A/N-Blink Blink as of right now, this story has 192 reviews. Thanks to Iloveinuyasha44, seguha, dog of the dead, tiffanylicis, windsoftiti, rebel-girl, scienceboy, puppy444219, misfortuned soul, Link Fangirl01, MaoAyanamipl, Kawaiibaka, ShadowSessMarlfox, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, Loku, kawaii chibi Sasuke luver, duckichan87, Seyann, Uchiha Rose, I-have-issues-deal-with-it, AzNAnGeL07, Karen Trujillo, narutofaves, Juliette Fox, LuvDaAlchemist, MeMe, SakuraUchiha4, liandrin, Getemono, Arabella Sparrow, Kawaiibaka10 (whom, I have a hunch, is related to Kawaiibaka), Cyberwing and SaNdEr-ThE-rUbBeR-bAnDeR . Read and Review!

Chapter 9

Shikamaru leaned back on Sakura's overstuffed sectional and looked at the stucco ceiling, arms slung over the back of said couch. Ino sat across from him in the recliner, posture similar, except she was staring at the reclining Shikamaru.

Not expecting him to speak, she was caught off guard when his voice pierced the silence. "So what are you missing Ino?"

When Ino didn't say anything, he looked at her. Upon seeing her shocked expression, he sighed. "Forget it," he muttered, followed by the predictable "Troublesome." "Well do you want to hear or not?" asked Ino.

Shikamaru snorted and continued his study of the ceiling. "I asked didn't I?"

"Well…" said the blonde Kunoichi slowly. "If it is absolutely necessary that you know…" her pale cheeks tinged lightly.

"If you say that you were missing the compassions of Uchiha Sasuke then I swear I'm going to laugh," drawled the lazy ninja. "Shika, you and I both know that you are too lazy to laugh," snarked the blonde. "Plus I don't like Sasuke anymore."

"Anyways," she continued, "I think what I was missing, when I was this age…well…you know how there are some instances, in kindergarten and the like, when the guys pick a girl…they don't want you to know that they like any of you. I, however, found out whom it was they liked…. it was Sakura. Not even that little pink billboard brow knew that all the guys had the hots for her. And…I think I was, even at that age, just a little jealous of her."

Shikamaru didn't say anything right after Ino finished, causing her to send an irritated look in his direction. "Ya know, when someone pours out their heart you're supposed to acknowledge them." When Shikamaru didn't respond, Ino deliberately stood up, grabbed the chair cushion out from under her, wound up…

And was interrupted when the doorknob rattled and Sakura, cursing, stumbled into the house. "Why, when I bought this house did I ever make the doorknobs that big."

Ino immediately dropped the pillow and turned to the front door. "Because, forehead girl, you didn't expect to be turned into a child."

Sakura looked further into the house, kicking off her shoes. "Hey Ino-pig you're still a kid? I thought you would've turned back by now!"

After the two girls had sat down and went through what they had done that day they managed to sort out who was still children. Them, of course, and Shikamaru. Sakura confirmed for the other two that Sasuke was (when she had last seen him) a child. Ino confirmed Kiba (having seen him before making it back to Sakura's) and Shino. Naruto, Hinata, Neji, TenTen and Lee were assumed turned back because they hadn't shown up back at Sakura's house.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"N-N-Naruto?" said Hinata quietly. The little boy with the ribbons wrapped around his forehead who stood in front of her rolled his hazy violet eyes. "Hinata-Sama, I don't know what you're talking about."

"B-b-b-but I only told N-N-Naruto…" the person standing in front of her, who could've been either Naruto or Neji waved this off and said, "I have my ways of finding things out, believe me. Now, Hinata-Sama, would you like to play…thumb war?"

Hinata's light eyes lit up. "I-I-I haven't played that since…." Neji came and sat beside her. "Since the day before I got this?"

Slowly Neji reached up and unwound the ribbons from around his head. As they fell away, Hinata could see beneath it, the cursed seal of the Hyuuga clan. That's when she knew.

The boy sitting beside her was indeed her cousin. Only he knew about her secret love of thumb wars. And Naruto couldn't replicate the seal design, having only seen it several times. After Hinata had seen this and had confirmed that it was indeed her cousin, he picked up TenTen's ribbons and wrapped them back around the seal.

"So, Hinata-Sama. Now that you know it is indeed me…shall we?"

Neji held out his hand, as if he was going to shake hers. Hinata held hers out similarly. The two pairs of blank eyes met…their mouths opened simultaneously….

"1…" they said together. "2.. 3..4.. I declare a thumb war…fight!"

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto was bored.

Never, have so dangerous words ever been uttered in the English language.

Hinata being with her cousin left him alone…he didn't really know TenTen and so he was left by himself…in the toy section…extremely bored. His innocent blue eyes took in the massive shelves and there was a toy…at the very top that he wanted to play with.

Taking in the metal shelves that had toys stacked on them, he couldn't help but think…the way they were situated, well, it looked an awful lot like a ladder. He reached his childlike hand up to grip the cool metal. When the bottom shelf supported his weight he thought 'Well…that was easier than I expected.' Two shelves later and he was almost there. He reached his arm out as far as he could…

And closed his fingers around the metal slinky. Just at that moment…he felt his right foot slip…

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Sasuke shoveled the casserole that Kayko had made into his mouth at an alarming rate. Kayko, and her husband Tatsuma, started at him subtly, looking back down at their own plates when he looked up. "What?" he asked as he scooped a tomato slice off of the plate. "Kayko-San, this is one of the best meals I've had in a while."

When Tatsuma had come home and had discovered that his wife had picked up an orphaned child on the way home form the grocery store…

He had gotten his baseball glove that he had been given as a kid as well as his own and did what he had been dying to do. Play catch with a little boy.

It had taken awhile before Sasuke had caught onto the idea, but once he had he had had more fun than ever. Showing it in small bits and pieces of course.

"Thank you very much for the meal Kayko-san." Kayko nodded and said, "Glad you like tomato soup so much. Ummm…do you have a place to stay tonight? Because if you don't…"

Sasuke shook his head. "No…I've already imposed too much on both you and your husband… I do have a home to go to…"

Kayko decided that she wasn't going to take no for an answer, however. "You haven't imposed on us a bit, and…" Kayko squinted at Sasuke's face. "You look so pale, like you haven't had a decent night sleep in a long long time. The mattress in the spare room is a feather bed…"

He really had to get back to Sakura's to let them know he was still a chibi. He really….

Did she just say a featherbed?

A/N-Hey!. Everyone, read the story 'Escape of the Kyuubi' and the one-shots that go with it 'Behind the Scenes' by Kyuubi 92. It's a great series! And READ AND REVIEW!...

And for those of you who care...there will be a sequal to WRBB. That is all.