Disclaimer: No, we don't own the show Naruto Shippuden.

Banana: Is it possible for me to steal it? :)

Sammay: ...Why am I a human?

Banana: I don't know, but you should totally be a ninja.

Chapter 2

"Waa!" Sammy exclaimed once Banana pulled her from her haven. She wasn't expecting to be revealed like that, and she was surprised from the sudden movement. Once she had calmed herself down a bit, she actually payed attention to her surroundings.

Savanna. Lee. Kiba. Naruto. Shino. Hinata. Tenten. All staring at her. She couldn't stand it, she couldn't talk. So she smiled and waved with her free hand.

"YOU'RE the GHOST?! YOU'RE Savanna's COUSIN?!" Naruto wailed, standing up. Kiba looked at her, smirking. Stupid Naruto. Kiba knew she couldn't be a ghost.

"Yeah," she replied with a laugh. If she wanted to, she could run around the whole world eight times, since the amount of happiness she had gave her enough energy. It was so hard to contain herself.

Sasuke strolled into the foyer, looking extremely unimpressed by everything. The look got even more unimpressed once he saw all of the commotion. What's going on now? he thought, scanning the scene.

Shikamaru raised his head from the table with a raised eyebrow. There seemed to be even more going on in the other room. How troublesome, he thought, and rested his head once more. Choji continued chomping, not even paying attention to anything but his precious snacks.

Sai politely chuckled as he peered out of the kitchen. "Hmm... So it looks like Savanna brought her cousin to the Leaf Village."

Yeah, right, thought Savanna. I didn't bring her here. Some unknown force brought both of us here, but I am SO glad it did!

When Neji heard Savanna make her declaration, he turned his head to see who her cousin was, curiosity showing in his clear eyes. He quickly noticed that Naruto was no longer curled up on the ground. Finally, he thought. It's about time he stopped being so humiliating.

Naruto gasped. "But you don't look like a ghost! You look like... a real person!"

Kiba snapped and stomped over to Naruto. "Jeez, Naruto! Can't you see that she's kidding? She's not really a ghost... She's Savanna's cousin!" Savanna confirmed his statement by nodding.

Naruto's eyes widened a little. "Ooohh... That's cool. What was your name again? Oh, yeah... It was Sammay or something. Nice to meet ya, Sammay! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

Savanna fought the urge to laugh when she heard Naruto say 'Sammay' instead of 'Sammy'. "Her real name is Sammy," she pointed out. "But feel free to call her Sammay."

Kiba got a hold of his temper again and stepped back from Naruto. "Naruto can be such an idiot sometimes, so just ignore him. I'm Kiba Inuzuka, by the way."

I already know all of your names, Sammy thought, smiling at everyone. This is so fun... "Hi, Naruto. Hi, Kiba." she greeted, excitement dancing in her eyes.

Lee fled from his game, noting that he would start a new one after he introduced himself. "Hello, Sammy!" he smiled, resting his hands on his hips. "My name is Rock Lee, and it is a pleasure to meet you!"

Sammy smiled back. "Hello, Lee," she said back to him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, too."

Shikamaru raised his head again. "Sai. What's going on in there?" he questioned, and it clearly showed that he didn't hear Sai's earlier statement.

"It looks like Savanna brought her cousin to the Leaf Village," Sai repeated, after turning away from the doorway to look at the lazy shinobi.

Choji looked up from his feast. "Hm?" he asked with a mouthful of chips. "Hmmrfful?"

"Apparently Savanna's cousin is here," Shikamaru explained, setting his head back in his arms. "What a drag. Another ball of energy."

Lee beamed. "Well, I have a very important matter to attend to, so if you will excuse me, I have to go now." And with that, he zipped over to the Dance Dance Revolution board and resumed his game, focusing all of his energy into following the arrows on the screen.

Since when was Dance Dance Revolution a very important matter? Savanna thought. "Anyway," she said, "why don't we go play after Lee? I have the PERFECT song we can dance along to. We can also do karaoke... It would be fun to sing, too."

As Neji observed the blonde from the couch, he couldn't help but realize that she looked nothing like Savanna even though they were cousins. She's pretty, he thought. I wonder where she came from.

Still holding on to Sammy's wrist, Savanna pulled her into the living room. Tenten approached both of them with Hinata trailing behind, a smile lighting up her face. "Hi!" she cheerily said. "So you're Savanna's cousin! It's nice to get another sensible girl around here." She cleared her throat and pointedly looked at Ino and Sakura still arguing in the kitchen. "Anyway, you can call me Tenten."

Darn it, Savanna thought. I was hoping that she would say her last name. Why can't I know her last name?!

Hinata smiled as well. "A-And I'm Hinata... It's a pleasure to meet you. I... Um... Have a cousin here, too... His name is Neji. He's the one sitting on the couch..."

I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, Sammy thought. "Hi, Tenten, hi, Hinata," she waved. She then turned to look at the other Hyuga. "Hi, Neji."

Keep your cool, Sammy, she thought. Keep. Your. Cool.

"An A plus!" Lee grinned, staring at the screen proudly after he finished another song. "That is good, correct?"

"Yeah, I guess," Kiba replied with a shrug.

"It looks good," Naruto added. "You were on fire!"

Lee continued to beam. "I will take that as a compliment!" He then started a new game without anybody else's consent.

