Sorry if it's a little shorter then normal! I practically typed this all up in one to one and a half days to get this to you relatively on time. I think the whole chapter's about 3000 words rather then 4000 words… But you hopefully won't notice!
And yeah, sorry about the lateness once again. -- I had this almost ready a fe days ago then I delayed because I thought I had plently of time. Bah- I'm really sorry! I promise to get it done exactly on time next week!
The Ox: Go island hopping? THANK YOU SO MUCH for addressing that! I've tried to go come up with a mini explanation somewhere in this chapter! That actually is quite a logical idea… THANK YOU!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! I
ALL OF YOU AND THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I know I'm so unorganized and late and all that- but this time WILL be better as I'm getting faster at writing and typing noticeably AND also that I'm actually trying to organize myself with school, work, and writing! Whee. A whole paragraph that is probably a total waste of your and my time since you just want the story, eh?
Oh wait. Dsiclaimer. Can't forget that, can we?
DISCLAIMER: Umm… Who own's Naruto? Do I REALLY need to tell you? Oh. I do? It's owned by this Japanese person who owns Naruto.
Bah. I'm getting sick of making of disclaimers. I've never actually used the disclaimer "I do not own Naruto/Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto' or something like that… That's lame.
So- as an extra note, BEFORE you go read the story, if you come up with anything different, go tell me in a review and I'll start to use them In upcoming chapters. Yes, I know I'm lazy. -- Let's call it a partnership type of thing. I write the story, you write the disclaimer if you want to. Everyone's happy. No you can go read the chapter.
Oh- no. wait. I'm also going to re edit some of this tomorrow for final grammar and whatnot. So yeah. Now you can read the story.
(DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS THE LONGEST AUTHOR NOTE I'VE DONE IN A WHILE?)
Oh sorry bout that.
Naruto Shipwreck Chapter 8:
Rainy Days
Move to the left. Move to the right. Move forward. Move to the right, kick. Move backward. Move to the left. Move to the left. Kick.
The raindrop disintegrated into tiny particles and Rock Lee retracted his foot before the rain could catch it in its wet touch. Hopping to his left, the Chuunin grinned as he moved out of the way from a particularly large raindrop.
He was dry- Absolutely dry! Even though the rain was pouring down, he was dry. Gai sensei would be proud! All it took was a little more speed and concentration. This island experience was proving very… beneficial. Even if the others were being pessimists, he was dry and green and happy.
He scooped up another fruit from the ground and deposited it onto the sack on his back- while still keeping out of rain's way. Normal people would've have fainted form amazement, as Rock Lee was moving fast- Faster then the rain, and just under the blink of an eye.
Glancing up, the Chuunin caught sight of several fruit hanging from a tall tree. How many were there…? One, two… four, five…eight, nine, ten! Yosh! He would knock off all the fruits in the tree, catch them and ignite his fire of youth! YOSH! Gai-sensei really then would be proud!
Emboldened by these thoughts, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha ran up the tree high speed. With a single midair spinning kick, the fifteen year old watched as the small group of fruit started to descend towards the ground. Suddenly realizing that he was going to get wet soon, Lee frantically jumped back into the shelter of the tree and grappled at the trunk with his hands.
Wait a minute- The fruits! And, however ludicrous it may have sounded, Rock Lee literally ran back down the tree, his shoes stampeding on its trunk, gabbing yellow skinned fruits here and there.
One, two… three, four, and five! The sixth fruit landed in his sack and then came the seventh… Eight… Nine… Last One! Lee pumping his arms dived after the fruit, forgetting about not getting wet and everything else.
In later moments, Rock Lee might have ranted about how he fully ignited his flames of youth by this particular act. Unfortunately Rock Lee didn't fully ignite his flames of youth- his slipped on a wet part of the tree trunk and crashed landed into the ground, his heard knocking hard on the trunk.
The yellow fruit rolled away and out of site and to his dismay, the rest of the fruit in his sack had also started to tumble out. And to top it off, Rock Lee started to notice something… Something tragic, something terrible, something extremely wrong-
He was wet. As childish as it seemed, the beloved Lee-san to many- sniffled. He was drenched. He sniffled again. Fortunately Tenten or Neji weren't here or they'd surely beat the lovely youthful flames all the way out of him. Upon sniffling the third and final time, the Chuunin noticed something… else.
