Ino was looking down on the ground with her blush slowly fading away. All the girls took note of her blush but Temari just wanted to know how she knew him.
"So when did you meet him?" she asked.
"And why are you blushing?" Sakura asked slyly as she poked her friend. Ino let out a breath she had been holding since the moment she told everyone she knew him. She then began to smile as if the whole thing was no big deal.
"Well years ago I went to a camp that taught ballet since that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was the tallest girl there so I was always put in the back of the class. I didn't mind it at first but then some of the girls there made fun of me for being tall. So at every class I always felt out of place and soon I didn't even want to go anymore, but then our ballet instructor one day told us that the boys at the camp were going to be joining us so that we could learn to dance with a partner."
"Hold on a second…..did Kankuro go to this camp too?" asked Livvy.
"Was he your partner?" Tenten asked.
"Yes and no." Ino said as she continued to tell them the story. "You see when the guys came to dance with us our dancing instructor just put us with a random person. I got stuck with this kid who had two left feet, and he was about 6 inches shorter then me. His friends and the girls around us kept laughing at us since he was doing so badly but he told them all that it wasn't his fault it was because his partner was too tall. So everyone began to laugh at me and say how it was true that it was because I was so tall that he was doing so badly. I was definitely singled out and I was just about to cry when a guy from the back of the line yelled up to the front."
FLASHBACK
"Hey!" yelled a boy from the back. "Did it ever occur to you that you just really suck a dancing?" some of the kids began to laugh at the boy again instead of Ino. "Not to mention you're abnormally short!" that got all the kids to start laughing even harder. "Here I'll take your partner!" he said as he walked up with his partner holding his hand. When they reached Ino and the boy the guy let go of his partners hand and took Ino's. Everyone was still laughing as Ino was taken to the back of the class with her new partner.
Ino was in some what of a trance when she was taken to the back of the class by her new partner but she couldn't hide the fact that she was still sad that everyone was laughing at her.
"Hey." The guy said to get her out of her trance. "Don't listen to any of them. It's not like they were laughing at you, but these retards will laugh at anything when they get the chance." Ino began to smile. She was completely grateful that this guy was being so nice to her and that he stuck up for her. Ino then stood so her back was facing her partners and they were now taking their positions. "Also, to tell you the truth…I kind of wanted you to be my partner." Ino's eyes went wide as plates when he said that and her body wouldn't move, it couldn't move! She wished she could say something but her mouth wouldn't even open. "I mean I wanted you to be my partner since my other partner was way too short." The boy corrected since he just realized what he had said. Ino was soon very relived and she could feel her body again. "By the way my name is Kankuro, what's your name?"
"Ino." She said. "And thank you so much." She told him as they began to dance together.
Within the last two weeks of camp Ino and Kankuro were pretty much inseparable. They would always eat together in the mess hall and they were always partners. Towards the end of camp Ino was like a whole new person and she was always talking about something, and that was pretty much because of Kankuro's influence. They were pretty good friends and it didn't even matter that ONE he was eight and she was seven and TWO that they both lived in two very opposite places. Their last and final days together were no different from the ones they shared when they had all summer long. But one day while they were both walking around the camp Kankuro started to get a little depressed.
"So what's wrong with you?" Ino asked.
"I just want you to know something." He told her as seriously as an eight year old could. "I'm not coming back next summer."
"Is that all?" she asked happily. "Well don't worry about it cause I'm not either." Kankuro looked at her with a confused expression. "My parents already told me that I was only going to come here once since it was so far away from where we live."
"Where's that?" he asked.
"Konohagakure." She told him. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from here, Sunagakure." He told her. "I guess we live pretty far apart."
"Well if you live here then yeah, we do. I remember how long the ride to here was. Well it was nice knowing ya' Kankuro." Ino told him.
"Hey we're not leaving yet." He reminded her. "But soon it will be nice knowing ya'."
"Do you think you'll miss this camp?" she asked him.
"Nah, to tell you the truth I hate dancing. That's why I'm so happy it's almost over, but….I'm sure glad I did come here 'cause you were here."
"Thanks." Ino told him. "I'm glad you were here too!"
END FLASHBACK
"That was so CUTE!" Tenten squealed.
"So we can thank him for why you're so loud and talkative." Sakura smirked as Ino raised her fist up to her in anger.
"I never heard Kankuro ever mention you before." Temari told Ino. "I remember him coming back from that camp complaining how he hated camp and that he never wanted to go back. I convinced my father to send him there." Temari snickered. "Kankuro was so pissed at me!"
"And he was really good at dancing too, I remember." Ino told her.
"So you guys lost contact after that?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah, and you know it's not like I liked him or anything. I think I might have had a crush on him for a short while but we were just friends. I can't believe he's related to you Temari!"
"That makes the both of us." She told her.
"Is his hair still blonde or did he die it black because he told me that he always wanted to do that." Asked Ino.
