AN: 2,500+ views. You guys make me feel so special, indeed. Sorry this one is somewhat late. This week has been hectic getting my class project prepared. At least I did really well on the presentation. I just have to say, it's getting to the end of my first semester, so I might be late a lot because of excessive work and such. So please keep that in mind. I'll still try and update every week. ^.^
And to Me and Gaara 4ever, I'm glad you found that depressing chapter comedic. For every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. ^.^
And to Thomas Drovin, Well you won't see your other suggestion come into light until much later when the timing is much better. :D And yes, Matsuri died, and Kankuro isn't completely over his grief, but he has accepted the fact he has to move on for Yukina.
And to Repentless Wind, Honestly, I don't know a lot of people that do like her. And you did call it, I'll give you that. You're pretty good with guessing what will happen. ^.^
And to Azura Soul Reaver, yeah, I'd say I have to agree.
And to Gaaras1Girl, That shouldn't deter you from it. With today's medical science, it's easily prevented. And I will say, you might like the end of the chapter.
And to GrimSpeck18, Yay! You've moved onto fish and fowl. ^.^ I could not be happier for you. Anyway, I had to put something funny in that chapter. Otherwise it'd be too depressing.
And to Rubyparker93, Actually the last chapter happened to be the average size of my chapters. This one on the other hand is 13 pages long. So be prepared.
And to dantesfreezer, Yup, I'd have to agree with you. It's great to put a crack in that stoic mask.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill. Oh, and Kirigi belongs to Thomas Drovin, which I'm very grateful he's letting me use. Thanks a bunch!!!
Chapter Three: The Annual Konoha Fright Fest.
(Officially reached 200 pgs!)
THWAK!!!
Suddenly Aneko was awake. She jumped out of her sleeping bag and huddled to a tree. On the other side of the small clearing she was in stood an old man. He wore sunglasses over his eyes and had short gray hair, a little bit on the shaggy end though. He held a walking stick in his hand as if he had just been practicing swordplay. He was wearing a simple ensemble of white ninja pants, black ninja boots, a mesh top with a black yukata type shirt over it, and a black fedora, which confused her to no end. He set his stick down and looked over towards her as soon as he heard her jump.
"I see you're awake," he said in an old and wise voice, reaching for something in his pocket.
"Who are you?" she growled, not trying to show her fear, which was slowly taking over her mind.
"It's me, Kirigi. Your partner," he laughed, his expression confused a little. And then it suddenly melted to understanding. "Ah, Aneko. We haven't met yet, but I've heard so much about you," he smiled, extending his hand.
Aneko didn't shake it, but instead asked, "Who's told you about me?"
His face held a confused expression again, and he dropped his hand to his side. "Well, Katsumi."
Suddenly fear shot through her. She recognized the name, and her body registered it as a threat, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before. "Who?" she asked, worry seeping into her voice.
"Ah," Kirigi muttered to himself. "This … this isn't awkward at all," he laughed sarcastically to himself. "We don't really have time for me to explain everything right now, because if we don't get moving, we'll never make it to Konoha like we're supposed to. So I'll explain everything on the way," he stated, slinging his already packed bag onto his shoulders. "Oh," he said, patting his pockets, "how are you on caffeine pills?"
"Excuse me?" she asked, feeling rather offended.
His brow furrowed into a frustrated frown. He shook it off and said, "Never mind. I'll pick some up in Konoha when we get there."
The rest of the five's first day back was uneventful. They strolled around the town, re-familiarizing themselves with Konoha. Neji was walking with Lynne, an arm around her waist. Rox and Shikamaru also joined after she had dropped off her bags at her apartment. Gaara and Cordi had decided to join them after taking their own stroll as he told her about what happened with Matsuri. It was around five when they hit the town square. The sun was sinking in the sky, and soon it would disappear behind the mountains.
"What's this?" Fred asked, walking up to a huge pole, ripping a flyer down. She read the top and was silent for a minute.
"What is it?" Ronni asked.
Lynne walked beside Fred and peered over her shoulder, reading out loud, "You have been invited to the annual Konoha Fright Festival on October 31st. All bars and dance clubs will be open from 10:00pm to 3:00am for people 18 and older. Attractions beforehand include a corn maze, costume contests (divided by age groups), pumpkin carving, a Haunted Forest ride, a Haunted House, and side games. Festival begins at 5:00pm."
