Chapter Nine: The New Moon
As the sun starts to set Gaara keeps a look out for a suitable spot to set up camp. They are a rather large group, bigger than the usual group of four that they are use to traveling in, so finding a spot to house seventeen people is going to be tricky. They need enough coverage to conceal themselves from enemies and they also need fresh water. Gaara is slowly becoming frustrated with their situation.
'Why did they all have to come with us?! They could have followed a few days later. How am I suppose to hide seventeen people!?'
Gaara is so lost in his thoughts he never realizes that Angel is by his side eyeing him.
"Gaara?"
"Hn?" Gaara turns his head towards Angel. She isn't looking at him and it made him a little sad not to be able to look into her sapphire orbs.
"If you are worried about proper cover for all of us, you should not. I can cast a spell that would hide our campsite from others." Angel speaks with no emotion in her voice, her face set in its mask.
Gaara doesn't like how she snapped back to her old self so quickly. Ever since the incident between Sai and her, she had become distant. Sai kept his word and brought her back with him but she didn't smile, not once. But maybe what disturbed Gaara the most was when Sai place a hand on Angel's shoulder and she didn't flinch. Gaara knew what physical contact did to her, she avoided it at all costs but she allowed Sai to openly touch her. This confused him deeply.
"I can smell water about one hundred meters ahead of us. There is also a hot spring not to far away from there." Angel states.
The inside of her mind is in chaos. Too much has happen to her in such a short period of time and it seems to be catching up with her. She couldn't shake the feeling that something big is going to occur, whether it had anything to do with her or not.
A little further back from Angel and Gaara; Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are having there own conversation.
"Why do you think Angel-chan is acting so cold?" Sakura wonders out loud.
"Probably because Sai-teme called her a hag. How could he call her a hag?! She has to be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!" Naruto yells out, but as he does another vision of Hinata floats across his mind's eye.
'Why do you haunt my mind Hinata-chan? You are off limits, I can't have you. That seems to be the pattern. I fall for a woman I can never have. Sakura-chan, Angel-chan, and you. Why do I do this to myself!?'
As Naruto thinks quietly to himself a very upset Hinata starts to fall back from the crowd. At that moment she wants to disappear. Why did Naruto always ignore her? She pushes herself to become stronger for him, so he will notice her like he does Sakura. She finally becomes strong enough to earn back her father's respect and is once again first in line as the heir of the Huuyga clan.
She remembers when she went and told him about it. He insisted on taking her out to celebrate and she could hardly believe that Naruto wanted to take her out. But they neared the restaurant a glint of pink caught his eye and Hinata was forgotten about. She faded to the background like she always did. She was so happy the day Sasuke came back. That meant Sakura would be too busy admiring the Uhicha heir to pay any notice to Naruto, but quite the opposite happened. Sakura clung on the Naruto and never left his side. Hinata was about to lose all hope until she heard Naruto telling a bunch of guys that Sakura was off limits because his best friend was in love with her. There was still hope for her then.
But now, what chance does she stand? Naruto is once again infatuated with a woman who is far beyond his reach. Angel likes him as a friend, but that wouldn't stop him. He will praise her, he will protect her, and he will do anything he can to gain her attention. How can she compare? Angel is far more beautiful, she is powerful, and she is mysterious.
From what Hinata can tell, she has managed to gain the attention of all the men in the group, well except for Sasuke and Shikamaru. Sasuke only wants Sakura and Shikamaru thinks she is too troublesome to even consider going after, plus she thinks Temari has something to do with his lack of interest.
Hinata is so lost in her depression she doesn't notice the other presence walking beside her.
"If you continue to fall back we will lose you."
Hinata starts to blush when she realizes that Angel is walking beside her. "W-when did you?"
"I noticed a change in your aura and I became worried the more you fell behind. Is something troubling you Hinata-chan?" Angel questions.
Hinata finds it hard to tell if she is truly worried or not because Angel's facial expression didn't vary but she doesn't think Angel is one to lie about such things.
"It's nothing." Hinata lies and Angel raises her eyebrow. Angel eyes her carefully and before Hinata could react, Angel grabs her hand.