Meanwhile, Ino and Sakura still argued in the kitchen, disturbing Shikamaru. He grunted and tried to ignore them, but it seemed as if they got louder and louder as the moments passed. Right as he was about to put a stop to their yelling, Choji snapped his head and focused his gaze towards the girls.

"Will you two SHUT UP?!" he growled, chucking a bag of chips at the two.

Ino dodged the bag of chips, but Sakura didn't react quickly enough, so the bag hit her on the face and fell on the kitchen floor. Sakura growled. "I wouldn't say anything if I were you, fatso!" she mocked.

Suddenly, all became silent in the kitchen, and Shikamaru face-palmed. An ugly sneer formed on Sakura's face, but Ino covered her mouth, her eyes wide open. Even INO wouldn't go that far...

Choji's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "What... Did you say?" he asked in a strangely calm tone.

Sakura opened her mouth to repeat her insult, but Ino tackled her to the ground and laughed nervously. "Oh, don't listen to her, Choji," she quickly said. "Sakura hasn't been feeling very well lately. Right, Sakura?" Ino dug her elbow into Sakura's neck, blackmailing her without any words.

All that came out from Sakura's throat were muffled groans. "Mmmffhghhh..."

Savanna very well knew about Sammy's affinity for Neji, so when Sammy greeted Neji, she wanted to start squealing right then and there. It's so... Cute!

Neji politely smiled and nodded at Sammy. "It's nice to meet you, Sammy."

Lee, finishing another game with an A plus, pumped one of his fists in the air. "Yes!" he triumphed. "My practice has paid off!"

"Same to you," Sammy replied, smiling as well. His voice... saying my name! she squealed in her thoughts.

"How about we go back into the living room?" Tenten suggested, eyeing the peculiar scene going on in the kitchen. Everyone agreed and followed her back. She nearly fell over once she saw Lee moving at top speed, playing Dance Dance Revolution.

"Yes! Yes! I am winning!" Lee cried with joy, somehow keeping up with the quick arrows. Tenten narrowed her eyes. This is EXACTLY what Lee said he wouldn't do...

"Hey, Lee... Savanna and Sammy want to play. Could you finish up that game and let them play a bit?" she asked.

"All right! But only as long as I can play the next game!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Bushy Brow, you're going to have to get off of that game and give other people some turns."

"Yes, I know, but this is too addiciting!"

"And so it begins..." Tenten muttered.

Choji growled at Sakura. "You're off the hook... THIS TIME."

Shikamaru and Ino sighed in relief. Ino was so relieved that she forgot to release Sakura from her grasp, and she suffocated until she went unconscious.

Choji nervously regarded the passed-out Sakura. "Um, Ino...?"

Ino quickly released Sakura from her hands and looked down. "Oh! Oops... I must have been a little too harsh-" A sly grin made it's way into her features as she cut herself off. "...Actually, that might be a good thing. Now, I can get Sasukeeeee all to myself!"

Shikamaru frowned and rested his head back on the table. Why couldn't anyone be NORMAL for once?

"But where do we put Sakura?" Choji inquired.

Ino waved him off as her blue eyes scanned the area for Sasuke. "I don't care... Do whatever you want with her. I have to find Sasukeeee!"

Sasuke, hearing his little nickname sung from the kitchen, stiffened and hid behind Savanna. Chuckling, she said, "Don't worry, Sasuke. Sammay's not a fangirl like Ino and Sakura, so she can also help you hide as well." She blatantly avoided the look of surprise Sammy directed her way.

Sasuke eyed Sammy warily. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I'm sure that she's not a fangirl, but I'm not so sure that she'll protect you..."

Sighing, Sasuke finally settled to wedging himself between Kiba and Neji on the couch. Lee, finishing with yet another A plus, leaped off of the board so Savanna and Sammy could play against each other. "Alright," he said. "You two may play!"

Savanna would never get used to Lee's unique personality. Quickly, she climbed onto one of the boards. "I know what song we should dance to," she said with a smirk. "How about Professa Layton's theme song?"

"Oh, yeah! I love Professa Layton," Sammy smiled, stepping onto the second board. Banana scrolled through the songs and chose the theme song for 'Professor Layton' once it came up. After they started playing, a thought came to Sammy. "Hey, Banana... we should make Sasuke speak with an English accent."

Sasuke glanced up and looked at her. "Excuse me?"

"You would sound exactly like Clive!" Sammy cried with joy, still managing to keep up with all of the arrows.

Before Sasuke could reply, Ino's voice could be heard again. "SASUKEEEEEEEE!"

The said person shot his gaze towards the doorway leading into the kitchen. He sunk down further into the couch, hoping that the fashionista couldn't get to him.

Ino skipped inside of the living room, looking as cheerful as ever. "Oh, Sasukeeee! Ino's here! Hey, where is he?"

Kiba and Neji were apparently hiding the raven haired boy pretty well if Ino, of all people, couldn't see him. Sasuke mentally sighed in relief. I'm safe for now, he thought.

"He's right there." Sammy pointed towards the boy with an innocent smile.

In the kitchen, Choji stared at Sakura's body, sprawled out on the tile. "What are we gonna DO?" he asked Shikamaru, acting like there was a corpse he had to hide instead of an unconscious girl.

