Heya, I've been watching NARUTO: SHIPPUDEN… I can't find episode 5, maybe because it's not out yet, maybe??
I can't wait for the next episode
Thx to EVERYONE who reviewed, I'm so glad you liked the story.
By the way, I wanted everyone to know that I, TLD, have official found someone who blush even more than Hinata. My friend is too pale that whenever she laughs, lies or gets embarrassed, her face turns into a tomato-like color. LOL!!!
solaristhedarktrigger: Thank you, I'm glad you thought it was good. Stay tuned!!
Kiki: I'm so glad you love this story. Yes, Kagome is the one from Inuyasha, but since I never watched Inuyasha, you might find some differences in her personality. I'll add some scenes including Kagome with all the possible characters, and then you get to choose!!! Here's the chapter for you!
Kirri Kitty: Thank you, thank you, thank you. You did not embarrass me, I was kidding. I might not have bad English, but I mess up the grammars, use some prepositions in the wrong sentence, LOL!
NOW!!
On to chapter 18
Please remember, Chapter 18
Back to Gaara and Ino in Shimabukuro Restaurant
They were both eating silently. Gaara was eating a bowl of rice while Ino was having a salad with extra small tomatoes and a cup of tea. She looked at Gaara who, in between each bite, had to poke his food. Shikamaru leaned closer to the table and closer to Ino.
"Hey, I don't think the food did anything to deserve being poked like that. Why don't you poke Naruto? I'd like to see that!" he said, making Ino look at Gaara who smiled and subconsciously apologized, continuing his meal. She felt that what he said was fairly familiar. She looked at him.
"Didn't you say that to me when we first arrived here?" she asked, Shikamaru chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "It was too troublesome to think of a phrase of the same meaning" he said, putting a bite of his meal in his mouth. She narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, Shika? Do you need help with that?" she said, pointing at his food. "Perhaps it's too troublesome for you to eat." She sarcastically said, making Gaara and Temari snicker. Shikamaru leaned closer to the table.
"You thought that was funny, didn't ya?" he said in a cold tone. Gaara narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the table as well.
"Watch your language"
"Or else?" Shikamaru said, making Gaara poke his food, pick up a small piece with his chopsticks and getting it closer to his mouth.
"Or else, you're prevented from meeting with my sister ever again." He said in a sarcastic tone, putting the piece in his mouth. Shikamaru, Temari and Ino laughed, Gaara soon joined in. Their laughter was cut at the sound of someone bumping their knife to a glass.
"Um...excuse me, everyone!" he said, they all turned at him. Naruto was standing up. A glass was in his hand. "I would like to give a toast, If you let me" he said, grinning. They all gave him their agreement to go ahead.
He put the cup down and moved his hand to his mouth; his other hand was on his waist. Then he rubbed the back of his head and stood straight. "Uh, I really don't know what to say…." He muttered, and looked down. To his left was Hinata who was smiling at him, squeezing on his hand a bit. Naruto nodded and looked at everyone.
"Seven years ago, when I first joined the academy I had high hopes of being the first in my class. Unfortunately, I failed the academy twice," he said, sarcastically. Chuckles and giggles were heard from his friends. "I said 'maybe third time is a charm' and it was. It wasn't just because I passed the Academy's final test. But it's because I had friends who were by my side…" he said, looking at a smiling Sakura and Sasuke who lowered his head with a smile on his face.
"When Kakashi sensei first gave us the bells exam, I thought he was a total pain. Even Sasuke wanted to finish him off," he said, Kakashi choked on his Sake and Anko patted on his back, Sasuke chuckled just like everybody else. Naruto grinned. "but after teaching us an important rule about teamwork, then we knew he was the greatest, not to mention, coolest sensei in this world." he said, nodding at Kakashi who took a deep breath and smiled at Naruto.
"And now, we've come this far. I've always dreamed of becoming a rank higher than I was, and after all that happened, I always thought that I'd be the last to be promoted," he said, pausing. "but now the girls can feel sorry for being girls because they aren't promoted yet." he laughed but stopped when he felt that glares were going right through him. He cleared his throat. "I said 'YET', you know." he said, chuckling.
Naruto took a deep breath and started what he'd planned to do. All eyes were at him, silence was over their table. They're all waiting for his words to come out.