Emotions and memories blast through Angel's mind. She only holds on long enough to receive Hinata's most recent thoughts, but that is enough to tell her what was wrong. Angel lets go of Hinata's hand, letting her emotionless mask fall into sadness.
"Why?"
Hinata's pearly eyes widen in amazement.
'Can what she heard about Angel-chan's abilities be true? Can she really see people memories, feel people's feelings, all through touch? Oh no! She knows all those harsh things I have thought about her! She must think I'm a horrible person!'
"Why do you doubt yourself so much?" Angel asks. Concern shining in her dark blue orbs.
"Y-you w-w-wouldn't understand." Hinata replies and looks towards the direction Naruto is at.
"I understand that you love him." Angel states. "I have no interest in him but I have a feeling that he may have some interest in you, Hinata-chan." Angel smiles as Hinata's eyes widen in disbelief. "I believe the only thing holding him back is not knowing how you feel. Also, he believes you to be off limits because of Kiba-san."
"There is nothing going on between Kiba-kun and me!" Hinata blurts out loud. "How do you know what Naruto-kun thinks?"
Angel sighs and shrugs her shoulders. "The fool always insist on hugging me. He thinks that if he surprises me, I would not be affected by his touch."
"Oh." Hinata responds and giggles at the thought of Naruto jumping out of a dark corner to hug Angel. "Why do you want to help me so much?"
Angel looks a little taken back by her words but smiles for the first time that day. "I do not know what drives me to stay here or to help any of you. Humans shunned me all my life, fearing what I am. But you all have welcomed me into your lives with open arms. I cannot let a debt like that go unpaid. Life is too short for mortals to waste waiting around for what they want. Sometimes one needs to grab what they want and take a chance."
Hinata smiles and nods her head. "Thank you Angel-chan. I am sorry for thinking such horrible things about you."
Angel cocks her head to the side in confusion. "Hinata-chan, if you thinking that I am beautiful and powerful are horrible thoughts, then my point-of-view on nice and bad is badly skewed. You should be apologizing to yourself for putting yourself down. From what I see, you think very little of yourself and you should not. You also should improve for yourself and not just for Naruto.
Now I think the group is going to start to wonder where we are if we do not catch up soon. Shall we?" Angel raises her hand and Hinata nods in agreement. They start to sprint towards the group that is already setting up camp.
"Angel, can you cast your concealment spell now?" Gaara asks. He wants everything to be set by the time the sun sets.
Angel nods and looks around the camp analyzing the perimeter.
"Quella tuulo' elea(1)," Angel's voice booms throughout the campsite. She starts to glow a faint shade of blue and then her aura starts to expand around the whole campsite.
When Angel opens her eyes everyone gasps. Angel's eyes were no longer the dark blue everyone knew her to have but silver.
"Angel-chan! What happened to you eyes?" Naruto yells as he points at her. He starts to dance around frantically chanting about how someone kidnapped Angel and they were left with an imposter. If Naruto would have paid attention longer he would have noticed that all the white steaks in Angel's hair had disappeared and she was now left with solid brown hair.
"Naruto if you say quite for five minutes I will tell you what is happening." Angel seems calmer and more relax. Naruto stops his dancing only to start up again when he notices Angel's hair.
"Your hair! Its different too! Oh Angel-chan, what has happened to you!?" Naruto starts to cry and dance about but this time Gaara uses his sand to keep him still and quite.
Every focuses on Angel as she began to explain her current situation. "Like you all know I am only a half demon, and like most half demons I have a time when my powers wane. On the nights when the moon is dark or as you call it, the New Moon, my demon blood becomes weaker and my Elf and Human side become more dominate."
"So that explains your hair and eyes color," Shino states and Angel nods.
"Silver was the color of your mother's eyes," Gaara slips out and everyone turns to look at him. On the inside he is cursing himself for letting that slip but no one could tell because his face remained still on the outside.
"Is that true Angel-chan!?" Ino screeches. "That is such an amazing color to have! You're so lucky!"
Angel lowers her head a little at the mention of her Mother. When she hears Ino ask a question she just merely nods her answer and lets the woman continue on with her ranting. Angel unknowingly brings her hand to her Chakrum and rubs her finger tips across the cool metal surface.
