Disclaimer: No, we aren't lucky enough to own Naruto Shippuden.
Banana: I love this chapter for so many reasons! Heh, heh... *cough cough* Deidara... 3
Sammay: I love Neji- I mean this chapter for so many reasons, too! :D Ha, Ha... Ha...
Chapter Five
Sammy began to laugh so hardly that tears streamed down her pink cheeks. "OH... OH MY GOODNESS!" she cried, the image of Sakura flying down from the ceiling making her laugh even harder. She didn't care how it happened at that moment, and only enjoyed herself.
"I just heard Sakura's screech. Did they find her?" Choji asked urgently, and it showed that he was still worried about losing the annoying pinkette. He surprisingly dropped his chips and made his way into the laundry room. Everything he saw surprised him as well, and he even started chuckling a bit once he saw Sasuke and Sakura on the floor and the large hole shaped like Sakura in the ceiling.
Lee lifted his head from being partly submerged into the water. "What is going on in there?" he asked Neji, who could see inside of the home through the broken window. "I just heard a large crash!"
"AAAAAHHH! AAAAAHHHHHH!" Sakura shrieked, still processing where she was. Sasuke furiously kicked from under her, but her weight was too much for him.
"Will someone get this fat lard off of me?!" he yelled in agony, his bones beginning to feel like they would crack. Her weight was something he couldn't handle!
Kiba craned his neck from his spot outside to see what was going on inside, but he couldn't spot anything too odd. He knew that something was going on somewhere in there, since he heard Sasuke, of all people, call someone a fat lard. "I have to check this out," he murmured, bolting inside and following the source of the screams.
Once he skidded to a stop in front of the laundry room, Kiba blinked and tried to take in everything in front of him. "Wow, uh... There's Sakura," he muttered to himself. "So that's where she went... But how did she get there? And why is she on top of Sasuke?" A few seconds later, his eyes suspiciously shifted to the rather large hole in the ceiling where Sakura had emerged from before.
How did Sakura get from that cupboard to here without me noticing? Choji wondered. Well, at least she doesn't seem hurt by me stuffing her in there... He continued to openly stare at Sasuke and Sakura on the floor.
Sasuke noticed Choji and Kiba appear in the doorway, so he glared at them while he struggled under the crazy Haruno. "Why are you guys just standing there?" he barked. "Can't you see that I'm being suffocated?!"
Completely ignoring Sasuke's words, Sakura finally seemed to notice him and wrapped her arms around his neck in a crushing embrace. "Oh, Sasuke!" she gushed. "We're finally together again! I missed you so much! And Ino-pig isn't here to ruin our love!"
If only I could somehow capture this moment, Kiba thought amusingly. "Sorry, Sasuke," he said with a smirk. "I would help you, but..." He laughed as he trailed off. This is awesome payback for Sasuke being a jerk to everyone.
On the other hand, Choji, being a kind person, actually wanted to help Sasuke escape from Sakura, but he was too scared to do anything. Sakura would decapitate me within seconds, he thought with a shiver.
As these events proceeded, Savanna felt like she was going to die from laughter. Who would have expected Sakura to come crashing down from the ceiling and on top of Sasuke? She cracked up so much that she had to reach over and hold onto Naruto (giving her butterflies along the way) in order to prevent her from collapsing to the floor in a fit of giggles.
"We don't have love," Sasuke growled. "We don't even have friendship! Now get off of me or I'll be forced to go on the offensive."
Sakura jutted out her bottom lip in what was supposed to be a pout. "Oh, don't you say things like that, Sasuke," she whined. "You wouldn't-"
"Chidori!"
Sasuke cut Sakura off by slamming his fist enveloped with lightning into her torso. As a result, she flew into the nearby wall with a grunt. Luckily, the wall showed no signs of damage.
"I have no idea what's going on in there," Neji murmured. "Byakugan!"
As he observed the scene, a small, condescending frown made its way into his expression. "Ridiculous," he vented. "They found Sakura...Or Sakura found them."
Lee glanced over at Neji, taking in his annoyed comment. "Sakura left?" he asked, completely oblivious to the whole situation that had happened before with Choji and Sakura, and with the situation inside at that moment. "Where did they find her? Or... where did she find them?"
Naruto's smile grew larger as he felt Savanna hold onto him for support. He was laughing pretty hardly as well, and understood why she had reached over, but he still felt warm inside at her touch, nonetheless.
Sammy's laughter only got louder as Sasuke just about mauled Sakura into the wall. Everything is so hysterical here, she thought whilst laughing. A lot more hysterical than boring Utah, that's for sure...
Ino's ears perked up and she froze as Sasuke's signature line, 'Chidori' could be heard from inside. She gasped, giggled and began skipping gleefully towards the back door. "I'm coming, Sasuke! Oh, yes! I'm coooming!"
Sasuke somehow heard Ino's cries from the laundry room and groaned. Why me? he thought, managing to stand up after being suffocated for a few seconds. He scanned the room, looking for a place to hide, since he figured that he couldn't make it into another room before the obsessed Yamanaka spotted and tackled him.
Savanna finally regained control of her laughing, but she still held on to Naruto. "There's no place for you to hide, Sasuke," she remarked with a smirk. "Well... Except for that hole in the ceiling. But I don't even know what's up there..."
Sasuke peered desperately at the hole. "I don't care... I'll do anything to get away from her." Infusing chakra into his feet, he quickly climbed up the wall and into the hole, disappearing from sight.
Naruto's laughter died down to a chuckle. "Man, it's so funny to see Sasuke so helpless like that!"
To be honest, Savanna did feel some pity for Sasuke because she knew fully well how much of a nuisance Sakura (and sometimes Ino) was. However, the joy of being in the Naruto world mixed with Sasuke fearing for his life was simply too hilarious for her to feel bad for anyone at the moment.
Kiba grinned and nodded at Naruto. "I know, right? This is the best show I've seen in a long time."
Overhearing Naruto and Kiba's comments from the dark recess in the ceiling, Sasuke scowled. What losers, he thought. I always have to save their hides whenever we're in battle... Let's see how they like it when I won't help them next time.
I few seconds later, Ino burst into the laundry room breathing heavily, as if she had run a marathon. "Sasukeeee?" she gasped. "Where are you?"
Choji stared at her with wide eyes. I know she can be a little nuts sometimes, he thought, but how in the world did she hear Sasuke from outside? And how did she know where he was?
"Well, he's not in the room," Savanna pointed out. Technically, Sasuke really wasn't in the room... He was in some place in the ceiling.
"But I know he was here!" Ino retorted. Suddenly, her voice dropped down to a malicious whisper. "...I know he was here."
Choji couldn't take Ino's creepiness anymore, so he slowly edged out of the room and made his way back outside. I don't really want anything to do with that weird situation, he thought.
From the pool, Neji looked at the hole in the ceiling, and then to Sakura's dilapidated form against the wall. "From what I see," he observed, "I'm assuming that Sakura was somehow hiding in the ceiling, waiting for Sasuke to come into the laundry room. When he made his entrance, she crashed down from the ceiling on top of him. Next, he proceeded to use his Chidori on her, sending her into the nearby wall. Now, he looks like he's hiding in the hole Sakura was in before."
If possible, Lee's eyes grew even bigger than they already were. Or... It could have just been Neji's imagination. "That... That is crazy!" he exclaimed.
Sammy examined Ino, debating on whether giving Sasuke away yet again, or keeping quiet. After a moment, she decided on saving Sasuke's sorry butt. She did shove his head into the washer. Sammy knew she wasn't pure evil and did as she told herself by keeping her mouth shut.
