Well, here's the next installment.
Demyx: It took you long enough.
Crow: I'm sorry if I've been busy with, uh, life!
Demyx: Yeah, well, don't let it happen again.
Crow: Oh yeah, I'll just let myself die before I forget to update.
Demyx: Good. I see you understand now.
Crow: -rolls eyes-
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.
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I couldn't help but snicker as Nari hauled herself over the hill, her face comically relieved when she saw us all – wait a second, I'm narrating this chapter? Damn that author! Note to self: Find a way to break the fourth wall and strangle the author.
Anyway, Nari headed straight for me. That cute little cat of hers tagged along, too. I've always wondered where that cat came from.
"Are we leaving yet?" she asked when she came down, breathless. The cat – Twi – had jumped up onto her shoulder and wrapped her long tail around Nari's neck.
"Not quite," I replied. "We're still waiting for Kakashi." I snorted. "Although, if we have to wait till he gets here, we'll be here till next week."
Nari nodded. "True, that," she commented. She scanned the crowd of shinobi. "Did you notice this chapter isn't third person?" she asked casually, as if breaking the fourth wall was no big deal.
"How do you do that?" I asked, more like demanded.
"Do what?"
"Break the fourglergle…."
"Say what now?"
"Talk about the storugilible…."
She gave me an odd look. "Okay . . .," she said slowly. Then comprehension dawned on her face. "You mean the fourth wall, right?" she asked. I nodded enthusiastically. She winced sympathetically. "Since I'm an OC, I can do that," she said apologetically. "I'm afraid you can't."
I began mentally running through every foul word I knew. There were the basics I learned at school, but then there was that time when Shikamaru stubbed his toe, and when Neji had recovered from his fight with Naruto in the final part of the Chuunin exams enough for Lee to tease him, I had added several new words to my list.
Suddenly there was an uproar near the gates. We all turned to look, and saw the Sand Siblings standing in the gateway! Kankuro and Temari were hanging onto Gaara as if their life depended on it, though I couldn't see why. He looked like he usually did, which is scary, don't get me wrong, but shouldn't they be used to their brother?
Nari and I pushed through the crowd. Kiba joined us as we walked past his team. Tch, like I didn't see that one coming. His crush on Nari is so obvious that the only one who doesn't see it is Nari.
"Nari, Tenten," he said, greeting us. "What's going on?" He had brought Akamaru with him today, and I had expected Twi and Akamaru to hiss and bark and do other animal things, but they barely even acknowledged one another.
Nari gave him a brief smile and shrug before turning to the Sand Siblings. "What are you three doing here?" she asked curiously.
Kankuro's eyes were wild and bloodshot. "We can't take it anymore!" he cried. "You have to fix him!"
"There's nothing wrong with me," Gaara said quietly. I was a bit taken aback, because he speaks even less than Neji.
"Fix what?" Nari inquired, raising one eyebrow. "He seems fine to me."
Temari and Kankuro looked at one another, and drew similar shuddering breaths. "The Muffin Man," Temari said clearly, looking at us.
I didn't understand why she was talking about the Muffin Man, until I remembered Gaara's dare and looked at him. His eyes had widened, and he whispered, "Muffins." Then sand began to surround him, and he jerked out of his siblings' grasp.
Nari walked briskly up to him and pulled him up by his shirt, smacking his face with a businesslike air. She completely ignored the sand, and it seemed to float past her without even thinking to strangle her guts out. If sand can think, that is. Hmm. I wonder what sand thoughts would be?
Dry. Hot. Boring. Why couldn't I have gotten a better job, like a leaf? At least they get to fall every autumn. All I get to do is be blown around and used in the occasional violent murder. What a pity.
Now I'm getting off track. Back to the Sand Siblings. Gaara had snapped out of it and gotten his murderous sand under control, thank goodness. Temari was begging Kurenai, who had been appointed leader of our little camp trip, to let them come. Finally she relented. I think the tears were what finally did it.
I walked back to my teammates. Neji was meditating, and I half-expected him to float into the air at any minute. Then he opened his eyes and stood up, walking behind a tree. He completely ignored me, of course. For a genius, he can be so dense sometimes! He doesn't even realize that I li– wait a second. He could read this, couldn't he? I'd better not say anything, then.
(The author would like to point out that at this time, Neji was whipping shut a laptop computer guiltily, cursing the fact that Tenten was so smart.)
"Where'dja get the laptop, Neji?" a cheerful voice chimed. I walked behind the tree curiously, to see Naruto looking at Neji. Neji was closing his knapsack guiltily, trying to ignore Naruto. That could just be because he's still sore from his defeat at Naruto's hands. Or maybe Naruto saw him on the Internet.
He is reading this, isn't he? Well, go away, Neji!
"Move out!" came the loud cry, saving Neji from the trouble to answer. Not that he would have, anyway. Like I said, he's very quiet.
The next few hours were pretty boring, for a ninja. There were some common road thugs that tried to rob us, but they were finished off before I even got a chance to fight! Nari and I spent some time griping about this, until we got the chance to take out two enemy ninja. Then we were happy.
While we were walking, I saw Hinata trying to pluck up her courage for something. I wondered what it could possibly be, and realized what it was when she began walking next to Naruto. She began talking to him, too! I was shocked that she would start a conversation with him, since she usually couldn't even look him in the eye.
"Hello, N-Naruto," she said quietly, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Oh, hey Hinata," he said. "This is pretty boring, isn't it?"