'Mother…'
Gaara stares at Angel, from what he can tell she is actually a spitting image of her mother. Same dark brown hair, shimmering silver eyes, pale porcelain skin, and blood red lips. She does have some characteristics from her father, like the white hair that is mixed in with her brown and her usual sapphire eyes, and because she is both Elf and Demon she has slightly pointed ears. Angel's canines are also slightly longer than the normal human's and her nails are long and dangerously sharp, but Angel usually casts a spell to give her nails a normal appearance.
As Gaara studies the beauty before him he can't help but notice the discomfort she is in. Ino is talking away about her physical changes and everyone is stating at her. He wants to help her but he doesn't know how to go about it, but luckily for him Temari has a good sense about these things.
"Angel-san, didn't you say something about a hot spring being near by?" Temari interrupts Ino's rant. Ino looks insulted and Temari can't help but notice a very relieved and amused Shikamaru looking at her.
Angel's eyes shine with gratefulness as she looks at Temari. "Yes, there is one not to far over the hill over there." Angel points towards the hills with her right hand.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and take a bath ladies!" Temari jumps up and grabs a towel, along with some fragrant soaps, shampoo, and conditioner. Angel notices all the other girls doing the same but she doesn't move.
"Angel-san aren't you coming with us?" Ten-Ten asks when she notices Angel hasn't move.
"I…"
Now Angel isn't modest at all but she is not use to bathing with so many people at one time. Also, as she looks around at the males in the group she begins to look a bit uneasy. Never has she seen so many smirks in her life. Every man in the group seems to be undressing the girls mentally.
"Perhaps I should keep watch?"
"Oh no! You are not getting out of quality girl time with us!" Ino warns Angel, waving her index finger in Angel's face. "You are coming with us and if you resist, well we will just have to drag you with us." Ino went to grab Angel's arm and smirks when Angel flinches back.
"Ino-san, you can be unnecessarily cruel." Lee speaks exasperated by the threat Ino just made to Angel.
"Hey Ino-pig! Angel-chan doesn't have to come with us if she doesn't want to!" Sakura growls and raises her fist in the air in anger.
"You know you want her there Billboard Brow!" Ino shoots back.
"I am coming, please do not fight!" Angel walks towards her bag and pulls out the essential things for her bath. She is next to Gaara and has an idea.
"Gaara could you please keep a watch out for us?"
"I thought you placed a spell?" Gaara raises his brow towards Angel.
"I am not worried about outsider intruders. I am more worried about inside intruders." Angel eyes the males in the group and Gaara understands what she means.
"How can you be so sure that I won't peek myself?" Gaara half smiles at Angel.
"Because Sand Master, there is no one here that you would want to see; and besides, your sister will be bathing with us and I doubt that you would want to take in that sight." Now it is Angel's turn to smile at Gaara's shock.
"You have a point but you are wrong about one thing." Gaara turns to fully face Angel. He brings his hand up and pushes a few stray hairs away from Angel's face. "There is someone I would like to see."
"Is that so." Is all Angel responds before she heads off with the rest of the group.
"This is so relaxing," Ino sighs and allows herself to sink further into the water.
"You said it," Ten-Ten agrees. She has taken her hair down from it's usual two buns, allowing the ends to sprawl across the surface of the water.
"So ladies," Ino speaks up again, a flicker of mischief shining in her eyes, "How 'bout we play a little game?"
"What kind of game Ino-chan?" Sakura questions. She doesn't like where this is going. Ino's games usually mean that there is a big secret to reveal.
"Nothing big, just a question game. Like 'Truth or Dare', just minus the 'dare' part." Ino suggests.
"Isn't that a little childish?" Temari questions.
Temari isn't use to interacting with other women due to the fact that she has two brothers, and her mother had died when she was young. Most people fear her, partly because she is Gaara's sister, but mostly because she is quite powerful. So she was never invited to parties or asked to go out on dates. Most of her time is spent with her brothers, trying to keep them in line.
"Afraid of what we may ask?" Ino's voice held an edge to it and knowing any good Kunochi, not one of them is going to back down from Ino's suggestion.
"You wish I was afraid," Temari spats back and sticks her nose up in the air. All the women bust out into fits of laughter, with the exception of Angel.
'What do they mean by questions? What kind of questions would they ask?'
