A/N
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.
All right! Chapter three! I hope you enjoy it :)
So when we left off, Host was hitting on Tenten and Gaara was walking with Matsuri. Oh yeah, and Naruto thought that he was talking to Tenten when he was actually talking to Hinata ^w^
Host sat comfortably nestled in a garbage can. Well, at least he was trying to see himself as being comfourtably nestled there, in actuality Neji had beaten him up, and trashed him.
Wonderful, thought the man sarcastically, all for flirting with Tenten a bit. Oh well, at least Tayuya hasn't got anyone to beat me up. Then again, I'm not sure she needs anyone else.
When Host got out of the can, spent about three minutes groaning over his many bruises and general stiffness, and finally brushed himself off, he tucked his coat a little tighter around himself and walked towards the center of the coliseum again.
Under cover of the shadows he crept around, spying on the selective ninja. First he came to Naruto sitting with Hinata. Hm, so far so good, he was asleep in her lap, and luckily she was asleep too, otherwise she would have fainted. He next came to Neji talking to Tenten.
"Really! You didn't have to go that far! Like it or not we are still his guests here and must behave as such!" Tenten berated her teammate.
"He was being rude. No matter if we are his guests, rudeness is unacceptable. He was taking advantage of his position as our host," Neji replied under a mask of cool indifference. In his mind however, he was still mentally beating up Host for what he had tried to pull on Tenten. Honestly, what a disgusting thing to do! That man had to be at least ten years older than the weapons mistress. What kind of a pervert is he?
Host could see the thoughts etched in the subtle lines of the Hyuuga's face.
The sight pleased him. Excellent, everything was going to plan.
After a short walk (and nearly getting caught by Gaara, who was chatting with Matsuri under a scrubby cypress tree) Host found Tayuya. She was sitting by herself. Perfect.
The man stepped out of the shadows, pulling down his hood to let her view his smooth golden hair.
(A/N for those of you who haven't figured it out yet Host's a vain bastard XD)
"Evening, Tayuya," he began smoothly. She looked up, almost startled. "Oh, it's you. What is it?" she asked curtly.
Host slowly took off his wrap-around sunglasses, revealing his cerulean eyes. "Oh, nothing, I just wanted to see you is all."
The redhead snorted, although she was starting to blush, remembering Host's appearance without the mask and Aburame collar. Oh please don't take off the mask; please don't take off the mask, please… she thought feverishly. She may have been a tough tomboy, but she was also a woman.
Host took off the mask.
However, no sooner had he done that than a gash appeared down his eye. "Ow!" Host clutched at the injured part. "What in the name of fuck do you think you're doing?!" shouted a certain grey haired Akatsuki member.
For the second time in as many hours Host was beat en to a pulp.
A little later…Neji sighed. Could this day get any worse? First an eccentric had abducted him, and then he had been forced to play a silly juvenile game, and worst of all he and Tenten had been in a fight!
"I might as well call to order the next round of this idiotic game," he said to himself.
He went around calling people into the circle. It was a slow; irritating business, and not everyone listened to him. Especially the odd blonde guy who had kissed the woman in the first round.
"Why should I listen to you, un?" he challenged, "Who made you leader?" After five minutes of heated debate, Neji decided to just give up on blondie.
A moment later, he found what he was looking for. An intercom system. It was hooked up to one of the computer banks, and looked about thirty years old, but it would do. He held the button and spoke into the microphone. "Would everybody please move back into the circle, we are about to start the second round," his voice echoed around the stadium.
In several minutes, everyone (even Deidara) had gotten back into the circle of chairs. "Alright, I believe it was your turn, Sakura," Neji announced when everyone was settled in. The kunoichi took a deep breath and stood up. "Sasuke," she began, "Truth or dare?"
"Truth," came the cool reply.
"I need to know something. It's just something that I can't rest until I know the answer to. Sasuke…"
There was a moment of silence.
"…Do you love me?"
Everyone was stunned at the question. However, Sasuke sat as calm as ever, eyes closed.
Then: "No," he said, cruelly, "I do not."
"Ok," Sakura said in a very small voice.
Lee looked upon his lovely Sakura. He was as struck by that monster Sasuke's words as much as she had been. He had always known that Sakura didn't love him, she loved Sasuke, and he had learned to accept that, and live with it. However, at seeing his flower upset, and so obviously destroyed by a single word, he in turn was hurt.
"How can you say that!" he burst out, jumping from his seat.
"Say what?" replied Sasuke, "The truth? Believe me, it would have been far crueler to let her live in hope than to simply put out that light. This way I ended her suffering, I was kind."