"Just leave her there," Shikamaru grumbled. "We didn't do anything wrong, and she'll come to her senses at some point."

"B-b-but she... we need to hide her!" Choji wailed, wobbling up to Sakura and dragging her towards a cupboard by her feet. He threw open the cupboard door and somehow shoved her body in there, shutting the door quickly afterwards.

He sighed in relief. "Awesome. Now that's taken care of..." Choji trailed off and then flung himself towards the table of food once more.

Sasuke's dark eyes shot daggers at Sammay as Ino pranced over to Kiba and started tugging on his arm. "Kiba, move over and let me sit next to Sasukeeee!"

Planting his feet on the carpet, Kiba remained in his seat. "No way, Ino. Can't you see that Sasuke doesn't like you at all?"

Hurt flashed over Ino's features for just a second, but it was gone in the next instant. She huffed out a puff of air. "Of course he likes me," she retorted. "I'm beautiful!"

Sasuke directed his glare towards Ino. "As much as I don't like to say this," he began, "Kiba is right. I don't like you. Tch... You're annoying."

Ignoring Sasuke, Ino started tugging on Kiba's arm harder. "C'mon, Kiba! Move!"

Savanna and Sammay miraculously finished the game with a tie, both of them having nearly perfect scores. "Good job, Sammay," Savanna congratulated. Why did you give Sasuke away?

Lee zipped up to Savanna, bouncing with excitement. "You are finished, right? May I play now?"

"I'm sorry, Lee," Savanna apologized. "I'm actually planning to turn on the karaoke machine right now. You can play afterwards, though."

"Oh... Alright, then. At least I will be able to play eventually!" Tenten, paying attention to Lee, shook her head again.

"Thanks. You, too," Sammy congratulated Banana as well. I don't know, I felt like it, she thought back with a mental laugh. I'll do something to stop this, though... I guess.

"Ino. INO," Sammy urged, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from Kiba and Sasuke. Ino looked at Sammy with a strange look.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" she asked curiously. She hadn't seen Sammy nor had she introduced herself.

Sammy hesitated. Oops, she thought. "Oh. Good question," she said, letting go of her arm. "I'm Savanna's cousin, and I know your name because I know everything."

"Oh. Well, hi. I'm Ino Yamanaka." She smiled, and then spun around to interrogate Kiba with the same phrase; MOVE.

"Ino! Ino!" Sammy tried to yank her off of the poor dog boy again, but she seemed to be magnetically attracted to him.

"I can't do anything more," Sammy mumbled, walking away and towards her cousin again.

Naruto stood up and followed Sammy, just as an excuse to talk to his crush. "Hey, Savanna," he said. "What'cha doin'?"

Savanna laughed at Sasuke's very troubled facial expression and then turned to Naruto when he addressed her. Oh my gosh, she thought. I know that a lot of characters, including Naruto, have already said my name multiple times, but it seems so unreal! We really are living in our own role play, Sammay... This is heaven! "Hey, Naruto," she said. Just saying his name filled her with happiness. "I'm about to turn on the karaoke machine so Sammay and I can sing... And other people, if they would like."

"What the heck, Ino!" Kiba exclaimed. "You're only like this when you're around Sasuke! You're so oblivious to his feelings of hatred... Now cut it out!"

Finally giving up with yanking at Kiba's arm, Ino ran over to the person on Sasuke's other side: Neji. She didn't know Neji very well, but if there was a chance that he would move so she could sit next to Sasuke, she would gladly take it. "Neji, won't you please move over for me?" she purred.

Just by listening to her tone of voice, Savanna felt like gagging, and Neji exhibited a very similar feeling. Looking at her blankly in the eye, he responded with, "No, Ino."

With every passing minute, Choji felt increasingly more guilty about stuffing Sakura into one of the kitchen cabinets just because he was such a warm-hearted person. His eyebrows crinkled together slightly as he started poking Shikamaru in the arm.

After a few seconds, Shikamaru finally stirred (he actually had fallen asleep this time) and lazily raised his head. "What do you want, Choji?"

Choji swallowed his mouthful of chips nervously. "Well... I know that Sakura isn't a very nice person most of the time, but I still think I shouldn't have pushed her into that cupboard over there. Maybe I can take her out and, you know... Put her on one of Savanna's beds or something...?"

Shikamaru remained unimpressed. "Do what you want, Choji. Just don't kill her or anything." With that, he proceeded to fall back into a light slumber.

Choji, still in the same predicament, slowly rose from the table and returned to the cabinet he stuffed Sakura into before. However, when he opened it, he found nothing inside but the smell of damp air, so his eyes widened. "Uh... Shikamaru?" he hesitantly asked. "She's gone!"

Shikamaru didn't move an inch. "Mmmm."

"SHIKAMARU! She's GONE!" Choji sputtered, shutting the cabinet door and opening it again, just to make sure he was seeing correctly. Once he saw the empty cupboard once more, he screamed and poked his head inside, not finding one way to escape, besides the door. She couldn't have escaped through the door without Choji seeing, though!

"I LOST A CORPSE!" he wailed in agony, shutting the door yet again and opening it. Nothing.

"Choji. Be quiet, would you?" Shikamaru mumbled, still half asleep. "She couldn't have gone far..."

"...I still lost her! I'm DOOMED..."