"Ever since we got promoted today, I've been wondering whether I'll live up to the name of Jonin or not. A Jonin must be honorable respectful ninjas, who care about others and prefers others' lives to theirs'. To me, adding my own words to the definition of the words 'honorable' and 'respectful' so it would also mean 'to grow up and not be childish anymore, not to pull pranks, especially ones that would hurt even my closest friends'" he said, looking at both Neji and Shikamaru who were listening Carefully. "As you all know, my dream is to become Hokage. But, if I can't live up to the Jonin name, if I cannot gather all my courage to give in and apologize, then I should give that dream up." he said, swallowing, then continued.
"Shikamaru," he started; Shikamaru was staring at him with a serious look on his face. "I'm sorry for being a pain with you, I'll pay you back, and you have my word." he said, nodding. Shikamaru smirked with a hidden smile. Naruto turned his head towards a certain guy who was having a hard time looking back at the blonde-Jonin.
"Neji…" he started. The whole table, including Tenten, diverted their attention from Naruto to him. He slowly looked up with an aching look in his eyes. Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What has happened this afternoon, and I say it in front of all of you, was entirely my fault. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have used you the way I did, causing both of you to get hurt" he said, looking at both Neji and Tenten. The latter was in total shock.
'What does he mean by it's entirely his fault?' Tenten thought as she looked at Neji who knotted his eyebrows, looking up at Naruto who was smiling sadly.
"It's up to you now, If you are to forgive me, all three of you..." he said, looking at Neji, Tenten and Shikamaru. "I will be able to pursue my dream of becoming a greater Jonin and becoming Hokage" he said with a stern face. Everyone looked at Neji and Shikamaru, waiting for a response. Naruto continued. "You can make sure I keep my words, because…" he lowered his head, taking a deep breath, and then looked up.
"That's my way of a ninja" he said his usual phrase, smiling nervously. A couple of seconds had passed with no reply from both. Tenten was looking back and forth between Naruto and Neji. She shook her head in disbelief. Neji turned his head to see her looking at him with a puzzled look on her face. Byakugan wasn't necessary to see what was written in her tearful eyes. She opened her mouth to talk; both Kiba and Shino (sitting in the two seats between Neji and Tenten) leaned back in their chair to let her talk to him.
"I…" she said, barely a whisper. He gulped, not knowing whether to apologize or stay silent. She shook her head, a single tear trailed down her cheek. "I-I don't understand." She said, getting up and walking away. Neji felt his chest closing in. 'I can't take this anymore' he said, "Tenten…" Neji said, getting up and following her, leaving the whole table puzzled.
Everyone's eyes followed the two, then turning their eyes to Naruto who lowered his head and was furiously angry. Hinata had a worried look on her face, worried on both Naruto and Neji.
"Naruto-kun" she muttered, squeezing on his hand. He squeezed back, "Hinata…" he whispered; only she was the one who heard him. "I need to be alone" he said, taking his hand out of her grasp and walked away as well. All of them watched him go out. Kiba groaned.
"This sucks! This is supposed to be a celebration, not a mourning dinner" he said. Shino looked at him blankly. He could tell that Kiba was bored out of his mind. Akamaru growled in a low tone. Kiba sighed, "Hai, Akamaru. I hope they get it all together sooner than later" he said, picking up his chopsticks and continued eating. The rest of them continued their dinner silently.
Hinata was the only one not eating; she silently activated her Byakugan and checked her surrounding. That's when she saw Tenten, pacing her steps, who was followed by Neji. She could see them walk around the restaurant then Tenten stopped, causing Neji to stop as well. Hinata knew that they're about to talk, so she deactivated Byakugan, giving them some privacy.
The backyard of Shimabukuro
Neji followed Tenten after they had gotten out of the restaurant. She was trying to walk as fast as she can; she wasn't going to run away. Tenten just wanted to avoid him, but she decided to ask him what was on her mind.
"Tenten, Wait!" Neji yelled, following her. A few steps later, she stopped. Neji stopped as well, her back was facing him. A few seconds passed and neither of them said a word. "T-Tenten…" he muttered. He could clearly see her shoulders shaking.
"Why?" she said, Neji narrowed his eyes and lowered his vision to the grass beneath him. She turned around, tears trailing on her cheeks. "Why didn't you explain? I-I don't…I don't U-understand" she sobbed, wiping away her tears, only to be replaced with more tears. Neji felt heavyhearted, feeling his stomach flip. He hated seeing her cry, he never saw her crying but it hurt him, the sight of her crying form.