"One of you knows where he is," Ino growled darkly. "Maybe even all of you... SO SPIT IT OUT!"
"I don't know anything!" Kiba lied, putting his hands up. "Nothing at all."
As Kiba created an excuse, Naruto smiled mischievously and slid out of the room without Ino noticing. Sammy eyed him as he escaped. She didn't want to spoil whatever his plan was, so she didn't read his mind.
"I just came in here," Kiba continued. "And when I did, Sasuke wasn't in here. The only ones who were in here were—"
Suddenly, Naruto burst back into the room and spit out a mouthful of water on Ino from behind. He started cackling with laughter afterwards.
Ino screeched and spun around. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR, NARUTO?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Naruto continued to laugh, and everyone else did too as they got Naruto's reasoning even before he explained.
"You told me to spit it out, so that's what I did!"
"I didn't mean it LITERALLY!"
At that, Ino went for Naruto, and he immediately responded by running out of the room, Ino following. So that was his plan, after all, Sammy thought, still laughing. To save his friend while having fun at the same time.
Still standing in the same spot as before, Kiba blinked and stared at the empty doorway Naruto and Ino had gone through. "Well, that went well."
That's one thing I love about Naruto so much, Savanna thought admiringly. He's willing to do anything for his friends, even if it's detrimental to his health. Although, he really should think of himself once in a while... She caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye, and she directed her gaze to Sakura's twitching fingers.
After observing her distorted body for a few seconds, Savanna wrinkled her nose in displeasure. "Ugh," she groaned almost unthinkingly. "Sakura is so... Ugly. Someone should really get rid of her..."
Sighing, Neji waded over to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out. "I believe I've had enough of swimming," he told Lee. "Things are beginning to get rather hectic in there... I might be able to calm them down." Reminding himself of Ino's insatiable appetite for Sasuke, Neji added, "Or at least some of them."
Lee followed Neji's suit. "I think I shall go inside, as well," he stated. "I would like to practice my skills with that game, Dance Dance Revolution!"
With Ino on his heels, Naruto sprinted upstairs and down the hallway, bursting into Savanna's room. As soon as he entered, he slammed the door shut and pressed himself against it as Ino clawed at the door in an attempt to maim Naruto.
"You made a big mistake!" Ino screeched. "You're too much of an idiot to realize that I was using an expression!" She paused for a moment. "...And you messed up my hair."
Because he was Naruto, Naruto didn't mention how he really understood what Ino was trying to say before, or how he spit water on her to have fun and save Sasuke. Instead, he continued to pass his body against the door. "Who cares about hair?" he questioned. "I never brush mine, anyway!"
At Naruto's comment, Ino growled and shoved against the door with all of her strength. As a result, she pushed the door open slightly enough so she could slip inside of Savanna's room. Fixing her aqua eyes on Naruto's now-terrified form, she slowly started to advance towards him. "You will pay for what you've done," she whispered evilly. "You will- huh?"
Noticing the corner of one of Savanna's Naruto posters sticking out from under the bed, she leaned down and unrolled it. Immediately, her expression changed to that of pleasure, and she glued her eyes to the poster. Seeming to completely forget about Naruto, she gushed, "Oh, this is Sasukeeeeee! He looks so handsome in this poster! Is he a model? Is that why he's on here? I wouldn't be surprised if he was a model because he's so hawt!"
Naruto didn't even think twice about the fact that she had a poster of Sasuke but not one of him (to his knowledge), and bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Ino, still inside, continued to dreamily stare at the photo of Sasuke, not even caring about murdering Naruto anymore. Naruto blew out a puff of air he didn't realize he was holding in.
"I'll get rid of her, gladly," Kiba muttered, swinging her limp body over his shoulder. "I'll do anything to get rid of this ugly nut ball." He walked out of the room and threw Sakura out of the hole in the window Lee created.
"That was close," Naruto murmured, whilst entering the laundry room once again. "Ino got distracted in Savanna's room, so I made a run for it."
Kiba walked back into the room, hearing Naruto's statement as he made his way in. "That was pretty awesome, Naruto," he complimented, walking around him to stand next to Savanna.
Meanwhile, Neji and Lee experienced a flying Sakura outside. She landed into the pool with a splash.
"Yeah. We should probably check it out," Neji sighed, walking into the house, not even regarding Sakura. Lee followed him in, a bit excited to see what was actually going on in the laundry room. Sammy smirked as a plan formed in her mind after noticing Sakura's presence land into the pool. She managed to slip out of the room just as Neji and Lee walked in. Walking out of the home and into the backyard, she stood by the pool and waited as Sakura regained consciousness.
A few moments later, Sakura emerged from the water, coughing and gasping for breath. After she recovered, both of the girls made eye contact. Before Sakura could say anything, Sammy pounced on the pinkette, resulting in them both going underwater, and a few more seconds went by, when suddenly Sakura could be seen flying up from the pool caused by a powerful kick.
Shikamaru and Choji, regarding the scene from the patio with looks of surprise, watched her fly off into the distance until she could be seen no more. "Whoa," Choji breathed. "I wonder how much chakra it took to kick her that far away..."
"Probably a lot," Shikamaru guessed. "Well, at least Sakura's gone. She's so troublesome."
Even though Choji's viewpoint with Shikamaru was the same on the inside, he automatically hesitated to agree on the outside. "...I don't know," he said with a hint of uncertainty. "She... Wasn't that bad, was she?"
Deadpan, Shikamaru stared at Choji. "It doesn't take a lot of thinking, Choji," he explained. "If you compare the pros and the cons of having Sakura around, there would be no pros and a heck of a lot of cons."
Choji pondered over Shikamaru's explanation for a moment. Finally, he gave in to his inner opinion. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Ino decided that she couldn't part with the poster of Sasuke in her hands. "I can't just leave this here when Sasuke looks so beautiful on this," he whispered. "I have to... I have to take it!" Quickly peeking out the door into the hallway to make sure nobody was near, she rolled up the poster and stuffed it into her top. "Huh," she observed. "I didn't know that would actually fit! Now it's mineeee. Hehehehe."
Savanna facepalmed and sighed when she read Ino's mind. First, she takes my bra, and then she takes my favorite poster of Sasuke? At the next party, I'm going to ban her from going into my room... But that probably wouldn't stop her from entering.
Kiba looked down at Savanna and rested his hand on her shoulder, giving her faint butterflies as a result. "What's wrong? Ino's not going on a rampage anymore."
Savanna quickly raised her head. "Oh, it's nothing. It's just that knowing Ino, she would only get distracted by something related to Sasuke, you know?"
Naruto slightly narrowed his eyes at Kiba's hand on Savanna's shoulder. Wow, Savanna is right on, he thought. She seems to be right about everything... But that's probably because she's so smart! Yeahh.
Dragging her attention away from Kiba's touch, Savanna became increasingly aware of a small weight in her pocket. Reaching into her pocket, she almost gasped when she pulled out her android. Wait. I thought that I wouldn't have anything from my own world when my iTouch disappeared... This is awesome! Do I still have all of my contacts?
Kiba and Naruto looked at Savanna's phone with a mixture of confusion and awe. In an attempt to see what was on the screen as she scrolled through her contacts, Naruto stepped closer. "Oohhh. What's that?" he asked excitedly.
"It's my cellphone," Savanna replied. "I totally forgot that I..." Her green eyes grew wide as she spotted the Akatsuki member, Hidan, as one of her contacts.
If possible, Naruto and Kiba inched even closer. "What? What is it?" they questioned almost in unison.