"Oh, that's cool," Naruto grinned. "I don't think I'll sing, though. I'm not a singer... I bet you'll sound amazing, though."

Sammy eyed Ino. "Don't you talk to him like that..." she whispered, so quietly that no one could hear. She snapped out of her trance after a second and payed attention to the thought Banana had just passed to her. Yeah, this is heaven!

Ino looked at him for a moment before bobbing her head up and down. "Yeah, okay, that's fine." She laughed nervously and flew back over to Kiba.

"Ino, I won't move," Kiba repeated. Why won't she listen?

"Just leave me alone," Sasuke grumbled, folding his arms. "You're annoying."

Ino sighed dramatically. "But, Sasukeeeeee... I can't ever leave you alone! You and I are meant for each other! Plus, you're totally hawwtt!"

Frustrated, Kiba rested his head against the back of the couch, watching the ridiculous scene with lowered eyelids. When is this ever going to end?

Do you think Sasuke will get permanent wrinkles on his face from frowning and glaring so much? Savanna jokingly thought. "We are definitely not meant for each other," Sasuke stressed. "I would say that we're nothing more than friends, but we're not even acquaintances."

Ouch, Kiba thought. That must have hurt. Shifting his attention to Ino, his suspicions were confirmed. Tears wallowed up in her eyes, threatening to overflow. For once, instead of insisting about being with Sasuke, she ran over to Tenten and threw her arms around said kinoichi.

Sasuke finally stopped glaring and rested his head in his hands. "Finally," he muttered.

Did Naruto just compliment me? Savanna thought. Wow... He did! I want to squeal... Eeeee! The fangirl in her was dangerously close to showing itself on the outside, but Savanna fought to maintain it on the inside. Smiling, she said, "Thanks, Naruto... I don't know if I'm that good at singing, though."

When Savanna noticed that Ino had stopped pestering Sasuke, she turned to Tenten for a second. "It looks like Sasuke hurt Ino pretty badly," she observed.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Oh, this is nothing. This always happens... Sasuke always gets to the point where he feels like he's about to explode, and then he says some really bad insult. Then, Ino always comes crying to me, but sooner or later, she'll go back to bugging Sasuke again." Ino, too busy sniffling, couldn't hear Tenten's explanation.

Savanna nodded and turned back to Naruto, turning on the karaoke machine so she could scroll through the songs. "I wouldn't think that you would be the singing type, Naruto..."

Naruto shook his head and chuckled. "Nah. Singing's not really my thing. You'd be good at it."

Standing next to the two, Sammy watched Ino with a slightly raised eyebrow. How can she like Sasuke? she thought. He's so... ew... Neji's much, much better.

Lee, who had zoned himself out from everyone else, was practicing his moves in a corner of the living room. Kiba saw him from his spot on the couch and watched with narrowed eyes. Neji noticed the Inuzuka looking at something on the far side of the room and followed his gaze, eventually ending up looking at his crazy teammate as well.

Ridiculous.

"Left, right, top! Left, bottom! Bottom and top... AT THE SAME TIME!" Lee narrated a game of Dance Dance Revolution, his feet mimicking his words. "Yes! An A plus-plus-plus-plus! Plus!"

...Shino stood in the exact same spot he was in before.

Internally giggling, Savanna remembered when she watched Naruto sing the 'Froggy Song' with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. That was an example of why Naruto probably didn't sing, if he usually sounded like that when he sang...

"I sure hope so," Savanna wishfully said. "I have an unlimited list of songs on here. I know that sounds really hard to believe, but name any song, and it will be on here." She winked.

"Oooooh. Really?" questioned Naruto.

"Yeah." A few seconds later, Savanna stopped scrolling through the songs when she found 'Utakata Hanabi', which she knew as Naruto Shippuden ending 14. It was absolutely her most favorite ending ever to any anime, not just Naruto Shippuden. "Oh my gosh! I love this ending-" Quickly, before Savanna could give anything else away, she closed her mouth, effectively cutting herself off.

Naruto's expression of awe morphed into a puzzled one. "Ending...?"

Savanna laughed nervously and waved him off. "Oh, it's nothing... I didn't mean to say that. I meant to say that it's my favorite song!" Before waiting for Naruto's response, she clicked the play button and the song started playing. That was a close one, she thought.

While Savanna sang the words to Utakata Hanabi, Kiba, assuming that it was safe for Sasuke if he got up, rose from the couch and entered the kitchen, wondering if there was any meat mixed in with the various foods. When he took in the sight of Choji nervously gnawing at a sandwich, he asked said ninja what was bothering him.

"It's horrible," Choji replied. "Sakura passed out, and I stuffed her into that cabinet over there, but then I felt guilty, so I went over there and opened it again..."

Kiba laughed, showing off his long incisors. "That's nothing to be ashamed of! Sakura deserved it, so be proud of yourself."

Choji remained anxious. "But that's not the real problem here," he explained. "When I opened the cabinet again, she wasn't in there anymore."

Kiba looked at Choji for a minute and then chuckled. "Good. That ugly barnacle needed to go."

Choji stared at Kiba, mid-bite. "Are you serious?! I lost her! Nobody understands my pain!" he howled, shoving the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. Somehow, Shikamaru stayed sound asleep the whole time.

"You shouldn't worry. At least she's gone. Her looks were making my eyes burn... that little pink ball of ugly is like an onion."