'We will not know until they ask. Now the true question is, do we have to answer?'
During the nights of the New Moon, Angel's demonic side is no more than a whisper in the back of her mind. She would never admit it but a part of her misses the growling voice interrupting her thoughts, but unfortunately at the same time, her Elven side was always there. Angel would never have complete solitude.
"Do we have to answer all questions?" Angel voices her thoughts out loud.
"Why wouldn't you want to?" Sakura raises her brow in innocent curiosity.
"There are just some things I may not be prepared to answer." Angel states.
"Oh." Sakura lowers her head.
'Of course there are things that Angel would like to keep to herself…'
"Maybe this game is a bad idea?" Sakura sighs.
Angel gazes at all the faces, they look sad and disappointed. Angel sighs and swallows her pride.
"I shall participate."
"YAY!" The women scream all together.
"Alright, who wants to ask the first question?" Ten-Ten questions, eyeing the ladies around her.
Of course Ino had a wicked grin forming on her face. If is only natural for Ino to have the first question already picked out.
"I know it is quite obvious but I want to asked this anyway and everyone has to answer! Who do you have a thing for?" Ino smiles her wicked grin and everyone rolls their eyes. Seriously, she said it was obvious already, so why ask?
"A thing for?" Angel questions, her brow furrowed downward in confusion.
She is getting better but understanding the slang humans use, but it is constantly changing. It is hard to understand. Angel remembers when a child said that someone was 'cool'. Angel stared at the person and had to fight the urge to touch them to see how cool they really were. When Angel insisted that the person was of correct body temperature, they laughed at her. That day Angel learned the word 'cool' had another meaning.
"Someone you like." Hinata states with a blush.
"I see." Angel is still confused but decides to drop the subject. It would be easier to take Sakura aside later and have her explain the difference of meanings in words.
"Well, Ten-Ten-chan would you like to start us off?" Ino smirks.
Angel wonders if Ino's grin could get any bigger and to her surprise, it did.
"Well, I think a lot of the guys are cute and fun to hang with…" Ten-Ten starts to blush a light shade of pink and plays with the end strands of her long brown hair but Temari cuts her mumbling short.
"We want a name, not an explanation." Temari rolls her eyes. She just wants to get this over with and move on to more interesting questions.
"Alright. I have always had a slight crush on Neji." Ten-Ten's blush intensifies, she lowers her gaze so she could not see the knowing smiles that graces everyone's lips.
'If they know the answer already, why did they ask? Why is it so hard to say it out loud anyway? I like Neji! See, so easy in my mind but when I speak it out loud I sound like a fool…'
"Hinata-chan?" Ten-Ten quickly speaks to take the attention off her.
"Well… you see… I have always admired N-Naruto-kun." Hinata whispers slowly.
She knows that she isn't that good at hiding her crush, never was. The countless times she had blushed in Naruto's presence, not to mention all the times she fainted around him. Everyone knows about her feelings except the one she wants to notice the most, Naruto.
"Temari-chan?" Hinata whispers.
Temari's smirk disappears off her face the second her name is called out. She was enjoying herself, watching all the women blush and fidget around the subject of their crushes, it never dawned on her that she would have to participate. Then Ino's words replayed in her mind and she curses under her breath.
'…everyone has to answer!'
"Yea, Temari-chan! Is there someone in Suna that has caught your attention?" Sakura smiles.
Temari never really talks about her personal life, but Sakura had a feeling that someone had caught her attention, but she is quite sure that the man is not from Suna. So Sakura asked her question to make Temari squirm.
"No, I have no one in Suna, but there is this guy that I have kind of been… uh… dating." Temari is trying to avoid giving her answer for two reasons. One, she doesn't want to let them know and two, she is pretty sure that someone else in this little group has a crush on him and she does't want to cause problems. Nothing is worse than a love triangle.
"Name please!" Ino orders and smirks when Temari twitches. Temari mumbles the name under her breath and Ino cups her hand over her ear. "What was that? I can't understand you."
"Shikamaru…" Temari keeps her eyes closed and lets out the breath she had been holding. She can feel the sudden flare of charka coming from Ino and she mentally counts down the seconds before Ino explodes.