Her eyes still glued to Hidan's name, Savanna answered in a daze. "I didn't know I had Hidan's number..." she trailed off.
Naruto frowned. "Huh? Who's Hidan?"
Should I tell them that he's an Akatsuki member? Savanna thought. Nah... "He's just my friend," she replied with a small smile.
"Just your friend?" inquired Kiba. "And nothing more?"
"Yes, just a friend," Savanna said with a laugh. As she continued to scroll down her contacts, a thought suddenly occurred to her. If... If I have Hidan's number, then...? She wouldn't even allow herself to think of her favorite Naruto character's name as she now frantically swiped at her android's screen. Several seconds later, Savanna could barely hold in a gasp as she saw Deidara's name mixed in with the rest of her contacts.
Savanna felt Naruto and Kiba's stares on her face as she shakily pressed the call button and held her phone to her ear, but she blatantly ignored them. Mentally, she was freaking out on the inside. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! This is a dream-come-true... I love Deidara so much! If I actually heard his voice in real life, then I don't know what I would-
Her thoughts were interrupted when the receiver on the other end of the call picked up the phone after only two rings. "Hello, un?" came Deidara's reply.
ASDFGHJKL! Savanna was so surprised that she let out a little squeak and dropped the phone. However, she quickly came to her senses and retrieved the phone from the ground. Naruto and Kiba jumped a little at her reaction and then continued to intently observe what she was doing.
"Um, h-hi..." she stammered out. Holy crap, she thought. Am I actually speaking to Deidara?!
There was a brief pause from the other end of the call. "Hm? Is this Savanna?" Deidara inquired.
At the sound of his voice saying her name, Savanna nearly dropped her phone again. She marveled at the sound for a second, but then she remembered to reply and hastily said the first thing that came to her mind. "Oh! Yes... Yes, this is Savanna." Wow, I sound so stupid, she thought. "Uhhh... I'm having a party at my house right now... Do you maybe want to come?"
"Leader Pein ordered me to watch over the idiot, Tobi, un," Deidara stated. "So I'm not sure if I can make it."
I would give anything to be able to see Deidara in person, Savanna thought. "N-No, that's okay!" she quickly said. "Just bring Tobi along with you... I'm sure he would like to come, too!"
There was a slightly bigger pause on Deidara's end. "Alright, hm," he finally decided. "See you in about twenty minutes."
Still fangirling on the inside, Savanna murmured, "Okay, see you..."
- Meanwhile, a number of miles away -
"Deidaraaa, who were you just talking to?!" Tobi questioned. "Was it Hidan?! Oh, I hope so! I just love Hidan! So was it Hidan?"
Deidara narrowed his eyes and continued walking, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "Shut up, Tobi, hm. It was just Savanna, and now we're making a change of plans and going to her house for a party. Hm."
Tobi gasped with delight. "Savanna?! Party? Oh, boy, Deidara-Senpai! I love parties! Parties are just—they're just so much fun," he blabbered. "But do you know what I love even more than parties?! Hidan! Speaking of Hidan, I have his cellphone right here!"
Tobi fished around in his pocket and eventually pulled out what Deidara recognized as, indeed, Hidan's phone. "Why in the world do you have Hidan's—you know what? Hm. I'm not even going to ask..."
He began running away from Tobi, and then slowed down to a walk a couple hundred yards ahead of him. "That idiot can find Savanna's house on his own," he muttered to himself, taking a liking to the sudden silence that surrounded him, replacing Tobi's annoying cries of joy.
Tobi shrugged at his Senpai's disappearance and began tossing the phone up and down, catching it each time as he went. Whistling, he strolled along. Butterflies flew around him, bluebirds sang a song as he waltzed with some bunny rabbits. Hidan skipped along with him—CRASH!
The sudden noise startled Tobi as he came back to reality, his fantasy disappearing just as Deidara had done. Tobi stopped and looked down, seeing Hidan's phone shattered into tiny smithereens. He seemed to have missed Hidan's phone as he played with his imaginary friends! "Oops!" he cried, and continued to stroll along.
As he walked, a high screech could be heard from above. It got louder and louder as he continued to walk, and when he finally looked up, he saw an ugly girl falling from the sky.
"Eeep!" he exclaimed as the person slammed into the ground in a faceplant, the earth splitting and creating a hole underneath her. Tobi slowly approached the hole and peered inside, right as the ugliest, most hideous girl he had ever seen on the face of the earth managed to pop her head out of the hole.
"MY EYEEEESS!" he cried, running backwards away from the girl until he hit a tree... really hardly.
A deafening creak could be heard from above him in the tree, and he observed with terror as a giant tree house dropped onto the ugly pink-haired girl and over the hole.
"Oops!" he giggled again, and then ran away in search of Deidara.
Sammy laughed as she emerged and stepped out of the pool, brushing imaginary dust off of her swimsuit. "My work is done," she smiled, and began laughing even harder as she watched the treehouse fall onto Sakura in her head. Once she realized Choji and Shikamaru were giving her weird looks, she stopped laughing, straightened her back and cleared her throat. "Sorry about that. That was weird." At that, she walked back into the house like she hadn't just kicked Sakura Haruno out of a pool and out of the village.
Naruto looked at Savanna as she hung up the weird contraption that she held in her hand. ...A cellphone? Is that what she called it? "Who the heck was that?" he asked after thinking over the small device for a moment or two.
"Yeah! Who was that?" Kiba repeated. He didn't like the dreamy face Savanna had on at all. He would've liked it if it were meant for him, but he knew it wasn't.
Just then, Sammy walked back into the room. Normally, she would've stopped dead in her tracks after seeing Neji again, but then her eyes landed on Savanna's phone. "What?!" she gasped, weaving through everyone in order to get to Savanna. "What? Where? How? I want mine! Well. My iTouch!"
Neji and Lee watched, as confused as ever. "What?" Lee asked no one in particular as he eyed the weird thing Savanna held.
Savanna kept on getting vibes of confusion from all of the people around her (with the exception of Sammy), so she held up her android. "This is my cellphone," she explained. "It lets you talk to other people from anywhere in the world if they have a cellphone, as well." I guess only Akatsuki members have cellphones in this world, she thought.
"Ooohhh," Naruto breathed. "Can I see it?"
"Sure," Savanna consented. When she placed her phone into Naruto's hands, he held it like it was as fragile as a piece of glass.
While everyone crowded around Naruto to get a better look, Savanna stepped back. She suspected that she was still gazing dreamily at nothing in particular, and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. I just spoke to Deidara, she repeated over and over in her mind. And he knows who I am. And... I'll actually see him in person soon.
As Savanna tried to let her situation sink in, Naruto somehow found Itachi Uchiha's number and pressed the call button. "This has to be a joke," he exclaimed as he put the phone to his ear. "There's no way someone can just talk to Sasuke's brother like this!"
Above everyone in the hole in the ceiling, Sasuke stiffened when he heard his brother being mentioned. Talk to my brother? he thought. People can't converse with him by using that contraption called a cellphone... Can they?
After several rings, Itachi picked up his phone. "Hello?" His cool, low voice could be heard clearly from everyone in the laundry room.
"WHOA!" Naruto shouted, not paying attention to anyone else in the room. "Savanna was right again! You are Itachi! Unless this is genjutsu... Is it genjutsu?"
"No, this is not genjutsu," Itachi stated. "This is Naruto Uzumaki, isn't it? It's nearly impossible to mistake you for someone else."
