Chapter's Alternate Name: Ooh, la-la!
One note: Suivre lui, maintenant - Follow him, now
Merci - Thank you
Au revoir - Goodbye
(At least read the first and last few paragraphs, if not everything.)
Chapitre Huit
Narrateur: Madame Nayagi (ME:D!)
It was a beautiful day in the city of Paris. A a small black bird flew overhead, calling out "Ahou! Ahou!" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, and a sinister smile curved up his cheeks.
He cupped a hand around his mouth. "Hey, don't you want to see them? Really."
The rest of the group (Temari, Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Naruto, Kiba) stared at him strangely.
"See... what?" asked Kiba. Naruto nodded, bewildered, and Sasuke glared harder.
"What do you think?" Shikamaru responded in question form. His face almost attained a demonic look, and he began, "Shino Aburame's true eyes...!"
Temari and Sakura immediately clocked him over the head and scolded him for the dramatic scene he had created. Gaara turned away, and excused the idea as boring before Sasuke agreed and sat down on the bench next to him. "Not interested," Sasuke sighed. "Been there, done that."
Sakura realized that her boyfriend was exactly right, but she couldn't suppress her intense feelings of curiosity. That same intriguing emotion came to Temari. Naruto suddenly cried out in hopeful glee.
"I've always wanted to see! I gotta know what they really look like!" the boy exclaimed. Sakura and Temari quickly repeated their strike on Naruto. Kiba couldn't help but utter a "Yeah!" which handed him the very same punishment.
Shikamaru began to act more normally now. "This is gonna be so much fun." but he couldn't help but feel that without Sasuke and Gaara, there would be a piece of fun missing. He had an idea.
He whispered something to Naruto, and he grinned in return.
"Hey! Sasuke! Gaara!"
They ignored him.
His grin widened, and he continued. "What if his eyes are... big... like a fish?" The two froze. Their imaginations ran wild as they pictured Shino removing his sunglasses only to unveil gigantic shining eyes with a blank expression. The pair of eyes jiggled, and he blinked. Sasuke and Gaara began to feel woozy. The remaining five cackled at the sight.
"One more should do it..." Shikamaru said to himself. He whispered again to Naruto, and he stifled his hysterical laughter.
"What if he had two lazy eyes?" The very thought sent a shock-wave of stiffness through Gaara and Sasuke's bodies. Two eyes looking in opposite directions, or trying to look at each other.
"I don't know if it's working..." Shikamaru started. "Better try it once more." And so, he whispered again.
"Or maybe... if he had no eyes at all..." Sasuke and Gaara's mouths twisted, then Temari and Sakura hit Shikamaru and Naruto respectively. Kiba was doubled over laughing.
"That's enough." the two girls said simultaneously.
Gaara sighed. Sasuke stood up slowly. "Fine. We'll watch."
Shikamaru put his fist in, and Kiba and Naruto immediately placed theirs atop his. Sakura and Temari took a moment to add theirs, and before you knew it, all seven had their fists in the middle.
"We have to find out. Operation L.O.V.E. is ago."
LVSTRYNPRS
"This is... unusual." Shino said, sitting down at the bar of the usual cafe.
The counter girl Aimee smiled and placed his order down. She was in on it too. Of course she wanted to see. Shino thanked her, and she replied with "Oh, I'm forever indebted to you!" (Foreshadowing?) With Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba to his left, and Sakura, Temari, Sasuke, and Gaara to his right, Shino felt suspicion.
"You all asked me out, then treated me to food. Impossible. Is it going to--" a giant blast of snow fell onto him. The seven smiled in triumph, and held up a sign declaring "Success!"
The group snapped back to reality, and the others looked at him with an "OH SNAP" expression.
"Yeah, something like that might happen." Shino finished. So his order was placed down in front of him. "So you're buying food for me... Is it going to snow? No." He reached for a napkin, and... KABOOM! His meal exploded into his face. The seven smiled in triumph, and held up a sign declaring "Success!"
The group snapped back to reality again, and the others looked at him with an "OH SNAP" expression.
"Here you go!" Aimee handed him his food.