"What happened? What did he mean by saying it's his fault?" she said, her fists clinched. Neji didn't look up, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. She was slowly loosing patience.
"ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!!!" She yelled, sobbing even harder. Neji grimaced and turned his head to the side. She stood there, lips were quivering, and her body was shaking with stress. Her mind had a question that he had its answer. Neji closed his eyes.
"It's not entirely his fault. It's all my fault." he said, she put her face in her hands and cried. He kept his eyes glued to the tree to the side.
"Then…" she said, making him look his head to her. "…tell me everything, f-from your point of view" she said, crying. He took a deep breath and exhaled it, nodding slowly.
Back inside Shimabukuro
Gaara was sitting still between his two argumentative older siblings who, well, started an argument just because Shikamaru told Temari how beautiful she looked tonight.
"I don't get it. Why do you butt in my business? C'mon, give me a break!" Temari said, Kankurou yelled back. "A break? You've got to be kidding me. You won't get half of it wearing that" both of them yelling at each other, yet trying to keep it as low as it could go. Gaara sighed and then looked at Ino who was containing her laughter. He shook his head and smiled. Both of them have finished their dinner, he leaned in on the table. She leaned in as well, both resting their elbows on the table.
"Are they always like that?" she asked, he nodded. "Yes, all the time" he said, both laughed out loud. Chouji leaned closer with them as well.
"Oi, are you guys talking about Neji and Tenten? Man, those two were best friends and I noticed that they didn't talk to each other from the moment they got here. I wonder what happened!" he said, then leaned back in his chair and turned to Shikamaru. Both Gaara and Ino sweat dropped. "Wow, that was the longest and fastest sentence I've ever heard." she said, Gaara laughed. "Is he always like that?" he asked, she shook her head. "No, he's probably being random" she said, making him chuckle. Ino titled her head a little, putting a smile on her face.
"I remember something about you" she started; he lowered his head a bit, still looking at her. She continued. "You're able to control sand, aren't you?" she asked, he nodded. "Yes" he simply answered. She narrowed her eyes.
"Show me" she bluntly said, Gaara smirked and lowered his palm close to the table. He narrowed his eyes. Ino looked closely at his hand, seeing atoms of sand gather beneath his palm. Both were distracted when…
"HOLY YOUTH!!" Gai yelled, getting up. His pants were wet from waist down. Anko was on the other side, hands drenched with Sake.
"How am I supposed to walk around now?" he yelled. Anko chuckled. "I'm really sorry, Gai. It was an accident, Calm down!" she said, shaking the Sake off her hands, Kakashi and Asuma complained about getting Sake in their eyes. Lee, who was seated next to Gai, was complaining as well. Anko apologized to them and turned to Gai.
"It's simple, go home and change. It won't kill you" she bluntly said. Gai glared at her and then sighed. Everyone was chuckling at the sight of Gai and Anko both drenched. Both of their cheeks heated, gaining the color of red.
"I'm going home, I'll be back in a few" Gai exclaimed, Lee looked up at him. "Yes, Boss!" he said, saluting. Gai laughed and patted his head. "You're a good boy, Lee" he said, Lee flinched at the mistake he made.
"GUY, I'm a good guy" he corrected, making the older Jonin laugh. "Now, Now, Lee, You're still a kid with youthful energy in my eyes" Gai said, walking off. A few seconds later, the sound of the plates crash was heard, Gai turned around to see his favorite student, face down in his plate.
"LEE!" he ran back. Most of the guys on the table stood, Including Gaara. "What happened?" Kiba yelled, running closer to where Lee is seated. Gai was holding Lee's shoulders, shaking him. Lee raised his head off the plate, slowly, looking up with sleepy eyes. Hinata ran to his side with a tablecloth, wiping the sauce off his face.
"Are you ok, Lee?" she asked, worriedly. He looked around, suddenly; he pushed the table a few centimeters away and got up. People looked at him, surprised.
He stood up, legs wiggling. "Why –hic- are you looking at m-hic-e that way…when –hic- what you did!" he said in a slurry tone and in between hiccups. Gai gasped, making everyone look at him. "What is it, Gai? Why is he acting like that?" Sasuke said. Gai stood a few feet away from a wobbly Lee. "He never acts like this unless he is…" he said, stopping. Lee kicked a nearby chair away, making some people leave. "Unless he's drunk" gasps were heard from the girls, Sasuke cursed. The owner, Shimabukuro-san, showed up.