"Oh, that sounds like fun! We haven't had a proper Halloween since we got here," Cordi exclaimed.
"Halloween?" Shikamaru asked. "Is this another one of your world's holidays?"
"Yeah," Rox laughed. "It's where everyone dresses up in costumes and goes to parties. But since little kids can't really go to parties, like adults, they go around knocking on doors of people's homes trick-or-treating." Shikamaru, Neji, and Gaara shot her a confused look.
"Basically, as a kid you go up to someone's house, knock on their door, they open it, you say 'trick-or-treat', and voila, you're given candy. Kid's get hoards of candy on Halloween every year," Ronni explained. "Like when we were younger, we'd get several pillow-cases full candy." Gaara frowned at that, looking rather disgusted.
"What's the 'trick' part?" Neji asked.
"Oh, the older kids, if they were refused candy because they were too old, they'd play pranks on them, like egg houses, teepee the front yards, egg cars, scare the crap out of innocent bystanders sometimes," Cordi smirked.
"That," Gaara started, pausing a little before saying, "actually sounds like fun."
"You would say that," Cordi frowned at him, before locking her arm in his and saying, "Well, we need to think up costumes. It's only in three days, and I have an idea, but we'll need major shopping. I'll definitely need either a wig or spray dye. Come on, Gaara. We just need to get yours figured out."
"But …" Gaara started as she slowly pulled him away from the group towards the shops.
"If I know you Gaara, you don't have a costume yet, and I already have an idea for you anyway. So you're good," Cordi stated, still dragging him away. "We'll see you guys later," she called back to the group.
The rest of the group was really quiet and confused. "OH!" Fred squealed, scaring everyone with the sudden noise. "I have the perfect idea for mine. I gotta go back to my place and check my supplies!" With that, she darted back towards the apartment complex they lived in.
"Me, too." Ronni said. "I should go write a list of supplies I need for it. See you later." With that, she too ran back to the apartment complex.
"Well, I already know what I'm going to do," Rox stated, bored. "How about you, Shika?"
"Yup," he stated in the similar indifferent tone.
"Well, I need to think on mine," Lynne stated.
Neji then leaned over to her and whispered, "You know, this could really have good potential to make Sasuke jealous."
That really sparked her interest. "Then I really need to think on my costume. Come Neji." She offered her arm to link his with. He let out a small snort, and linked arms before walking with her off to contemplate her costume for the festival.
"So …" Shikamaru sighed. Rox pursed her lips and nodded. They were alone again. The wind blew through the square, brushing leaves along the ground. They stood there in awkward silence for a little while, scratching their nose, or scratching their neck, or just sighing in general. "Wanna grab dinner?" Shikamaru asked, getting tired of the silence.
"God, yes. I'm starving," Rox laughed. Shikamaru smiled at her as he led her over to a nearby restaurant.
The next day, Cordi dragged Gaara out to town to go shopping again. They had bought color hair spray. Now they were getting the last of the costumes: clothes, make-up, and contacts.
"You'd wear these if you were a girl, right?" Cordi asked, showing off a pair of thigh high black boots.
Gaara looked at them, frowning a little, pondering her question. "Maybe," Gaara answered. "I've never given it much thought."
"Well give it much thought now," Cordi ordered.
Gaara gave her a small glare, not liking her ordering him around. "Yeah, sure," Gaara said, not really caring.
"Oh, and I'll need that coat of yours," she stated. He furrowed his brow in confusion. "You know, the red one with the zipper. It's a trench coat." He still looked confused. She sighed in frustration, figuring she wasn't going to get very far.
Suddenly, he realized what article of clothing she was talking about. "Oh, that? I haven't worn that in years. It should be in Suna. If you let me take Aleera, I can go and get it for you," he offered. He figured she probably would have gone on her own, but he didn't really want her raiding his closet, much less his room.
"Okay, fine. But I need you to come back as soon as possible. Okay?" Cordi consented. Gaara nodded his agreement. "Alright, she's at the front gate waiting for you." He nodded, and then set out to meet Aleera, who was indeed waiting for him at the front gate. He was slightly taken aback by how big she had gotten. There was barely any space for people to walk in the front gate area.
