A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, the poem is Sappho's, and the fic is mine.
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Without warning
as a whirlwind
swoops on an oak
Love shakes my heart.
- Sappho
Chapter 6 – Panic
Sasuke hurried out onto the streets of Konoha. He glanced around, but he could see no sign of Naruto anywhere. "Naruto!" he yelled impatiently. "Naruto! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He set off, looking into shops, pushing through crowds. Everything was decorated in pink and red. The air hummed loudly with the commotion of chattering couples. Sasuke growled in frustration. I can't think with this much noise around me!
He stopped and leaned against a building, trying to concentrate. I have to focus. Alright. If I was a hyperactive, loud-mouth ninja, where would I go . . . where would I be right now . . .
Well, I may as well check all places that have to do with ramen . . . The Uchiha decided that was a good start, since before then he had been wandering randomly through the village. "Naruto!" the dark-haired ninja called out again. He turned onto another street and stopped dead in his tracks.
Run! Run for your life! his instincts told him urgently, but he couldn't move.
The Uchiha stood there, paralyzed with fear, as the girls descended upon him.
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Shikamaru smoothed the picnic blanket for the hundredth time. She's not late, she's not late, she's not late . . . he reminded himself. He was so incredibly nervous . . . each second he waited stretched on like eternity. It seemed that he'd been sitting on the hill for hours.
Suddenly, the dark-haired ninja's head shot up. Hinata had appeared on the road leading out of Konoha. Shikamaru threw himself down on the grass out of her sight. His head felt light. He smoothed his shirt worriedly and fixed his pony-tail. He took a deep breath. Must calm down, must calm down . . .
Shikamaru checked one last time that everything was in its place—the basket he had brought had been unpacked and he had laid plates and bowls out for both of them. The soup was still warm and the roses he bought for her hadn't wilted. Everything was perfect. He'd even got Hinata her favorite kind of chocolate—he'd needed to ask around for hours to find out what she liked. Shikamaru went over all of it in his mind a final time.
"Sh-shika-m-maru-k-kun?"
The dark-haired ninja whirled around, getting clumsily to his feet. "Hey Hinata! You look . . . amazing . . ." The lovesick ninja stared at his date in awe. The Hyuuga's dress seemed to be a part of the sky—it was the delicate shade of blue he had gazed at so many times, watching the clouds float overhead. His eyes noticed her nervously clasped hands and drifted up to study her face. The female ninja stared back.
"Hinata, I—"
"Sh-shik-kamaru—"
The two ninja started at once, and then stopped abruptly. There was silence.
"Um! Sit down! I, uhhh, made soup?! Ummm . . ."
Hinata blushed and sat down next to Shikamaru. She took a deep breath, looking sideways at the other ninja. "It was really nice of you to ask me to have lunch with you out here—it's beautiful," she whispered, shifting her eyes to look down at her plate.
Shikamaru smiled. "Uh . . . thanks?" He looked away. Suddenly he turned back. "Hinata, these flowers are for you."
The Hyuuga looked up in awe. "Oh Shikamaru! Th-thank you . . ."
A self-conscious Shikamaru smiled as the other ninja took the roses from him timidly. "So. Ummm . . ."
Hinata blushed. "W-wait, Sh-shikamaru-kun . . . I have something for you too." She took a box out of her bag and handed it to the stunned ninja.
"Wh—"
"Open it."
Shikamaru lifted the lid of the box and smiled with delight. "Did you bake these yourself, Hinata? They smell amazzzing . . ." he sighed.
Hinata blushed, suddenly feeling very warm. "Th-thank you, Shikamaru-k-kun . . . I kn-new you liked clouds so I thought . . ."
"Cloud-shaped cookies! Brilliant!" Shikamaru sighed, lying back with his arms behind his head.
Hinata smiled. "S-so . . . Sh-shika-m-maru-kun . . . what do you want to talk about?"
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Naruto tapped his foot in impatience. Where the hell is Sasuke? Kakashi-sensei told me to wait here but nothing's happening! Ichiraku's is the first place he would check if he was looking for me, right? Then why isn't he here? Maybe something went wrong . . . Naruto sighed and leaned against the wall of the restaurant. Seriously, he would KNOW I'd be in a place like this—lots of ramen . . . He licked his lips and smiled as the smell of noodles drifted around him.
While the blonde ninja was dreaming of ramen, Kakashi came in through the doors of the restaurant and walked up to him. "Naruto!" he whispered nervously. "Uhhh . . . well . . . the plan isn't really working."
Naruto snapped back from his dreams of ramen. "Wh-what do you mean?!"
Kakashi fidgeted. "It seems . . . that a certain . . .Uchiha . . ."
Naruto gulped.
". . . has been attacked by lovesick teenage ninja . . . and kidnapped."
Naruto's eyes widened. He put a hand to his forehead. "OH NO!" he wailed. "WHERE ARE THEY TAKING HIM?!"
"Well, they were headed in the direction of the dorms the last time I saw them . . ." the older ninja mused. "They were all squealing something about snuggling with him and playing with his hair . . ."
Naruto lowered his eyebrows ominously. I'm the only one who's allowed to snuggle with Sasuke . . . or play with his silky, dark blue, gorgeous hair. . .