That's it, Sasuke thought while furrowing his eyebrows. If that's Itachi, then I have to confront him. Quickly, he dropped down from the hole in the ceiling and just happened to fall on Naruto, who dropped the phone with an "oof".
Quickly, Sasuke snatched up the phone from the ground and climbed off of Naruto. "Listen to me, Itachi," he growled. "I've gotten a lot stronger since the last time we've encountered-"
"What the heck?!" Naruto shot up and cut Sasuke off, his eyes white circles. "Gimme the phone! I was the one who called him!"
"No way," Sasuke refused. "I need to speak to Itachi."
While they fought over Savanna's cellphone, Neji shook his head. "Every time I'm near Naruto, I always witness something utterly absurd."
In the Akatsuki hideout, Itachi sighed and rested his head in the hand that wasn't holding his phone. "This is not worth my time," he decided as he flipped his phone closed, effectively ending the call.
Kisame, who was sitting in an armchair nearby, chuckled softly. "You look agitated," he observed. "Who called you?"
Itachi's Sharingan eyes rested on his team partner. "It was our former member, Savanna. However, Naruto Uzumaki picked up her phone."
"Ahhh, the Nine Tails?" Kisame questioned with a look of surprise.
Itachi confirmed his question with a slight nod of the head. "I briefly heard my foolish little brother, as well."
"Sasuke Uchiha, huh?" Kisame murmured, resting his chin on his hand.
Itachi again answered by nodding, and as he did so, he turned his gaze to look out the window.
Naruto or Sasuke didn't even notice that Itachi had ended the conversation by hanging up. They continued fighting over the phone, and everyone watched.
"So... how is everyone?" Kiba asked, trying to release the awkward tension in the room. No one took notice, though, and continued to watch the two boys argue.
"Wait!" Naruto yelled, interrupting their fight. He fixed his eyes on the phone and noticed how it was back on the contact screen. "What happened? We were just talking to Itachi!"
"Itachi hung up," Sammy explained with a sigh. "Knowing him, you guys were probably too loud for his liking, so he hung up."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde. "What do you mean by 'knowing him'? You've never met him."
Sammy sent him a grin. "No, I haven't met him. Your point?"
"How do you know about him if you haven't even met him?"
"You don't have to have met someone in order to know information about them," she stated.
Just then, an excited Ino burst into the room. "I found you, Sasukeee!" she squealed, shoving everyone aside as she tried to get to Sasuke. Once she did, she attempted to tackle him with a hug, but Sasuke moved out of the way just in time, and the obsessive blonde ended up tackling the floor. Sasuke took the opportunity and ran out of the room. Ino got up after only a second and ran after him. "Come back, honey!"
"I'll be right back," Sammy said suddenly. At that, she hurriedly walked out of the room, her iTouch calling her from her clothes outside. She knew that it had to be in one of her pockets if Savanna had her phone, and she suddenly felt desperate for the addicting device. She quickly stepped outside again and practically dove for her clothes, immediately grabbing her shorts and shoving her hand into the right pocket.
Nothing.
It was the moment of truth. She hopefully reached her other hand into the left pocket and almost squealed with joy when she felt the familiar texture of her case. Pulling it out, she jumped to her feet and ran back inside, ready to attack her cousin with happiness.
"I found it!" she cried with joy once she entered the room. Lifting her iPod up to show her cousin across the room, she began marching towards her. "It was in my pocket."
Snapping out of her trance, Savanna directed her attention to Sammy's iPod. "Yes!" she cried. "I couldn't survive without my iPod or my phone."
Naruto immediately made his way back to Savanna and handed the phone back to her. "This thing is pretty awesome," he said with a smirk. "It's unreal!"
Savanna laughed. "It does seem unreal, doesn't it?"
Neji felt like he had enough drama for the day, so he made his way out of the laundry room with Lee trailing behind. As soon as they entered the living room, Lee rushed over to the Dance Dance Revolution board and started scrolling through the songs. "I will perfect my skills of dancing!" he promised.
As Neji passed by the back door, he ran into Tenten and Hinata, who were just returning from the pool with towels draped around themselves. "I-I saw a group of people huddled together in the, um, laundry room, Neji," Hinata told him. "But why was that...?"
"There was a commotion involving Sakura and Sasuke," Neji explained. "Savanna also took out a machine called a cellphone. Apparently, it lets you talk to other people with their own cellphones no matter where you are."
"Whoa," Tenten cut into the conversation. "Is such a thing possible?"
Neji nodded. "Yes... I saw it with my own eyes."
Letting her eyes roam about the laundry room, Savanna thought, I'm never going to look at this room the same way ever again. Putting her phone back into her pocket, she strolled into the living room and plopped herself on the couch, impatiently waiting for Deidara to announce his presence at her door.
Naruto followed Savanna to the couch and sat down next to her, his body barely touching hers. "So... Who's this Deidara person that you've invited to the party?"
Every time I hear his name, I'm filled with happiness... "Well he has blonde hair like you, but it's longer. He also has blue eyes."
When Savanna didn't continue, the corners of Naruto's mouth pulled down slightly in a frown. "Hmph. Well, is he as good-looking as me?"
Savanna couldn't help the laugh that escaped her; Naruto's blunt questions threw her off guard most of the time. I don't think anyone is as good-looking as Deidara, she thought dreamily. But I don't think I'm going to say that... Heh. Naruto is also very good-looking... "Haha! No, he isn't," she replied.
Naruto smiled as Savanna told him this, but his smile immediately faded after something that had been right in front of his eyes the whole time hit him right then. "Uh... Savanna? The D-Deidara you're talking about... doesn't happen to be in the Akatsuki... does he?"
In the laundry room, Sammy smiled as she unlocked her iPod. She hadn't been away from it for that long, but the fact that she could have it and use it in the Naruto world was so exciting. As she scrolled through emails and texts, she walked into the living room where everyone seemed to be going.
"I bet this song is going to be great!" Lee announced gleefully as he clicked on the song 'Livin' on a Prayer'. "By... Bonjovi? What a strange name for... for whatever that is!"
After waiting for only a moment more, the song began playing and all of the arrows began appearing at quite a high rate. It was only slightly overwhelming for Lee at first, but being a 'natural' at Dance Dance Revolution, he caught up quickly and didn't miss another step. Hinata went up to the bathroom to change, and listened to the odd song as they went. Neither of them had heard something quite as energetic as that one.
Kiba exited the laundry room and immediately noticed Lee's game (particularly his dancing) and approached him. "Can I play a game with you after this one, Lee?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Of course, Kiba!" Lee replied, not even out of breath as he continued to move around. "But I cannot promise that you will win! I have progressed and thrived in this game since the first time I have played it!"
"You played it for the first time not even two hours ago," Kiba retorted with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, I know!" Lee cried out.
Kiba let out an exasperated huff of air. "Then you can't be that good if you're that inexperienced," he muttered. "I'm sure I can beat you."
"You might want to take back those words!" Lee suggested as he finished his current song.
Kiba smirked as he stepped onto the second board adjacent to Lee. "Heh... If you know me, you know that I don't take back my words!"
Lee flashed a grin and a thumbs up at Kiba. "Then the best of luck to you, Kiba!" With that, Lee took the Dance Dance Revolution remote and chose a random song on the highest difficulty for them to compete on.
I was wondering when he would catch on, Savanna thought amusedly. You would think that Naruto would immediately recognize the name of the Akatsuki member who killed Gaara. But again, he is Naruto... "Yeahhh," Savanna hesitantly confirmed. "I think you might have met him once on one of your missions..."
