Thank you, Senpaiidude, for reviewing!!

I'm so grateful!!

Anyways, in honor of Senpaiidude, another chapter! And I ate dinner and stuff really fast just so I could crank another one of these out. This was a fun chapter to write.

On to the story!

There, spreading out before them, was the largest desert they, and possibly anybody who has never been to the Southwest, had ever seen. It was dry, it was devoid of life, it was rocky. Hinata tried to speak, but instead a small choked noise came out.

Thankfully, Gaara was able to sum up both their emotions. He stood up in his seat and looked. "What... the... freaking... hell? We were just in a fricking jungle, and now we're here. Oh, Almighty Hand of Fate, please kill me off now!" He smacked his forehead with his palm and sat down quietly. They both stared for a few minutes that felt like hours. Then, they started laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh god, my stomach hurts!" Gaara exclaimed after a while. "There's no end in sight to the friggin' hellhole, right?"

"I don't know!" Hinata tried to smile, but she couldn't, because her face hurt. "I don't care! Let's just... go on. Maybe we'll get somewhere!" she giggled. Then they lapsed off into silence, broken only by the restarting of the old, green Jeep and the roaring emptiness of the desert.

"We need to move on," Naruto said, breaking the silence he obviously thought was unfriendly. "I mean, so we can get away from... whatever those things were..."

"Ye-ah. You are so right, Naruto, it's not even funny anymore. Gawd, I just wanna go home. I'd give anything to see my dad, even after destroying his car..."

Sasuke said nothing, just put his arm around Ino's shoulder. She smiled gratefully.

"I mean, really? Where is there to go, Naruto?"

"I dunno, just... anywhere? A cave?"

She smiled at Naruto's naiveté. "Something makes me think they stay in caves during the day."

Sasuke nodded, finally speaking. "We need to go somewhere... I mean, there must be somewhere safe!"

"Spoon," he added, rubbing his chin.

"EXCUSE ME??" said Naruto and Ino at the same time.

"Sorry. Just needed to get that out of my head. God, I miss spoons."

It was silent in the old Jeep. It was driving both of them insane. They both thought the other was mad at them for some reason, but they kept quiet.

Finally, Gaara felt something. Not, actually, anything physical, but the feeling you get when someone is staring at you. He turned his head, but Hinata was looking out the window quietly. He turned his head back to the road, but then he felt it again! He looked back, but she was still looking out the window.

Ha! Two can play at that game, then. Gaara turned his head to look at Hinata. She started turning her head back, and he looked back at the desert. He looked back at her, but she stared innocently out the window. Staring, he waited until her head was halfway turned to her, then he looked back outside. He turned his head quickly around, and she was staring at him.

"I knew it! You were staring at me!" he yelled, triumphant. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" He pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Gaara," Hinata shrieked, "keep your eyes on the road!"

"There is no road! Ha!"

"You're just paranoid! I wasn't staring at you!" she yelped in her defense.

"Yes, you were! I saw you!"

"Well, you were staring at me!"

"Well... you stared at me first!"

"Well... you..." she stopped, stuck for an answer. "Spoon."

Gaara laughed. "What the hell? Spoon?"

"I don't know, I just don't know."

And then there was silence.

Ino stopped, in the middle of a sentence. "I have a question, though. What happened to Shikamaru? I mean, we never found him, and we never saw him..."

"Maybe he got... lost?" Naruto offered.

"No, I get the feeling something else happened to him. Maybe the same thing that happened to Neji."

Sasuke stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Well, do you want to find out?"

Oooh, I love the staring game! My sister and I played this at my grandma's once. It was fun, and I guess kinda cool-looking when it got synchronized. People should try it out, especially on long car trips. I'd bet it'll drive the people you're going on the trip with nuts!

By the way, this is off-topic, but I found the best song ever. It's called Respect! by a Japanese artist called Metis. They have it on imeem, so I suggest, reader(s), that you check it out!

Please review!

Good night, and good luck.