County Fair

By Magewrite/Sheelos-lover

Chapter 4: Romantic?

…Well, this was copy-pasted off the end of chapter 3… I just can't seem to end these chapters, can I? I did this with Chapter 2, too!

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After dinner, the four pushed the unincluded seven members out of the room and, presumably, to their rooms to get some sleep. Then Ritonno got her mochi out of the refrigerator and divided it into four sections. She and Seiya left, and Deidara did while they were gone, to put on their pajamas so that they wouldn't have to do that later.

Ritonno came back in fuzzy, warm pajamas and slippers, Seiya in an oversized T-shirt/nightgown and fluffy slippers. When Deidara finally came back, whatever he was wearing was black with red trim. Ritonno wondered how long he had searched for something in those colors.

They watched a romance movie. Leader held Ritonno's hand in both of his while Seiya and Deidara experienced some intense snuggling. Ritonno tried cuddling with Leader, rubbing her flannel-coated shoulder against his partially netting-covered one, but he looked at her as though she were insane so she didn't try again.

Afterward, filled to bursting with a warm, fuzzy feeling, Ritonno and Seiya had a sleepover in Ritonno's room.

This meant that they would stay up well past midnight.

"So, what was it like cuddling with Dei-chan?" Ritonno asked as she helped Seiya get her futon down to Ritonno's room.

"It was soooo nice! He looks all thin and stuff, but he's actually really strong and you know how nice it feels to have that feeling of strength supporting you?"

"Yeah. That's how I am with horses… I feel all rejected by Leader-sama, though… I'm doing my best to be nice at him, but did you see how he looked at me?"

"No, I think I was asleep for part of it."

"Heh. That's… unbelievably cute, actually."

Seiya grinned. "I know. Isn't it?"

"Yeah… What's wrong with Leader-sama, though? …I mean, he keeps saying that he loves me and everything, but then tonight it seemed like he barely wanted to touch me."

"He'll probably get over it… You have to be soft on him. The most recent contact he had with a woman was pretty darned negative – did you see that scar in his shoulder?"

"Well, she's Hokage now. Fighting her is pretty much asking for it… Don't worry about me, though – I'm fine. He's sort of the old-fashioned type."

"Yeah…" They sat in silence for awhile. Then, Seiya asked the question that Ritonno least expected. "Ritonno-chan? What did your first kiss feel like?"

"What?! Seiya, you've kissed him??"

"Yeah. Kissing doesn't mean as much as it used to, Ritonno. Get over it."

"Well, I… You honestly expect me to have kissed him already? We just got together, like, yesterday!"

"Yeah, but didn't you have a boyfriend before Leader-sama?"

"No. I didn't really care too much."

"That's so sad…

"Not really. If I had been looking for someone to spend time with, I probably wouldn't found one. But I was content with that situation, so… Why? Did you?"

"I had a few when I was little, but you know how grade school is… No serious ones, though…"

"Mmh… I have something to tell him tomorrow."

"What?" She said this in a suggestive manner, as if Ritonno were that sort of person.

"I think I like him. Maybe it was just the moment or something, but… Well, I'm convinced, at least. Heh… We never outgrow our basic human instincts, do we?"

"What, to crazily lust after hot guys? Of course not."

"No, I mean to get crushes! You're so crazy, Seiya!"

"I know. Isn't it awesome?"

"Heh… Well, you're amusing, anyway. Did you like the mochi?"

"Yeah. It was good! Did you put anything special in it?"

"No, just rice. And I'm sure that wood molecules came off from the bowl and mallet…"

"Did you get help?"

"What, turning the bowl? No, I did it on my own. Everyone else except for Rei-sama was scrapbooking... Besides, do you honestly trust anyone else here to help make mochi without getting their fingers smashed or smashing someone's fingers?"

"Itachi."

"Yeah, but he would've hated me forever. I wonder how Zetsu are doing…"

"We could go check."

