Yeah that's right bitches. I've already started on chapter 20. The same night I finished chapter 19. How's that for prompt?

Damn mushy stuff I should smack it until there's nothing left to smack. That'd show it.

Yeah Kingdom Hearts 2 brought about the whole little mermaid thing…

Yeah…sorry guys/girls…my life just all got super hectic all of a sudden…I haven't slept in 4 days…so yeah…you can imagine what that's been doing to my creative abilities (or lack there of)…so forgive me for having this chapter come out so late so bad.

Ugh…girls…that's all I can say. Well…that's a lie…I can say a lot of things…like… ugh…my feet hurt…or…ugh…my back hurts. Stuff like that…I haven't been in the best of moods lately…so much that one of my best friends told me to stop being emo. I guess I'll give it a shot… (FYI…I'm not normally emo)

Another bit of anime discovery…go watch Sexy Commando Gaiden…It's hilarious. DO IT!

Chapter 20: Just a lot of nothing

Temari eyed the group of ninja.

"So if you're all here…" she looked at Kaoshi. "You're the only one I don't recognize and you're two days late. Explain."

"We got captured…and…"

"Do I look like I care?" Temari said angrily. "You're late. I had to wait two whole days that could have been better spent." She glared at Kaoshi. "Well?"

"Umm…"

"And I know this is somehow Shikamaru's fault." She said eying Shikamaru.

"WHAT!" He yelled angrily. "Why would it be my fault!"

"Because it's always your fault." She said simply. Shikamaru frowned.

"Well we're staying here another night." He said, and before Temari could interrupt him he added, "And you're going to deal with it too. We're all exhausted and we've got two wounded people. Get over yourself and deal with it."

Tenten leaned over and whispered in Sakura's ear.

"They're like a dysfunctional married couple…"

"I know…"

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Temari and Shikamaru yelled angrily.

After several moments of restraining Temari so she wouldn't try to kill Sakura or Tenten, they rented their rooms. Since Temari already had a room, they split the team up into three groups of three: Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata in one room; Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi in another room; and Kaoshi, Lee, and Shikamaru in the last.

In the next few hours wounds were healed, namely Sasuke's and Naruto's. It was 7:30 P.M. by the time Sakura had finished healing the party.

Everyone was in one room talking about the events of the past few days when there came a knock at the door. Naruto stood up to go answer it.

"Don't bother…" said Shikamaru.

"Neh?" Naruto asked confused. "Why?"

"It's Temari…" Shikamaru said standing up to go open the door. He went over and opened it, dodging a flurry of punches as after he had done so. "I suppose you want to be invited in…don't you…?"

"Wow, we're quick aren't we Shi-kun?" She said patting his head.

"I've told you a hundred times not to call me that." He said calmly.

"And I've told you a hundred times, 'no'."

"Troublesome…" The Nara said with a sigh.

"Damn straight." Temari said with a grin. "So, what're we talking about?" The sand nin asked.

"We had just finished talking about the last few days…" Naruto said. "And we were just about to go to bed."

"Bed?" Temari scoffed. "But it's only 8:45…"

"Yeah." Kakashi said. "And we're fucking tired. We spent almost 3 days running. Stopping only for bathroom breaks."

"Whatever…" Temari said nonchalantly. "I'll be in my room if you need me…"

"Wasn't it you who came in here?" Shikamaru asked.

"SILENCE INFIDEL!" Temari yelled as she attacked Shikamaru with her giant fan. He dodged quickly and trapped her in his favorite jutsu.

"Just let us sleep in peace…okay?" He said lazily. "Or I'll make you do unpleasant things. Got it?" Temari nodded solemnly.

After their battle in the chuunin exams Temari had challenged Shikamaru several times, she hadn't beaten him once. No matter what she did, the shadow user was always four steps ahead of her.

It was nearly midnight. Sasuke and Naruto had spent the entire time playing a game called, "Wanna know how I know you're gay?" and Kakashi was ready to kill them. Finally it ended when Kakashi told them to shut up under threat of castration.

THE NEXT DAY!

It was about 4:30 when Naruto woke up. He rolled over looking at the clock and cursed himself. Once he was up there was no choice but to embrace the day in all its glory. He stood up, put on some pants, and walked outside. He started down the stairs hoping there was someone to talk to, anyone would do, and he just needed to pass about four hours till everyone else woke up. As he got to the bottom, he saw Hinata sitting at a table drinking some tea. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. Seeing her made Naruto very happy for some reason.

"Neh, hey Hina-chan!" He said rather loudly.

"Shhh…Naruto-kun…people are still sleeping." She said in a whisper.

"Oh…right…" He said covering his mouth. He looked at her with a sidelong glance. "Why're you up so early?"

"I always get up early…" she said. "Hiashi-sama usually gets me up at 4:00 for training."

"ARE YOU…" Naruto shushed himself. "Are you kidding me?"

"No…why? What time do people usually get up?" Naruto looked at her slack jawed.

"I usually get up around 8:00 or so…"

There was a long silence that lasted nearly five minutes. Finally Naruto said,

"Hey, Hina-chan. You wanna go for a walk…maybe catch the sunrise?"

"W-what?" She said startled. Before she had time to respond Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door.

"C'mon Hina-chan!" He said cheerfully. "It'll be fun!"

"O-okay…" They walked outside into the brisk morning air. Naruto took a deep breath in.

"Ahhh…it smells so good here…" Naruto said. "Much better than stinky old Konoha…" Hinata said nothing but smiled to herself. After all, she WAS walking alone with Naruto.

After a few moments they reached a nice little hill that overlooked a huge lake.