Naruto and Sammy cheered once Banana's number ended. "That was awesome, Savanna! Good job!" Naruto congratulated.

"Yeah! That was fantabulous." Sammy laughed, giving her cousin a high-five.

Ino peeled herself off of Tenten and sniffled. "Hey, Kiba moved!" she giggled, sashaying over to Sasuke and sitting down, immediately wrapping her arms around his neck. Sasuke pushed her off, but she went right back.

"That girl is impossible..." Tenten said, shaking her head.

I hate Kiba. I hate Kiba. I hate Kiba, Sasuke vehemently thought. Even though he continued to shove Ino off of him, she kept on zipping back to him like a rubber band held them together.

After the fifteenth time, Ino nuzzled her face into Sasuke's neck, earning an exasperated sigh from Neji. "Isn't this great, Sasukeeeee? We get to be alone like this..."

Trying to get the awful image of Ino pressed against him out of his mind, Sasuke closed his eyes. "We're. Not. Alone," he said through gritted teeth.

Ino giggled. "Oooh, is that an invitation I hear? Do you want to go upstairs where we can be truly alone?"

"No way."

Savanna handed the microphone to Sammy and winked. "Thanks, you guys! Sammay, why don't you choose a song to sing along to? I know that you're a stunning singer."

A grin lit up Kiba's complexion when he finally found some ham and cheese bagels at the end of the long wooden table. However, instead of eating the entire thing, he picked out the ham and ate the meat all by itself. "Oh, this hits the spot."

Pondering about Sakura for a moment, Choji nodded after a minute. "Hmmm... I guess you're right, Kiba. Sakura is probably my least favorite person I know. I mean..." He paused for a second, letting her statement sink into his mind. "...She did call me... a fatso."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Don't let that get to you, man. It's Sakura we're talking about. Since when has listening to whatever she's said done any good for us?"

"Never," Choji admitted. "Good point."

"And since when has her ugly barnacle looks done anything good for us?" Kiba went on, eating another piece of ham.

"Never," Choji repeated. "She is pretty freaking ugly, man."

"Oh, stahp." Sammy laughed, taking the microphone from Banana. She then scrolled through the millions of songs and eventually saw the one she was looking for—Bluebird.

The song began playing and Sammy recited the words in song, of course.

"Oh, don't deny your love for me," Ino purred. "You don't have to hide it. Sakura's not here, anyway... it won't matter!"

Sasuke clawed her off of him for thousandth time. "I do not, under any circumstances have a good feeling of ANY sort for you," Sasuke growled, standing up. "Go. Away."

Ino shook her head. "Denial."

Sasuke felt like ripping the spikes from his raven-colored hair out. He wasn't one to speak often, however, so instead of barking out a comeback, he stalked away from Ino as quickly as he could.

Immediately, Ino sprang up from the couch and gravitated towards him. "Heh... You didn't say you didn't love me, Sasukeeee! Don't deny it... I know you do! Come back!"

As soon as Sammy started singing Blue Bird, Neji lifted his bored gaze from the ground and rested it on the pretty blonde he saw earlier. Transfixed, he listened to every single note she sang, marveling at her perfect voice. It... It sounds really beautiful, he thought. I'm aware that her name is Sammy, but that's all I know about her...

After Sammy finished singing the wonderful song, Neji rose from the couch and urgently made his way over to Savanna standing nearby, conversing with Naruto. When he lightly tapped her shoulder, he cut off Naruto in the middle of his sentence, but he didn't really care at the moment.

The corners of Naruto's mouth slightly curved down as Savanna directed her attention to the Hyuga. "Yes, Neji?" she politely asked.

"I noticed that your cousin just sang," he stated. "Where is she from?"

He almost seems dazed, Savanna thought with a smile. "She's from a place far away," she answered. "She's not from the Leaf Village." I'll leave it to you to tell him where you're really from, Sammay, she thought.

Suddenly, Savanna froze and frowned. Oh, crap, she thought. My room probably has Naruto posters set up all over the room... I have to take them down before anyone sees! Leaving Naruto frowning and Neji still wondering about Sammy, she bolted up the stairs, running towards her room.

Sammy's mental jaw dropped to the floor. Neji thinks I'm pretty, AND that my singing sounds good? Alright, I'm definitely hallucinating. I'm dreaming. This isn't possible, she thought, shaking her head and setting the microphone on the couch while making her way towards the kitchen.

Naruto watched Savanna hightail it out of the main room. Where's she going? he thought, and then shrugged.

"Can I play Dance Dance Revolution now?!" Lee asked excitedly, and didn't even wait for an answer before rushing over to the TV and turning the game on. He stepped onto the board and quickly chose the hardest level and a song. His legs began moving at a high speed once the arrows began popping up on the screen.

Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance as he fast-walked into the kitchen, immediately diving under the table, attempting to hide from the Yamanaka following him. Once she zipped into the room, she glanced around, not seeing her love anywhere.

"He just came in here, right? I swear I just saw him come in here," Ino asked urgently, eyeing every boy in the room. Each one that was awake shook their heads, even though it was clear that he did, in fact, run in.

"You guys are trustworthy. I believe you. Tell me if you see him!" Ino chirped, skipping out of the kitchen while calling Sasuke's name.

"Is she gone?" Sasuke's voice questioned from under the table.