"Alright, no funny business," Aleera stated, "I want to get in and get out. It should only take about an hour. Okay?" He pursed his lips and nodded. She obviously hadn't lost her fiery personality in the last two years. He quickly climbed up onto her back and got himself situated. Once he told her he was set, she launched into the air, flying southwest to Suna.
Meanwhile, back at the stores, Cordi unsuspectingly ran into Fred and Ronni. They both held bits of their costumes in their hands as they were about check out of the store. Ronni had a flowing white dress that would reach to her mid-thigh, and Fred had a yellowish-orange belly shirt, and green shorts, with green shoes. Cordi couldn't help but be confused and curious as to what they were going to wear for the festival.
"So, what are you two going to be?" Cordi asked innocently.
"It's going to be a surprise. So just show up and you'll find out," Fred smiled evilly. Cordi frowned. It wasn't much of a secret to her friends that she didn't care much for surprises.
"What about you?" Ronni asked, eyeing the bundle of clothes her best friend held.
"Well, if you aren't telling me, I'm not telling you. So," Cordi stuck out her tongue, very much like a petulant child. Ronni couldn't help but stick hers out back.
"I swear, you two are like little kids," Fred stated, rolling her eyes, and setting her stuff on the counter.
The rest of the week seemed to fly by, and the morning of the 31st was already here. Rox was in her room, tying her corset on. She was already wearing a cleavage showing chemise with puffy sleeves that was tucked into her tight fitting jeans. She wore knee-high high-heel boots, which she tucked her jeans into. She tied a sash with little jingle fringing around her waist. Once the main part of her outfit was done, she curled her hair into ringlets. Once finished with her hair, she tied a long bandana around her head and placed a traditional pirate's hat over. She looked at her reflection and smiled at her work.
She then heard a knock at the door, and opened it to see Shikamaru in his normal clothes with two deer antlers tied to his head. "Honestly, where's your costume?" Rox asked, eyeing his get-up.
"Well, it was too troublesome to think of an entire costume," Shikamaru shrugged. Rox rolled her eyes at the bored Nara, then joined him out in the hallway. They walked down to the square, hitting the beginning of the festival. People were still setting their stands up. Some people were putting up signs of where to go for what attraction.
"Hey, Shikamaru. You want to help us set up?" called a gruff, bored voice behind them. Both Shikamaru and Rox turned around to see Shikaku Nara, Shikamaru's father, dressed the same as his son, including the antlers, smiling at both of them. "Oh, who's you're friend?"
"Dad, this is Roxanne Turner. Rox, this is my father," Shikamaru introduced.
"Nice to meet you," she smiled, grabbing the elder Nara's hand and shaking it.
"Likewise," he replied, even though he didn't seem all too thrilled.
Of course, that could be because he's as lazy as Shikamaru, she guessed.
"Would you like to help us set up," Shikamaru asked Rox, not really sure she'd say yes.
"Only if you are," Rox smiled, knowing Shikamaru would probably complain about how much of a drag the whole thing was, and that there was no point to it.
Meanwhile, Cordi was working on Gaara's make-up. He was not wearing his per-usual eyeliner today. Instead, she was covering his love kanji with base at the moment, making his scar invisible. Once she finished that, she quickly drew a small scar in the shape of a diamond in the middle of his forehead, resembling her own scar there, and then drew on eyebrows. Then she sprayed his hair a light brown and sprayed little blond streaks in. And then he placed the brown contacts they had bought the previous day.
Then it was her turn. She quickly put on her base, covering up her scar and lacquering the liquid base over her eyebrows to blend them in with the rest of her forehead. Gaara offered to help her with her eyeliner, but she refused, saying that people working around her eyes bothered her. She then applied mascara, making her long eyelashes more noticeable. Once she finished all of her makeup, she turned to Gaara with a red marker, who graciously took it, and drew the love kanji on her forehead. They sat and let it dry a bit, so it didn't smudge. Then she proceeded to hand him the red can of hair-spray. And easily enough, her hair because as red as his normally was. She quickly brushed out the sticky components of the hair so it would return to its silky texture. Right after, she placed the sea-foam blue contacts into her eyes.