After a few moments of pondering, Naruto thought that he had a pretty good idea of who Deidara was. His blue eyes widened as he spoke. "He has... really long hair, right?"
Savanna once again confirmed his answer by nodding, her smile becoming a little forced. I really hope he's okay, she thought. But I had known that this was going to happen, anyway.
Naruto stared intensely at Savanna. "And... He looks like a girl, right?"
As soon as Savanna registered Naruto's question, no part of her smile was real; she almost had to struggle to make it stay on her face. It really irked her when people told her that Deidara, the character she was in love with, looked like a girl. "No," Savanna replied. "He looks like a guy."
As Naruto thought about Deidara's appearance some more, the tension in his demeanor seemed to loosen, even if it was only slightly. "I don't know," he argued. "When I first saw him, I thought he looked pretty feminine to me..."
Luckily, Savanna was used to this sort of comment, and Naruto almost never ceased to surprise her in an amusing way, so she laughed and relaxed into the plush cushions of her sofa. "If that's how you see him, then that's fine with me."
Naruto winked. "Hey... I said that's how he looked when I first saw him!" As the joking atmosphere dissipated, anxiety started to take over him once more. I can't believe Deidara's coming here! he thought to himself. He... He killed Gaara! He's an S-Rank criminal! He wants the Nine Tails inside of me!
Sasuke, feeling very exhausted from running away from Ino, decided to plop himself down on one of the armchairs in the living room. It wasn't like him to just give up, but he had resolved to become unresponsive to Ino's bubbly nature. Of course, the fact that the armchair was only meant for one person didn't prevent Ino from nearly splaying herself over Sasuke's lap, chatting about random subjects related to their so-called "love".
After making small-talk for a while, Tenten and Neji made their way over to where most of the people congregated in Savanna's living room. As Neji lowered himself on the couch next to Naruto, he noticed Sammy standing nearby with a contraption that looked vaguely like Savanna's cellphone. He couldn't help but recall the sound of her voice when she sang on the karaoke machine, and the way her light blonde hair framed her face. As Neji marveled at these details, they stirred feelings within him that he couldn't quite fully comprehend.
Sammy continued to scroll through all of her feed on different social apps, completely aware of Neji's thoughts. To be honest, she wasn't even paying attention to what sat on her screen. Instead, she continued to listen to the thoughts he had been having. This doesn't feel right, she thought, but continued, nonetheless.
I can't believe he's not pushing me off, Ino thought as she continued to blabber on and on about different topics Sasuke couldn't care any less about. Then again, I am flawless! Maybe Sasuke has finally came to his senses and realized that, even though, deep inside, he knew it all along!
Ino wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, pulling him closer. Grunting, Sasuke wanted to pummel her to oblivion, but held in his annoyance and let her do as she wished. "Sasukeeee, we are so perfect together! We should do what I suggested before," she gushed. "Go upstairs so we can have some alone time! Doesn't that sound nice?"
Kiba managed to keep up with all of the arrows just as well as Lee did, and as he continued to notice that, the smirk that was already stuck onto his face only grew larger. Lee noticed this, as well, and grunted, not believing what he was seeing. But as the song got faster and faster, both of them began to struggle.
"This is getting... kind of hard!" Lee panted.
"Are you... are you kidding...?! This is easy!" Kiba breathed after him, even though he knew that it was, in fact, getting much more difficult than it had when the song started. The song was difficult on its own at the beginning, as well.
"It is not that hard, actually!" Lee changed his mind after hearing Kiba. "Piece of cake!"
"Easy peasy, lemon squeezy," Kiba laughed, watching Lee's movements urgently as well as he could while still paying attention to the screen. Lee nodded, not wanting to say any more as it might distract him from his dancing. After only a couple of seconds, the two were moving so fast that you could barely see their feet.
As the thoughts continued to consume Naruto even more, he began to rock back and forth, slowly turning his body into a ball. "H-he's gonna kill me," he whispered to himself, rolling off of the couch and onto the floor. "He's going to kill me. I have to hide before he gets here..."
Naruto began rolling until he reached the door of a closet. "This should do..." he whispered, sounding paranoid. He managed to reach up, grab onto the knob and open the door. After this procedure, he rolled into the closet (which seemed to be a coat closet, as coats were hanging from a pole above him), sat up and shut the door, shaking the whole time.
Savanna let out an exasperated sigh, a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips. Naruto's overreacting, as usual, she thought. If I go and try to comfort him, I have a strong feeling that whatever I say will just go in one ear and out the other...
Meanwhile, Kiba and Lee's feet were moving at such a high frequency that heat was starting to emanate from them. Soon, smoke started rising from Kiba's legs, and it didn't take much longer for them to catch on fire.
Kiba reacted by screaming "AHHHH!" Immediately, he jumped off of the board and frantically took off his pants as quickly as he could, throwing them on the ground and stamping them with his foot. "Why does this stuff have to happen to me, huh?!" he vented. Sitting on the couch nearby, Neji shook his head in irritation.
Totally oblivious to the danger ensuing, Lee continued to dance as if nothing had happened. "This is great exercise!" he declared. "If I do this more often, it will help me stay youthful for my training!"
I guess Lee's stretchy spandex prevented his legs from catching on fire, Savanna thought amusedly. When she averted her eyes to Kiba's underwear, she could barely contain herself from rolling around on the floor just like how Naruto had done a few seconds ago. Well, except for the fact that she would be rolling from laughter. Covering her mouth with one hand, Savanna tried to contain her laughter as she gripped the couch's arm with her other hand.
Ignoring Ino's bombard of questions, Sasuke cynically remarked, "Nice underwear, Kiba."
Kiba quickly jerked his head down as if he had just realized he was in his underwear (which had a very nice print of doggie bones). Since his now-charred pants were no longer caught on fire, he swiped them up from the floor and tried to cover his lower body, his cheeks turning a vibrant shade of red. "I had to take them off!" he hastily explained. "I would have burned to death if I didn't!"
Sasuke still exhibited no reaction as Ino prodded his cheek with her pointer finger. "Sure," he sarcastically replied with a wry smirk.
The color in Kiba's cheeks only deepened as he thought, Sometimes, I really hate Sasuke... But where am I going to get some new pants? I can't just wear anything...
"I have a pair identical to your burned ones in my closet," Savanna declared with a wink.
Kiba's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. How is that even possible? "Um, 'Kay... Thanks..."
Suddenly, the ring of a doorbell mixed in with the music of the Dance Dance Revolution machine. Even though Savanna hadn't opened the door yet, she was already certain of who stood behind it. Anxiety and excitement jolting through her, she shot up from the couch and started pacing around in circles in front of the door, barely aware of her movements. This is it, she thought. This is really it. Once I open that door, my dream will finally come true. But can I handle it? Ahhh! Feeling completely overwhelmed by the situation, she broke into a nervous run around the foyer. Almost immediately, she smacked into Shino. When did he appear there?
Shino grunted at the impact, but he made no comment.
Savanna quickly stepped away from him. "Gah... Sorry!" Knowing that she couldn't keep her guests waiting outside any longer, she built up her resolve, dashed over to the door, and wretched it open without allowing herself to think about her actions.
Just like she had envisioned, the Akatsuki member Deidara stood merely a few feet away from her, a light breeze picking up strands of his long blonde hair. His blue eyes gazed at her with a sense of familiarity, and his lips slightly curled up at one end in a smirk. Deidara looked just like himself; nothing about him changed, but there was one very important aspect of his person that made Savanna grow weak in the knees.
He was real.
