Chapter 7: Gaara and Nara
Naruto and Kiba sat at the Ramen bar, enjoying a nice bowl of Konoha's finest. They were conversing about anything they enjoyed. But soon the conversation switched to Hinata.
"Hinata's a babe, am I right?" Kiba laughed.
"Wha…" Naruto began choking on his ramen. He pounded on his chest with a clenched fist and clenched his eyes closed.
"You should," cough, "get some Halls." A scratchy voice said from behind Naruto, it sounded a lot like a Chunin exams examiner Hayate.
"Hey aren't you…" Naruto spun around on his stool and looked behind him, but no one was there. "Dead?" Naruto shrugged it off and glared at Kiba. "What did you say?"
"I said that Hinata is a babe." Kiba grinned.
"I didn't know you liked Hinata." Naruto smiled.
"Yeah, but she doesn't like me." Kiba tried to hide his shame.
"You don't know that." Naruto patted him on the back.
"But she likes you." He pouted.
"Really? YEAH! I mean… who knows, she could develop a liking for you; you're not a bad guy." Naruto gave him a peace sign.
"Thanks." Kiba laughed.
"Now lets finish this Ramen before it gets cold!" he said stuffing his face with noodles.
Gaara and Kankuro went back to the hotel they were previously staying at. They were in the largest room in the entire hotel. There were three separate beds in the bedroom. Gaara was sitting on his bed flipping through TV channels.
"There's nothing on." He sighed.
"Hey! You're chubby too!" Kirsty Alley came on the TV and pointed at the screen.
"No I'm not." Gaara said as he changed the channel.
"Dharma, get your feet off the coffee table." A guy said shaking his finger.
"I'd rather keep them right here, Greg." The girl replied smiling.
"You free spirit!" The guy laughed as he shook his head, amused.
"Next channel." Kankuro said lying on his own bed.
"Where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came." A theme song played as images of scenes in an old bar flashed on the screen.
"Not amusing." He changed the channel again.
"Breaking news! A fire has broken out at a pizza shop on the east side of Konoha; the fire fighters are on the job, but they still aren't sure that they can stop the fire in time to save the building. The cause is unknown, but it seems to be an act of arson, possibly an attempted murder of the resident." A news reporter said seriously.
Gaara pressed a button on the remote.
"I'll be back." A rather large man said in a voice so deep and with such a horrendous accent you could hardly understand him.
"There is nothing I want to watch on." Gaara pouted, turning off the TV and putting the remote on his night table, "where's Temari?"
"She went over to that Nara guy's house." Kankuro explained.
"You mean the lazy guy?" Gaara questioned.
"Yep." He yawned.
"Why would she do that?" He asked.
"Maybe she likes him…" Kankuro laughed.
"Did she say when she'll be back?" He asked.
"No, but she'll probably come back in a few hours or something." Kankuro said picking up the remote off of Gaara's night table and turning the TV back on.
Temari and Shikamaru walked back to his house. They argued the entire way, though. When they finally arrived they decided to just agree to disagree about their current topic. They entered the house and found it completely quiet.
"That's odd… My dad is usually home by now." Shikamaru said as he turned on the light.
"Nara!" His father said as he burst through the door behind them, almost slamming into Temari on the way. He had a woman under each arm.
"Dad, my name is Shikamaru." He rolled his eyes.
"Right, sorry son," He grinned, "how was your vacation."
"The cruise ship we were on crashed into an iceberg, we had to swim to shore, we walked across the island and back, came home by rowing canoes all night, and walked back to Konoha from the coast. It was troublesome." He summarized.
"Sounds great. Hey," he turned to Temari, "you must be my nine o' clock."
"Actually, this is my friend Temari." Shikamaru introduced her.
"Oh, so she's yours? You're finally man enough to lose your virginity?" His father asked, laughing.
"Um, no, she's just my friend." He sighed.
"Alright," his father winked at him, "whatever you say. If you need me, my lady friends and I will be in the bedroom." The women giggled.
"Yeah." Shikamaru sighed.
"Shikamaru," a feminine voice from behind him said, "how was your trip?"
"It's too troublesome to explain, mom." Shikamaru said as he turned around.
"That's nice. And who might you be? My husbands nine o' clock?" She asked Temari.
"No, I'm here with Shikamaru." She explained.
"Oh, so he's finally man enough to-" His mom was cut off by Temari.
"No, we're just friends." She said quickly.
"I see." She winked at Temari then turned her attention to Shikamaru's father. "Dear, I'm doing a load of whites, do you have any?"
"Nah, although after I'm done with these ladies the sheets could use a good washing." He laughed, so did the women.
"Alright, I'll hold off for a little while, then." She said nodding.
"Don't you care about what he might be… doing with those women?" Temari asked.
"One less thing I have to do around here." She said shrugging, "I'll see you later, Shikamaru." She said leaving Temari with her mouth agape.
"Come on, my room's this way." Shikamaru said walking past Temari.
"Alright." She said, closing her mouth.