"Still that blonde, but he always wears a black hat over it. Actually he's always wearing black." Temari told her.
"Anyways, just tell him I say hi okay?" Ino asked her.
"Sure, I just hope he remembers you." Temari said as she took out her cell phone.
"What are you doing?" Ino asked.
"Don't worry; I'm just checking the time. 2:34. Sorry, me and Livvy need to go now to see what we're supposed to do today." Temari said as she stood up.
"You mean they give you assignments?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah, but since Asuma wasn't here this morning we didn't get them so they said to get 'em around 2:30." Temari said. "We'll see you all around." She said as Livvy got up too.
"See ya'!" Livvy yelled as she and Temari walked out of the cabin.
"I wonder what the perks are for being a councilor." Tenten wondered.
"Better food?" offered Sakura.
"Getting to hang around with the only guy in the entire camp?" offered Ino.
"Yeah that sounds about right." Sakura said. "So now that we have the rest of the day to rest….what do you guys wanna do?"
"We're not aloud to leave so we can't go anywhere, and they'll probably send someone to check on us too." Tenten told them all.
"Good point." Said Ino. "We could watch a scary movie!"
"Those should be saved for night." Said Sakura. "I guess the only thing we can do is play on the x-box."
"Actually we could use our computers since we don't really use them that much." Ino said.
"Hey that's true." Said Sakura.
"I think I'd actually rather work on my punching bag a little, just so I'm warmed up." Tenten told them.
"And I could finish reading some of those books; I still have a whole shelf to do." Sakura said as if she had no time to read them all.
"Well then maybe this is a good time to finish altering my dress." Ino said. "I put it on my manikin a while ago and now I'm making it shorter. I've already added all these beads to it so now it sparkles when you spin it in light!"
"It looks a lot better then it first did." Tenten commented. "You really made it shorter."
"Well my last dress was long so this time I thought I'd go shorter." She told them.
"Hey Hinata you haven't spoken in a while." Sakura pointed out.
"You okay Hinata?" Tenten asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." She told them. "I was just waiting for you all to stop talking so I could tell you what I think we should do."
"So spit it out!" Ino laughed.
"Well remember I brought all those bags with me to camp?" she asked.
"Oh yeah." Tenten said remembering. "You said you brought those so we wouldn't get bored."
"Well I have something in there for just this occasion!" she smiled. "Unless you'd guys rather do all those other things you were just talking about."
"NO NO NO!" they all yelled.
"Alright! Come on!" she yelled as she ran to her room. They all followed her excited to know what Hinata was getting. They all ran into her room and immediately landed on her bed. "We all here? Okay good…. here it is." Hinata said as she went down to her knees so she could get something from underneath her bed. The girls all huddled on the edge of the bed so they could watch her pull whatever she was pulling out from under the bed. Hinata grabbed what she wanted and back up so she could drag it out.
"……hhhuuuUUHHHH!" the girls gasped as they saw Hinata pull of two DDR mats.
"YOU MEAN WE HAD THESE THIS ENTIRE TIME AND YOU NEVER TOLD US?!" Ino yelled.
"Yeah……we were never bored like we are now!" Hinata said defending herself.
"So let's just plug them in already!" Sakura said as she got off the bed and picked up one of the mats. "I'M GOING FIRST!" she yelled as she ran to the TV. Tenten then grabbed the other mat and ran right after her.
"ME TOO!" she yelled.
"Hey!" Ino and Hinata yelled as they both charged for the door at the same time. They were both stuck in the door's frame and they both tried to get free.
"Come on Hyuuga!" Ino yelled. "Budge!"
"Hyuugas move over for no one!" Hinata yelled back at her.
The guys were almost done their third race which was currently being won by Neji and Shikamaru. Naruto won the first race and Kiba won the second one.
"Beginners luck." He told them all.
So now they were all racing to the finish line with Neji and Shikamaru tied for first. Neji's competitiveness broke free and he began to get deep into his game. Shikamaru made it look like no big deal for a very long time but now he really wanted to beat Neji. Both of their characters were right next to each other and since neither of them would get away from the other they tried to shake them off on the turns but each time it never worked.
"Come on Hyuuga!" Shikamaru yelled. "Budge!"
"Hyuugas move over for no one!" Neji yelled back at him.
"Doesn't matter……at this next turn I'm going to loose you anyways!" Shikamaru told him.
At the moment he said that a character on the screen zoomed right by Neji and Shikamaru leaving them staring at the TV in complete shock.
"hahaha….looks like I passed you both." Kiba laughed as he won the game.
Naruto stared at the TV with his eyes as huge as plates and his jaw dropped down to the ground.
"Well I guess that's twenty dollars ya' owe me." Kiba laughed. "Cough it up!"
"I swear you rigged this game!" Naruto smiled. "But it was better then playing with Neji and Shikamaru, you're some real competition Kiba!" Naruto said as he went into his pocket to find some cash.
"Hey Naruto, last time I checked I was the one winning those games before Kiba even got here." Shikamaru told him.
