Chapter 3: The Objects
Shikamaru opened one green-black eye and looked around. Beside him, Ino was reading and Choji was pigging out. He had finally taken his two friends to his spot on a hill in Konoha Park. It was his spot. At first, Shikamaru didn't like Ino and Choji here; what with Ino's constant prattling and Choji's continuous munching it was not as relaxing as it should be. But now, Ino just leans against Shikamaru reading and Choji talks with his butterflies. Shikamaru thought this was going to be another nice relaxing day…before he sensed the four different chakra coming from four different directions, all coming straight for him.
Shikamaru sighed and glanced at the ground, calculating if he could bury himself before the blond boy, the shy girl, the pink haired girl and the Uchiha got there. He reached towards the soft grass but too late.
"SHIKAMARU WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Shikamaru jerked causing Ino, who was leaning on his shoulder, to yelp and fall back onto his lap. Choji grumbled as the butterflies were scared off. Naruto was the first up there and actually paused when he saw the scene. A wide-eyed Ino sprawled on the lap of a tired looking Shikamaru and a grumbling Choji. Naruto's mouth fell open as he, as usual, jumped to conclusions.
"Ino…Shikamaru! What were you doing?" suddenly his eyes popped. "Oh no! It's a love triangle!"
Sakura and Sasuke came up behind Naruto and were about to say something when Naruto hid behind them. "Sasuke, Sakura! Ino and Shikamaru were doing stuff right in front of a jealous Choji!" he screamed. Sasuke blinked. "Just like my soap operas!" Everyone stared at him. "That…my mother used to watch…? Now what were you doing?!"
"They were making babies! Right in front of poor Choji too!" screamed Naruto.
"They were what?"
Everyone watched as Hinata made her way up the hill as well but froze when she heard Naruto. "What were they doing?"
Naruto yelped and grabbed Hinata, dragging her behind Sasuke and Sakura with him, covering her eyes. "No! You will not have my Hinata-chan! Hinata don't look! You shall keep your sight!" Hinata blushed bright red and stayed quiet, not really knowing what to say. Shikamaru twitched.
"SHUT THE HELL UP NARUTO!! INO JUST GOT SCARED AND FELL! NOW WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" he yelled.
Immediately Hinata pulled out the necklace, paper and her mother's book, Sakura took out the mirror, Sasuke took out the coat of arms, having opened the box, and Naruto showed the scroll. Something clearly went into on mode on Shikamaru's face, without moving Ino who looked fairly comfy on his lap, he look at the paper and other objects.
Hinata, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sat down patiently in front of him.
"…Fear not…It only means that…the shadow….there's a little light nearby…" he mumbled. After being silent for a moment he said "It's a saying. The words are all mixed up."
Choji had stomped off while Naruto raised a slim blond eyebrow. "Well….can you order them up?" he asked quietly. Shikamaru was quiet again when he said those magical words.
"Fear not the shadows…it only means that there's a little light nearby…"
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Hinata groaned, opened her eyes, and looked around. She was sitting between an unconscious Sakura and Naruto. Sasuke lay on the other side of Sakura they were in a long dark cavern with a sharp light near the end. She heard the noise of claws against the hard ground. Frightened, Hinata shook Sakura awake, although everyone was blurring into consciousness. "What's that noise…?" slurred Sakura blinking.
Sasuke was awake and tensed. "Noises" he corrected. "There's more than one…"
Just as he said that, the silhouettes of 4 animals came into view. One was a small, purple-eyed, silver wolf. On its left was a fiery, red-gold, red eyed fox with the softest looking tail. On its shoulder was a black feathered, red-eye falcon. The last animal was a small, light tan, dog with bright yellow-green eyes.
The wolf went straight to Hinata and bowed its head. "Mistress Hyuuga" it, sounding like a male, said respectively. The fox, of course, bowed her head at Naruto. "Master Uzumaki" she said in a deep raspy voice. The dog, with less respect than the fox and wolf, jumped at Sakura barking in a loud male's voice "Lady Haruno!" The falcon perched on Sasuke's knee and croaked, slightly feminine, "Lord Uchiha"
The fox, having the loudest voice said "Mistress, Master, Lord and Lady, I am Hotaru, the falcon is Ai. The dog is Poplar and the wolf is Haru. As I'm sure you can tell, the Lord and Master have the females and the Mistress and Lady have males. That is the way of things. When you awaken in a few seconds, you need to finish with Lord Shikamaru, go home and pack. You will go on a journey to the Country of Diamonds. Any questions?"
"Is this real?" asked Naruto
"Country of Diamonds is real?" asked Hinata
"Why can you talk?" asked Sakura
"What do our objects mean?" asked Sasuke
Hotaru, Naruto's fox, opened her mouth but Ai, the falcon, hopped onto the fox's head.
"Hotaru, you chatter too much. All of your questions mean nothing except Lord Sasuke's. Do not fuss at me for saying that because all we animals know I'm right. Lord Sasuke, your question was what your objects mean. It's very important.
Sakura's mirror will let her see what she cannot see with her own eyes. Hinata's necklace will warn her of harm. Sasuke's coat of arms will allow him through any door and Naruto's scroll will answer any question he asks" said Ai, impatiently.
Naruto nodded thoughtfully. "Okay…what?" The dog, Poplar, coughed, like a chuckled and licked his face. Naruto immediately fell unconscious. Hinata stared with wide eyes at Poplar did the same to her, Sasuke and Sakura
Poplar glanced at Haru, the wolf, the one creature who had barely spoken at all. Haru sighed and looked up. "Mistress Hinata…she looks so much like her mother. So does Sasuke and especially Sakura. Only Master Naruto looks like his daddy…." The animals agreed and nodded.
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Naruto thrust his finger in the air, practically breaking poor Shikamaru's nose, the minute he woke up and yelled "THAT was weird…Was I the only one that saw that?!" Hinata shook her head and stood up. Quickly, Sasuke grabbed Hinata's arm and took off. For some reason, Naruto felt a flash of envy he usually only felt for Sakura. Shaking his head, he grabbed Sakura's arm and yanked her in the direction Sasuke went, keeping an eye on the Uchiha boy's hands. For some reason the words 'Touch her anywhere but her arm and I rip off your face…' echoed around his skull.