"Yep," Kiba answered, popping a piece of barbecue meat into his mouth. "But you should probably stay under there, or try to find another hiding spot."

"Well, duh," Sasuke answered in an annoying tone. "I wouldn't be so stupid as to wander out in the open and wait for that pig to molest me."

Kiba was used to those kinds of comments Sasuke made, so he just rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just be careful, because I'm not covering you again if Ino finds out where you are."

When Sammy entered the kitchen, Choji's eyes shifted to said person. "Hey... Kiba, who's she?"

Turning around, Kiba took in the sight of Sammy and smirked. "Hey... Oh. Choji, this is Savanna's cousin, Sammy."

Trying one of the ham and cheese bagels Kiba picked up, Choji smiled. "Hi, Sammy! Nice to meet you! I'm Choji Akimichi, and the person sleeping in front of me in Shikamaru. Don't be surprised... He's always like that."

"Yeah," Kiba agreed. "She's... Uh. Wait. Are you just visiting, or are you living here?"

Back in the living room, Neji started pacing back and forth ever so slightly, still thinking about Savanna's cousin until Naruto's voice jarred him from his deep thinking. "Jeez, Neji," said Naruto. "You don't just go and interrupt people's conversations! My conversation with Savanna was very important."

Neji's facial expression told Naruto that he didn't believe what he said for one second. "Well, I interrupted you because of a very important reason."

Luckily, Savanna didn't find anyone in her room when she opened the door. It looked exactly like her room in her normal house, like she imagined... It was further proof that she was somehow experiencing her role play. Letting out a relieved sigh, he took off her Naruto posters from her walls as quickly as she could, stuffing them under her bed (not wrinkling them, of course). Walking out of her room and down the hallway, she froze in place when she saw Sai in the bathroom holding a bottle of lotion.

"Um... Sai?" she inquired, trying not to laugh. Why did Sai come up here? she wondered.

Of course, Sai never blushed, so he looked at her with his fake smile. "Oh... Sorry. Excuse me. Your lotion smells very nice."

Savanna started cracking up on the inside, but she didn't let it show, which was very difficult. "Yes, it does..."

Sai nodded and set the bottle back onto the counter. "Its scent is very distinct," he remarked, not quite sure of how to act in this situation.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Oh, yeah? Sammy?" he asked mockingly, clearly not afraid of Neji. He had nothing against Sammy, but he wanted to know what the big deal was with the Hyuga.

"Hi, Choji. It's nice to meet you, too, and as you've heard, I'm Sammy," she said with a smile, and then turned to face Kiba. "And that's a good question..."

Kiba watched as Sammy made her way over to the ham and cheese bagels. She picked one up, tore a piece off and popped it into her mouth. "What do you mean? You don't know if you're staying or not?"

Sammy shrugged and swallowed. "Yeah. It's a bit complicated."

He nodded, wondering where she was from in the first place. For some reason, she seemed... different. But not in a bad way. She was unique.

"Yes," Neji confirmed. "It is Sammy, and I'm fairly certain that it's much more important than the conversation you were having with Savanna." Meeting Naruto's stare with one of his own, Neji silently challenged Naruto to defy him.

Of course, Naruto immediately retorted. "No way," he said. "My conversation was wayyy more important!" Folding his arms, Neji didn't want to waste any more energy on arguing with Naruto, so he fell silent.

Savanna could sense Sai's awkwardness, so she politely nodded and proceeded to continue down the stairs, still wondering what the heck he was doing there in the first place. As she reached the bottom step, she nearly ran into Ino, who was still frantically searching for Sasuke.

"Oh, Savanna," Ino cried. "Please help me... I can't find my Sasukeeee! Did he hide somewhere? Did he leave the party?"

Savanna remembered that Sasuke hid under the long table in the kitchen. However, she liked Sasuke, so she wasn't going to lead him to his doom by giving him away to Ino. Sadly, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Ino... I haven't seen him. Did you check upstairs?"

"Nope," Ino replied, "but I'm going there right now!" Without mentioning anything else, she zipped up the steps and disappeared down the hallway. When Savanna stopped to listen for a moment, she could hear a faint, "SAS-... Oh! It's just you, Sai. What are you doing in her bedroom?"

Laughing softly, Savanna returned to Naruto's side in the living room. I can't believe that a Naruto character is in my ACTUAL room. I have a feeling that I should think it's creepy, but it's just... so... cool!

Naruto turned to look at Savanna. "Neji thinks Sammy is more important than our conversation!" he said with a tone that told Savanna he clearly thought Neji's opinion was incorrect.

Sasuke heard Ino's desperate cries for him from under the table, and he stiffened just at the sound of her voice calling his name. She was so unbelievably annoying.

Choji continued to munch on the bagel. "So are you and Savanna close?" he asked.

Sammy nodded. "Mmhmmm. Indeed, we are."

Shikamaru stirred in his sleep and actually sat up. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, and after he had done that he spotted Sammy. "You must be Savanna's cousin."

"Mmhmmm. Indeed I am," she replied with the same tone of voice he used in her last statement. She popped another piece of her bagel into her mouth. "And you must be Shikamaru."

Shikamaru blinked, a quizzical expression making its way onto his face. "Yeah... But how did you know that?"