"Real competition." Naruto repeated as he handed Kiba two fives and a ten.
"Also the bet was fifty." Neji said since Naruto made it sound like he wasn't any good competition. Naruto then paled and went back into his pockets.
"..Oh haha…would you look at that….seems like….the rest is up stairs." Naruto said laughing nervously.
"No problem, just go get it and I'll wait here." Kiba said making himself comfortable in his seat. Naruto sighed and went upstairs to find his money.
Meanwhile in the kitchen Lee was commending Sasuke on how clean he kept it, and Sasuke took these compliments and told Lee how there was no way he could ever live in a massy environment so he naturally kept things in order.
"Not much food though." Shino commented as he looked inside the fridge.
"Naruto does most of the damage around here." Sasuke told him.
"Where does that kid put it all?" Shino asked himself as he looked back into the fridge.
"I think that if I had a kitchen in my cabin I would be the one to do all the dishes and such. Dosu and Zaku are pretty helpless at that sort of thing." Lee told him.
"I'd be surprised to see them with soap on a sponge." Sasuke said reluctantly.
"You guys finishing this cake?" Shino asked as he pulled out a half eaten chocolate cake from the back of the fridge.
"I was hiding that back there so Naruto wouldn't eat it, but I guess you can have it." Sasuke shrugged. Shino didn't say thank you but instead grabbed a fork off the counter and began to eat the cake.
'That thing must be weeks old….where'd he get that fork from?' Sasuke wondered.
"Hey guys." Kiba said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Game over already?" Sasuke asked almost uninterested.
"Who won?" Lee asked.
"I did naturally." Kiba said putting his thumb up to himself.
"hn…don't be too impressed with yourself." Sasuke told him. "Anyone could have conned Naruto like that, but the rest of us got the picture. We heard the whole deal from the kitchen."
"So are we leaving then?" Shino asked.
"Not until Naruto gets the rest of my money." Kiba told them.
"So how much does he owe you?" Sasuke asked.
"I thought you heard from the kitchen?" Kiba asked. He saw the intense glare from Sasuke and decided to just spill. "Fifty dollars." He told him.
"How much did he give you?" Lee asked.
"Twenty, he's getting the rest." Kiba said as he walked back into the room when he heard Naruto's foot steps coming from the stairs.
"Okay.." Naruto said reluctantly. "Here's the rest of the money." He said handing him a bunch of crumbled up paper. Kiba opened it all up and began to count it.
"You're a little short buddy." He laughed. "You owe me ten more dollars."
"AW come on!" Naruto begged. "That's all I got!"
"Then I guess you're gonna have to owe me something." Kiba told him as Sasuke, Lee, and Shino walked in on the situation.
"Okay fine. I owe you then." Naruto said as he surrendered.
"Just you don't forget Uzumaki." Kiba warned as he headed for the door. "Thanks for inviting us over, maybe we'll come again some other day too." Kiba said as he waved.
"Who said we invited you?" Neji asked. "You all walked in."
"So we'll see you all tomorrow." Kiba continued to say while he ignored Neji. "You all rest up."
"Only 'cause you said so." Shikamaru said as he made himself comfortable on the couch.
Lee, Shino, and Kiba were all outside the door which Sasuke was more then happy to shut. He cleared his throat and put his arms behind his head while Naruto went over to Shikamaru's favorite chair and collapsed on it. Shikamaru looked like he was asleep on the couch and Neji went over to the kitchen for a drink.
"I guess I'm just going to read for a while then." Sasuke told anyone who was listening. "I'll be in my room if any of you need me." He turned and walked up the stairs. No one said anything since they all seemed to be too tired to do anything about it. Neji poured himself water and then decided that he would also read some of his book. He left it down stairs the other day so he didn't have to go upstairs at all. He took his water to the far side of the couch, away from sleeping Shikamaru, and began to open his book up, which he hadn't read since he and his friends made a house of cards. He frowned, and as he opened it to where he last left off a small folded piece of paper fell out of his book. He picked it up and wondered what on earth it could have been. He unfolded the small piece of paper and was surprised to see what it said and who it was from.
Neji,
I had to read this book for summer
reading too! Can't wait to beat
you in the competitions in only 2
weeks! It'll be lots of fun tho!
Tenten
It didn't say much but he reread it three times over and checked the back to make sure there wasn't anything else. He had no idea when she could have done this, when it hit him.
'I bet she wrote this when I went upstairs to get them a flashlight. She must have seen my book and paper and….'
"Naruto!" Neji said looking over at his tired friend.
"Huh?" Naruto asked as he looked up. "What is it?" he yawned.
"Do you know anything about this piece of paper?" he asked showing him the paper.
"…..umm…no why?"
"Never mind." He told him as he looked back down into his book. Naruto didn't even fight about it and went right back to sleeping. Neji read the note again and then he stuck it in the back of the book.