Lee was furious but could not help but realize the logic in the Uchiha's words. He didn't quite know what to do. He had never been the nimblest with words, in spite of his intelligence. There was only one thing he could do.
Lee threw a kick.
Sasuke looked ready to dodge it, but before Lee connected, Host appeared in front of him. Lee's foot smashed into Host's ribs, of which three audibly broke. The man in black crumpled to the ground, coughing out a few words. "You see?" he hacked, blood dripping from his mouth, "This is why I said I would be absent this round, I knew you would try something like this, Rock Lee." Host passed out.
Lee looked horrified with himself. Not only had he just struck down an innocent man (more or less innocent), but he had also injured his host.
"I… I'm sorry!" he stammered, "I did not mean to strike Host, it was an accident!"
Several of the kabuki prop handlers (that's what we shall call them) came out and carried Host away. "Don't worry, Lee," sneered Sasuke, "I'm sure your foot just slipped."
Lee didn't want to start up that fight again, so he contented himself with a snarl at the raven-haired youth. Sitting back down, he said: "Sasuke, it is your turn."
"Very well, Deidara, truth or dare?" Sasuke asked his previous enemy.
"Hm? Oh, uh, dare I guess, un."
"From where you are, go to the stage, to the computer bank, to each of the columns. You may not cross your own path, and you may not jump over your previous path either."
All right, that seemed easy enough.
"And you may only take two steps."
Deidara fell off his chair.
"What? Two steps? That's impossible!" It did seem impossible.
Sasuke smirked. After analyzing this particular individual's jutsu, he knew that it could be done. He just wanted to see how long it would take blondie to figure it out.
Deidara thought. If I use a chakra jump to the stage that would be one step, but then the computer bank would be another step, so that can't be done. Think! What can I do? And then it came to him.
Grinning, he stuck his hands into his clay pouches, biting off two chunks and softening the explosive. Soon enough he had a small bird in his hand. Making a seal, he enlarged it and jumped on it's back. One step, he thought.
The pyrotechnician flew to the stage, then looped around to the computer bank, then quickly skirted the outside of the coliseum, tapping each pillar with his hand. When he arrived back, he jumped off the bird. "Two!" he shouted, triumphant.
Sasuke was more than a little disappointed. He had thought Deidara might try something ridiculous first, or at least take a little longer to figure it out.
"My turn!" said Deidara, "Konan, truth or dare?" Konan was a little bit wary of Deidara at the moment, so she wasn't quite sure what to answer. She thought for a moment. Oh screw it. "Dare," she replied.
"Ok, sing!" Deidara replied evilly.
Now, for those of you who are confused by this dare, it was well known within the Akatsuki that Konan's singing voice was truly incredible. However, she refused to sing except on very special occasions, and barely ever then. She thought it was unbefitting of a rinnegan angel to indulge in such pleasantries as music or other pastimes. Many members had only ever heard her sing once or twice, but had never forgotten it. It had been the only beautiful thing in their depraved organization.
Pein had heard her sing seven times now. He felt that he could understand her singing more than anyone else. It spoke of a pain of its own, the kind of pain that one longs for and yet hates at the same time.
Kisame had heard her sing three times. He didn't really care about it that much, but it always made him upset at the end, sort of sad. That's why he didn't like it when she sang, because it hurt him.
Deidara had heard her sing only once, but he felt it to be the second most artful thing in the world.
Tobi had never heard her sing, but wanted to. "Come on, Konan!" he pleaded, "Just this once! Senpai says it's wonderful! Please?" Konan blushed to hear that Deidara had complimented her singing so highly (A/N remember, Deidara's picky about what he likes.) and so, emboldened by the praise, decided to relent, just this once.
She stood up and walked onto the stage, clearing her throat. Taking a deep breath, she started to sing. No one was sure what she sang, but they all knew it was incredible.
On the akatsuki side of things, Kisame was scowling, Itachi had his eyes closed, Tobi was lying on the ground, head supported in his hands. Deidara was listening with tears in his eyes; Zetsu was half in, half out of the ground, pausing to listen to this rare event.
And Pein, Pein sat in his chair, face impassive, but heart roiling with emotions.
Konan altered the key in which she sang, taking a higher, more heart wrenching tone, one that made you want to cry with sadness and laugh with joy at the same time. Pein for his part didn't want her to stop, even though the music made him feel terrible.
Konan finally stopped and returned to her seat, leaving her audience in awe.
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I am soooooooo sorry!
I should have updated earlier, but what with high school and having to keep up on my procrastination I kinda screwed up. So, hopefully upload the next chappie on the weekend :D
(btw) sorry for the abrupt ending, I'll make the next ending a little more acceptable.
thanks to all my lovely reviewers!
