Chapter 4:Reeling Him In

Kankaro blinked, looking a bit like an owl with kabuki make-up. "You mean you've never heard of a Snipe hunt?"

Keep it cool, keep it loose! Kankaro was struggling hard not to laugh. Never let the sucker suspect!

"Nah. What is it? Huh! Hey Kankaro, what is IT???" Naruto was fairly bouncing up and down. Gaara rolled his eyes, but none of the leaf shinobi seemed to know what a 'snipe hunt' was about.

Kankaro sighed dramatically, "well, now. I don't know if I should tell you if you haven't been let in on … uhm, I mean. It's nothing really. Made-up kids stuff and all."

Gaara turned to look at his brother, it wasn't like the puppeteer to let someone gullible off the hook like that.

"NO! You've got to tell me everything, it's not made up or you wouldn't be saying that! Tell me! Huh! KANKARO!"

Gaara snorted and grabbed a few more snacks. So, his brother was baiting Naruto, and now he couldn't be blamed for it since he HAD told Naruto that snipes were nothing more than 'made-up kids stuff'. Hmmph. Playing with people was Kankaro's greatest joy, and Gaara had to admit, he was good at it.

Neji leaned forward, a look of suspicion on his face. The others just looked mildly interested, or in the case of Ino, mildly bored. Even Hinata's attention was caught as the Sand shinobi ate some potato chips as if to avoid the question.

Naruto looked disgusted that he wasn't getting the information he wanted, so instead he turned to "Hey! Shikamaru, have you heard about a snipe hunt?" He figured the chuunin would know about things that genin weren't allowed access too.

There was no response. They all turned to look and saw that Temari and Shikamaru were still kissing. Neji snorted and Hinata blushed, looking away. Gaara scowled and Kankaro threw the balled up chip bag at the leaf shinobi's head.

"Hey! Breathe you two!" He yelled. They ignored him. "And watch those hands or lose them!"

"No fair! I wanna go on a snipe hunt! Kankaro, pllleeeeaaase, what is it????" Naruto begged at nearly full volume.

TenTen sighed loudly, "Oh tell us what in the world a snipe hunt is all about. Just to shut up Naruto, please!" She pretended indifference, but there was a gleam in her eye as she leaned forward to listen.

"Fine." Kankaro sighed. "It's not like it's that important. See, it's like this," And at that, everyone turned to listen as Kankaro explained how 'snipes' were very hard to find creatures that fetched a really, really good price at market. He explained that they were highly valued for their glands which were very pricy ingredients in many medicines. Then he winked at Naruto, "and their meat is supposed to be very tasty in top-notch ramen places. Too expensive for most, a treat beyond measure."

"Ooooh!" Naruto breathed out on a sigh of longing. "Have you ever tried any snipe ramen?"

"Me? Hardly. I've heard that it's the best thing going, but I can't afford meals like that. My only hope is catching one, but that's not easy to do, you know. I've tried."

Neji groaned, "You're making this up, I've never heard of such a thing."

Hinata though sat up, "A-are you sure Neji-kun? I mean, I'm sure Kankaro wouldn't be making up something like this." She smiled unsurely.

"Yeah! Tell us more! I want a snipe!"

Neji shook his head at Naruto, "you're both way off the path here."

"Nah! See, Hinata knows it's true, don't ya Hinata?" Naruto smiled wildly at the shy girl.

Hinata blushed deep red and looked like she might fall over from the direct attention being paid to her. Neji reached over and patted her hand, glaring at Kankaro.

The Sand puppeteer just shook his head, "I don't know what to tell you. It is what it is, and a snipe is real." Then he shrugged, "it doesn't really matter though. They're really difficult to trap and while this is the right kind of country for them to be in at this time of year, I've never seen one."

"How do you hunt one then?" Asked TenTen, whose eyes were gleaming just as much as Naruto's.

Kankaro scratched his chin, avoiding smearing his make-up as he pretended to think. "You have to have at least two people, three or more are better though, covers more ground." He picked up a stick and etched a faint diagram in the ground showing how one person has to hold the sack and stay as still and quiet as possible, and the others in the hunting party had to spread out and make a lot of noise while walking toward the person with the sack.

"You have to flush them out, but you can't just run wildly through the underbrush, you have to use chakra too. That's why they're so hard to catch. You have to use your chakra almost like a rake, except pushing out rather than pulling in."

"Oh! So, you're herding the creature with chakra toward the one holding the sack." TenTen grinned, "but what's so hard about that?"

Kankaro grinned sadly, "It's harder than you think. If you use too much chakra you scare the wildlife, and especially the sensitive snipe, into running in a direction different than what you want. If you don't use enough, then it ignores you. See, snipe are great and I mean GREAT at concealing themselves. They're better than chameleons at 'blending in' and been hard to spot. They're also chakra sensitive. So, if you don't use any chakra, they just disappear into the surrounding areas, but if you herd them with chakra then they go toward the hunter. See?"

TenTen and Naruto both nodded together, completely drawn into the story. Even Ino seemed a bit intrigued. Kankaro looked over at Neji he wasn't surprised that the young Hyuuga didn't seem impressed. But the look on Hinata's face was priceless.

Naruto jumped up in a sheer abundance of vigor and idiocy. "I'm going! Who's with me?"

Neji shrugged, "Naruto, be reasonable no one is going to bel …."

"I'm going Naruto." Everyone stopped and stared. Hinata had just managed to say a whole sentence, and one with Naruto's name, without a single stammer or stutter. Not to mention the eagerness in her voice.

"TenTen-chan?" Hinta asked.

"I'm in!"

Neji sighed, "Well, I guess I'll be joi …"

"Nooo-no, you stay here Neji-kun. We'll be-ee f-ine." The stammer was back, but the excitement remained shining in her smile. Neji shrugged, it wasn't like he thought there was any 'snipe' to hunt and TenTen was going to ride herd. What could it hurt?