Savanna directed a knowing smile at Neji. "Although I do say our conversation was very important, Naruto," she began, "if Neji thinks what he did was important, then it must be important."

Pursing his lips ever so slightly, Naruto responded with, "It was just Sammy... What's so important about that?"

Everything, Savanna smugly replied in her mind.

Lee, noticing that the karaoke machine was free, picked up the microphone and started scrolling through the songs, finally choosing "On My Own" from Les Mis. As soon as the song started, Savanna whirled around so she could see for herself that she still wasn't dreaming. Even when she took in the sight of Lee with that song on the screen, she couldn't help herself from rubbing her eyes and looking again.

"I love this song," Savanna said dreamily. Was Lee actually going to pull this off?

Sammy jabbed a thumb towards the ninja sitting next to Shikamaru. "Choji told me," she explained, even though she already knew Shikamaru's name, anyway. Suddenly, Les Mis music could be heard. "...I hear music I like."

At that, Sammy ran out of the kitchen and into the living room, still holding her bagel. "Les Mis! I hear it!" she announced, taking a bite. Once she saw Neji in the room, she blushed a bit, remembering what he thought before.

"What the heck is Les Mis?" Naruto asked after hearing Sammy.

Lee began singing, his voice wavering off tune a couple of times.

"What's up with her?" Shikamaru asked when he observed the girl run out of the kitchen after seeming to recognize the song that was playing in the other room. He didn't recognize it.

"I dunno," Kiba replied. "But it seems like she knows more than she's telling us. Don't you think?"

Choji nodded. "Yeah... like she's hiding something..."

Kiba thought about it for a moment. "I don't know," he concluded.

"I don't know, either," Shikamaru admitted.

Aw, man, Kiba thought. If Shikamaru doesn't know, then Sammy must be pretty good at hiding secrets.

Under the table, Sasuke's neck started to cramp up, but he was willing to endure that if it meant that he wouldn't be discovered by a certain crazy blonde. Listening to everything around him, he focused his attention on Sai when he entered the kitchen.

Awkwardly, Sai raised one of his hands in what was probably supposed to be a wave. "Hello," he greeted. "How are you guys doing?"

Not even responding, Shikamaru lay his head back down on the table, and Choji muttered something unintelligible, for his mouth was full of chips. Kiba warily regarded Sai as he waved back normally. "Uh, hey. I'm doing good..."

Sai put on his trademark fake smile. "I see... That's nice." He paused for a moment, increasing the awkward mood that filled the room. "I haven't seen Sasuke for a while. Where has he gone?"

Why can't Sai just act like a normal human being for once? Kiba thought with a sigh. "He's under the table hiding from Ino," he replied.

Sasuke started inwardly cursing at Kiba... again. You idiot, Kiba! I've never trusted Sai, and you just blew my cover.

Instead of a response like 'I see', Sai suddenly squealed and jumped up and down in little circles, causing Kiba to stumble back and hit the wall. "What the heck, man?!" he cried out surprisingly.

As quickly as this strange behavior occurred, Sai abruptly stopped and held one of his hands to his forehead, swaying a little bit. "What... What happened...?"

Sasuke proceeded to hit his forehead on the floor repeatedly while everyone in the kitchen stared at Sai, almost afraid to break the silence. However, everything became clear when they could hear faint, fast footsteps from above become increasingly louder as Ino sprinted down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"HA!" she yelled, making everyone jump. "I found you, Sasukeeeeee!" Before anyone could react, she dove under the table.

Meanwhile, in the main room, Neji couldn't help himself, so he slowly approached Sammay until he was standing next to her. "You're a very good singer," he complemented.

Hearing Naruto's question, Savanna answered with a smug, "Oh, it's just the best story/musical/movie ever written... That's all."

"I've never heard if it," Naruto said, crinkling his eyebrows together.

I would be very, very surprised if you did, Naruto, Savanna thought. "Really?" she asked, adding mock surprise to her voice. "You're totally missing out! We can watch it together sometime. Then you'll see how amazing Les Mis is."

"Okay," Naruto agreed. "It sounds pretty sad, since Lee's singing about being alone."

Sammy blinked. "Oh. Thanks..." she said back to him. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.

Sasuke scrambled to get out from under the table and got out right before Ino pounced on him. He glared at Kiba and then ran out of the kitchen, into the living room and behind Savanna again.

"How would I know that it was INO asking us instead of Sai?!" Kiba asked himself. Sai began to rub his temples, wondering what happened to him. Shikamaru closed his eyes, trying not to get involved in the whole situation. Ino squealed again and came out from under the table.

"Sasuke! Stop running!" she giggled, skipping out from the kitchen and into the living room. Sasuke grimaced at Ino's mood. Why him?

"Ooh, Sasukeeeeee!" Ino sang, jumping up and down in her place. "You can't hide for long!"

"That girl... could she be any more annoying?" Choji shook his head, grabbing another sandwich and taking a bite. "Why won't she leave the poor guy alone?"

"He is most definitely not a poor guy," Kiba rolled his eyes. "He's an arrogant jerk. He deserves to be pestered like that!"

"When were you so against Sasuke?" Choji asked.

"Since forever. I protected him two times and then he glared at me when I didn't even know it was Ino."

"Well, it IS Sasuke," Choji pointed out.

Kiba nodded. "Hmph. True... But still. He has no reason to get mad at me."