"WHAT?!" Ino roars. Now mind you, Ino never was open about her crush on Shikamaru but that didn't mean she was happy about someone else having a crush on him, let alone dating him.
"You heard me." Temari glares. After she said the information out, she starts to wonder why she was so cared to let them know. Her thoughts have been confirmed though, Ino does have feelings for the man.
"I have a thing for Nara Shikamaru. I have been dating Nara Shikamaru. It is not my fault you were too blind to see a good thing when it was right in front of you."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Ino screams, a vein on her forehead threatening to pop.
"Hey, you shouldn't have asked if you didn't want to hear the answer." Temari crosses her arms over her chest and gives Ino her best 'you did it to yourself' look.
"She's right Ino-pig. You said everyone has to answer and now instead of yelling at Temari, why don't you tell us who you have a crush on." Sakura interrupts, trying her best to calm her best friend before the scene became ugly.
Sakura can see it in her mind, two full grown Jounin ninjas, running naked through the woods shouting at each other. She is sure the men would have loved the sight but she hardly thought the girls would appreciate being gawked at.
"Fine," Ino huffs in defeat and crosses her arms over her chest. "Don't think this is over Temari-san! I will have a little talk to you about this situation."
"Fine Barbie-doll." Temari smirks in triumph. "Now get on with it."
"FINE!" Ino snaps. "Actually, more than one guy has caught my eye."
"No surprise there," Temari says under her breath.
"What was that Tom-boy!?" Ino snaps.
"Nothing Barbie-doll. Please, continue…" Temari waves her hand, telling her to continue.
"Well, Kiba-kun had gotten pretty good looking, Shino-kun isn't that bad looking either, Shikamaru has always held a spot in my heart and oh there is also Sai-kun! He is always calling me beautiful…"
Angel's eye twitches a little but she keeps her calm. Sai isn't hers, she can never return his feelings.
"Oh! And then Kankurou-kun is absolutely hot without all his make-up on!" Temari falls to the side in surprise but quickly regains her composure. Someone thought her make-up coved face brother was good looking. She isn't prepared for that.
"Gaara-sama isn't too bad looking himself now that I think about it." Ino says dreamily. She is so lost in her own little world she doesn't notice the growl that escapes Angel's throat.
Angel's now silver eyes flashes with power as she stares at the jabbering blonde. Not only did Ino mention Sai, now she had to mention Gaara. The two men that have stated their infatuation for her out loud. If is taking all of her self control not to send Ino flying.
Temari is just in a state of shock, she just can't fathom someone finding her baby brothers to be hot. It is almost too much for the blonde to take.
Sakura exchanges glances between the women in the group. Sakura, Ten-Ten, and Hinata look at Ino, who is starting up at the sky with a slight blush gracing her cheeks; Temari's jaw has seem to come unhinged as Ino rattles off her many crushes; but the one who worries the girls the most is Angel. She is staring daggers at Ino and Ino doesn't even notice. They watch as Angel's eyes flash with power as Ino mentions her crush on Gaara. If Ino knows what is good for her, she would stop her confession now before someone makes her stop.
"Alright Bill-board Brow, enlighten us on who you have a crush on." Ino smirks.
"Naurto." Sakura sighs dreamily and then proceeds to laugh at the shock faces. "Come on seriously, everyone here knows about my feelings for Sasuke-kun. He is the only guy I have ever had feelings for."
Sakura smiles as she remember the night Sasuke came to stay with her while she watched Angel. She can still feel his lips upon hers and she blushes at the memory.
"Okay, last but not lease. Angel-chan, is there anyone you have a special place in your heart for?" Sakura smiles but it quickly disappears when Angel gives her answer.
"No."
"Angel-chan, you can tell us. We won't go and tell him, we promise!" Sakura gives a small reassuring smile.
"I do not have a thing for anyone. Feeling of love and infatuation are foreign to me. So far the only thing I have experienced is finding people attractive." Angel confesses honestly.
It is the truth. It has been years since she had felt the emotion known as love. She never stayed in one place long enough to develop any sort of attachment, let alone find love.
"Okay, then lets reword the question for you, Angel-chan!" Ten-Ten offers. "Who do you think is attractive?"