Savanna was in no way prepared for the flips and turns her stomach was doing, but she managed to keep herself upright. She stared at Deidara with wide eyes, not even noticing Tobi beside him. However, when she opened her mouth, she could form no words. My favorite character is standing before me, she thought.
"Hey, un," greeted Deidara. He didn't seem to take notice of Savanna's temporary inability to speak.
"Hi!" Tobi nearly shouted.
Tobi's sharp voice helped Savanna to somewhat function properly. Still staring and marveling at Deidara with her wide eyes, Savanna murmured, "Hey..."
"Can we come in?!" Tobi gasped, but barged past Savanna into the house before she could answer. He gasped continuously as he watched all of the commotion that seemed to perform for him.
Sammy, who was holding her stomach with laughter as a result of watching Kiba's pants burst into flames, spotted Deidara and Tobi making their way into the party a little ways across the room. "Hey, Tobi!" she waved after recovering.
Tobi turned his head to fix his gaze on the waving blonde. He responded by waving back. "Hello, girl I don't know!" he shouted back cheerfully, whilst bouncing up and down unintentionally.
"This is quite the party you have here, Savanna," Deidara stated, his signature smirk plastered on his face.
Still curled up into a ball in the closet, Naruto froze as he heard Deidara and Tobi's voice... but was more scared at the sound of Deidara's. "Oh... oh, no," he whispered to himself, trembling. "I'm going to die here."
As he continued to shake in the fetal position, a sleeve from a coat hanging harmlessly on a hanger above him fell and hit Naruto in the face, resulting in a scream erupting from his mouth. He continued to scream and scream; he wasn't able to realize that it was just a sleeve because it was almost pitch black in the closet. The only light that showed itself was a small, thin, useless strip of light coming from under the door.
Deidara shifted his gaze slightly to look at the closet door. His eyebrow arched only slightly as he listened to the familiar cry. "Ah... so the Jinchuriki is here, hmm."
Kiba trudged up the stairs, his blush almost blending in with the two tribal-looking marks on his cheeks. Why does Savanna have a pair of pants identical to mine in her closet? he wondered. But he walked into her room and into her closet to look, nonetheless. After a few seconds of glancing around, he spotted the pants hanging in plain sight to the left. With a shrug he grabbed them off of the hanger and slipped them on.
Clutching her iTouch on one hand, Sammy used her other to run it through her long strands, as they were a bit tangled from being in the pool. She continued to watch as Tobi greeted everyone with his giddy personality, when suddenly a mischievous idea popped into her head... but it was also an excuse to sit by Neji on the couch.
"Hi! My name is Tobi! What's yours?!" Tobi announced to Neji while standing in front of him, right as Sammy began walking towards said person.
"Madarraaa..." she whispered once their heads were aligned, rolling the r. At almost the same time as she said his name, she plopped down onto the couch next to Neji. 'Tobi' froze mid-sentence after hearing her word.
Neji barely took notice of his sudden, stiff composure, instead paying attention to the pretty blonde now sitting next to him on the couch, whom he was admiring not long ago. For some reason, her nearby presence made his insides feel a little fluttery. It wasn't bad... It was just different.
"Neji Hyuga," he coolly replied. "And you?"
Although Neji's lavender eyes should have given away the fact that he was a Hyuga, Tobi gasped. "I'm Tobi! You're from the Hyuga clan?! So cool! That means you have the Byakugan!"
Neji was more than a little weirded out even though he hadn't said five words to the hyper Akatsuki member. "Yes," he confirmed.
"Woww! So can you do it?"
"...What?"
"The Byakugan! Can you do it right now?"
After a long pause, Neji finally complied. "Byakugan!" As he activated his visual prowess, he found it odd that he was unable to see behind Tobi's swirly mask. However, deeming it arbitrary, he quickly dismissed the thought.
Tobi clapped his hands. "Woww, that's so cool!" he gushed. "I bet you can see things really far away, huh?"
Neji certainly wasn't expecting a member of the Akatsuki to be this childish and inquisitive. Trying to keep on a blank expression, he nodded.
In the closet, Naruto noticed how Deidara took notice of him and referred to him as "the Jinchuriki", causing his screams to grow in intensity and volume. "HE'S GOING TO RIP OUT MY SOOOUUULLLL!" he wailed.
After Deidara said Savanna's name in person, Savanna had a very difficult time registering anything else going on around her. Deidara looked at me and talked to me... I could die a happy death right now, she thought. ...But I don't want to die. I want to be with him! Gathering up her courage once more, she snapped herself out of her stupor, closing the front door and forcing herself to walk over to where Deidara stood, a few feet away from the closet.
Naruto's cries seemed to amuse Deidara even more. "Relax, un. Leader Pain didn't assign me a mission besides babysitting that idiot over there, so I'm here by my own free will. Hmm."
Naruto continued to scream and rock in a fetal position in the closet. "Your will... IS TO KILL ME!"
Deidara chuckled a little and sighed. "No, un. That's not why I'm here."
When Kiba returned downstairs from Savanna's bedroom, Lee finally stopped dancing and hunched over slightly, breathing heavily. He seemed to suddenly notice Kiba's presence on the other side of the room. "When did you leave, Kiba?" he questioned.
Kiba rolled his eyes. "A little while ago..." He didn't mention the part where his pants caught on fire.
Glancing back over to the TV, Lee examined his and Kiba's grades. According to Dance Dance Revolution, Lee somehow got an A+... while Kiba got a F. "I win!" Lee cried victoriously, managing to throw his hands in the air.
"I can't control how hard that song was!" Kiba objected, a scowl stuck onto his face. "How the freaking heck did you get an A?!"
"I actually got an A plus," Lee grinned, resulting in Kiba's scowl only deepening. "So I win! And you lose! HA!"
Kiba's eyes turned into white circles, his jaw dropping. "HEY! Stop! You're such a jerk!"
This insult didn't even phase Lee as he continued to bounce around, pointing and laughing at Kiba.
"YESSSSSS! YES IT IS! SAVANNA, SAVE MEEEEEE!" Naruto bawled, getting up only to sit down again, but on his knees this time. At that, he proceeded to pound his fists on the floor. The lush carpet underneath him was now soaked with his tears.
Deidara shook his head, his smirk not fading one bit. "It really isn't, un. I have no reason to kill you."
"YES, YOU DO!" Naruto wailed.
"And what's that, hmm?" Deidara asked.
"IT'S BECAUSE...! BECAUSE... because..." Naruto paused. "BECAUSE YOU WANT MY SOUUUULLL!"
Sammy smiled as she watched and listened to Tobi and Neji have their conversation. On the inside, she was fangirling like crazy because Neji used his Byakugan. "I wish I could use the Byakugan..." Sammy murmured to herself, not even realizing that she was saying it aloud.
"Meeeeeee toooooo!" Tobi cried, bouncing up and down while clapping his hands.
"What?" Sammy asked, but quickly realized she said it out loud. A light blush crept onto her cheeks, knowing that it must've sounded creepy and weird towards Neji. "Oh. Uh, yeah."
She admires my Byakugan? Neji pondered. Without realizing it, his lips curved up in a smile at the thought. His Byakugan was still activated when he turned his head to rest his light eyes on Sammy. "The Byakugan isn't flawless," he stated. "It does have a blind spot, which nearly caused the death of me one time."
Tobi quickly waved him off. "Who cares?! It's awesome because it looks cool!"
Neji officially decided that Akatsuki member or not, Tobi was the strangest person he had ever met.
After a while of Lee's incessant bounces, points, and laughs, Kiba finally snapped. "I got an F because I freaking left in the middle of the song!" he shouted.