She followed him though a short hallway, where they came to a flight of stairs. The house was mostly made of wood, and was decorated with pictures and simple furnishings. They reached the top of the stairs and walked down a strait, narrow hallway to a door that was blank and brown. Obviously Shikamaru's room. Temari smiled lightly as Shikamaru opened the door to his room, turned on the light, and gestured for her to come inside.
"Nice place you got here." Temari said looking around.
His room was rather blank, the walls had no pictures hung and the bed was unmade. He had a brown dresser with a sleeve of a shirt hanging out and a mirror resting on top. His bed was a simple one person cot with two pillows and a grey blanket. In the roof of his room was a sky light, presumably for him to watch the clouds, or stars at night. There was no wall paper on his walls, either; they were simply a shade of off white paint. Overall, the room was utterly Shikamaru.
"Thanks, I guess." He replied lying on his bed and staring up at the skylight; it was dark out, so the only things to look at were the stars. He rested his hands behind his head and let his eyes rest half open. One of his hands slipped out from behind his head and patted the space next to him. Temari nodded and laid down to him.
"So, is this what you do all the time?" She asked, turning her head towards him.
"Most of the time." He answered, glancing at her, then back at the stars.
"It's nice. Just lying down and watching the sky. I sometimes do it back in Suna. I just stare out my window or go up to the roof by myself. My brothers could never like this sort of thing, though." She sighed.
"Their loss." He shrugged.
"I guess…" She yawned, relaxing.
"Are you tired?" He asked, turning his head towards her.
"A little bit." She said closing her eyes.
"Did you tell your brothers when you would be back?" He asked as he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes.
"Mmm…" She grunted.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. "Are you awake?" He asked softly. Her breath became even. She was asleep. He frowned and sighed. "Troublesome woman…" He muttered, watching the stars twinkle.
He lay in his bed, watching the stars, for nearly three hours. Every now and again he would look over at the girl sleeping next to him. He was confused. He didn't know whether to wake her up or let her sleep. He sighed and closed his eyes. Five minutes passed and he heard the wind blowing in his room. He frowned and sat up rubbing his eyes. He looked over at his window and was slightly startled.
"Nara." Gaara said, sitting in his windowsill.
"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked.
"Looking for my sister." He said narrowing his eyes.
"You've come to the right place." He said shrugging.
"I thought so." Gaara said sliding off the windowsill and stepping towards the bed where his sister lay.
"Temari," Shikamaru touched her arm and shook her gently, "your brother's here."
"Hmm…" She stirred then opened her eyes drowsily, "Who?"
"Gaara." He said softly.
"Gaara?" She turned her head and looked at her brother tiredly.
"Why are you still here?" Gaara asked.
"I must have fallen asleep." Temari replied, yawning.
"You let her fall asleep?" Gaara said through his teeth, looking up at Shikamaru.
"I guess." He said shrugging.
"Sorry," Temari sat up, "I was really tired."
"Yeah." Shikamaru looked over at his clock. It read 12:03.
"You're coming back to the hotel. Now." Gaara commanded.
"Who's going to make me?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Why must you be so difficult...?" He sighed.
Just then, the door burst open and in the doorway stood Sakura and Ino. All that could be seen were their silhouette figures. They stepped in the room and closed the door behind them, flicking the light on and stinging Shikamaru and Temari's eyes. They posed in front of the bed and smiled into space dramatically.
"We thought you'd be here, Temari." Ino said looking down at her.
"Why?" Shikamaru yawned and dragged out the word.
"Because we looked almost everywhere else." Sakura admitted.
"Why did you want to find me anyway?" Temari swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched her arms.
"Because we're thinking of having a very late night girls only slumber party on the spur of the moment." Ino explained, "We were going to have it with just Me, Sakura, and Hinata; but Sakura thought it'd be nice to invite you since you're going to be leaving soon."
"Uh, I can understand you and Sakura wanting to have a slumber party, but why with Hinata?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"She has a big house; it'll be more fun there." Ino said as Sakura nodded in agreement.
"I don't know if I should go; it's pretty late." She scratched her chin.
"Come on, it'll be fun; we promise!" Sakura whined.
"Well, I am already awake..." She continued to think.
"Temari," Gaara inserted himself between Temari and the two other girls, "come back to the hotel; it's boring being alone with Kankuro."
"I think a slumber party sounds kind of nice." She said nodding her head and standing up.
"What about me?" Gaara narrowed his eyes.
"Take Shikamaru back to the hotel and talk about guy stuff or something." She said stepping past him and towards the door.
"But-" Gaara was interrupted by Temari.
"Goodbye!" She said as the girls left the room and closed the door behind them.
"Troublesome women..." Shikamaru muttered.
"Come on," Gaara turned to Shikamaru, "let's go."
"What? Where?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"To the hotel; there's no way I'm going back there to spend time with Kankuro alone again." He climbed onto the windowsill.
"Fine..." Shikamaru stood up and slowly walked towards the window. "But why are we going out the window?"
"Because I'd rather not walk through your house with those girls." He said jumping out the window and landing on the bit of roof next to it.