Once she finished, Gaara took a good look at her and smirked. "I'd actually make a pretty hot girl," Gaara laughed.
Cordi smiled and replied, "Narcissistic much?" He just gave her a small smile, then headed out to the lounge area of the suite. Cordi followed him out only to see Temari on the couch dressed up as a genie, with little Yukina on her lap dressed as a pumpkin. "Aw, she looks so cute," Cordi cooed.
Yukina looked at both of them, then up to Temari and asked, "Temwi, where Uncuw Gaawa?"
Temari laughed, and bounced Yukina on her lap a little before saying, "Uncle Gaara just dressed up like Cordi. And Cordi dressed up like Uncle Gaara." Yukina nodded, showing she understood, but she still looked at the pair confused.
"Hey, Cordi," Kankuro said in a deep voice, right behind her.
She turned around to look at him and screamed, "HOLY SSSSHHHHIIIII-FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!" and jumped behind Gaara for protection. Gaara looked to his brother to see he had decided to dress up as a clown, a rather creepy looking one too. Gaara bit his lip to hold back a chuckle as Kankuro practically rolled on the floor with laughter.
"OH, Kami, Cordi. You should have seen your face! That was priceless! What in the world is a shif?" Kankuro laughed, wiping a tear of laughter away from his eye.
"That would be me censoring myself so Yukina doesn't start cursing!" Cordi scolded, glaring at him from behind Gaara's shoulder. "And if you ever scare me like that again, I will burn you to a crisp!"
"You have no idea how long he's waited to scare the living daylights out of you by dressing up as a clown, do you?" Gaara asked, looking at her cowering behind his shoulder.
"I'm going to guess ever since my sister mentioned it at the festival two years ago," Cordi growled, scowling at the clown. Gaara and Temari nodded, their eyes closed.
"Daddy, why you scayw Coewi?" Yukina asked, looking at Kankuro innocently.
"Because you're daddy's a mean old man!" Cordi replied before Kankuro could say anything. Yukina frowned at her father in disappointment, then shook her head. Cordi couldn't help but laugh at Kankuro's look of dismay.
"We should probably get going," Gaara stated, nodding his head towards the door. Everyone else nodded in agreement, and filed out of the suite. It didn't take them that long to reach the town square where they found Rox dressed up as a pirate, Shikamaru and Shikaku as themselves with antlers, and Ronni dressed up as an angel … with a really short dress.
Cordi shook her head at her best friend and said, "I should have known."
Ronni looked at herself, then smiled and replied, "Yeah, you really should have."
"Ok, I got everybody else's costume, except you," Rox interrupted, pointing to Kankuro and looking genuinely confused. "What are you supposed to be?" Cordi, Gaara, and Temari laughed as Kankuro gave Rox a hurt look.
"A cwown," Yukina answered, looking at Rox innocently.
Rox smirked, then replied, "I'm sorry Kankuro. I didn't realize you dressed up as yourself." Then she walked towards Kankuro and Yukina, ignoring Kankuro's gawking at her. "You must be Yukina," Rox smiled. "Wow, you really look like Matsuri," she stated, not knowing the taboo word.
Suddenly all of the Subakus became sad, and Yukina started to cry. Kankuro tried to bounce her and cheer her up, which worked a little, but she was still a little upset. "Rox, ix-nay on the Atsuri-may," Cordi whispered. Rox and Ronni gave her a confused look, and Cordi signed to them, 'Dead.'
"What?" Rox whispered to Cordi, not really understanding what had happened.
"I'll tell you later," Shikamaru whispered to her.
Rox then turned to the Subakus and said, "I'm so sorry. I had no idea." They nodded in return, understanding that it was an accident.
"Hey, have I missed anything?" they heard Fred ask behind them. They turned to see her in the strangest get-up so far. Rox, Cordi, and Ronni couldn't help but laugh, while the rest of the group looked at her strangely.
"No, you haven't, Rapheal," Cordi laughed, as Rox and Ronni were holding their stomachs, they were laughing so hard.
"What are you?" Shikaku asked, giving her the strangest look of the group.