'If only we knew that in two weeks we would be in that big mess. We had no idea.'
Neji looked back at his book wanting to read it but couldn't since that small note was getting to him. They didn't know then that the whole competition would lead to a fight for their lives. Neji couldn't stop thinking about it. If only he knew. He wouldn't let her…or anyone do it. He then remembered something that happened during the race which made him blush slightly.
Tenten kissed him.
It was for a second but she kissed him! Although he was upset about everything he couldn't help but think that if none of that had happened then she wouldn't have kissed him.
'So now I'm glad that it all happened? I mean it was bad but with the bad take the good right?' Neji sighed trying to get his thoughts straight and in order. He reanalyzed everything and then decided. 'It's in the past. You can't change the past.'
Neji opened up his book and began to read it again, this time with a smile on face.
Captain Shikamaru was standing on his Ship of a Thousand Seas. He was looking quite snazzy in his white navy outfit with black shiny shoes and his little navy commanders' hat on top of his head which looked the same as always. To anyone who was watching him they would tell you he was staring out at the big opened sea, but to tell you the truth he was looking up at the big open sky. He couldn't help but see all the clouds and how puffy they were. It just didn't get any better then this. That's all he kept thinking as he stared at the endless sky, until.
"Captain." A voice from behind him said. Shikamaru smiled at knowing to familiarity of the voice.
"Chouji, you don't have to be so formal with me." He told him without turning around.
"Sir, your wife is here." He said.
Shikamaru turned around to see a woman with brown short hair standing in a southern belle type of outfit. She was holding an umbrella above her head along with a wide brimmed hat.
"Oh Choji!" she giggled. "You know we're not married yet. Just engaged."
Chouji only laughed as he walked away. "If you need me I'll be in the kitchen!" he yelled as he walked down some stairs.
Shikamaru smiled as his fiancé walked over to him and looped her arm around his.
"Isn't this nice dear?" she asked as her head leaned against his shoulder. "Soon you can retire and we can just live in an ordinary house and have enough money so you won't be able to work so you can just play chess all day long."
"Sounds good to me." He told her as he put his arm around her.
"It'll be you with me, your ordinary not so special looking wife, with our two sons who will take good care of us as we age."
"Just as I planned, an ordinary family, an ordinary looking wife, and all my days I'll play chess."
"Yes. That's all you'll ever need. It's all you want." She told him. "Look dear….at that funny cloud." Shikamaru looked up expecting to see another cloud like the rest when his eyes widened. "It looks just like a pig."
It looked exactly like the one he once saw while he and Ino walked next to each other at his camp some time ago.
Ino.
'Wait a second….I'm married to..who?' Shikamaru looked down at his "wife" to see she was still talking about whatever.
"No more fun for you." She said. "No more friends, no more pranks. Soon there will be no more camp, no more fencing, no more dances, no more.."
"Ino." Shikamaru said. His wife looked up at him confused. Shikamaru began to walk away from his wife towards to tip of the boat. His thoughts were becoming clearer. He wasn't married, but that is the kind of wife he wanted to have. He was going to have the life that he wanted to have, but now he wasn't so sure that he wanted it anymore.
"What changed my mind?" he asked out loud as he looked up at the sky expecting to see the pig shaped cloud.
"INO!" he heard the voice of Sakura yell. Shikamaru was no longer on his amazing ship but on the old canoe that he had just used to race with the other day. As he realized where he was he saw Ino in the water practically drowning. His body reacted and he jumped into the water.
'Oh my God! Am I crazy or something?' he asked himself. 'I could get killed!' all of his thought soon went away when he saw Ino under the water. He dove down and brought her back to the surface. Soon it was as if they weren't even in the water anymore. They were on land, or rather, a beach. Ino was coughing up water and Shikamaru was over her body.
"Ino?" he asked. "Ino….can you hear me? You okay?"
(cough cough) "Shika…maru?"(cough cough cough) "You saved me!"
"Twice in one week." He reminded her. "Don't scare me like that." He told her.
"I'm so sorry!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around him. She cried into him and kept repeating, "Don't be mad at me."
"I could never be mad at you." He told her.
He was just so happy that Ino was safe and in his arms. He had his eyes closed for the remainder of their hug but when he let her go a little so he could see her face he only saw the cushion to his sofa.
OUT OF SHIKAMARU'S DREAM
Neji sort of stared at Shikamaru blankly, although he did sort of blink at him. Shikamaru sat up and stretched out his arms tiredly. In mid yawn he stopped with his mouth agape as he stared at Neji staring at him.
"What?" Shikamaru asked.
"….who could you never be mad at?" Neji asked.
"What?" he asked.
"You were just talking. You said you could never be mad at somebody." Neji told him. "So who is it?" he asked.
"I don't even remember dreaming of that." He told him as he put his hands around his head.
"Very well." Neji said as he went back to his book. "But so you know, I'm just going to guess that you're thinking about a girl."