It wasn't exactly tragic, or terrible, or extremely wrong- it was just… different. Oh wait. He was lying upside down. Ooops. In a single movement the taijutsu specialist righted himself up again. So… what was he thinking about again?
A few seconds passed and the only sound was of the rain pounding down on him. Hmmm… Oh. OH RIGHT! He pointed his youthful finger in one direction. No… no… no… He didn't even know where that was to…
Another few seconds passed. More rain pounded down on Rock Lee.
Oh. Hmm… He rubbed his youthful bowl cut head in an effort to stop a headache that had been caused by his fall. Oh yeah!
He took a few youthful confident steps in one direction- before he tripped. Over a large yellow fruit. This really was irritating. It was a pity Gai-sensei wasn't here. He'd know what to do. Lee then finally noticed something odd.
He was lying upside down. Strangely, he had this huge wave of déjà vu coming to him- added to the fact that he had the headache… So. Rock Lee looked with his youthful eyes in each direction, keeping in his very youthful position.
What had happened the last time he was like this…? Oh. Right.
Right.
Very right.
Youthful right.
Blazing fires of youth right.
Sakura-chan right of rightness. Right of-
Lee blinked. Enough of that. He had to be serious. Oh. Oh yeah. Oh, oh- no. He wasn't going to start on something like that again. He had to concentrate and be intelligent… like Gai-sensei.
By now, Lee was totally wet to the skin but he didn't notice. But, after a few moments more… it got through to his brain what he was trying to remember. There was a path or something… over there… and it looked man made…! Yeah! Yeah that's right!
"YOSH!" shouted Lee- youthfully.
And whether this all came from his headache or just from him himself, Rock Lee dashed further into the jungle, without a further care about the fruit- only that he was finally feeling wonderfully youthfully youthful.
He flashed the 'Good Guy Smile' to no one in particular as he ran. Unfortunately he didn't see or hear a particular rare type of jungle squirrel drop off a tree branch unconscious from the…youthfulness and… shininess of it. Ah well.
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Temari sighed and jumped for cover under a tree. But even as the Jonin flattened herself again the trunk, the plant could do little to stop the furious downpour of rain- Terrible, hateful rain. In a nearby tree, she could see the Uchiha mimic her movements. The ground had already started to turn into a swamp of mud and weeds and everything else was as slippery as hell.
Jungle weather really was unpredictable, wasn't it? One minute it was like being cooked alive in a blazing inferno, the next minute you were being drowned in an ocean of rain- Wonderful. Back home, in Suna there were only three types of weather: Hot, Hotter, and Hell-Fury Hot.
"Temari, we need to keep moving."
She almost flinched when she saw him- standing, centimeters away from her, his head titled up to her. Normally at times like that this, romantic music would be played and there'd be some sort of fluffy kiss. Unfortunately, this was Uchiha Sasuke standing in front of her, not some kind of handsome prince- not to take away from the fact that he was good looking and handsome.
Heck, his stance would have been almost suggestive if not for the fact, that he had to stand like this beside her, and tilt his head slightly up- she was of course taller via the age gap.
"We need to keep moving."
Temari nodded. No wonder Ino and Sakura and fan-girled him for so long… The crimson red sharingan eyes, the wet hair that seemed to enhance his appearance- and of course he was the Uchiha Sasuke. Fortunately she wasn't interested in him. Even if Sakura thought she was- how amusing. Temari smiled upon remembering how the Haruno had kept looking at her and Sasuke.
Temari scanned the surroundings, analyzing the situation quickly. They had traveled for at least two hours from their main camp. Due to the weather conditions, they'd definitely have to spend the night alone together. Wouldn't that give Sakura-san ideas? Temari smirked.
"We're probably going to have to spend the night out here… We need to look out for possible shelters."
"I've already thought of that. We'll travel for another hour before getting food- then we'll stop."
"Shouldn't we look for a shelter first?"
"No. Trust me."
"Have you found a shelter yet?"
Temari still didn't really trust the Uchiha- even if he was hot. There was just something about how he followed Orochimaru around for two years, finally brought back by Naruto and Sakura that irked her. Even if Naruto and Sakura had somewhat childish faith and trust in him- she didn't. After all, who knew if he was still blood thirsty and power mad?
"No. Trust Me-" Sasuke broke of his sentence with a glance at a tree near them.