"It won't snow, will it?" He reached for a napkin. "Are all of you guys hiding something from me?" He retained a cautious demeanor. The group continued to stare casually. "I suppose it's nothing..." A giant boxing-glove-on-a-spring slammed into him and smashed him into the wooden fence outside of the cafe. Flattened, he fluttered to the ground like a sheet of paper. The eight (this time including a giant boxing-glove-on-a-spring-wielding Aimee) smiled in triumph, and held up a sign declaring "Success!"
The group snapped back to reality, and the others looked at him with an "OMGWTFLOL" expression.
They were tense, and all of them muttered a "Wh-wh-wh-what... what are you saying...?!" before giggling innocently. (Yes, they ALL did this.)
Shikamaru stood up and said "This is... th-this is just our treat for you! S-s-s-s-s-so... j-j-j-j-j-just eat it, eat it up! It's fine!" uneasily. (Duh)
"I see..." Shino said. "Then I guess I shouldn't refuse it, should I?"
"Here you are!" said Aimee. "Our specialty!" The group rested their elbows on the table, and watched him carefully, in an attempt to look calm. Their hearts beat hard as he prepared himself to dine.
"Thank you for the meal..." he said slowly and quietly. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade all suddenly appeared, jumping between the group and Shino then yelling happily and talking to each other, as well as them. They were all unable to believe their eyes, and pandemonium broke out in the cafe.
"Idiot!"
"Get out of the way!"
"I can't see!"
"Argh!"
Disappointment fell over the pack as the dust cleared, and Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were standing next to the others. But Shino still had a full bowl of food. They didn't expect that. Shino looked at them, puzzled, then began to eat normally. Despair was all that the others could feel.
LVSTRYNPRS
They were back at the meeting place. The bird flew by again chanting the same sound.
Shikamaru's face became a canvas of "serious business," and he grunted. "In that case, I'll do whatever it takes to see it!"
Sakura looked down with a sigh. "I don't even know how that food thing was supposed to work..."
Kiba snapped his fingers. "We could jump 'im!" Everyone else began to imagine trying to jump Aburame, and they could only see themselves ending up hurt or humiliated.
Naruto grinned. "We could wait for him to lose his glasses! Then he'll pace the floor covering his eyes and say 'My glasses, my glasses! I can't see without my glasses!'" The rest of them stared at him blankly.
Temari crossed her arms. "Anyway, but what are we going to do?"
Shikamaru started to repeat himself. "In that case, I'll do wha--" Sakura kneed him in the groin, and he collapsed holding his crotch in pain.
After Shikamaru recovered, they all turned to the silent Sasuke and Gaara. Shikamaru stood up. "Hey, do either of you have a good plan?"
Gaara looked away. "Maybe a last-resort plan. Later."
Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and closed his eyes. "You can just stick to him all the time. That's the key. Be persistent. Sooner or later, maybe when he goes to sleep, he'll have to take off those sunglasses."
The rest of them nodded in admiration, aside from Naruto who replied with an "I could have thought of that." Sakura glared at him warningly.
LVSTRYNPRS
Shino walked down the streets with a full bag of groceries, then stopped all of a sudden with his leg outstretched. He had spotted a dirty book shop, and walked back and forth along the store's display window eagerly checking out the sales and "hyucking."
Shikamaru and friends were hiding on a nearby rooftop. "What on earth is he doing?"
"Looking at porno." Kiba said bluntly.
"Be quiet you fools. Do you want him to know we're here?" Temari said lowly. Shino's head turned around to them. They all jumped and ducked below the range of vision.
"Damnit! He saw us!" Sakura groaned.
Sasuke glared at Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba. "It's all their fault."
Naruto scowled. "What did I do?!"
But it wasn't them he was looking at. On the facade of their hiding spot of a building, a big advertisement for a movie based off of one of his favorite books was plastered.
Shino dropped his groceries in shock. He came into focus and ran off whining "I have to buy a ticket right now!"
Gaara watched him leaving. "We have to pursue."
"OK." Shikamaru agreed. With a nod, they all took off ninja-style.
He turned a corner, and they followed him around that same corner. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. They looked around.
"He isn't here!?" Temari gasped. Kiba looked around frantically.
"Shit. He got away!" Shikamaru said sadly.