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
"You're not the only one who can tell exactly what people are thinking." Neji said not even looking up from his book.
Shikamaru then remembered his dream right away. He just saved Ino again from the water. It was almost real, like a reenactment.
"….huh….so troublesome." He said as he closed his eyes to go back asleep.
Tenten and Sakura were finishing their last dance on the DDR. The song was almost done and Tenten was loosing at it horribly.
"Right…left…..left.left.left…..right.right.right…front.back.back.front….shit!" Tenten kept yelling as she tried to move her feet. Sakura was doing pretty well on the last song but she knew she wouldn't win the game since Tenten did so much better in the first two songs.
"Let's….see our….scores." Sakura said out of breath.
They both waited as they panted heavily. Tenten fell to her butt and Sakura was now hunched over. Ino and Hinata were watching from the couch which had been pushed all the way to the back so they had more room. Their table was now blocking the back door entrance so it was out of the way too.
"A "C"?!" Sakura yelled.
"B?!" Tenten yelled very unhappy with her grade. "Oh wait…I won….WOOHOO! DDR MASTER!" she yelled as she jumped up to her feet.
"Alright, alright….winner of the game between me and Hinata will dance against Tenten. So let's go already!" Ino yelled.
Sakura and Tenten were more then happy to sit, more like collapse, on the couch. Ino took her position on the mat Sakura used and Hinata used the one that Tenten was on. The new game began to play and they were dancing to "Peace" by BeforU. The song was pretty easy but Hinata did have some trouble with it. Every time the arrow told her to hit right she went down.
"Shoot!" she kept yelling.
"I got an "A"!" Ino cheered.
"Why did I have to go against Ino?" Hinata asked. "She's too gooooood." She whined.
"Get over it Hinata." Tenten told her.
"Better you then me." Sakura said.
Second song played and it was "Candyman" by Aqua. The girls all sang along with the song, even Ino and Hinata were while they danced.
"I wish that you were my lollypop!" Sakura sang.
"Sweet things I will never get enough!" Tenten joined.
"If you show me to the sugar tree, will you give me some for fr..free free free!" Hinata and Ino joined.
"You are my lollypop!" they all sang together.
The song continued with all of them still singing the song together or individually at certain parts.
"Oh my love, your word is my command!" Hinata and Tenten sang.
"Let us fly to bounty land!" Ino and Sakura sang together.
"I am the candy man." They all sang in a dark male voice.
"I got a "B" again?!" Hinata whined.
"Another "A"!" Ino cheered. "I'm soo good at this game."
"Hey look at the next song!" Sakura said as she pointed at the screen.
On it said "iGeneration" by MC Lars.
"EASY!" Ino told them all.
They began dancing at a very simple speed, almost like beginner, yet Ino was having trouble with it.
"When's it going to pick up speed?" Ino asked.
"Having trouble on a very sloooow song?" Hinata asked.
"No hold on, I think I got it now!" Ino said as she tried to slow down her movements. "There!" she said as she began to dominate the game, again.
"Winner INO!" Ino yelled as her final grade came up.
"How she get another 'A'?" Sakura asked as Tenten stood up.
"It's like the entire average." Tenten told her as she went back to her mat. Hinata sat down and heard Sakura mumble the word "rigged".
"Alright Tenten? You ready?" Ino asked her.
"No problem." She told her as the song began to play.
Two days later, August 4th, the girls were all sitting in their auditorium waiting to hear about the flyers they had all received yesterday. Everyone was chatting and growing excited with anticipation as to what all of it meant. Tenten and Hinata were sitting in the two aisle seats towards the back with Sakura and Ino right in front of them. Asuma Sensei was now talking about how the summer was ending and it was like they were all just arriving for the first time yadda yadda yadda."
"GET TO THE PART ABOUT THE MASKS!" Yelled a girl from the right side of the auditorium.
"Uhhh….alright then. I know you all saw the flyers and are excited about the dance so let me just explain to you what we're doing and then some rules." Asuma said.
"….man….I bet the guys already know what's going on and everything." Ino said as she shrunk down into her seat.
"I bet they have their masks and everything." Sakura said.
Meanwhile at the guys' camp they were all in the hall listening to Kakashi go on about how they shouldn't dance or do anything inappropriate while dancing and no one should try any funny business or they'd be sorry blah blah blah.
"Two hours." Shikamaru said. "We've been listening to him for TWO WHOLE hours."
"At least you were asleep for the first hour." Sasuke told him.
"Yeah count your blessings!" Naruto told him.
Neji was staring blankly ahead of him. "If Gai comes back out with the Ken and Barbie dolls…….…..I'm going to find a gun and shoot myself in between the eyes."
"Well then, now that you're all probably asleep I guess I'll explain these flyers that you found everywhere." Kakashi said. Everyone perked up and sat right up in their chairs. "………..ummm…….what were we going to do again?" he asked.
Everyone in the room fell over anime style.