"Bye, Kakashi-sensei!" the blonde yelled as he ran out the door.
Kakashi put a hand behind his head, breathing in a sigh of relief. My plan didn't work so well after all . . . but maybe there's still a chance for them. He smiled. They're so cute together! His visible eye closed in a gleeful half-moon. Who would've known the famous copy-nin's thoughts would sound like those of a fangirl?
Suddenly, Neji skipped up to the masked ninja and poked him with his Gentle Fist Technique.
"Ow! What was that for?" Kakashi mumbled dolefully, clutching his stomach in pain.
The Hyuuga cackled, taking another lick at his ice-cream cone. "Do you have any extra change? I need more money to buy ice-cream."
Kakashi looked sternly at the young ninja. "No more sugar for you, young man. You're waaay too hyper already."
"Nooo, I'm not hyper!" the Hyuuga pouted, bouncing up and down.
Kakashi shook his head. "You've been acting strangely all day. Even Lee mentioned it and he's normally not that perceptive. When was the last time you ate . . . something besides ice-cream?"
Neji had to think for a moment. "Hn, that would be the day before yesterday when I had some sorbet . . ."
The masked ninja folded his arms and glared down at Neji. "You've been living off sugar for way to long now. That's bad for you, you know."
The Hyuuga shrugged and jabbed the masked ninja in the shoulder. "I don't care." He licked his ice-cream again.
Kakashi grasped his shoulder, scowling at the dark-haired ninja before him. He took a deep breath and tried another technique. "Hn, you know, girls don't like hyperactive ninja. . . I mean, you won't get any attention from the ladies if you're this crazy all the time," he explained with a wink.
Neji sniffed haughtily, closing his eyes as he savored his ice-cream . "Girls don't like hyperactive ninja, but Sasukes do." His eyes shot open. "NOT THAT I WANT SASUKE'S ATTENTION!" He cleared his throat, the smug look returning to his face. "Actually, being hyperactive scares off all my fangirls. You saw what happened to Sasuke. See, that's what I'm avoiding. I don't fancy being kidnapped any time soon."
Understanding dawned in Kakashi's visible eye, but then he raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "But there's one girl's attention you don't want to avoid, isn't there?"
Neji raised his eyebrows. How could the copy ninja know about THAT?
"Tenten . . ."
The Hyuuga blushed, glaring at the older ninja. "FINE!" he growled. "But so what?!"
Kakashi smirked beneath his mask. "Wouldn't it be sad if another ninja asked her to have lunch with him . . . and then they started dating . . . and then they got married . . ." He widened his eyes to add effect.
A look of intense horror grew on the Hyuuga's face.
". . . and then you never got to tell her that you loved her?" Kakashi batted the eyelashes of his visible eye and clutched his hands to his chest in a silly imitation of a lovesick teenage girl.
Neji puffed himself up but then deflated before he even started to deny it. He thrust his ice-cream into Kakashi's hands and dashed out the door. "TENTEN! TENTEN! WE NEED TO TALK! WHERE ARE YOU?!" the distressed Hyuuga shrieked, his voice receding as he got farther and farther away.
Kakashi looked down at the ice-cream in his hands. Not only am I the best match-maker in Konoha, I just got free ice-cream . . .
His visible eye closed in a half moon. I sure am good . . .
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Shikamaru put the last dish back in his basket. He looked up at Hinata. Now that they had finished eating he didn't know what to do . . . he almost wanted to get out of there as fast as he could. Being around her for this long . . . the dark-haired ninja sighed. It was putting a spell on him.
Shikamaru shook himself and stood up. "Well, I guess I'd better be going . . ."
The Hyuuga's eyes widened and she looked away. "Oh, I-I thought that maybe . . ." Her lips trembled slightly.
"Y-yes?" Shikamaru mentally slapped himself for being so awkward.
"There's this river not far from here . . . I thought that m-maybe we could . . . walk there?" Hinata whispered. Shikamaru blinked. "It's beautiful . . . and I wanted to show it to you!" she said suddenly. Without any kind of warning, the Hyuuga took his hand and led him down the hill, a faint smile on her lips.
Shikamaru closed his eyes and leaned against Hinata, not realizing what he was doing until she squeezed his hand tentatively. He started and she laughed, a blush appearing on her cheeks. "Shikamaru-kun, come on!"
The dark-haired ninja flushed red and ran after the Hyuuga as she disappeared into the shade of the trees ahead.
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A/N: Awww! Shika and Hinata are so cute together! Oh, and in case you're confuzzled, Kakashi's plan was just to wait in a ramen shop. Some plan . . . seriously Kakashi-sensei. Not creative at all, even though it should have worked.
haha, Neji is sugar-high! I actually didn't intend to put him in this fic at all, but then he kind of inserted himself in that scene with Hinata and I had to explain his strange behavior (i.e. skipping around and being altogether hyper)
Next time: Enter . . . Evil Fangirl Number One and her Minions of Doom. Lee and Sakura talk about Naruto and Sasuke. Tenten bakes a cake.
Please review! Because every time you don't review, a little innocent bunny DIES.
lol.