I...I really like this chapter. After you read it, you may think I'ma freakin weirdo. ah well.
Disclaimer: insert disclaimer here
Chapter 10: Campfires
General
A group of ten shinobi sat around a blazing campfire, casting long shadows from all the figures. The Konoha nin sat in a half circle, as did the Suna nin; Hinata and Gaara made the circle whole.
After a brief explanation to the enraged Baki, all attention was focused on how to fix the problem.
"We should address our superiors on the situation," Baki was saying, "They have much more experience-"
"Bah, we don't need to roll over and let them deal with it!" Kiba interrupted, "We can fix this ourselves!"
"Tch, 'cause we have such a great idea on how to do that." Temari commented sarcastically.
"Oh shut up!" The dog boy growled and Akamaru barked agreement.
"There is no reason not to seek help…" Neji murmured,
"No one in Suna gakure will offer any help." Kankuro muttered sourly. Baki gave him a look of surprise.
"Gai-sensei will most surely dedicate himself to our cause!" Lee shouted optimistically.
"That would be very troublesome…' Shikamaru replied, shaking his head.
The discussion went on from there, slowly getting nowhere. Shino just sat quietly, as was his way, but even he seemed more involved than the two actually involved.
Hinata sat nervously next to Gaara, twiddling her thumbs. Gaara looked at her emotionlessly, though annoyed.
"Stop that." He said.
"W..what, Gaara-sama?" Hinata stuttered, alarmed and concerned she might have done something to upset him.
"Stop…fidgeting. I do not fidget." He growled, narrowing his hyuuga eyes. Normally Hinata would have been ashamed and stopped immediately, but maybe because of the shaking up of the past few days, or her own building courage, she decided this was unfair.
"And…and I do not scowl." She whispered as Gaara scowled at her. She giggled at the irony, which deepened his expression even more. Sabaku no Gaara did not giggle, either, apparently.
Amusing. Shukaku commented, the only one that night.
As the night wore on, the conversation began to slowly draw them into the group, and they began talking about smaller, trivial things. Shino's only comment was that one of them should've thought to bring marshmallows.
It was relevant; it really was like a normal camping trip, and everyone was talking, laughing (excluding Gaara, Shino, and Neji) and generally having fun.
As the moon rose higher into the sky, the tired ones fell asleep (Shikamaru, Neji, Baki), and the others began feeling hyper and hyped in a state of late night craziness.
"Ey, brother," Kankuro snorted, grinning at the raven-haired girl, "You know you got some big jugs there…"
"KANKURO!" Temari screeched, whacking her brother, "That was extremely immature!" Hinata's normal blush had gone up ten fold, and she dropped her head to the ground. Gaara would've been annoyed at this sign of emotion on his face, if it weren't for the fact that his older brother had just told him he was hot.
"Hehe, you know it's true!" Kiba smirked, slightly more drunk feeling then the rest of them.
"K..Kiba-kun!" Hinata cried, slouching into her seat as though she were trying to disappear.
"Hope you didn't do anything…wrong, Gaara…" Kankuro laughed, slapping his knee.
Gaara sent him a death glare, but Temari saw a mischievous glint pass through his eyes. Oh crap. She thought.
"No…but Lee-san did…"
"WHAT!" Hinata screamed, not even stuttering in her horror. She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, though it was only Gaara's flat, well-muscled chest. Kankuro and Kiba burst out in deep racks of laughter; so much that neither of them could breath. Gaara smirked, Temari covered her face with her hands, and Lee looked like the kind of person who was being punished for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"That's right…" Gaara murmured, sounding falsely embarrassed for Hinata's sake, "He touched me riiiight here!" And he dramatically, yet gracefully placed a finger in the spot right in between her boobs.
"No! HINATA-CHAN IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT!" Lee gasped, standing up in protest. "GAI-SENSEI AND I WERE RACING AND-" Temari sent him a warning glare as she noticed that Hinata had begun shaking.
She wondered if the younger girl was fiercely shamed, but she had seen Gaara's body shake so many times that her instincts told her it was pure rage.
Which it was.
"LEE YOU PERVERT HOW COULD YOU DEFILE MY BODY LIKE THAT AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE A PURE HARD WORKING NIIIINJA!" Hinata screamed, punching Lee (hard) just as Gaara had done earlier. Sand shifted angrily all around them, making Temari shift nervously. Gaara appeared curious at the whole scene. It was a rare show of human emotions that constantly fascinated him.
Hinata stalked to where Lee was embedded into a tree. Grabbing him forcefully, she began shaking him and yelling in a way that seemed extremely out of character, but right all the same. It was in Gaara's body as well, which somehow sill didn't make it any more in character. She noticed a little drip of blood come from Lee's nose from the shaking, but it only sent her more into rage.
"WHAT PERVERTED THOUGHTS ARE YOU THIKING YOU SICKO?!" She roared, slamming him against the tree. The impact was too much and the large, sturdy tree snapped in half.
Neji stirred fitfully in his sleep. He had been dreaming of dancing marshmallows and floating teacups… and now, half awake, was watching his shy cousin pummel his teammate through several trees. With a yawn, he murmured "Thatta girl" before falling back into sleep.