"Excuse me, but what the heck is he doing?" the big-boned guy with a big mustache said. Everyone turned to look at him. Lee was among them, he took heavy steps towards the big man.
"OI!!" he started, 'Shit, he's going to screw everything up' Shikamaru said. Gaara, Temari and Kankurou did not understand what was going on with Lee. He continued.
"Did you," Lee pointed at the big guy, hiccupping. "say something about meeee?" he pointed his thumb towards himself, "Because if –hic- you did, I'm going to kick your-" his threat was cut by Kiba whose hand clamped down on Lee's mouth. Shimabukuro-san was fumed with anger.
"Do you know who you're talking to, Kid?" he said, pointing his finger in Lee's face. In an instant, Kiba found himself flying towards the other end of the room, almost hitting Sakura who managed to duck, slamming into the wall with a big 'boom'. Temari gasped, "SHIT!" she cursed.
Shimabukuro was beginning to feel uneasy around this young guy. "Mister… Please, calm down" he said to a very angry Lee who replied to him with the same question Shimabukuro asked him. "Do you –hic- know who you're messing with?" Lee threatened. People started to leave after witnessing Kiba collision with the wall.
Stealthily, Kakashi walked towards Lee, strangling him from behind. Lee managed to get out of his grip. He turned around, giving him a side-kick. Kakashi used his left arm to hold off the kick and then take a couple of steps back.
'This is going to be bad, he's provoked!' Gai thought. Lee grabbed one of the long, round main dishes and threw it towards Kakashi who ducked, Leaving Ino, who was standing a few feet behind him, vulnerable and off-guard against the flying object which was now only a meter away. Ino closed her eyes, preparing herself for being hit.
Luckily for her, it didn't.
Instead, she was being held by someone. Ino opened her eyes to see a big, approximately two-meters-high shield of sand in her face. "Gaara!" she said, taking a step back. "You're ok?" he asked worriedly. She replied with a nod. The sand shield was deactivated and the sand dropped to the ground. He was still holding her shoulders when he turned his head around to see Lee flipping the table upside down and smashing it against the wall.
Outside the walls
Neji was in the middle of telling Tenten about the whole incident. Just when he got to the part where he had to explain himself, a big but muffled boom was heard inside the walls. They both looked at the wall, wondering what happened. Tenten ran and passed Neji who followed her, both praying that the reason of that sound wasn't who they were expecting.
Naruto was sitting on top of one of the roofs when he also heard the sound, 'It's coming from the restaurant' he said, jumping down and running towards it, meeting with Tenten and Neji.
"Did you guys hear that?" Naruto asked, they both nodded then stopped, Watching people running out of the restaurant, including the owner himself. "This looks bad" Tenten said. Naruto was the first to run into the restaurant, followed by Tenten and Neji.
Inside Shimabukuro
Naruto was surprised to see everyone trying to stop Lee for some reason, Tenten gasped. "Oh my god!" she said, seeing that the restaurant was trashed. Plates and cups were flying; bowls were crashing, chairs being broken, Kiba clinging against the wall. Ino and Gaara are in the other corner and the table is stuck against the wall.
In the middle of the whole scene, Shikamaru sat down, putting his fingers together to form a square, and closed his eyes. 'I have to come up with a plan to stop him, otherwise, this place is going down' he thought
Gaara was shocked at this whole scene, he might have seen this guy's full strength in the Chuunin exams, but he didn't realize that a bunch of fully experienced Jonins couldn't stop him; one single guy.
Naruto, Neji and Tenten ran closer to the scene. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu" Naruto yelled, forming a seal and sending his clones to different sides of the room, all changing their direction and jumping at Lee at the same time.
Lee expected that from Naruto. "Konoha senpuu!" he yelled, kicking the clones with his famous whirlwind kick. A puff of smoke appeared instead of each clone. Naruto cursed, "This is not looking good" he said, hands balled into a fist. Neji ran towards him, trying to hit him with Jyuuken, only to see that his attacks were easily stopped. 'I can't believe this!' Neji thought as he skipped back a couple of steps away from him, knowing how dangerous Lee is in that state.
