HELLO AGAIN! So, mostly this chapter will be a little wacky - but hey, all the usual twelve (PLUS A SPECIAL CAMEO BY GAI-SENSEI) minus Shino are crowded together in one small area, so what do you expect?
Any Lee/Ten fans will squeal with delight after reading this chapter. Neji/Ten fans shouldn't be bothered by it, as it was a mere joke that I was suddenly inspired with and had to post SOMEWHERE. I was squealing too.
Oh yeah, for all Kiba/Hina fans: It will only last for about half the story, then it will change into Kiba/Hina/Shino, then concludes with Shino/Hina - but Kiba has a very very funny part with another character that'll be worth reading at the very end.
Me... and Naruto... I just don't own him...
The (Rather Dysfunctional) Meeting!
The next day, Shino woke up at the usual hour. After dressing and making his bed, as Shino, unlike Kiba, tried to maintain a somewhat dignified reputation, he nearly forgot his sunglasses as he headed out his room. Reaching for his sunglasses, he noticed a miniscule note attached to them. Shino instantly recognized the scribbled handwriting, which was Inuzuka Kiba's.
Dear Shino AKA Love Bug (Shino cringed at that),
Kurenai-sensei CANCELLED PRACTICE TODAY! How awesome is that? Especially since today's a week before your thirteenth birthday, too, as if she knew that we - uh oh, Hinata's giving me that look again. Forget everything I just wrote, okay Shino? But remember that practice is cancelled! Oh, and whatever you do, DON'T GO TO ICHIRAKU RAMEN! Go eat a salad or something, you NOT MEAT-EATER! (1)
HAVE A FUN SUNDAY!
From,
Kiba, Akamaru (Akamaru's signature was a pawprint), and Hinata, your best buddies in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD - and don't you DARE deny it!
Although he was mildly curious why Kiba forbade him to meet them at Ichiraku Ramen as they usually do every Sunday, he shrugged, crumpled the note, and exited his room.
"Alright, alright, alright!" Kiba hollered over his friends' blaring chatter. Receiving zero response, he cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed. "HEY! LISTEN UP! MEETING'S STARTED!"
The remainder of the twelve-year-olds' jabbering died down.
Kiba glanced around nervously as he tugged at his shirt's neck. "Uh, yeah! So…" he took a double-take around the room to ascertain Shino's absence, "we're throwing a surprise party for Shino's thirteenth birthday!"
"Yeah, but we already know that!" Naruto complained impatiently. Ayame walked over to his side of the bar. "Oh yeah, about seven more bowls of ramen…" he muttered.
"Ugh!" Kiba grunted. "We called you all here today so we could assign jobs for everyone!"
"Oh! Well, that's no big deal!" Ino exclaimed.
"And," Kiba continued. "To figure out a way for us to set up the decorations without Shino knowing."
"An impossible feat…" Neji murmured. "You guys have seriously lost it."
"Yeah, Neji's right," Sakura interrupted. "How do you guys plan on keeping a secret from Shino? And, if he caught on that we were hiding something, he would play his 'sulk' card until we fess up."
"Exactly!" Kiba agreed. "But first, let's tackle the jobs. Hinata will explain them, since she did the majority of the planning. Take it away, Hinata!" and he dramatically pointed in her direction.
"Um… h-hi everyone?" she waved shyly, feeling the gazes of the other ten in the room. "A-anyways, we only h-have a week to p-pr-prepare, and we need two people t-to handle each j-job…"
"Okay, that should make things easier! Good idea, Hinata!" Naruto commented.
Feeling faint, Hinata lost her ability to speak. "Uh, um……."
Kiba growled and shot death glares at Naruto. "SO! What are the jobs, Hinata?" he shouted, although he tried not to sound very imposing in front of her.
"Uh - oh!" Hinata snapped back to reality. "W-well, we need to…" she thought for a moment, nearly forgetting the list of jobs after Naruto invaded all her thought processes and prevented her from thinking clearly. "A-acquire decorations, refreshments and snacks, bake a cake, set up the decorations, and send out invitations for others wh-who might l-like to c-come… and th-then there's the issue of distracting Shino…"
"…….."