She looked down to her green painted legs and green shoes, her green shorts, her yellowish-orange belly-shirt, green arms , and the green shell like thing on her back. She wore a brown belt holding two sword-like weapons. Her green painted face looked up to the group eyeing all of them. Her hair was spray dyed green to match her skin, and she had a red band with two slits over her eyes. "I'm a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle," Fred smiled. The part of the group that wasn't rolling on the floor laughing cocked an eyebrow up in confusion.
"Turtle, turtle," Rox giggled, quoting the movie Master of Disguise, before falling into another fit of laughter.
"Next time," Ronni rasped, "We'll dress like them together."
Fred smiled, and then asked, "What about Lynne?"
"She can be Master Scratch," Cordi grinned, thinking about how they would look when they dressed like that.
"Who can be Master Scratch?" They heard Lynne ask. They all turned to see her dressed in provocative ancient Greek garments. Her hair was done up in three gold bands, and her skin was adorned with gold glitter. She had her arm linked with Neji, who dressed up as a Native American chief-tan. He had a huge head-dress of feathers, and he wore no shirt, showing off his muscles and hand print war paint he put on the left side of his chest. He wore tan pants and moccasins. And Sai was on her other side, wearing normal ninja clothes. She already knew the answer to her question and smiled. She took a look at Fred, then bit her lip, holding back a grin. "I figured you to go as either Michealangelo or Leonardo. Not Rapheal. Then again, Cordi's more likely to dress up like Michealangelo, and Ronnie, Leonardo," Lynne stated with a shrug.
Fred nodded, then asked, "So, Aphrodite?"
"Well, I figured since I'm Greek and into history, why not? And she is the Goddess of Love," Lynne laughed, showing off the two boys on her arm.
Everyone frowned at her showing their disproval, but then the other four best friends nodded in understanding. "Hey, you're supposed to be in costume, Sai," Cordi stated.
"I am," he replied, giving everyone a creepy smile. "I'm a ninja."
The five friends frowned at him. "You're no fun," Ronni stated.
"Come on, it looks like the attractions are opening up," Cordi said, starting to walk over to the corn maze. Gaara's old trench coat fit her rather well the way she wore it, and it swished around her legs as she walked. She had it unzipped to below her bust line, wearing netting and a black tube top underneath. His old vest pushed her boobs up more, acting somewhat like a corset. She wore black legging tucked into mid-thigh high, high-heeled boots, which she tied brown bands on. Her red hair blew in the wind as she started to run towards the maze to beat the line. "Last one there's a rotten egg!" she yelled over her shoulder, seeing others start to race.
As soon as they got there, the person opening the maze told everyone that they had to be in groups of two or three. Cordi and Gaara grabbed hands and started first. Rox and Shikamaru were second to go. Lynne, Neji, and Sai were third.
"I call Temari!" Ronni laughed, pulling Temari over towards the entrance.
"Ronni! What … ?" Fred called to her sister confused.
"Like I wanna get stuck with you!?" Ronni called back to her. "As if!" And she and Temari started their trek through the maze.
Kankuro pursed his lips as he watched his sister and Fred's sister walk through the entrance. He saw Fred gawking at the entrance, completely confused. "Why don't you walk with us?" Kankuro offered, putting Yukina on the ground so she could walk.
"Thanks. I'd like that," Fred replied, still kind of mad her sister abandoned her. And then they proceeded through the entrance.
Gaara and Cordi had been walking around the maze for a few minutes, taking a few random runs here and there. It was quiet for the most part, not counting the crunching of their feet hitting the ground or the wind rustling through the corn stalks.
"I know now," Gaara stated, looking down at his feet.
"Know what?" Cordi asked, giving him a confused look.
"How I feel about you," he stated, as if it was obvious. "Remember before you left, you told me not to talk to you until I knew how I felt? I know now."
"Look, Gaara. I was just mad at the time. Really –," Cordi said, trying to brush it off.
"No. I need to say this," Gaara stated, stopping their walk. She stopped, too, and turned to him. "These past two years have been hell without you. I needed you so much during the whole Matsuri deal, that I hadn't realized how much I really needed you around just in general until after you left." He stopped and bit his lip, getting his thoughts in order. "When you left, for weeks I couldn't sleep, because I was worrying about you constantly. A huge space in my heart felt like it was ripped out. But that night we had – well, you know when we got drunk, I have to admit made me feel whole. And when you returned, I could feel the hole in my heart heal. And it took me a while to understand what it was. So, to answer your question two years ago if I have feelings for you, the answer is yes. I should have realized I had them when we kissed at Kankuro's party to save my ass. But I was blinded by how hurt I was by Matsuri.
