiscent of how they had always spent their Fourth; up in Maine with lobster and a fireworks show at night on the water. The group walked by all the street venders, pausing only to examine interesting merchandise and walking briskly by those who were selling fried lizards on sticks.
"There're some interesting food choices today," Lynne said, slightly perturbed by the last vendor, who sold boiled cow tongues.
Kankuro laughed at the comment. "Yeah, I stay away from some of the more exotic foods." The group turned when they heard crunching sounds. Lynne gagged at the sight. Gaara had just taken a very large bite of what looked like a skewered pig liver.
He swallowed his mouthful and glowered at the gawkers. "What? It's good," he growled and walked past them.
"Mmm, salty pig liver," Fred joked in Lynne's ear.
"EW!!" Lynne yelped, jumping away from Fred and sticking her tongue out in disgust. Rox and Cordi laughed.
"It really pays to be vegetarian," Rox joked and walked after Gaara with Cordi. Ronni tilted her head to the side, obviously not fully understanding the gist of the joke.
The group gradually made it to the square where the food was being served. Cordi, in her excitement to eat, sprinted through the crowd and got in the line that stretched across the square.
"I don't think I've ever seen her run that fast," Lynne laughed. Rox and Fred nodded and laughed, following the starved teenager to the food line.
"Well, wait. There was that time with the clowns." Rox said and laughed again.
"Cordi's afraid of clowns?" Ronni asked, and then an evil glint appeared in her eyes.
"Especially ones with red hair," Rox grinned, her eyes glinting evilly as well.
"Don't even think about it," Fred stated to the two, earning a pout from her younger sister and a 'you-ruined-my-fun' look from her best friend.
"What's so bad about red hair?" Gaara asked, a nonexistent eyebrow quirked.
"Nothing, it's just clowns…. You know with face make up and big red noses and big shoes and colorful outfits and goofy smiles and…." Lynne drifted off, realizing that everyone had stopped listening to her after the third 'and.'
"But… Clowns? Really?" Temari asked, trying to hold in her laughter. Rox nodded and laughed.
The group finally got through the line and weaved through the tables to find seats. The Subakus swerved away from the girls, obviously not wanting to eat their meal with so much shouting and laughter. The five girls found a spot and sat, pulling their chopsticks out of the paper and pulled the bamboo apart.
"Why is it always chopsticks?" Fred growled, holding the two sticks in a fist and stabbing at her food threateningly. She groaned as she realized stabbing her food with flat objects would bring her no success and she would either sit hungry or with very dirty hands.
"I enjoy eating with them." Rox said and she and Lynne gathered food between the two sticks and masterfully brought them to their mouths. Fred and Ronni glared at the two, jealous of their natural talent.
"You guys will get used to it." Cordi said, also deftly eating her Lo Mein with the bamboo sticks.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." Ronni groused, tossing her sticks to the side and grabbing a fistful of General Tso's chicken and rice, ignoring how the sauce dripped down her wrist. Lynne scowled at the show of barbaric eating. Fred, however, did not give up on the chopsticks and instead tried to mimic Cordi's hands and spent the next ten minutes trying to gather enough food between the sticks for a sufficient bite. She cursed every time the rice fell back to the bowl and tried again.
After a few more minutes of unsuccessful chopstick usage, Fred placed the sticks beside her bowl and upended the contents into her mouth. She did not notice that two guys had just walked up to their table.
"Having trouble?" Naruto asked, trying to keep his laughter contained.
"Um… She can't use chopsticks…." Rox muttered, reminding Naruto of the incident a month ago, her head bent and watching her thumbs twiddle in her lap. Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer and the laughter burst out of his mouth. Fred glared up at him.
"How pitiful." Shikamaru remarked, frowning slightly. Ronni picked up some of her food and aimed it at him, but Fred stopped her just before the rice left her hand. He lifted his hands with a slight smile. "Sorry."
"Well, at least three of us can." Lynne pointed out, scooping out the dregs of food around the bowl. Cordi snapped her chopsticks for emphasis. "See?" Lynne asked.
"Don't you guys have forks or something?" Ronni whined to the two boys, who raised their eyebrows in confusion.
"Forks?" Shikamaru asked, scratching his head. This was the first time Rox had ever seen him not know what someone was talking about.
"Yeah, they're pronged and have a little flat surface so they're great for eating anything…. well except soup," Fred described. Shikamaru shook his head, an image of the utensil in his mind. Naruto just looked perplexed. "Hmmph… maybe I'll just have to make one…"
"Hey… how come you guys are all wearing the same colors?" Naruto asked and pointed at the five girls' clothes.
"It's America's Independence Day today," Cordi said, and recounted the History of the U.S. again, including what happened December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001.
"Interesting," Shikamaru said, arms folded and pondering. Naruto's eyes had glazed over. Obviously he couldn't imagine their country or its history. When Shikamaru looked at him, he scoffed, "Stop trying to think so hard Naruto. You'll hurt yourself." The girls burst out laughing as Naruto huffed indignantly.
"Anyway, are you guys going to the fireworks tonight?" Rox asked hopefully. Shikamaru nodded an affirmative. Cordi noticed how hard Rox tried to hide her excitement.