"That sounds too troublesome. I mean, more troublesome than… women…" Shikamaru announced, full of disgust.
"Yeah, I know," Tenten remarked. "I mean, that's a lot to - HEY!" Remembering Shikamaru's previous comment, she lunged at him. Shikamaru, too lethargic to run away, shut his eyes tight and prepared for the worst.
"TENTEN!" Lee called out. "Never resort to violence in response to such a petty comment!" He caught Tenten, who was in mid-air in her lunge at Shikamaru, around her waist, and they both toppled onto the ground beside him.
"Oh, hey thanks, Lee," Shikamaru recognized Lee's heroic deed with the most sincerity he could manage. Without trying too hard, of course.
"Gah, you idiot!" Tenten screeched. "Now I can't get up!"
"I was only trying to do what is in the name of youth!" Lee replied heartily.
"'The name of youth' my ass…" she muttered.
"Everyone's watching you guys, you know," Shikamaru interrupted casually. Lee and Tenten blushed as it dawned on them what they must look like and how disturbingly silent it was in the room.
"ANYWAY, back on track!" Kiba announced, trying to revert their attention back to the matter at hand. "So, now let's assign these jobs -"
"Hello my precious students! Are you all basking in the springtime of youth today?" Lee's mentor cried as he waved to the eleven.
Shikamaru laughed. "Well SOME people are enjoying today, that's for sure…" nodding to the pair struggling to break free next to him. Tenten made a mental note to kill Shikamaru and Lee after the meeting.
"You all are so quiet today! What seems to be the prob -" Gai stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed his beloved, most prized student and his other female teammate on the ground in their… position…
"Umm…." Lee started, now very embarrassed that his teacher was, for once in his life, at a loss for words. "I can explain?"
"No, I think this is pretty much self-explanatory," Neji mocked, amusement clearly detectable in his voice.
"NEJI!" they both shouted.
Tenten added Neji to the list, too.
"You two…!" Gai began in his usual manner, "… might want to do that elsewhere…" he finished somewhat lamely, but there was a hint of sarcasm beneath his boisterous disposition.
Although Kiba was hopping mad both Hinata and he were being ignored, he couldn't help but laugh along with everyone else that wasn't Lee or Tenten. "Aw, man! That's rich…" Kiba was soon added to Tenten's ever-increasing hit list.
"Well, I must be off, for I must practice for yet another challenge with Kakashi! Surely he will not surpass me and my superior dance moves tomorrow night at Konoha's most popular bar!" Gai thrust a fist into the air. "ENJOY YOUR YOUTH AND MAKE THE MOST OF IT! Especially you two," he glimpsed at Lee and Tenten with a PINGING toothy grin and a sparkle in his eye. "Judging by how fast you two are moving along, you won't be youthful for much longer!" And, at that, Gai sped off at inhuman speeds toward Konoha's famous bar in search of his eternal rival to brag about "his superior dance skills".
Lee passed out. Needless to say, Gai was inducted into Tenten's Infamous Hit List.
Pitying Tenten, Hinata and Sakura grabbed one of Tenten's hands and pulled her out of the tangled mess that was (now unconscious) Lee. "Thank you SO MUCH, guys," Tenten said. Gai-sensei will suffer a slow and horrible death… but not as graphic as Lee's, OH NO…
"NOW! You're ALL going to listen to Hinata and me, whether you like it OR NOT!" Kiba hollered, his eye twitching.
"Yes, master," Sasuke sneered.
Ignoring Sasuke and his rude mannerisms, Kiba continued. "So! We need someone two people to buy the decorations, two people to buy the refreshments and snacks, at least two people to bake a cake, two people to make and send out invitations to the others, and two people to set up the decorations at Shino's house… any volunteers?"
"…"
"Volunteer now, or that Ichiraku Ramen discount we'll be giving you at the end is OUT THE WINDOW!"