"This looks like a good spot right?" Hinata nodded causing Naruto to smile and plop down onto the grass. He yawned. A ray of light shattered the dark as the sun peered over the horizon. "Wow, the sun sure rises early here up North…" Hinata didn't respond. Naruto looked over towards the girl who was lying down next to him. She looked at the sun with half closed eyes with a look of content on her face. Naruto had never seen Hinata like this before, the way the sunlight danced in her eyes, the way her hair blew in the brisk morning wind, not to mention a look of content which was something that rarely showed up on her face. If Naruto had to describe her in one word, he'd have picked beautiful. "Woah…" he said without thinking. The girl turned her head towards the sound.

"What was that Naruto-kun?"

"N-nothing." Naruto said with a slight blush on his face. This struck Hinata as odd. She had never seen Naruto blushing before. However, the blush was soon invisible due to the red sunrise.

"Beautiful…" Hinata said smiling to herself.

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed looking out over the lake.

"There you see her

Sitting there across the way

She don't got a lot to say

But there's something about her

And you don't know why

But you're dying to try

You wanna kiss the girl…"

The fox sang to no one in particular.

"Kyubi…what the fuck?"

"What…don't you have that song memorized too? Little Mermaid…good movie"

"When the hell did you watch the Little Mermaid?"

"I'm old Naruto…I've seen a lot of things…"

"Wow…" Naruto said out loud without realizing it.

"Hmmm?" Hinata looked over at him.

"Nothing." He said with a chuckle.

"Ohh…" she looked down at the ground. She wished he would just talk to her, start a conversation. But he just lie there looking at the lake. If she wanted to talk to him, she'd have to start the conversation herself. "S-so…Naruto-kun…" she said immediately regretting it afterwards.

"Hmm?" The blonde said looking up at her.

"Uhh…I…ummm…" her face turned so red that it was even visible against the sunrise. Naruto sat up and looked her in the eyes.

"What's up?"

"Uhhh…." She managed to say. The lump in her throat grew bigger.

All of a sudden two kunai flew from nowhere. Naruto barely dodged them.

"What the…?" He yelled angrily. "Sasuke get your ass out here!" Sasuke chuckled as he walked out into the open.

"Giving up on Sakura-chan are we?" the Uchiha said with a slight smirk.

"AGKKAGIAIAS!" Naruto yelled as he stood up fists raised. "Who ever said that?" (that word is said Ag-kik-ag-eeay-eeas)

"You'd better watch what you say Naruto-kun…" Sasuke said pointing at Hinata.

"What are you talking about…?" Naruto said looking at the girl sitting next to him.

"Haha…wow Naruto-kun…just…wow." Sasuke chuckled. "You're still this dense? I would have thought that you'd have at least become a little less ignorant since I last saw you."

"Go blow…" Naruto said angrily. "And I was hoping that you'd piss me off less. I guess some things never change."

"I guess not." Sasuke chuckled again. "Well…I'm off to train…" he said walking away from the two. "Later." He walked off giving the two a slight hand gesture.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said with a sigh. "What a dick." He gave a slight smile. "Just like old times…" He looked back down at Hinata who had her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked over at him.

"Do you still like Sakura…Naruto?" Her voice was wavering as if she was about to cry, but she didn't stutter once, making her seem confident.

"Um…I don't know…" Naruto said scratching his head with a chuckle. "I haven't really thought about it lately."

"What do you mean…?" she asked confused.

"Well…" Naruto started. "You see…I've been having so much fun…you know…hanging out with you guys…Lee, Tenten, and you…to even have much time to even think about Sakura. So who knows?"

"Umm…who'd you say…that you're having the most fun with Naruto?" Naruto thought for a second. The deeper meaning of the seemingly innocent question escaped him.

"Well…probably you Hina-chan…" he said scratching his chin. "I mean…we had fun that time in back in that town that the author forgot to give a name…right?"

"Y-Yes!" Hinata said nodding her head vigorously. "But you'd think that people would notice something like not naming a town…"

"Yeah right?" Naruto said. "What's up with that? Annnyyywwaaayyss…that's good that you had a good time Hina-chan…maybe we should do it again."

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-yes-s-s…" she said as her face exploded with redness. "I-I-I-I-I-I'd l-l-lik-ke th-that…"

"Good." Naruto said with a smile. "Maybe they'll have good movies in the village hidden in the clouds…"

"N-Naruto-k-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Nani desu?" Naruto asked.

"Did you ask me out on a d--" her voice was cut off by one much louder.

"Heeyy! Naruto!" Sakura yelled up from the road. "Come on! We've still got a day and a half of walking to get to the Village Hidden in the Clouds!"

"FIINNE!" Naruto yelled down at her. "Jeez…some people are so rude…" Naruto started running down the hill towards the others.

"Naruto-kun…" the Hyuuga said as she watched the boy run down the hill. She followed him after a moment but at a much slower pace. When she finally got there everyone looked kind of annoyed that she had taken so long.

After a moment Shikamaru said, "Troublesome…" and started walking. Everyone else followed suit. Hinata walked a bit behind everyone sort of depressed for some reason she couldn't put her finger on. Naruto had just in effect asked her out on a date. But Naruto is naïve… knowing him, he had no clue what he had just said. On the other hand, Naruto has on occasion been known to be fairly smart. She just didn't know what to think. She let out a sigh.

Naruto suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Why the long face Hina-chan?"

"Oh! N-Naruto-kun!" She said surprised. "No reason…just thinking…"

"Oh." Naruto said walking along next to her. An awkward silence fell over the two for some time. Sakura looked over to Tenten.

"Some things just never change…"

"True that."