"Where'd he go?" Naruto shouted.
"What are you doing?" Shino asked from behind them. They were stunned. He went on to ask "Does it have something to do with me?"
They all shook their heads rapidly. "N-not r-really..." They turned shakily to face him as he let out a suspecting "Hm."
LVSTRYNPRS
And so with that, they were once again at the meeting place.
Shikamaru's mouth lowered. "How did we get caught that time?"
"Maybe it was because you all wouldn't SHUTUP." Sasuke and Sakura said.
"Maybe it was because there were too many of us..." Gaara said.
They all turned to him. "What?!" Naruto asked. "What do you mean? The more the merrier!"
"He's right, Naruto" said Kiba. "There are way too many people at once."
"Yeah. If you've got seven people in one party, you're likely to be detected right?" Temari said.
Shikamaru shook his head. "If you can hide yourself properly, then it doesn't matter how many of you there are."
Sasuke shrugged. "If you ask me, we could go one by one or two by two."
Sakura smiled. "Sasuke's right as always. Since seven isn't an even number, we should group dumb," she pointed to Shikamaru, "dumber," she pointed to Kiba, "and dumbest." she pointed to Naruto.
"Hey, I'm not dumb!" Shikamaru protested.
"I know. You act like it, though."
He crossed his arms.
"So it's settled. First you three, then Temari and Gaara, then Sasuke and me." Sakura said. They placed their hands into the circle again.
LVSTRYNPRS
Mission Escouade A: ShikaKibaNaru (I know what you're thinking. And the answer is no!)
Shino continued to walk, and he was now reading one of the previously mentioned dirty books. Shikamaru was hiding on a roof top along with Kiba and Naruto. He gestured for them to follow, and they jumped off, running after Shino hiding behind walls when necessary. When they checked to see if he was there, he wasn't. Their eyes widened, and they ran out into the open to find him. Gone. The remaining two teams sat and drank tea as they waited. Team ShikaKibaNaru scratched the back of their heads and laughed worriedly when they came back to the meeting spot.
"He... uh... got away..." Kiba admitted.
"Just as I thought." "You freaking idiots." They scolded.
SKN Result: Failure
LVSTRYNPRS
Mission Escouade B: TemaGaa
Shino was standing on the sunset spot, looking at the sky. Temari and Gaara hid behind the smokestacks and looked at him disappointedly.
"What is he doing?" Temari asked rhetorically. "He's been standing there forever. Gaara watched him intently. Temari looked more carefully at him, and then realized something. "Wait as minute... don't tell me...!" She ran out from her hiding spot and looked at Shino. It was just a mannequin... She screamed in frustration.
The waiting five took a sip of their tea as the defeated squad returned to the meeting area. Temari put her hands behind her back with a light blush, and Gaara looked down sadly.
They all hung their heads and sighed.
TG Result: Failure
LVSTRYNPRS
Mission Escouade C: SasuSaku
The bird flew overhead again, and Sasuke and Sakura returned silently. Sakura smiled semi-innocently and scratched her cheek.
"How was it?!" Naruto jumped up and asked.
Sakura didn't respond. Sasuke turned his head in a pouty way. "I gave up trailing him."
They all closed their eyes, aggravated.
SS Result: Failure
LVSTRYNPRS
All their attempts exhausted by the next day, they followed Shino as he helped out the community... on a farm.
"So THIS is what he does in his spare time..." a red head sweatdropped from the bushes.
"Let's go!" Naruto said throwing his hands into the air. Monsieur Hatake and Shino stood idly by.
"Today Shino is supposed to help out on a farm..." stated Sasuke mentally.
Sakura continued in her own mind: "We must help out on this farm as well..."
"If we are to see his eyes..." thought Kiba.
"This isn't anything great..." said Temari to herself, watching Kakashi and Shino carefully.
"We have to do whatever it takes..." Gaara mentally said.
"For Shino's true face!" Shikamaru said silently, almost blurting it out.
Kakashi looked around at the students strangely. "Is something going on between you all?" he asked. "Aside from Shino, you all seem a bit strange." Yes, they all knew Kakashi very well. Whether I mentioned it or not, he is quite a well-known man.