They went across the hall. While Orochimaru had been there, he had installed a lock which kept the other members from entering. Zetsu had decided to use it.

So, they opened Tobi's window and climbed into his tiny room, sliding the wooden door open just as much as was necessary. Tobi, reacting to the cold, woke up.

Seeing the two dark figures in his room, he screamed. Unfortunately for them, he wore his mask even when he slept, so there was no way to cover his mouth. Instead, Ritonno bent down next to his face. "Tobi, don't worry. It's just us. We're checking on Zetsu."

"Zetsu are in horrible condition, thanks to you!" Tobi managed to keep his voice down to a whisper.

"Yes, I know. That's why I came to check on him. Hopefully, you sewed that skin layer back on with cotton thread…?"

"Um… I don't know how to do that sort of thing. I put it back, though!"

"Talk to Sasori." She waited for a moment. "No, I mean talk to Sasori right now."

"I'd probably wake him up…"

"Actually, probably not. And even if he were asleep, he can wake himself up really quickly. If you ever need a pick-me-up for just a few minutes, he has this amazing caffeine solution. He can focus when he's on it, though – probably has something to do with being a puppet…"

"Um… okay…" Tobi exited Zetsu's room the quick way, being able to undo the latch from the inside, and they heard him running softly up the stairs.

In less than a minute, he returned with a very irritable Sasori. The living puppet took a few moments to calm himself before waking Zetsu.

"What is it, insolent puppet?" "We were trying to sleep!"

"I'm trying to help you live. You'll be under anesthetic, anyway – you'll get more than enough sleep tomorrow."

"Stupid Akatsuki members, trying to keep us from our slumber…" "You, Ritonno. Why are you in our room? We specifically locked the door to keep you out."

"Well, I was feeling guilty, so Seiya and I snuck in through Tobi's room and we realized that you probably needed medical help from Sasori, so we got Tobi to go and get him."

Tobi ducked his head a bit, probably blushing under his mask.

"Drink this." Sasori shoved a small cup into White Zetsu's hand. "It'll knock you out for a few minutes." He prepared the needle and thread he was about to use. The needle had an interesting, curved shape. Ritonno hoped that something similar had to be shoved through her skin.

After a few minutes, Sasori asked, "You still awake?" Getting no response, he began sewing the flap of plant skin that had been ripped from Zetsu's delicate plant flesh earlier that day. A wound like that on a human would be crippling and probably deeper than that…

"Okay. Done. He should wake up soon. If he complains, just give him these." Sasori dropped two small pills into Tobi's gloved hand. "Is there anything else I should see to?"

"Um… Well, I don't think so," Tobi said.

"Good. Then, I'll be upstairs reading my novel, like I was before I was so rudely interrupted." He left haughtily, taking his medical supplies with him. Noticing his mood, Seiya tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry, To-chan; Sasori acts like that to everyone. I think he's actually happy that he got to be of some use. We don't really get that many missions, and barely any of those are of any real importance, so it's nice to be useful once-in-awhile."

"Okay…"

Ritonno and Seiya returned to Ritonno's room then, but they heard Black Zetsu swear as the pair woke up.

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I'm obsessed with Twilight now. If you couldn't care less, don't read this comment.

…So, at the end, he almost bit her. It would have been inconvenient, if you consider the number of people there and the way she screamed the first time, but he needs to get around to it one of these days! …I mean, the second book starts with her being eighteen! She could move out of Charlie's house and in with the Cullens, and they could just bite her and get it over with! …I mean, it's one thing to bite a stranger and inflict that on them. It's entirely another if the person asks for a fate like that so that they can spend eternity with their true love. There have been arguments like that going on for awhile, though – if you've ever read Tuck Everlasting, you know what I'm talking about. Whether to spend eternity with your love or live life as it was meant to be lived… It's almost impossible to decide. You can spend your entire life trying, but you can never change back once you make the choice… Sometime I should write some fiction based on the opposite! I think that would be really interesting.