Angel thinks it over, looking at all the faces of the people she has met lately. "Kakashi-san, Sai-kun, Naruto, Kiba-san and Gaara would have to be my honest answers. But I do not have any feelings other than friendship with them."
Sakura fell over into the water when she heard Kakashi's name. "You th-think Kakashi-san is a-a-attractive?" Sakura stutters. "How would you know? He never takes off his mask! I don't even know what he looks like!"
"Who ever said that someone's looks is the only thing that makes them attractive?" Angel questions.
Sakura ponders the question and nods in understanding. No, looks are only a small part of finding someone attractive. Someone can be absolutely drop dead gorgeous but there personality can be horrible.
"So, why do you find Kakashi-san attractive?" Ino questions. Sakura sighs, for someone so smart, Ino could be so slow sometimes.
"There is something about his aura and I like his scent. It is comforting." Angel states. "Anything else you like to know?"
"Why Sai-kun!?" Ino then whines.
"Sai-kun reminds me of myself. He is calm and collective. Sometimes quiet ones are appealing." Angel almost mentions the fact that when he kissed her, she finally only felt the touch and that she quite enjoyed the sensation.
Sakura listens while Angel explains her attraction to Sai.
'Sai-kun reminds me of myself…
Sai-kun! Angel added -kun to Sai's name! Why him and not Gaara? What's going on?'
"So, do you think Sasuke-kun is attractive?" Sakura questions.
'If she thinks Sai is attractive, then why didn't she mention Sasuke-kun?'
'Because he is our man, cha!' Inner Sakura starts to punch the air.
'I don't think Angel-chan wants Sasuke-kun. Now that I think about it… Ino didn't mention Sasuke-kun's name in her rant either?'
'Ms. Piggy finally realized that she was no match for us! Besides, if Sasuke-kun's name was mentioned in her little confession, she would never be able to speak from her pretty pink lips ever again!' Inner Sakura cracks her knuckles and waves a fist in the air.
"I will not lie. Yes, I do find Sasuke-san attractive. His looks are pleasing to the eyes, but you can tell that his heart is taken." Angel half smiles at Sakura. Sakura nods and smiles herself.
"Why Kiba-kun?" Hinata wonders but she doesn't realize that she says it out loud until Angel answers her.
"Kiba-san has a charismatic personality. He is loyal and protective but carefree at the same time. His respect for animals appeals to me." Angel states to a blushing Hinata, who nods in response.
"Okay, so why do you think Naruto and Gaara are attractive?" Temari questions, she is dying to find out why Angel found of her baby brother attractive.
For some reason Angel stating that Gaara is good looking didn't bother her as much as when Ino had said it. It must have been that way she was ranting on about him, sounding just like one of his fan-girls. Temari shudders at the thought of the swarming hormone crazed girls they are going home to.
"I find Naruto attractive because of his attitude. Nothing gets to that man and he has a good heart. He cares for others, which is his strength. It could also be his downfall, to trust people so easily. But the conclusion I have come too is, Naruto is Naruto, there is no other way to describe him. You can not explain why you are drawn to him, you just are.
Gaara I believe my attraction towards him is just caused by a more primal instinct. To tell you all the truth, he has been the first half breed I have come into contact with since I was 13 years of age. I am not saying that his looks are unappealing, there is just… I really do not know how to describe it. He confuses me the most." Angel stops talking. The more she tries to describe her attraction to Gaara, the most confused she becomes. No one has ever confused her the way Gaara has. Well, with the exception of Sai now. Gaara marked her and then wanted her to mark him as well. Why would he offered his freedom up so easily?
Angel shakes her head to clear the thoughts away. That would be enough of those thoughts, she is not even suppose to be someone's mate, ever!
"Sounds to me like you might actually have a crush on Gaara-sama." Ino states as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. Angel sends a icy glare towards the annoying blonde and smirks triumphantly when Ino flinches back a little.
"I do not crush." Angel states and leaves it at that.
"If you say so." Ino sighs and rolls her eyes. "You know, denial is never a good thing."
A low growl vibrates in Angel's chest. Her demon part may have taken a back seat tonight but she still has some demonic tendencies and growling is one of them.
"Okay, someone think of the next question." Ino yawns as if she is bored.