Shino looked in confusion as well. "You seem a bit enthusiastic about something," Shino spoke, "and it feels like it's directed at me..." he finished inwardly.
"Enthusiastic is my middle name!" shouted Naruto. Kiba gave a thumbs-up.
Kakashi blinked. "That's.. great." He walked on, waving them along.
In the trees, three figures stood still, eyes fixed on the group below.
"I have finally found you... Hatake Kakashi!" But unfortunately, they aren't part of this storyline.
In a group of nearby bushes, three teenage boys crouched to remain hidden. They spied steadily on one young man...
Shino Aburame.
"We got 'im cornered, now!" the one of the three to the left snickered.
"At last, we have a flawless plan." another to the right said with obvious disinterest.
"We've finally got you, Aburame! Suivre lui, maintenant!" said the middle guy murderously. (Any guesses who these three might be?) "This time, we're taking our revenge."
"What revenge was that again..." asked the left stupidly. The middle replied with a sharp punch.
"You retard! You forgot?"
The right sighed. "A true dumbass."
The middle calmed himself. "I'll never forget what he did to me three semesters ago..."
-FLASHBACK!-
A scream was heard in the middle of the night on the streets of Paris, and a girl was seen running strangely away from someone or something.
"No reason ta be scared!" said a seventeen year old boy.
"Someone wants to have a word with you..." said another.
The girl stopped and turned around, frightened. "Who...?!"
A third, and apparently the leader of the trio came up behind her, shocking her further and causing her to fall to her knees. He held a rose in his teeth. The other two watched with utter admiration. The girl simply stared.
He held out the rose. "Baby, be mine." He tried to sound as cool as possible. It apparently worked on the other two.
She blinked. "No." Her single word was the harshest they had ever heard.
"You don't have to be embarrassed or anything." he tried again. "Just let me hold you in my arms and...!" He tripped for absolutely no reason, falling flat on his nose.
She tried backing away, but since she would run into the other two, she stayed still and said "No."
Without getting up, he continued his attempt. "It's alright. I may not look it... but I'm rich!"
"I am telling you, I DON'T WANT TO!" The girl cried for freedom.
Finally standing up, he grunted. "What? Are you turning me down?" He tripped again, this time landing right in front of her.
"No means no!" she yelled back before kicking him away and making his face bleed.
He whined and tried to avert her attention to the pretty moon. "Damn... I put a lot of time into this romantic setting..."
"What I like is my choice!" she shouted.
"Why don't we just leave her alone...?" one asked.
"Yeah!" the other agreed.
The leader snorted in response.
Then, Shino poked his head out from the brush with an empty "Ta-da." He continued as they stared at him. "See, that girl doesn't want anything to do with you. Look at it however you'd like; you've been dumped."
She nodded happily.
The dumbest of the boys called out "You sure have some guts!"
The leader jumped out into a cliche anime group pose. "I am Kankuro!"
The foolish one stood to his left in a similar pose. "I'm Darru!"
"And Roko. Roko's the name." The last came in with a rather apathetic pose.
Kakuro harrumphed. "Are you trying to pick a fight with us?"
"Kankuro? Darru, Roko? I've never heard of any of you." Shino admitted.
"Never heard of us?! You're dissin' us! Who do you think you are you dick?" Kankuro hissed.
"Ah. I'm no celebrity either..." Shino nonchalantly stepped out from his hiding spot. "...but I'm named Shino Aburame." The girl watched in amazement.
"Your name is stupid." the boys all said to him.
"Hey, you bastard..." Roku started.
"You're gonna regret this..." Darru threatened.
"because you, Shino, have just interrupted my love affair!" Kankuro finished.
"Love affair?" Shino scoffed. "You guys are just a big bothersome pain, aren't you?"
Kankuro pointed at him with rage, practically commanding the other two. They quickly humped the air and charged at Shino furiously.
...Only the sound of a painful beating was to be heard...
A horse laughed heartily at the situation. Kankuro, Darru, and Roko were all hanging from a tree by a rope. They all called out for help.
Shino looked at the girl who was giggling "Merci, merci, merci!" Repeatedly. Her eyes were big hearts, and she grabbed his arm.