Temari followed his gaze- leaves rustled on the branches before figure jumped out. Hand on fan; the kunoichi peered through the rain that blurred her vision. Her hand relaxed on her fan- it was Sakura. Another figure jumped out the tree, this time more smoothly. Temari peered again.
"The Hyuuga and Sakura."
Ah. Temari grinned and waved at the two. Seeing her and Sasuke together at such close proximity… yeah, that really would give Sakura-san ideas.
"Hey! What are you guys doing here?"
Neji and Sakura jumped for shelter into a tree right next to them. They too, flattened themselves against the trunk in an effort to stop the rain from reaching them. Out of the corner of her eye, Temari saw the Uchiha's eyes narrow slightly- of course. He was having the same type of suggestive ideas about Sakura and Hyuuga Neji as Sakura had with her and him. How very amusing.
"We said we'd be scouting in the area next to you guys, right Neji?"
"Liar."
"I suppose… But aren't you guys cutting it?" Temari raised an eyebrow, "If you go on like that, you'll reach the area where Kiba and Tenten are exploring…"
At this statement Neji's eyes seemed to gaze in a distant direction quickly, "Sakura stay here. I need to check something out."
Temari watched, again, amused as the Hyuuga bounded off in the direction of where Kiba and Tenten were meant to be. What a complicated tangle of romance. You could almost call it a soap opera.
"Sakura- you're getting drenched. Find another tree." Sasuke's words seemed to be irritated- but then, they only seemed to be and were probably hiding his true intentions.
Sakura complied and as she did, Sasuke added almost accusingly, "So… what have you and the Hyuuga been doing."
"Exploring." But Sakura didn't sound rock hard sure, "And you two?"
Temari was about to answer, but was cut off by Sasuke, "Exploring- as we were MEANT to do. I wonder if you and the Hyuuga have followed that at all."
"Of course we did!" retorted Sakura indignantly, "After Neji comes back, continue."
"And do what?" Sasuke countered, almost fiercely.
"…"
Temari sighed and watched silently as the two Konoha-nin traded back remarks close enough to be insults with each other. From what she knew, Sakura had made a firm decision when Sasuke returned to forget about her puppy love from when they were genin. Unfortunately, Sasuke didn't know this- and it probably wouldn't be be a complete lie if she said the Uchiha was developing some sort of romantic attachment to the Haruno and the Haruno herself was trying to decide if she was delusional or if it was for real. She had kept to delusional so far.
"Are you planning to have sex with him then?"
Temari blinked incredulously and twirled around to see the two half glaring at each other. What the hell had just happened?
"No! No way! Are you out of your mind?"
"Yes. Are you two insane? Yes."
"Maybe. But then, I'm not a slut."
"Oooh. Vicious."
Sakura looked appalled and half confused- apparently not knowing why he was treating her like this.
Temari rubbed her forehead with one hand, not really wanting to get caught in the middle of this. But she didn't want to stand there all day either…They probably would've have gone on like this forever, growing more and more nastier so Temari put her foot down- literally and metaphorically.
"I've got no idea what's happening here so will you two please stop being so childish?"
Both glanced at her- Sasuke with a glare in his eyes.
"Mind your own business."
"Sasuke!"
"Stay out of this Sakura!"
"But-"
"…"
"… …"
That last statement came from Neji.
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"So… we're going to stay here… all afternoon and watch the rain?" asked Yamanaka Ino gloomily.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Responded Nara Shikamaru from where he sat again the wood wall of the hut.
"How fun." Ino muttered sarcastically, "Trust you to choose the job that lets us do nothing."
They had been there for almost three hours now… When were the others coming back! But then, the question was if they were even coming back that day. Shikamaru had pointed out that the weather would prevent most from getting back. Other then Lee, of course. He was… different
"Hey, at least the rain's letting up…"
The blonde glanced at the cloud filled sky dubiously, "You think? It looks the same…"
"The clouds are whitish grey- they used to be black."
"How observant."
Ino yawned. This boring- extremely boring. She and Shikamaru were on the task of 'guarding' the hut from 'predators'. Yeah. The only thing that would attack them was this stupid rain pelting down at them. Fortunately, the hut was well built (thanks to her) and had so far repelled the rain.
"I wonder how the others are going…" Ino stretched her arms from where she sat at the doorway of their lodge.