"He's drunk, isn't he?" he asked. Gai nodded, keeping his distance away from Lee "Yes, but I don't think we can hold him off with what we did the last time" he replied.
Ino looked at the scene, surprised. All this time, she knew that Lee was the polite student who wanted to be great in spite of inability to use Nin-jutsu and Gen-jutsu. After seeing this, she sure would change her mind. Ino turned to her teammates.
"What are you waiting for? Do something!" she yelled, Shikamaru nodded, got up. "Ino, Sakura. I might need your help with this!" he said, Ino nodded and Sakura walked to his side. Temari and Kankurou walked to their brother's side, also discussing a plan to stop Lee.
"Here's the deal…" he started explaining his plan while the others tried to stop him. Kurenai started to create roots from beneath the floor to try and get a grip on his legs, but he was too fast. Asuma was using his trench knives to hit Lee, trying his best not to hit him on critical points, but that wasn't helpful either. Kankurou also tried to use his ability to use Chakra strings but no avail. Gaara had tried to use his sand to get a grip on him, but he quickly dodged it. Shino attacked with his bugs, but he wasn't affected. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, trying his best to stop him but he was also kicked away with Lee's incredible speed. Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba were side by side lying on the ground, all of them groaning while getting up.
"He's changed! He's faster than he used to be" Sasuke said, Naruto panted. "Yes, there's no way to stop him…" he said, getting up on his feet. Akamaru barked. Kiba nodded "You're right, the only thing we could do is wait until he sobers up." He said, making Sasuke and Naruto groan.
Shikamaru finished his plan with Ino and Sakura who looked really happy with it. "You got it" Sakura said as she ran to the other side of the room. Ino stayed by Shikamaru's side, praying for the plans' succession, Sakura formed some kind of seal, trying her best not to alert Lee.
"LEE!" he suddenly stopped after hearing her voice, usually, he didn't tell the difference between friends from foes in his state, but Sakura was a special case.
"Sakura-san?" he turned around to see Sakura who sat on the ground, injured and drowned in her own blood.
"Help…me!" she mumbled. He stood in his place, shocked to see the girl he always admired, hurt and unable to move. The others didn't understand what was going on. To them, Sakura was fine and standing on her own. To him, she was bleeding and almost dying. He ran, only to notice that he wasn't moving. "What the…" he said, Sakura smirked and released her Gen-jutsu. They all looked to see that his shadow extending towards Shikamaru who looked at Ino. She nodded and formed a seal, facing Lee.
"Shin-tenshin no Jutsu" (Mind Body Switch Technique) she said, feeling her mind going out of her body and towards Lee. She fell unconscious. Gaara, being closer to her, ran to her side and caught her before she fell. He kneeled, holding Ino in his arms, still concentrating on what happened with Lee.
Lee's head was now lowered. Everyone stopped and watched. Shikamaru lifted his head, still having the effect of 'Kagemane' on Lee, making him slowly lift his head up with a smirk on his face.
"It worked!" Shikamaru whispered, slowly smiling. "Don't deactivate it yet, Shika" Lee said, Shikamaru nodded. "Whatever you say," Shikamaru said, getting up. "Ino-chan" he continued, grinning. Lee sighed,
"C'mon, tie him with something. The girl needs to get her body back" Shikamaru said, making Lee (Ino) chuckle. Lee looked to Shikamaru's right to see Ino's body in Gaara's arms.
Ino mentally blushed, seeing that it was Gaara who stopped her from probably having a concussion. Kurenai was in the middle of summoning roots when Lee (Ino) suddenly shrieked.
"AAAAAAAH!!!" he yelled, gripping his head and falling on his knees. Sakura ran to his side, "What's going on!?" Sakura asked, Ino (in Lee) replied.
"He's…He's rejecting me…He's hurting himself, inside" Lee said, Sakura was shocked. She looked at Shikamaru who had an 'if-she-leaves-his-body-we're-doomed' kind of looks.
"We have to stop him, somehow" Gaara said, raising his hand towards Lee. "Ino, return to your body, NOW" he said, sand was flying in from the front door, along with the sand spread on the floor from the Sand shield he created earlier.
To be continued…
Suspense music
CLIFFHANGER!!! I'm evil. Not a lot of fluffiness, but I already started chapter 19 and there will be major fluffiness
Please review