"Oh, really?" Lee asked. "Why did you leave in the middle of the song?"
Kiba directed a malicious glare towards the green ninja. "That's none of your business," he muttered.
"I have to say that I disagree!" Lee argued. "We were competing against each other!"
"So? It's my score, not yours."
"But we were playing the same game! Why did you leave?"
Jeez... Lee sure is persistent, Kiba thought. But he is always like that... I should just tell him. He won't let it go, anyway. "My pants caught on fire," he admitted in a rush.
For a moment, Lee fell silent as his round eyes bore into Kiba's. Feeling uneasy from Lee's stare, Kiba shifted his weight a little and waited for him to reply.
Finally, Lee's face broke into a grin, showing off his pearly whites. "I did not catch on fire because Guy Sensei gave me the perfect outfit!" He gestured to the green spandex hugging his body. "There could be no better thing to wear!"
Kiba sighed. "Everything is better than that... Hey, what's that pounding noise?"
The noise Kiba heard was none other than Naruto, who continued to pound his fists against the closet door. "I WILL HAVE NO SOUULLL!" he screamed.
Apparently giving up on trying to convince Naruto of his good intentions, Deidara merely regarded the closet with his usual smirk.
Giggling, Savanna thought, It's kind of funny that Naruto wants ME to save him... Normally, it would be the other way around. Glancing over at her (other) blonde crush, she failed to read his expression as he listened to Naruto's rampage, so she attempted to read his mind. However, she received no input from his mind, which filled her with a feeling of dread. Oh, noooo, she thought. I can't read Deidara's mind! Oh my gosh! What is this? His mind is... Unreadable!
"I know," Sammy replied to Neji, but her eyes widened in realization at what she had just said. He can't know that I knew that he... he almost died! "I know that the Byakugan has a blind spot," she quickly covered up, smiling awkwardly. "Yeah... I did research on the Hyuga clan a while ago..."
That didn't sound believable, she thought, mentally banging her head against the wall. She hated how nervous she was around Neji...
"I knew that, too!" Tobi exclaimed with joy. "But I don't care! The Byakugan is totally amazing! If I had it, I think I could just—just EXPLODE with happiness! Little bits of me would be sprayed everywhere, and you would all have to clean me up!"
Kiba, who overheard Tobi (he was shouting), slowly craned his neck to look over. What the heck...? he thought, narrowing his eyes as he studied the back of Tobi. Who would say something like that? Well, that guy, obviously... but still!
"I WILL DIE HEEEERREEEE!" Naruto moaned. "DEIDARA, JUST COME IN HERE AND KILL MEEE!"
Deidara's expression molded into one that looked more smug, and he sauntered over to the closet door, opening it slowly with a light creak. Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs and jumped in fright. His head bonked into the pole that allowed the hangers to hang inside in the process, which then caused all of the coats to avalanche on top of him.
And he continued to scream. But Deidara only stood there, watching the pile of coats on top of him shake in terror, an amused expression sitting on his face. He, indeed, had no intention to even lay a finger on him.
Naruto's screams eventually died down, and his head poked out of the mess. "Why aren't you killing me?" he asked, completely calmed down.
"I'm not here to assassinate you, un."
Naruto looked bewildered. "Oh."
"That's what I told you, but you didn't believe me. Hm."
"Well... what... what if you are plotting to kill me, but you're just trying to get me out of the closet so it will be easier?! HUH?! Explain that!"
"That wouldn't make it any easier, un. If I were trying to kill you, you would be dead by now... hm."
Naruto nodded slowly, and Kiba shook his head from outside of the closet, not believing how ridiculous the guy had been only a few seconds ago.
"Oh. Yeah," Naruto replied.
"What a loser..." Sasuke muttered, still ignoring Ino as she played with his hair and babbled on and on about 'their future'.
Suddenly, an excited gleam appeared in Ino's eyes, and she leaned even closer to Sasuke, making him shrug away a little. "What's that, honey buns? Did you say something?"
Sasuke immediately regretted forming any words. Becoming mute once more, he closed his mouth and pretended not to hear Ino's question. Of course, something like that wasn't going to stop Ino from pursuing her dream of becoming Sasuke's lover, so she dismissed his lack of response and started to prattle about his "godly" good looks.
Deidara winked. "Well, are you going to stay in there all day, un? If you ask me, being in a closet isn't too fun."
His blue eyes slowly drifting up to meet Deidara's, Naruto's tone of voice was slightly off from his usual tone as he answered. "Yeaaaaahhhh. I should probably stand up..."
Deidara continued to look at him with the same expression, and Savanna figured that he was probably wondering why Naruto still remained hidden underneath the now-wrinkled coats. It's so frustrating that I can't read Deidara's mind, she thought. And out of everyone, it has to be him... My favorite character! Gah!
After a minute or so, Naruto took his time standing up and walking in Savanna's direction. Just when he passed Deidara, however, his left arm flashed out like lightning towards Deidara in an attempt to sock him in the stomach. "YAA!" he yelled.
Savanna gasped, but Deidara blocked the attack just in time by catching Naruto's fist with the palm of his hand. Deidara released Naruto's fist after holding it for no more than five seconds, much to the latter's surprise.
"It seems like you have a rather thick skull," Deidara remarked. "Nobody else, after my many explanations, would still suspect that I would kill them, hmm."
Naruto regarded the hand that Deidara let go of with wide eyes, almost as if he had suspected it to be ripped off. "No, I'm just being careful!" he retorted. Deidara chuckled at his response, but he made no move to reply.
"Deidara's my friend," Savanna softly said. "He wouldn't harm you. And if he tried, I would try and protect you." Wow... That was a really cheesy speech...
Neji tried to ignore the strange image of Tobi exploding in his mind, instead paying attention to what Sammy told him. "You did research on the Hyuga clan?" he inquired, inactivating his Byakugan. Every minute he got to know her better, the more she left a good impression on him... Her interest in his clan filled him with pride.
Tobi, who apparently wasn't looking at Neji, thought the question was directed towards him. "Yes, I did!" he bragged. "I know everything!"
Because it would create an awkward moment, Neji didn't tell Tobi that his inquiry was for Sammy. "The Byakugan's secret, as well as the information associated with it, is located deep within the Hyuga compound," he explained. "For you to know about it..." Neji thought about the possible members of the Hyuga clan Sammy could know. "...You must be good friends with my cousin, Hinata."
Sammy almost objected to Neji's statement, but quickly stopped herself. "Oh, yeah," she nodded. "We're tight, Hinata and I!"
Tobi nodded furiously, desperately trying to be apart of the conversation. "Yes! Hinata and I are tight, too, Feji!"
"Neji," Neji corrected.
"Neji!" Tobi corrected himself. "Hinata and I are tight! We're best friends! Who's Hinata, again?"
"She's Neji's cousin..." Sammy explained with a laugh. "He already said that. But if you're so tight with her, shouldn't you know? Madaaarrrraaa...?" The Madara part, was of course, whispered.
Tobi froze again, but got back into character almost immediately. "I did know that! I was just testing to see if you knew! And you did, so good job! Yay!"
Kiba suddenly ran over to the three. "I would try to protect Savanna at all costs if Deidara tried to kill her!" he announced with a smirk.
"Well, DUH, you would! But I would get there first so I could protect her first! HA!" Naruto bragged, folding his arms. Kiba's eyes turned into white circles, and sooner or later, Naruto's did, as well.
"No you wouldn't! I am SO much faster than you are, and I have someone else to help me! Akamaru!" Kiba argued.