"I understand if you don't have – ," Gaara started, but was interrupted as Cordi pulled his face against hers into a long and passionate kiss. He couldn't help but smile and deepen it.
"Come on, this way," Shikamaru ordered, pulling her into another turn. They had been running through the entire maze. Well not so much running as Shikamaru was dragging her through it at his high ninja speeds. Honestly, Rox felt like her arm was going to rip off at any moment, or her legs were going to give way.
"But Shikamaru…. we should have… gone that way," Rox wheezed, pointing the other direction in the fork. She was nearly out of breath, but they slowed down fast enough for her to catch it.
"Rox, I helped design this corn maze. I do believe I know my way around," Shikamaru stated, just before leading her into a dead end.
She frowned at the wall of corn stocks in front of her. "You fail at life," she remarked in a bored tone, showing disapproval in her expression.
"Would you believe me if I told you I just wanted to be alone with you?" Shikamaru asked seductively.
"No," Rox laughed. "Because you'd just say that as an excuse for why you didn't do as well as you hoped."
Shikamaru frowned, muttering, "Troublesome woman. Okay, look, if you peer through that wall, you'll see the exit on your right." Rox gave him a confused look. "Go ahead, look." So she did, only to find that he was telling the truth.
"Well, why did you want me alone?" Rox asked.
"Because then I can do this without my mom shrieking at me," Shikamaru laughed, leaning in giving her a small kiss. She smiled and kissed him back, sliding her tongue over his lips. They were smooth, but his kiss was rough, but tender and loving at the same time.
Suddenly, Rox's mind latched onto something and asked, "Why would you mom be shrieking at you about kissing me?"
Shikamaru's shoulders dropped, and he pursed his lips, frowning a little. "She doesn't like me dating girls from other countries. And I'm betting that includes you considering you're not even from this world," he replied.
Rox couldn't help but smile. "You know, some girls in my world would actually say your hitting on me," Rox smirked, closing the space between them again.
"Well, truthful flirtation's my thing," Shikamaru smirked before kissing her again.
"Daddy?" Yukina asked, tugging on Kankuro's hand. He looked down at her innocent face.
"Yes, honey?" he replied, kneeling down to get at her eye level.
"W – we wost?" she asked, her big green eyes shining up at him.
"No, we aren't lost, honey," he laughed. He then promptly looked around for a turn he wanted to make. They had been in this corridor of vegetables long enough for his tastes. He stood back up and pointed to a turn and said, "This way." They proceeded to stroll through, making sure Yukina didn't run too far ahead.
"Why'd you lie to your daughter?" Fred asked in a hushed tone.
"Because I'd rather her not start wailing that we're lost in a maze," Kankuro stated. Fred looked taken aback by this. "And she would. Trust me, she would. No, it's best to keep her out of it and enjoying the mystery of a labrynth." He held his hands up, and gestured to all around them.
Fred smiled and said, "You're a good father."
"Thanks," Kankuro sighed. "From what I see, you'd most likely make a good mother."
"Nah, you're just saying that," Fred brushed off, shaking her head in disagreement.
"Not many women squat down with a two-year-old and play with bugs and other critters," Kankuro pointed out.
"That's only because spiders aren't in season," Fred joked.
"Well, you also kept Yukina very entertained while I figured out directions," Kankuro added. "That is a very maternal thing to do." Fred shrugged.
"Daddy, Daddy!!! Temwi!!! Temwi!!!" Yukina squealed to Kankuro, who looked up to see her at the end of the path.
"Who's Temwi?" Fred asked, a little confused.
He kept an eye on Yukina as he answered Fred. "Temwi is how she pronounces Temari, because she can't really pronounce her Rs." Then, Yukina noticed the picked up their pace a little to catch up with her, and she went running around the turn. "Y-Yukina!" Kankuro gave an exasperated sigh, running after his daughter with Fred on his heels.
Once they made their turn though, they saw Yukina running to the village square, where the Festival was well underway, into the arms of her aunt. "Your daughter just found the way out," Fred laughed, patting Kankuro on the back. "Must get it from Temari," she smirked, leaving Kankuro dumbfounded.