"As you all know," Asuma began. "The dance will be at the boys' camp. Now what we decided to do is make it into a masked….ball thing …I guess."
"Everyone must wear a mask that will be provided by us your councilors." Kakashi said. He picked up off of his podium a white mask that looked sort of like a dog. "All masks are white and look almost like this one…but with a different animal."
(AN: Picture an ANBU mask. Kakashi has in his hand his own ANBU mask.)
"This way no one has a mask any different then any one else. You're all equal here." Asuma told the girls as he showed them the example mask. "You will all line up at the end of this speech to get your mask, but if you break yours there will be NO replacement."
"What? WHY NOT?" Ino yelled.
"Because Naruto," Kakashi said. "We have only so many masks that we just made it to the very last person. If your mask is broken or damaged in any way…..well….. I guess you're not going to the dance anymore."
A loud gasp was heard from every girl in the auditorium.
"Bad enough they're ugly, but now we have to treat them right." Ino said which gave Sakura some sort of an idea.
"Sakura." Hinata said from behind. "I just saw your light bulb go off…..what's your idea?"
"Tell you later." She whispered as Ino and Tenten looked at her curiously.
"Now girls we all know that there was a huge mess at the last dance, and frankly I don't want that to happen again." Asuma told them all.
Kurenai was listening behind with all the councilors and she began to smirk. She knew that Asuma and Kakashi liked to see whose camp could give the best prank. Asuma didn't know she knew, oh but she knew.
Iruka smirked and shook his head. He knew that Asuma and Kakashi liked to see whose camp could give the best prank every year. It was a miracle that whoever did it this year got away with it. Now because of whoever started the pranking again probably started a chain reaction and would only make the girls retaliate. Iruka knew having masks would only make it harder for people to identify who would do the prank. It was almost as if they were just handing it to them.
"So if any of that kind of funny business goes on then you'll be kicked out of the dance." Kakashi told them.
A group moan was heard from everyone in the room. No one was going to do anything; they would make sure that everything would go as according to plan.
"Can we just get on with it?" Shikamaru groaned. "This is such a drag."
"Alright, I can see how restless you all are. So let's all get in an orderly line right in front of the five counselors that are WAY in the back of the room very far away from me so you can all get your.."
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" All the girls yelled as they charged to get their masks.
Tenten was the first one to get to a councilor and Ino was no where near getting there since some girls pulled her long hair to get there first.
"GRAB A MASK AND GO!" A councilor yelled. "ONCE YOU GRAB IT IT'S YOURS!"
A herd of girls ran out of the auditorium holding their masks as if they were their babies. Tenten was first to make it outside and she waited a good distance away from the door, as to no get trampled, for her friends. She looked down at the mask that she had grabbed, and it stared back at her. She had picked the panda, and not by choice, but to her it almost felt like fate. Pandas were her absolute favorite animal in the world, and it always made her giggle when she thought of her buns as little panda ears.
"hehehehe." She giggled.
"Hey what are you laughing at?" Sakura asked as she came over to Tenten.
"Just my animal. How lucky was it for me to get a panda? What did you get?" Tenten asked as she looked at the mask Sakura clutched against her chest. Sakura looked at it and then showed it to Tenten.
"I got a cat." She smiled. "How cool is that?"
"Aw that's so CUTE! Look it's Ino. INO!" Tenten yelled at Ino who was looking around the place for them.
"There you guys are. Look at what I got!" she told them as she showed them her mask.
"A bird?" Sakura asked.
"No it's a dove." She said as she gave it another look. "I think it's really cool! What did you guys get?"
"Panda." Tenten said.
"Cat." Sakura told her as they both showed their masks.
"We all got the cutest animals!" Ino cheered. "I'm glad we didn't get anything crappy like a…."
"SHREW!" cried a female voice from behind them. "IT'S AN UGLY MOLE!"
All the guys were rushing to get a bad ass animal so they wouldn't be stuck with a pansy kind like a kitten or a bird. Shikamaru didn't really rush himself over to the front to get a mask from a councilor, he just took his good old time getting there.
"LOOK OUT SHIKAMARU!" Naruto yelled as he pushed people aside.
"OUT OF MY WAY NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled as he shoved Naruto away with Neji right behind him.
"MAN DOWN!" Neji yelled as he watched Naruto fall to the ground.
"GRAB ME A MASK!" Naruto's last words were before he hit the ground. "NOT A GIRLIE ONE!"
"Everyone must take ONE mask." A councilor said.
"NOOOO!" Naruto yelled from the ground.
"I GOT ONE!" Sasuke yelled. "MEET ME IN THE BACK!"
"GOT IT!" Neji yelled.
Sasuke was running at full speed to the back doors and ran right by a slowly walking Shikamaru.
"Hurry Shikamaru!" Sasuke yelled with urgency. "Your masculinity is on the line! You could get stuck with girlie animal!" Shikamaru stopped walking.
"……oh…….shhhhhhiiit!" he cursed as he picked up speed. He ran right by Neji who had to do a double take to make sure he was actually seeing Shikamaru Nara zoom by him.