"Well, we gotta go eat. We'll see ya later!" Naruto waved bye then turned away from their table, Shikamaru following behind.
Once they were out of earshot, Cordi turned to her sister who had a broad smile on her face. "So, that was Shikamaru, huh?" Rox nodded, still smiling.
"He's so much cuter than on the anime," Lynne laughed, causing Rox's cheeks to pink. Fred and Ronni started to laugh as well.
"We could say Gaara is too," Fred teased, and laughed when Cordi glared at her, cheeks burning red.
For the rest of the day, the girls wandered around the village, avoiding the vendors who sold fried anything on sticks. Before they knew it, the sun had set and everyone had climbed to the rooftops of all the buildings. Cordi and the others had run around the village, looking for a suitable roof when they spotted the Subakus standing on top of a rather tall building.
"HEY!!!" Cordi called up to them. The three siblings looked down to the ground, hearing the shout. "COULD ONE OF YOU GUYS HELP US UP?!" Suddenly, sand appeared under their feet. Not used to the shifting earth, the five girls fell to their butts as Gaara lifted them to the rooftop. "Thanks," Cordi said, awkwardly picking herself up and stepping onto the roof.
"No problem." Gaara replied. Three other figures appeared on the roof, one of them very large and could only be Choji. Shikamaru stood beside his longtime best friend and Naruto joined the Subakus.
"Hey guys!" Rox smiled, waving at the newcomers.
"Hey," the guys replied. "May we sit with you guys?" Naruto asked, sitting down regardless of any answer.
"Go ahead," Gaara replied in a monotone-like voice, giving it an indifferent feel. Shikamaru and Choji sat down with the group, finding comfortable positions for the entire show. Everyone was silent with anticipation.
"When are the frickin' …?" Cordi started, only to be interrupted by the boom of cannon fire. Color burst in the black sky with a loud pop, illuminating the dark village in a slight green hue. "Alright, here we go," she said quietly to herself. Several more fireworks shot off, and the crowd ooed and ahed at the sight. Especially Naruto. Every time a firework exploded, he made sure he added his " Oh, wow," or "Ah!"
Meanwhile, the five girls talked about the names of the fireworks. "See, look they just did Fairies," Rox pointed.
"Oh, look at the Pom-pom!" Ronni squealed.
"That's a Palm Tree, not a Pom-pom," Lynne corrected.
"Oh, right," Ronni nodded.
"There's the Force," Cordi pointed.
"The Force?" Gaara asked.
"Yeah, it's half light, half dark," She stated. He still looked confused. "You know, 'Come to the Dark Side, we have cookies,'" she mimicked a deep James Earl Jones voice. Gaara was still confused, and scooted away from her a little. "I'll have to show you Star Wars, I guess."
"You still watch those?" Fred asked.
"Sometimes," Cordi blushed.
"NERD!!" Lynne laughed.
"Shut up, Trekkie!" Cordi snapped pointing at the redheaded girl. Lynne stopped laughing and blushed. The rest of the five laughed.
"Trekkie?" Naruto asked his brows furrowed in confusion.
"She watches Star Trek," Rox explained, dead-pan.
"So?" Shikamaru asked, eyebrows raised.
"Means when it comes to nerds, she's about as nerdy as they get," Cordi stated, a victorious smirk lighting her face. Lynne pouted and glared back at Cordi, who stuck her tongue out at Lynne in return.
"It's like the pot calling the kettle 'black,'" Rox explained.
"But aren't they both black?" Shikamaru asked, as if the pot and kettle saying held some hidden meaning.
"Exactly," Rox replied. Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed with understanding.
"Alright, I'm confused," Naruto interjected. "What does being a nerd have to do with pots and kettles?"
"Would you guys shut up?" Choji and Kankuro asked simultaneously.
"Sorry," the three muttered.
"How did we even get on that subject?" Ronni asked. Everyone chuckled at her air-headedness, then continued watching the fireworks.
After about fifteen minutes, the firework shooters decided to finish off their supply with the Grand Finale. Loud booms of cannons firing was heard along with the explosions of color popping to life in the dark night. The sight was incredible. Yellows, whites, blues, greens, and reds flared against the black satin sky. Different shapes came to life with their explosions and smoke hung heavy in the air where they faded.
After the last of the mortars were fired, Roxanne turned to face her best friends and said, "Happy Fourth of July guys."
The others smiled and nodded in agreement. "It was a good one," Fred admitted. "Although," she started, "I don't think it beats sticking fire-crackers in cow pies. That's the ultimate Fourth of July tradition in our family." Ronni smiled and nodded, reminiscing of the good ol' days. The other three laughed, while the ninjas looked at the two sisters confused.
AN: Sorry guys. I'm pretty sure you didn't want a history lesson, but it was too good to pass up! And I have a feeling I might lose some people over it, oh well. Don't forget to review, please! And … what else … Oh, yeah. If your friends read ff like this, send them over to read! And if you come across GrimSpeck18 or princessSiyaka, look at their stuff. It's infinitely better than mine. They edit this story really, and they also give me ideas for my plot. So seriously, LOOK AT THEM TOO!! Okay, that's all I have to say.