"I will walk you back to your apartment." he said. She smiled ear to ear as they left. "Au revoir." Shino waved back at the knot of idiots.
"Hey, HEY! You're just gonna leave us hanging like this!?" the three growled in a broken voice.
-BACKFLASH-
Kankuro stood with his hands on his hips. "Yeah, that's what happened." The others looked at him, as he appeared to have a thought. "We'll take him down with stealth!"
LVSTRYNPRS
The "Ahou!" bird was back. Kakashi, Shino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Gaara, and Temari were greeted by an old woman who continually said "Welcome!" in a happy tone of voice before an evil-looking redhead came out of the bushes with a twinkle in her eye and shot her before running off wildly. The Kankuro gang was watching from the shadows. And so, they were treated to a lunch more delicious than any of them had ever seen. After practically drooling over their food, they sat down and stayed still.
"Take your time!" said the old lady who had been inexplicably revived. But it wasn't the old lady... IT WAS KANKURO! He laughed in triumph taking off his mask. Shino, eat, drink, and be merry, for today you will die, the thought to himself. "I added my hiccup drug to the food." he went on to explain to no one in particular. "He'll just keep on hiccuping, then he wont be able to breathe, and then he'll die. Good death for someone like him." He laughed viciously.
--Here is where the laziness sets in. Let me know if it's noticable.--
Shino and Kakashi looked around. "You guys haven't touched your food," they said in unison.
"OMG, hand slipped." Naruto cried. He tossed a searing-hot teapot at Shino's face, and in turn, Shino flipped the table over ruining the feast and protecting his "perfect face" from harm.
"Sorry. You surprised me." Shino shrugged. Everyone sighed.
LVSTRYNPRS
Then, for no apparent reason, they decided to pay a visit to the hot springs!
"DAMNIT!" Sakura and Temari shouted together. They were on the female side, and obviously, everyone else was on the male side.
"I wanna see..." Sakura whined. Shino's eyes weren't ALL she wanted to see. Temari sighed.
--Meanwhile...--
In order from least to greatest on how much they cared: Kakashi, Gaara, Sasuke, Kiba, Naruto, and Shikamaru sat lining the stone wall of the hot springs waiting half-patiently for Shino's arrival. He came in with a little towel. The suspense was high. All that separated the eyes from the mind was steam floating above the water. He even held his sunglasses by his side... and Kankuro and his goons were nowhere to be found. (Dx)
He stepped down, and... a second towel blindfolding him.
"...WTF?!" Kiba yelled.
"I like to feel the warm sensation?" Shino shrugged.
LVSTRYNPRS (Laziness ends here.)
The end of day had arrived, and the eight-person group of teenagers had reached the farm's edge. Kankuro and his goons were riding conveniently in a wheelbarrow driven by Kakashi.It was the moment of truth, and he was totally apethetic. Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru tried their very best to appear apethetic, but Kiba, Naruto, Sakura, and Temari had other plans.
The four of them jumped into Shino's range of vision, and with great youthful fury, blabbed, "That's it! What lies under those hot shades?!"
Shino stared blankly down at them for a moment, then smiled slightly.
"There are times when..."
Everyone was very tense. Their speculations circulated through their brains like blood.
"...there is another pair of sunglasses under this one." he removed the top pair revealing none other than the exact same pair. It was like nothing had changed at all.
They all slumped over, and I mean ALL aside from Kakashi who simply laughed and walked along, and Shikamaru who stood calmly where he was.
When Shino had assured himself that the remainder of the group had left, he made his next move. The move was truly unanticipated.
He leaned over so he could face Shikamaru properly and smirked. Shika simply looked away, willing himself not to blush. Shino whispered, "Don't worry, Shikamaru. Sometime soon, you'll see my eyes. I just don't much care for the light." With that, he smoothed back the hair on Shikamaru's forehead and left an adorable peck square in the middle.
Shikamaru couldn't possibly manage to move his body if he wanted to, and Shino went on ahead without another word, completely self-satisfied.
Wow. I had a LOT of unhealthy fun writing this. No, seriously. I couldn't pull myself away. A lot of time and effort, too. I hope you all die of the overly copyrightedness of this. Happy Birthday, and sorry for it's MASSIVE delay.