She walked out of the maze to join her sister and Temari, only to find Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke had joined the group waiting for them to get out. Naruto and Sasuke both had cowboy get-ups. Naruto had light brown leather chaps, a white shirt with orange fringing, and orange handkerchief, and a light brown cowboy hat. Sasuke wore a similar get-up, except he had black chaps, an open black shirt with white lining, showing of his pale muscular chest, a black handkerchief, and a black cowboy hat. Hinata wore the basic cowgirl outfit with the brown suede skirt and vest, with a blue button-up shirt underneath, and a brown cowgirl hat. They all had cowboy boots, only one different was Sasuke's, because his were black.
"Howdy," Fred smiled evilly at them
"What's up?" Sasuke replied, not really taking interest in her.
"What are you supposed to be?" Naruto asked, giving her outfit a strange look. So Fred again began to explain what a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was to the new Hokage, who seemed completely intrigued that we had such strange shows in our world for entertainment. Suddenly, they heard Sasuke huff and stalk off. Fred and Naruto gave where he was standing a strange look, then turned toward the entrance to see Lynne had just walked out with Neji and Sai on both arms, laughing and flirting with them.
Five minutes later, Rox and Shikamaru joined them, smiling cheerily. Then fifteen minutes after that, Gaara and Cordi joined them, also smiling, but they were holding hands.
The rest of the night seemed to fly by, and soon enough it was almost eleven o'clock. Kankuro had hired Konohamaru and his gang to watch over Yukina for the rest of the night at around eight, as it was her bed-time. For the costume contest, Fred won the most creative award, and Cordi and Gaara received the Trickster award. Yukina and Rox had won the most traditional award in each of their age groups.
After ten, though, everyone had either gone back to their homes, or moved into the bars. Their entire group had been able to get into one dance club, which they were happy about. But that was pretty much the easy part, considering two of their group were the Kazekage and the Hokage. Now they just had to stay together, which proved to be slightly more challenging. Soon enough, they all got tired with trying, and broke off into smaller groups of two to four, similar to the ones they had broken up into for the maze. Except Fred, Ronni, Kankuro, and Temari were talking with Naruto and Hinata. Nobody had seen Sasuke since he had disappeared after the maze.
Lynne chatted with Neji and Sai, wondering how long they could keep up this whole ruse to get Sasuke jealous. Both of them shrugged their indifference on the subject. She frowned at them, then said, "I need to use the bathroom. Please, excuse me." With that, she walked off towards the back of the club, where someone hiding behind a wall dragged her to the side. "What the F –." She was cut off as a hand covered her mouth.
"Why?" she heard a familiar voice ask. She looked up to see Sasuke's onyx eyes staring right back into her blue ones. "Why are you making me feel this way? I have never wanted to tear Neji limb from limb until I saw you two fawning over each other the other day." He removed his hand from her mouth, and pinned her against the wall in a threatening pose. "I want you to tell me why? Why have I never cared what other girls around me did? Until I met you."
"Well," she smirked, "the second part I can't explain. But why am I making you jealous you ask?" He glared at her, knowing she had been tricking him a little the entire time. "How else am I supposed to get you to realize your feelings?" A victorious smirk crawled onto her face, knowing she had got him to realize his feelings to himself finally.
Suddenly a blood curdling scream was heard throughout all of Konoha. It's eerie ring caused everyone to walk outside to see what was going on. A girl ran in from a nearby forest, covered head to toe in blood, screaming at her hands. "HELP ME!!! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!" she screamed. Sakura, Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, Rox, Cordi, Lynne, Fred, and Ronni sprang into action to try and calm her down. Sasuke, Neji, Sai, and Kankuro weren't far behind, looking out for whatever made her scream like that.
The girl had black hair with red streaks, and eyes two different colors. The brown at the moment seemed more vibrant, but no one was really focusing on that right now. Sakura embraced her trying to calm her down.
"It's ok, you're safe now. You're safe," Sakura repeated. "W-what's you're name?"
The girl looked up, tears flowing from her eyes, and she replied, "Aneko."
AN: . cliffie. Yeah, so remember to review! Thanks!