"Fine…" Shikamaru waved his hand, "Chouji's probably eating, Gaara watching Chouji, Lee being enthusiastic… and Tenten, Kiba, Neji, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Shino, and Kankuro will of course be scouting somewhere getting saturated."
"Yeah, I suppose- hey Shikamaru, what do you think of Temari-san…?" said Ino.
"Ahhh…" dropped off into the steady sound of raindrops.
Several seconds passed. Ino blinked, annoyed, and glanced at the Chuunin.
"Answer me, will you?"
"Bossy as ever Ino… Temari- I don't know… she's quite a nice person." Replied Shikamaru hurriedly, both eyes closed, as if he were trying to get to sleep.
"How much do you like her?" Ino pressed on.
One eye of the Nara opened cautiously, "And you would want to know that because…?"
"Because I want to know!" said Ino forcefully, emphasizing the word 'I'.
Actually Ino did have a suspicion in the inner of inner depths of her inner mind of exactly why she wanted to know this fact. Because, in the inner of inner depths of Yamanaka Ino's inner mind, Yamanaka Ino was afraid that a relationship between a certain Nara and certain Sand Nin would extend to more than 'just friends'. But of course, just normal Ino with her inner of inners did not think of this.
"Shikamaru closed his one open eye, "What does it matter to you, Ino? You've just got over the Sasuke fan girl craze haven't you? Have you realized finally how handsome and charming I am?"
Shikamaru glanced at her questioningly. Ino shrugged.
"Idiot- You're too skinny to be good looking. But then I suppose your attractiveness has increased over the past few years. So." Ino poked Shikamaru, "How much do you like Temari, eh?"
"I don't know…I guess I like her quite a lot… She's a good person- Temari."
A sudden low nearly inaudible unidentifiable sound broke through the drum of raindrops
"Hey… did you just hear something…?" Ino practically leapt to her feet, eager for some action, and also to get out of the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.
"Did you forget the rain Ino? Just leave it. You'll be drenched if you go outside." But even Shikamaru sounded relieved.
"Gah- I don't care. Anything's better than this!"
Ino practically raced out the door, kunai in hand. Maybe it was a boar? Lee hadn't come back with the food yet and she was starving. The Yamanaka glanced around, on her the tips of her toes, ready for battle.
Damn it- Shikamaru wasn't… in love with Temari-san was he… or something like that. Ino pushed the thoughts away. Shikamaru was Shikamaru- he was so lazy, he'd only fall in love if a woman waited on him hand and foot. And she doubted Temari would ever do that for anybody except Gaara. But even so, a painful lump in her throat was felt clearly.
The sound came again, letting Ino forget her thoughts.
There it was again… That peculiar sound… What was that noise…? And why did it sound so familiar… A louder noise came, followed by a slithering movement from behind her. Ino spun around to meet the creature.
"Shit."
It was a snake. Yes, she had found a snake.
And a very large snake it was, looking fearsome and extraordinarily green- damn.
And didn't she hear that most jungle snakes were poisonous…?
Yamanaka Ino… hated snakes.
And here she was in front of the largest scariest one she'd probably ever see.
What a coincidence.
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"Naruto-kun, would you like to stop for the day?" Hinata tapped the shoulder of the orange clad shinobi in front of her, "The rain- I don't think it'll stop soon- we should find shelter before it gets too dark."
Hinata glanced behind her, where the dim silhouette of a setting sun peeked through the harsh onslaught of rain. Naruto glanced back at her.
"Eh? It's already evening, Hinata-chan? I thought we could keep going for another few hours…"
Hinata winced, "Ah Naruto- the sun… It's going to be nightfall soon."
One hand pointed at the brilliant orange half circle shape.
Naruto squinted, one hand over his eyes, "That was the sun?"
"…" Hinata touched her forehead with one hand with a sigh, "Yes Naruto-kun, that was the sun…"
The Hyuuga squeezed water from her hair- she and Naruto had been exploring the beaches on the island- where there had been no trees, no shelter, no nothing. So they had been saturated from head to toe in cold water. But Hinata didn't really mind. After all, it WAS three hours with Naruto-kun… how bad could things get? Even if Naruto didn't seem to really notice the rain at all…
The Chuunin with much surprise, felt her hand being grabbed suddenly, and before she knew half of what was happening, the Hyuuga was literally being dragged across the beach, with Naruto yelling, "Faster Hinata! Run! Out of the rain!"