"I'LL GET THE SNACKS!" Naruto called out, praying that Kiba and Hinata really wouldn't take away the discount.
"I can bake a cake…?" Sakura offered.
"I can help Naruto with the snacks!" Chouji boasted, because he sure as hell CAN.
"I can do the easiest thing possible that requires no effort!" Shikamaru suggested.
"I can do the invitations!" Tenten proposed.
The rest of the room was silent. Kiba sighed. "Okay, Hinata? You're writing this down, right?"
"Y-yes!" she replied, writing down all the names in the appropriate place on a clipboard. "B-but, we s-still need two people for getting decorations, one p-person for baking a cake, invitations, and s-setting up decorations…"
"So who still doesn't have a job?"
"Lee, Sasuke, Ino, Neji, you, and me."
"Hmm," Kiba pondered for a moment, thinking of the people best suited for each job. Eventually, he really couldn't make up his mind and paired people up randomly, just as long as he was with Hinata.
"OKAY! Here's how it's going down: Ready, Hinata?" She nodded. "Right: Naruto and Chouji do snacks and refreshments, obviously; Sakura, Ino, and Neji can bake the cake -"
"WHAT!" Ino whined as she stamped her foot on the ground.
"NO SASUKE?" Sakura objected.
"Oh, that's nice," Neji commented. And I can't even bake a cake…
"Shikamaru and Sasuke can set up the decorations at Shino's house -"
"Ugh… I thought I said I wanted the job with the least work…?" Shikamaru questioned as he slouched in his chair. Plus, I'm paired up with that giant angst-ball, Sasuke…
"Tenten and Lee can work on the invitations -"
"I give up," Tenten threw her hands up in the air as a sign of defeat. "This day keeps on getting worse and worse…"
"Keep tellin' yourself that, Tenten, but you KNOW you liked it," Naruto taunted, winking at her. She responded with a glare that could melt ice. "Hey, Kiba? You sure you're gonna put those two together? I think they'll be working on things OTHER than invitations, ya know?" Naruto asked, barely restraining himself from laughing.
"Is that a death wish?" Tenten asked in a deadly monotone.
"Yeah, don't worry, Naruto, those lovebirds will do just fine." He looked at Tenten, grinning. "You two play it safe, now! Remind Lee to use protection! And, of course -" Kiba averted his eyes from Tenten's, since her eyes were beginning to resemble Sasuke's Sharingan, "Hinata and I will buy the decorations."
"Figures," Sasuke crossed his arms. "You two are the only NORMAL group."
"I'm flattered," Shikamaru responded.
"You should be," Sasuke flashed one of those evil grins he should be famous for. Sakura and Ino swooned.
"AND, FINALLY…" Kiba intervened before a possible fight erupted. "How are we going to distract Shino so he won't suspect us? Especially while we're setting up decorations? And he's one sharp guy, too. It'll be hard to fool him."
"Well…" Shikamaru scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Why don't two people who AREN'T working on something take him somewhere for that part of the day, and he can't suspect something he doesn't know about."
"Good idea, Shikamaru!" Chouji commented.
"Meh. It's my job."
"Good plan," Hinata looked around the room. "S-so, who will take him tomorrow? Naruto a-and Chouji c-can't, since they n-need to buy d-decorations on Monday…"
"Why don't we?" Kiba suggested. "After all, we DO have practice tomorrow, and that way we can explain that we were too busy to meet up today and we can make it up tomorrow?"
"A-alright, it's settled then. Any questions? Tenten?"
"Uh, heh, yeah…" she glanced at the still-unconscious Lee. "Who is going to take him home…?"
The other ten in the room burst into hysterics.
Like I said, it was gonna be a little crazy!
1) Someone had mentioned in a review that Shino should eat a salad. So I just felt like mentioning that!
REVIEW, PLEASE! Good and bad comments, I accept all.
BTW, if any of you guys are Lee/Ten fans, what did ya think of that scene? I know it was randomly placed at a random moment and, yes, it was very random, but I've always wanted to do that.