She nodded, and actually smiled. "It's enough to m-make you wish that some enemy n-ninja would attack," she said, barely stuttering at all. By now, Nari and I had to pick our jaws up off the floor and shove them back in place. "Well, I-I guess I'll see you later, N-Naruto," she added, dropping back to talk with us.
"Whoa, Hinata!" Nari exclaimed quietly, her eyes wide and round like saucers. "Are you taking confidence lessons, or something?"
Hinata actually smirked. Let me repeat that. Hinata smirked. And it was a true, Hyuuga-grade, Neji brand, capital-S Smirk. "Are you that surprised?" she asked, her voice smooth and unfaltering. I felt my eyes widen, rivaling Nari's dinner-plate eyes. "I figured I couldn't go through my life stuttering and being shy all the time," she continued, shrugging slightly. "Not when I'm 'the heir.'" She made air quotes with her fingers, an annoyed look on her face. "Really, won't they just make Neji the heir and get it done with? Everyone knows he's better."
Nari and I glanced at one another, then back at Hinata. Her voice was bitter and matter-of-fact. "I dunno, Hinata," Nari finally said in a choked voice. "You're not so bad yourself."
Hinata shrugged again. "If you think so," she said, her voice still in its confident form. "B-but don't tell a-anyone," she added, her voice soft and timid again. "I-It's a surprise. P-plus, I can use it t-to my advantage."
I grinned. "Good plan," I said with approval. "I guess we'll be seeing you."
Hinata raised one hand casually and dropped back further, to talk with her teammates.
Speaking of teammates. Here came one of mine now; his teeth practically blinded me. "TENTEN!" he exclaimed in his overly-loud voice. Now, who do you think it is? You get three guesses, and the first two don't count.
"Hi, Lee," I said wearily. Kudos to those of you who guessed right, and those of you who guessed Neji – for shame!
"Um, I've got to go . . . over there," Nari said hastily.
'Coward,' I mouthed, shielding my mouth from Lee with one hand. She cackled and jogged forward to chat with Sakura and Kakashi.
Luckily (for me), that was when we reached the campsite. "Uh, talk to you later, Lee," I said quickly, practically flying into the large building so I could check it out. There were five rooms with beds, and four beds were in each room. Sweet! I thought. One bed for everyone.
There was also a main gathering room, with a fireplace and everything. Also, there were three bathrooms. I shook my head as I could already picture the fights over the bathroom. I recalled that even in just one night, during what the boys and even some jounin ninja were starting to call "The Sleepover," Ino and Sakura had nearly torn down my house. They were arguing over who got the bathroom first, the morning after all of the fun stuff. I had to pin both of them to separate walls before they would stop.
"Okay, everyone pick a room!" Kurenai announced. "The jounin will all share one room, and the rest are up for grabs."
She just had to say that, didn't she? Instantly, there was a mad scramble as people rushed through the mountain cabin, trying to find the best room and claim it first. I don't want to indulge in all the boring details, but we'll just say that Sasuke's going to be very sore in the morning, and Lee won't be able to sit down comfortably for a few weeks.
So, this is how it all ended up:
In the first room, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Hinata ended up together. See, the three that were teamed together decided to stick together, and Hinata was separated from her team when Akamaru started fighting with Chouji. She tagged along with Naruto, and the four of them got a nice room overlooking the lake.
In the second room, Neji, Nari, Kiba, and I found ourselves unpacking. Lee had been separated from us almost instantaneously. Nari and I decided to stick together, so of course Kiba was with us. I'm not sure how Neji ended up with our little group, but that's the way it turned out. Our room was a large, airy room, with an almost loft-like quality. It had two large, panel-like windows that gave a beautiful view of the mountain and the sky. I was beginning to like this place.
In the third room, Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, and Temari were attempting to be situated, although I can already tell that Shino will have a rough time of it. Even as I'm unpacking now, I can hear Ino and Temari shouting at one another. Their room was one I only peeked in during my brief run-over of the cabin. All I saw when I looked in there were four beds, a high ceiling, and wavy red curtains.
In the fourth, and final, room, Chouji, Gaara, Lee, and Kankuro found themselves together. I almost laughed at the grouping of them, because Chouji and Lee didn't know one another at all, and Chouji seemed in perpetual terror of Gaara. Gaara and Lee got along all right, respecting one another and everything, but I wonder how it'll turn out with Gaara's – ahem – condition, if you will.
Once everyone had unpacked their belongings and finished their arguments, they came down to the living room. It was a nice room, with a large fireplace and several couches and chairs, plenty for tired shinobi. Or too many for hyper shinobi.
"What do we do first?" That came from Naruto. He was jumping up and down, grinning in glee.
Kurenai looked around, exasperated. "We need some ORDER!" she shouted, making everyone freeze.
"How about we all go for a swim in the lake?" Nari suggested in the quiet.
I nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me," I said. Yeah, a good plan. I laughed inwardly as I envisioned the chaos that was unavoidable if we went that route.
"Very well, then," Kurenai agreed. "A swim in the lake, and then we'll figure out some teamwork exercises," she added with a glare. "Don't forget that we're here for a reason."
Everyone nodded and went up to their rooms to get their swimming things.
I smiled at Neji as I pulled my swimsuit out of my pack. "Did you even bring a swimsuit, Neji?" I teased. He grunted, and I laughed as I went down to fight for my right to one of the bathrooms. Yes, this swim in the lake would be very interesting, indeed. . . .
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So, what do you think so far? I know it's late, but I had to get this up.
Demyx: Not bad at all, Crow. Better by far than your KH fics, for sure.
Crow: Hey!
Demyx: Oh, lighten up.
Crow: You suck. –to readers- Please review!