Oh- so he had noticed at last. Hinata now didn't even notice the rain, but just the fact of his hand against hers. He face flushed red. What did this mean? Did Naruto-
Both shinobi crashed into the sand, Naruto falling on top of Hinata, the blonde yelling, "We made it!"
Several moments passed until both ninja became aware of their exact lying position. Naruto jumped off Hinata, holding his hands up saying, "I'm sorry Hinata-chan! I'm so sorry!"
Hinata herself was about to faint. Fortunately she stopped herself- it was a training she had herself do ever since she had met Naruto-kun. So far she had progressed from fainting every time he talked to her to fainting nearly every time he touched her. Amazing progress. An awkward silence ensued.
Hinata took this time to glance around, finally taking in her surroundings. It was a small rock cave and at the entrance, rain steadily beat down on the beach, the sea, and everywhere else.
Wait- did that mean; did that mean that she was going to sleep her with Naruto-kun? Hinata blushed again, pushing romantic images out of her thoughts. No-That would be disrespectable and so… shameful.
"Hey Hinata," Naruto no longer embarrassed glance at her, "You about getting away from the island?"
"Yes, Naruto-kun?"
"Why don't we just walk all the way to the closet island? The keep going from island to island till we get to the main land?"
Hinata blinked in consideration, "Um… Well- Naruto, I don't think we'd have enough chakra to that. You'd have to walk on water with your chakra for at least a quarter to half a day to get to the closest island… It's a lot farther then it looks."
Naruto's brow crinkled up as he processed this 'complicated' string of information, "Oh."
Hinata smiled at him before she kneeled down, and placed her bag on the floor. As she reached into her bag, Hinata felt around, making sure nothing had been ruined by the rain. Most things were wet, but they'd live for another day on the island. Suddenly, she felt the smooth surface of plastic at her fingertips and the Chuunin nearly pulled it out in surprise when she remembered what it was.
Shino had given the thing to her- he had one of the survival packs and Hinata knew the Chuunin didn't want to cause another ruckus by revealing it. The Hyuuga glanced at Naruto who had taken off his normal orange and black jacket and had started to squeeze water out of it. She had to avoid look at the muscles.
Anyway, she had to do it now. Who knew when she might get teamed up alone with Naruto again? It had to be now. Half trembling, Hinata walked up to Naruto, the object behind her back. What if he didn't like it? What if- Wait. Of course Naruto would like it… in fact he'd go crazy over it. But-but-
Hinata cast the negative thoughts away and increased her pace, trying to stride confidently. She succeeded, but she nearly tripped over Naruto himself, who had been sitting down. Squeaking an apology, Hinata jumped back as Naruto rubbed his head, his whiskered face looking up at her in confusion.
"Hey Hinata-chan, what ya up-"
On impulse and knowing which other way to do it, Hinata dropped the item into Naruto's lap saying, "Naruto-kun, I know you came back to Konoha a month after your birthday, and-and, well… this is your birthday present."
The two stood their awkwardly for a few moments again, not rally knowing what to do or say, Naruto staring down at his present in pure amazement.
"Thank you…" he managed, "Thank you Hinata."
And which that he enveloped her in a full blown hug, half squeezing the life out of her, and half yelling for joy, somewhat childish. Cute, even. But Hinata took little notice of these observations but of the ones below…
Naruto-kun was hugging her…. HUGGING her! Hinata felt the air going out of her lungs her face becoming red… Naruto-kun really was hugging her… Did he like her? And with that she fell unconscious.
The reader may now want to know what EXACTLY did the heiress of the Hyuuga clan give to Naruto that would make him so… joyful?
The next four words would definitely explain:
A cup of Instant Ramen.
EVEN if it was five words- but 'a' doesn't count.
Squee. NaruHina fluffy stuff- even if I'm not very good at that. Ah well, like I said, I'll fix it up tommrowo. Anyway, I'm running a poll/vote thing. I'm trying to start to get a move on all the relationships as you can see. So, I'm wondering which one I should 'work on/write' first. So if you review, tell if you either want…
ShikaIno OR NaruHina OR NejiTen OR SasuSaku to get a move on.
Till Next Week,
-StarDragon X