"Yup, that was him." He said as he continued to run after Sasuke.
Naruto was still on the ground suffering to get up and to grab his own NON GIRLIE mask.
"…I got…..to move…." He said as he struggled to his feet. "….must…..erg..get…mask."
Just then someone pushed Naruto to the ground.
"HAHA….sorry Naruto, didn't quite see you there." Kiba laughed as he watched Naruto fall back to the ground.
"Kiba……I hope you get a….a mouse!" as faint as Naruto said it, it still was heard by Kiba.
"We'll see about that!" Kiba yelled as he made his way to a councilor with the box of masks.
Naruto once again struggled to get to his feet, this time it felt impossible to do but he had to try….he just had to.
"I WILL NOT BE STUCK WITH A GIRLIE MASK!" He yelled to motivate himself to stand up. Just then someone took Naruto's arm and put it around there neck. Naruto was shocked to see who was helping him stand.
"Lee?" Naruto asked.
"I won't let a man, and a fellow friend, down Naruto." Lee told him. "I vow….you will not get a girlie mask!" Naruto stared in awe at Lee. This guy was a true friend, one in a million guy who would never let anyone down.
"Thanks Lee." Naruto said as they both went over to the councilors. There were only two councilors standing there and everyone else had already left with their mask. "There's no way that either of us will get a masculine mask now." Naruto said.
"I have one mask left." One of the councilors said.
"Me too." The other said.
Naruto let go of Lee and they both went to a councilor. Lee gulped as he reached down into the box to pull out his animal.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!" He cheered. "The Bear!" He said proudly as he raised it high and proud. Naruto looked from Lee and now at his arm that was grabbing the mask. He pulled it out and turned it around to see what kind of animal he got.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Naruto yelled as he looked down at his happy mouse mask. He was down to his knees and now in tears as he stared at his ridiculously feminine mouse. "Why is my life so unfair?" he asked himself solemnly.
"Naruto." A voice said.
Naruto looked up to see Lee handing down his Bear mask.
"Please, except mine. I vowed you wouldn't get a girlie mask so take mine."
"Really? THANKS LEE!" Naruto said as he jumped to his feet. "I owe ya' one pal!"
"Naruto!" came a very stern voice from behind. Naruto turned around to see Iruka holding a box and also holing a very angry look. "No trading masks. You get what you get."
"…………BUUUUT!" Naruto fell to his knees again.
"Lee please exit the building with your mask in hand." Iruka told them.
"..uh…yes Sensei." Lee said as he left immediately.
Naruto just continued to stare down at his mouse mask that was taunting him with a whiskered smiley face. Oh how Naruto was loathing that mask right now.
"Naruto." Iruka said as Naruto slowly looked up at him clearly annoyed. "Stand up when your sensei is talking to you."
Naruto did as he was told but wasn't happy about it. He stared at Iruka as he gripped his mask tightly.
"Naruto." He said with authority in his voice. Iruka's face then began to soften up. "You sure have changed within this summers break, haven't you?"
"I guess." He said spitefully.
"Now come on Naruto, don't you feel like you have? I bet your school will accept you back."
"GrreAAAAt." He said.
"You know Naruto….in a way, you remind me a lot of this other kid who always got himself into trouble. Always causing mischief to get some attention. Kind of sounds like you."
"Yeah, I'm sure he wasn't that bad." Naruto told him as he looked across the room instead of at Iruka.
"Oh he was, I got to admit it!" Iruka told him. "He was always failing tests, always playing pranks on girls, and even caught his Principal Jiraiya's hair on fire."
"What? Jiraiya?! NO WAY! Who was this guy?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Me." Iruka told him point blank.
"HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA, yeah right Sensei. You're such a stickler for the rules; I just don't see you as the type.
"Well believe it or not it's true Naruto. When I see you I see me. But Naruto I just wanted to get the chance to tell you…..how proud of you I am." Naruto's eyes widened and he stared at Iruka's face. No one has ever told Naruto that they were proud of him. He never did anything to make anyone feel proud, so if Iruka was saying that then he must have been a little bad ass when he was younger too.
"You're….proud of me?" Naruto asked as the foreign words came out of his mouth.
"I am Naruto. I have never seen such turn around in all my years. You have even done better then me when I was young, I didn't stop that kind of stuff till I was in college. Let me tell you something Naruto, it gets old by that point, and it won't attract the ladies...believe me, I'm single."
"Thank you Iruka Sensei." Naruto said as he bowed to his sensei. Iruka definitely wasn't expecting that, especially from a person like Naruto. It made Iruka smile.
"Well I hope you'll except this as a you're welcome." Iruka said as he shook his box. The box made a noise….like as if something was in it. "Take it Naruto; I saved this one for you."