"I have one." Temari smiles. "Name all the people you have ever kissed."
"You start then Tom-boy." Ino rolls her eyes, but it is a good question in her opinion.
"I will, obviously Shikamaru is on my list and two other guys. A guy named Miroku and another named Kohaku. But Shikamaru is better by far. I would never have thought that such a lazy guy would actually enjoy kissing." Temari's eyes glaze over with memories and a faint smile graces her lips.
"Of course he is a good kisser. I taught him." Ino says smugly and Temari coughs. "Oh don't worry. I had to do it because I lost a bet but I won't complain, I rather enjoyed my so called 'punishment'."
Temari is staring daggers at Ino again. "Don't take credit for his skill."
"Ah, so… Ino-chan. Care is finish?" Ten-Ten questions, trying to stop another fight between the two women.
"Well, Shikamaru was my first kiss and then I kissed Kiba-kun a couple of times but that is about it." Ino says with a shrug. When she sees everyone's disbelieving faces she is a little hurt.
"Hey! I might have a lot of crushes, but that doesn't mean I have kissed every guy in the village. I have some dignity you know!"
"Maybe I misjudged you, Barbie-doll." Temari smirks and Ino glares at her, but then her look soften as she laughs.
"Maybe you did Tom-boy." Ino laughs.
"Ten-Ten?" Ino questions.
Ten-Ten looks horrified. "I really don't want to answer this question."
"Well, you have too. It's only fair." Sakura states and nudges the woman on. "Come on, it can't be that bad."
"Don't laugh, please!" Ten-Ten begs and all the girls nod. "The only guy I have kissed is… Lee."
"Lee?" Sakura cringed a little. Lee has improved greatly and has become a really good friend to her, but she could never imagine kissing him, ever!
"It was an accident really! We were training and we both got tangle up in my scrolls and ended up rolling down a hill and the next thing I knew our faces were pressed together. I remember the shock on his face and then him muttering something about 'Neji was going to kill him.' I really didn't understand what he met, but we promised to never speak of the incident. So please, don't tell anyone!" Ten-Ten begs with hopeful eyes.
"We won't Ten-Ten-chan!" Sakura promises but couldn't resist doing the 'good guy' pose to slightly mock her. Everyone laughs, except Angel. She didn't know of the inside joke yet, but soon enough she would.
"Sakura-chan! So, please tell us who was the lucky guy that got your first kiss?" Ten-Ten smiles.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura whispers with a smile on her face.
"Really! That's great Sakura!" Ino squeals. Sakura smiles as the memory once again plays through her mind.
"Hinata-chan?" Sakura asks with a smile, but it quickly fades when she sees the sadness lingering on Hinata's face.
"I have never kissed anyone." Hinata whispers. Everyone sits in silence until Sakura speaks up again.
"Well, we are just going to have to do something about that, now won't we ladies?" Sakura winks and gives a reassuring smile.
Hinata can't help but smile back and nod her thanks. She has been saving her first kiss for Naruto and the more she waited the more depressed she became. But things might turn out differently now.
"Angel-chan?" Hinata nods and Angel eyes everyone carefully. She knew that they all know about Gaara's kiss. They all witnessed it first hand, but should she tell them about Sai?
"You all know about my kiss with Gaara." Angel states and everyone nods.
"So that is the only person you have ever kissed?" Temari questions with one eye brow raised.
"No." Angel states and everyone's attention is immediately on her.
"Well, then who else?" Ino asks, a little more than interested.
"Sai-kun." Is all Angel says and she wants to keep it that way, but she knew that is not going to happen.
"Sai-san!"
"When did that happen?"
"How?"
"Where?"
These are all the questions that are being thrown at Angel. She sighs and looks up towards the sky. She told them about how Sai followed her to the park and the events that unfolded there. Once she is done she looks upon the group of young women and is a little taken back when they all wore the same expression.
"So it seems that our emotionless friend isn't that emotionless after all." Sakura smirks and laughs.
"So it seems." Ten-Ten agrees.
"Not that I want to end this fun game but I think we should be heading back before the guys come looking for us." Temari warns.