"Tell me about it..." Shikamaru muttered, following him out the window.
The hotel was only about seven buildings away, so Shikamaru and Gaara reached it in nearly no time at all. Kankuro was waiting on his bed, flipping through channels when they arrived.
"Uh, why are you here Shikamaru?" Kankuro asked as Gaara came through the window and Shikamaru began to enter.
"Because Gaara brought me here..." He said as he climbed through the window.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because I was bored of you." Gaara said lying on his bed.
"Oh." Kankuro mumbled, still flipping through channels. He sighed and switched off the TV. "Still, there's nothing good on TV."
"What do you want to do, then?" Gaara asked.
"Sleep..." Shikamaru yawned.
"Did you forget about my insomnia?" Gaara growled.
"So, because you can't sleep, I can't sleep?" He asked.
"Yes. And since you and my sister appear to be getting so... close, I think perhaps I should learn a little bit about you..." He said turning towards him.
"What are you talking about Gaara?" Kankuro asked.
"Temari and him are becoming rather good friends, so I just thought you and I should ask him a few questions about himself, you know, get to know him a little." He shrugged.
"Good friends? Just how good of friends are you?" Kankuro grinned.
"Let's just drop the subject..." Shikamaru groaned.
"Alright. So, is there anything about you we should know?" Kankuro stood up, walked over to Gaara's bed, and sat on the edge looking at him.
"Uh... I don't think so." he thought.
"Come over here and tell us all there is to you." Gaara said tapping his hand on the other side of his bed.
"...Okay." He slowly walked over to Gaara's bed and sat on the side. Gaara, Kankuro, and Shikamaru now sat in sort of a triangle on the bed. Shikamaru slouched and waited for someone to ask him something.
"Tell us your life story." Gaara commanded.
"My entire life story?" He questioned.
"Yes. Now." He narrowed his eyes.
"But it's long..." Shikamaru whined.
"Tell us your goddamn life story right now!" Gaara nearly yelled.
"Hey," Kankuro raised his hands defensively, "easy there, angry bear."
"What did you just say?" Gaara's head slowly turned towards his brother.
"Uh, nothing, buddy." Kankuro said quietly.
Gaara ignored what Kankuro called him and turned back to Shikamaru, "Just tell us."
"Fine..." Shikamaru sighed. "I was born here in Konoha..."
Neji and Hinata walked back to the Hyuga compound in silence. Neji went towards the Branch house, and Hinata went to the Main house. The Main house was much larger than the Branch house, and they even had a dungeon. But, while the Main house had a dungeon, the Branch house had a ping pong table. It wasn't a very good idea to get a dungeon in the first place, because they never use it.
Hinata lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was tired, but she was having a hard time getting to sleep. Neji's room was on the side of the Branch house closest to the Main, and their walls were very thin. She could hear the news on TV, and he only watched that when he can't sleep. She sighed and closed her eyes.
"Hinata!" A whispering voice said from her door.
"Huh?" She sat up and looked at her door.
"It's us, Ino, Sakura, and Temari." Ino's voice said.
"The door's open." She whispered.
"Okay." Sakura's voice said as they opened the door and came inside.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked urgently.
"Slumber party." Ino said simply.
"Why isn't Tenten here?" She asked.
"We don't know her that well, and, um, we don't really know where she lives." Sakura admitted nervously.
"Why didn't you ask Lee?" Hinata inquired.
"We did, a few hours ago, but he didn't know where she lived either." Ino informed her.
"Oh. So, we're having a slumber party? Where?" Hinata asked.
"Right here." Ino grinned.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, the wall between me and Neji's rooms are thin; we might accidentally wake him..." Hinata whispered.
"I'm already awake, Hinata." A voice came through the wall.
"Oh, sorry Neji…" Hinata said nervously.
"You need not be, I was already awake. Just remember to keep it down. I'm watching the news." Neji replied.
"Alright." Hinata agreed.
"He watches the news?" Ino asked.
"When there's nothing else on TV and he can't get to sleep, yes." Hinata explained.
"Alright, what do you guys want to do?" Temari asked.
"Truth or dare!" Ino and Sakura yelled enthusiastically. Temari and Hinata exchanged annoyed glances.
"Can't we do anything else?" Temari whined.
"Stop complaining." Ino rolled her eyes. Her and Sakura rushed over to Hinata's bed and sat on the end. Ino turned and looked at Temari, "Come on, sit down."
"But it's far." She sighed.
Everyone froze. Sakura and Hinata's eyes slowly inched towards her and stared. Temari even froze. She hadn't even meant to say that, it just came out. Everyone was silent, the only thing that could be heard were the quiet news reports from the wall.
"What did you just say?" Ino narrowed her eyes.
"Shikamaru must be rubbing off on me." Temari shrugged.
"I can't stand it when people say that…" Ino groaned.
"Sorry, it just slipped out." She said walking over to the bed and sitting on it tiredly.
"Okay," Ino glanced around the room, "who wants to go first?" She grinned.