Naruto was short for words. He didn't know if he should get special treatment here just because he was just like Iruka once was. However, they were almost like "soul" brothers in a way. It would be an insult to take the mask that was clearly in the box, but Naruto only heard it and didn't know if it was what he would be expecting. Iruka tilted the box so Naruto could see the mask better. Naruto smirked and knew what he was going to do.
Sasuke and Neji were outside showing the other their masks. Shikamaru was walking over to them to holding his lazily in his hand.
"So let's see it already." Sasuke said to Neji. Neji flipped his mask around and was happy to show him that it was a Hawk.
"That's pretty good, check this out." Sasuke said as he flipped his mask around to reveal a tiger. It looked like it was telling you that it was deadly but it wasn't interested in you because you just weren't worth it.
"I guess those animals are perfect for the both of ya'." Shikamaru said as he walked up closer to them.
"So what did you get?" Neji asked.
"Or was it too late?" Sasuke asked as Shikamaru handed them his mask lazily.
"A……deer?" Neji said. "That's not entirely bad."
"Some guys got rabbits…count your blessings." Sasuke said as he handed it back.
"I guess I don't mind it." Shikamaru told them both in complete honesty. "I wonder if Naruto is going to get a good one."
"Hn, knowing that guys luck he'll get something completely wimpy." Sasuke told them as he saw Naruto exit the building.
"Naruto!" Neji called. "Whada' get?"
Naruto didn't respond but only walked over proudly with his mask. "What you guys get?" he asked them as he approached the group.
"Tiger."
"Deer."
"Hawk."
"Well, then you're going to have some reaction to mine." He smirked as he began to flip it over slowly revealing whisker marks.
"HUH!" all three girls gasped.
"A shrew?" Tenten asked them all. "I didn't even know that choice was in there."
"OH MY GOD! That girl was right before me." Ino told them. She then began to fan herself with her mask. "To think….I could have been….the SHREW!"
"You know for a minute that sounded like Hinata, I mean I could have SWORN it was her." Sakura told them.
"Wait….she's right there!" Tenten said. "Hinata!" she called. The second Hinata heard her name she blindly began to run towards the source of the sound. She then noticed her friends and smiled at them.
"Oh my gosh! What did you all get?" she asked excitedly.
"Panda."
"Dove."
"Cat. Now what about you?!" Sakura asked really excited.
"Well I got a rabbit!" she told them showing them her mask.
"Awesome bunny!" Ino said. "You should HUUUH! Oh my GOD……IDEA!" Ino cheered. "Hinata you should go as a Play Boy "Bunny"! That would be SO cute."
"Ino, she can't go as a skank! What her father say?" Sakura asked.
"Or even worse!" Tenten reminded them. "Neji!"
"He'd kill me and throw a ba-JILLION sweaters on top of me. I would never show a speck of flesh again!" Hinata laughed. "Besides I already have a dress and it's not sleazy AT all."
"You know, it's a good thing these masks are white or else they would clash with our outfits." Tenten told them.
"Yes, but ours will not be white." Sakura said.
"You mean….is this your light bulb?" Hinata asked.
"Yep! And Ino, Hinata, we're going to need your help, not to mention your expertise."
"In what?" Ino asked clueless.
"In art!" she told them.
Naruto was proudly showing them his mask which none of them could stop staring at.
"I think you're the only who has this." Sasuke told them.
"I didn't know they had whiskers." Neji said while he still examined it.
Each boy looked at him like he was mental.
"Of course they have whiskers!" Naruto told him as if he was stupid. "All foxes have whiskers."
"Whatever." Said Neji.
"I think there are at least doubles of each animal, but you're pretty lucky to be the only guy to get a fox." Shikamaru told him. "It's as if you picked it yourself."
Naruto gave him a confused, and almost nervous, expression.
"I mean this animal couldn't be any more you." Shikamaru told him.
"I just wonder what Lee got." Neji wondered. "He should get some pansy animal, like a mouse or something." Neji laughed.
"You know you should really back off of Lee." Naruto told him. "The guy isn't that bad, he's a true friend." Naruto defended. "And he got a bear……Bear eats Hawk." Naruto finished.
Neji stared at him blankly. Then he just shrugged it off and could care less of what Naruto was thinking.
"SHt, Naruto, if you like him so much why don't you marry the guy." Sasuke said.
"Our children would be BEAUTIFUL!" Naruto joked.
"Alright we're taking this joke too far." Shikamaru said. "Can we just go back to our cabin already?" he asked. The guys all nodded and began to go to towards their cabin.
Naruto was thinking of how cool Lee was, and that he was glad he met him. Nothing bad ever came out of meeting him so why the hell shouldn't they be friends.
'Oh wait….he wears spandex.' Naruto shuddered. 'And I said our children would be beautiful. Maybe we'll just me acquaintances. Yeah that's pretty good.'
I hope you liked it! Just so you know all the masks that will be warn in the dance are all like ANBU masks. Also in the chapter about the dance i will be giving you something that i have never given before so get ready to be amazed! Thanks for reading!