She knew Kankurou would be dying to sneak a peek, even if his sister was among all the women. He would avoid looking in her direction and just gawk at the rest of the women. Sometimes she wonders if he only acts that perverted to make up for the fact that Gaara barely shows any interest in women, with the exception of Angel.
"Yeah, lets get out of here before we become water logged." Ino agrees.
The women quickly finish their bathing and dry off. As they are dressing Temari notices the twin scars on Angel's back but choose not to question her about it just yet. The night is still young and there are tons a questions that can be asked.
"Man, they are taking forever!" Kiba whines. He desperately wants the women's company back. He would rather listen to their girlish laughter than to Naruto talk about ramen. As if the Gods had heard his plea the women had started to come into slight.
"We thought you troublesome women would never return." Shikamaru says when they notice them walk into the camp site.
"Well, some of us like to be clean." Temari smirks.
"Must be a woman thing." Shikamaru yawns and Temari rolls her eyes.
"There you go with that men and women crap." Temari sighs.
Ino's eye begins to twitch as she watches Shikamaru and Temari bicker. Watching them like this only remind her of the time they were sent to assist the Sand siblings in a rescue mission. As soon as Shikamaru and her arrived on the scene they started to quarrel each other. Ino really felt like she didn't even belong there, but what shocked her the most was the jealousy she felt about not having all of Shikamaru's attention. It was the first time that Ino would acknowledge her feeling for the lazy genius. Although she realize then that her feelings were way past the feelings of friendship, she would never make a move. She really didn't want to take a chance and mess up the strong bond they had created, so she stayed silent and instead, continued to lust after the Uchiha.
If she had known that her indifference towards Shikamaru would cause her to lose him to another woman, she would have done things differently. Instead of cheering for Sasuke she would have given all her encouragement to her secret love. Temari was right, she was too blind to see a good thing.
"Knock it off already!" Ino finds herself yelling.
Everyone turns to look at Ino. Shikamaru glances a questioning look towards Temari, who only shrugs in response.
"How were the hot springs?" Sai asks Angel while everyone is distracted by Ino and Temari's glaring contest.
"It was most… uneasy." Angel answers truthfully. Angel's eyes flash again with power as she remembers how much Ino had gotten under her skin.
Sai watches Angel with curiosity, his eyes widen slightly when Angel's eyes glowed but surprises his surprise. "Did something happen?"
"We are full of questions tonight." Angel states, glancing at Sai with slight amusement.
"Just curious I guess." Sai shrugs. "I really don't know much about you."
"Really none of us do," Shino breaks in.
Sai and Angel are slightly taken aback by Shino's interruption but neither physically show it. They merely turn their heads to face the crowd. Apparently, Ino and Termari's tantrum is now over and everyone's attention is now one on Sai and Angel.
"I have an idea." Ino declares. Temari snorts slightly at Ino's statement but Ino either ignores this or didn't hear her. "Why don't we continue the question game we were playing but everyone can participate."
"I don't know Ino…" Sakura muses of the suggestion. "Maybe we all should just…"
"THAT IS A GREAT IDEA!!" Naruto jumps in the air.
"Whatever." Temari huffs.
"Hn." Gaara, Sasuke, and Neji all respond unenthusiastically.
"Angel-chan?" Sakura questions.
Angel sighs. She understands that they are all curious of her but why play such childish games? "If it will please you all, I shall participate."
"YAY ANGEL-CHAN IS GOING TO PLAY A GAME WITH US!!!!!!!!!!" Naruto cheers and skips around the campfire.
Every shook their heads at the hyperactive man before them. They were really starting to wonder if Naruto will ever grow up but in all honesty, not a one would want him to change.
Everyone settled themselves around the campfire, pondering what questions to ask and who to ask. Angel decided to sit by Sai, much to Gaara's displeasure but Gaara had decided to stand guard just incase. Also, that excuse allowed him to escape any questions that may be asked.
"Alright, who has the first question?" Ino asks.
"Obviously you do." Temari utters and Ino rolls her eyes.
"You know that doesn't count." Ino growls.
"I have one." Sai states.
"Okay then Sai-kun, ask your question." Ino smiles.
Everyone finds themselves leaning forward in interest, waiting for the impassive artist to ask his question.
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Elven Translations
1. Quella tuulo' elea --- Invisibility