Even though this wasn't the first time Choji had thought of this, he started to wonder if Sasuke was emo.

"It is sad," said Savanna. "The entire story is so sad, but it's amazing..."

The entire room erupted in applause when Lee finished singing. Very formally, he bowed. "Thank you, thank you!" he said as he blew kisses to nobody in particular.

When Savanna noticed Sasuke almost cowering behind her, she smirked. "So, Ino found you again, didn't she, Sasuke?"

Sasuke silently warned Savanna with his dark eyes. "Don't say my name so loudly. I just can't find a good hiding spot without eventually being discovered by that maniac. I know Sakura isn't annoying me like she normally would, but this isn't much better."

"I totally get you," she sympathized. "I told everyone to wear swimsuits under their clothes because we're going to go swimming, and probably very soon... Maybe you could hide from Ino in the pool...?" Wow, Savanna, she thought to herself. That suggestion was kind of stupid.

Sasuke's facial expression told her that he was probably agreeing with her thoughts. "Are you serious?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

Savanna shrugged. "Why not? It's that, or you can leave the party. But if you leave, nobody will help you after that..."

"You're welcome," Neji replied. "So you're Savanna's cousin... Where are you from?"

Sammy debated on whether she should tell him the whole truth or not, and then went with her gut. "I live in a place really far away. Really far away... it's called Utah," she explained, examining the last bit of her bagel and then popping it into her mouth.

"I'm just sticking with these hiding spots..." Sasuke muttered, definitely not wanting to hide in the pool, of all places.

Ino searched around the room, but somehow didn't find him. She bolted upstairs to see if she could find him, once again. "Sasuke! Oh, Sasuke! Come out, come out, wherever you are, Sasukeee!"

"Thank goodness," Sasuke mumbled after he watched Ino twirl up the stairs.

Naruto looked at Lee. "Have you even heard of that song?"

"No," Lee replied with a bright smile, and then began running in place for no apparent reason.

Choji rolled his eyes, able to hear Ino's flirty voice from the kitchen. Sure, he was used to her annoying and gushy mood when Sasuke was around, but honestly. "Yeah. How can Ino not see that he doesn't like her? Sakura, too, but... she kind of disappeared..."

Sai looked at Choji. "Where did she go?"

Choji shrugged. "I dunno," he answered, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth. "I put her into that cabinet over there, and once I opened it again a few minutes later, she was gone."

Sai walked over to the cabinet Choji had motioned to and pulled open the door, staring blankly at the nothingness that sat inside. "That's strange. I wonder where she went."

"At least she's gone," Kiba chuckled. "That girl's annoying. Hopefully, she won't come back."

"Why do you not like Sakura?" Sai innocently questioned.

Kiba and Choji stared at Sai like he was the most oblivious person in the world. Well, he kind of was...

"First of all, she's really rude," Kiba pointed out. "Isn't she rude to you, Sai?"

Sai rubbed his chin for a moment, his eyes wandering to the ceiling thoughtfully. Finally, he met Kiba's weirded-out gaze. "Yeah, I guess," he finally agreed. "I don't really mind, though."

Kiba's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he dropped the subject. Jeez... Sai's so strange, he thought.

Hesitantly, Neji repeated the foreign word in his head. Utah? Utah. Of course, he had never heard of that place in his life. He had studied the world map extensively, consequently memorizing the names and locations of all of the places existing in the shinobi world, so it was very difficult for him to even grasp the truth that Utah was a place. If Neji hadn't just met Sammy, he would have immediately denied that such a place existed. However, he was being polite since he took a liking to her, so he just nodded.

"Alright. Do as you wish, Sasuke," said Savanna. "While you go and hide, everyone will be having fun in the pool!"

Sasuke's countenance didn't change even in the slightest bit. "Hn. Who cares?"

Despite Sasuke's attitude, Savanna couldn't stop herself from smiling. Sasuke was just so... predictable sometimes. In fact, she had been smiling almost nonstop since the unknown, wonderful force brought her and Sammy into the Naruto world. Every single second, she drank in the characters' features and admired them... Her mind was still trying to accept the fact that she was there!

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Savanna quickly took a hold of Naruto's wrist, again sending chills down her spine. "I did tell everyone to wear their swimsuit under their clothes. You did bring yours, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course! How could I forget?" he asked. "It's your party, after all!"

Sammy frowned slightly, taking in Neji's thoughts. She knew convincing him wouldn't be easy. "I know you don't believe me," she started, "but trust me on this one. And probably many more, in that case..."

"How can you not mind?" Choji asked in bewilderment. "She's vicious and annoying..."

Sai shrugged. "I'm not quite sure. Sakura isn't that bad, is she?"

"YES," everyone said in unison, even Shikamaru. Then, he blinked once and settled down once more to try to get back to sleep.

Sai paused. "Oh. Alright, then."

Sasuke overheard the conversation in the other room and actually agreed with them for once. Sakura was a truly horrid and disgusting person.

"Anyway," Naruto went on, "when are we going to go in the pool?"

Lee pumped his fist a few feet away, listening to their conversation. "Yes! Swimming will be a great way to train and to become a better ninja!"

"Then let's just go right now," Savanna decided. It's our role play, right, Sammy? We can control it... Pulling Naruto towards the back door, she called out, "The pool is open!"