"I have the Rasengan to help me! I bet you don't have a freaking awesome Jutsu like that, Kiba!"
"Akamaru and I have plenty of our own Jutsu that would work just as well—they would actually work better than that stupid Rasengan of yours!"
"MY RASENGAN IS NOT STUPID!"
"OH, YES, IT IS! AND YOU ARE, TOO!"
"YOU'RE STUPIDER!"
"YOU'RE STUPIDEST!"
Deidara shook his head, somehow not annoyed by the two's fight. "You uns wouldn't have to, because I wouldn't attack Savanna, hm," he explained, but he knew that the two were screaming too loudly to hear him.
In response to Deidara's statement, Savanna started to feel light and fluttery. Wow, this is so sad, she thought. I shouldn't get this excited when Deidara says he won't attack me... So, what?
"You're stupid, and I'm awesome!" Naruto repeated for the gazillionth time. "Who had their pants catch on fire, huh?!"
Kiba flushed red from head to toe. "That's not my fault!" he argued, jabbing his pointer finger at Naruto. "It was only because of the type of fabric! And besides, they only caught on fire because I was working so hard! And what were you doing? You were hiding in a closet because you were a SCAREDY CAT!"
Naruto stomped closer to Kiba. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"
"NO!"
By this point, Savanna was blushing madly; who would want two guys to fight for her in front of a guy she liked? However, although Deidara was her favorite, she did have a crush on Naruto and Kiba, as well. Not to mention, Naruto had been really growing on her lately...
"I'm so sorry," she quickly apologized to Deidara. Of course, Deidara seemed unfazed by the situation, but Savanna still felt embarrassed, nonetheless. Sighing, she wedged herself between Naruto and Kiba. "Guys, we're at a party," she pointed out. "Now's not the time to fight... It's the time to have fun!" Suddenly, it occurred to Savanna that Kiba and Naruto were analogous to cats and dogs; Kiba was the dog, and Naruto was the cat. Hehe... Naruto even has whiskers to enforce that image, she thought.
"Of course," Neji replied to Tobi, obviously not believing a word out of the Akatsuki member's mouth. "I'm merely wondering... How do you know the secret of the Byakugan, Tobi?"
Tobi giggled nervously before answering Neji's question. "I already told you... Pinata and I are tight! We're best friends!"
Neji sighed exasperatedly. "Hinata," he corrected.
"Hinata," Tobi quickly repeated. "I meant that!"
Tenten, who was standing nearby and couldn't help but listen in on the conversation, felt a smile break across her face when she heard her close friend being referred to as "Pinata". Who is this guy, anyway? she wondered.
"Anyway," Neji continued, "Hinata isn't friends with any Akatsuki members... The rules strictly prohibit her from forming friendly relations with you guys. Additionally, even if she was friends with you, she wouldn't let you in on the secret of the Byakugan... I know her like the back of my hand."
Tobi giggled nervously once more. "Ohhhh... Then I must be thinking of the wrong person! But how do you know that YOU didn't show me... Weji?"
A small thump could be heard as Tenten collapsed to the floor in laughter as a result of hearing Tobi's slip-up. Neji, as much as he could, continued to exhibit a polite visage as he repeated his name for the second time. "Neji," he corrected.
Sammy buried her face into her hands, laughing a lot harder than she had been laughing during the last few minutes. Weji? How could he make a mistake like that?
"Neji! Neji, Neji," Tobi repeated, in an attempt to engrave his name into his mind. "Neji, your name rhymes with just so many things!"
"...I know," Neji replied. "It does..."
Sammy continued to laugh, and once she lifted her head from hands after recovering for the most part, she only began to laugh again after seeing Tobi and Neji both. "I'm sorry," Sammy apologized with a smile, after taking a deep breath. "That was just... too good."
After hearing Savanna's statement, Naruto's eyes returned back to normal, and he straightened his back. "Of course, Savanna! Anything for you!"
Kiba then did the same. "Yeah! It's a party... we should be having fun, right, Naruto?" Kiba said through gritted teeth, still not wanting to be particularly kind to the boy.
"Yeah! What should we do next, Savanna?" Naruto asked, throwing his hands on his hips.
"It's your party, after all," Kiba pointed out. "So you should decide. What should we do next?"
"Your choice!"
"That's right! What I just said..."
"And I repeated it!"
"You should think of your own things to say!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
All of this was said with some sort of happy tone... even if it was completely fake. Deidara, apparently bored by their arguing (at least, that's what Savanna assumed) made his way over to a nearby armchair and lowered himself into it. Savanna couldn't help but wonder if she was being a bad host for him... She would have given anything to read his mind at that moment. However, she could barely focus on his actions because of the ample amount of attention given to her by Naruto and Kiba. It was almost overwhelming, and it made the inner fangirl within her stir. Anything... For me? She repeated Naruto's words in her head.
Savanna resignedly shook her head. "Just because you two are speaking in a friendly tone doesn't necessarily mean that you're not fighting," she commented.
Naruto grinned at Kiba, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "What are you talking about? We're just having a dandy time!"
Savanna covered her mouth as she tried to prevent a laugh from escaping her. Dandy? she questioned. Nobody uses that word anymore... Remembering about the mess on the floor of the closet caused by Naruto earlier, Savanna walked over to the heap of coats and began the process of hanging them up individually.
As soon as Naruto registered what she was doing, he sprinted over to her and immediately started hanging up coats, as well. "Sorry about that," he apologized. "I have to be careful, 'cause I'm a Jinchuriki! You never know what might happen."
Savanna responded with a vague "Mmmhhhhmmmm", still believing that Naruto might have exaggerated just a little when Deidara and Tobi arrived.
Narrowing his eyes when Naruto rushed to help Savanna, Kiba followed his suit, appearing on Savanna's other side. When he commenced hanging up the coats, he did so at a higher pace than Naruto.
Naruto let out a huff of air when he looked over at Kiba. "Humph... Kiba, cut it out!"
Kiba smirked. "What? I'm not doing anything."
"Yes, you are," Naruto retorted with a glare.
Their bickering caused Savanna to give up and stop hanging up the coats. I guess I should have expected this, she thought. Whenever they're put on the same team for a mission, they can never get along. Slowly, she inched away from the closet and sat on the edge of the couch next to Sammy.
Sammy's smile was contagious, so Neji continued to smile softly. "I admit it... Weji is pretty ridiculous," he joked.
Sai had been upstairs for a quite a while (for reasons unbeknownst to Savanna), and when he made his entrance into the living room, he stopped in his tracks as he observed the Akatsuki members. However, his onyx eyes showed no signs of surprise.
Tobi bounced over to Sai and threw his arm around his shoulders. "Hiiiiii, I haven't met you before! I'm Tobi! What's your name?"
"Sai," he flatly replied, putting on his fake smile. "May I ask why Akatsuki members like you are at this party?"
"That's because we're Savanna's best friends!" Tobi exclaimed, now throwing his arms into the air.
Sai didn't reply, but he continued to wear his fake smile for Tobi. How strange, he thought. Why would Savanna be friends with Akatsuki members?
After even more fighting, Kiba and Naruto began hanging up coats at top speed... several a second (Savanna had a lot of coats). One couldn't even see their hands.
"I'M WINNING!" Naruto squawked, cackling. Kiba furrowed his eyebrows together, beginning to hang them at an even faster rate.
"Now I'M WINNING! HAHAHA!" Kiba retorted, not even realizing the smoke beginning to rise from his hands.
Naruto, who glanced over to see how quickly Kiba was hanging each coat, noticed the smoke immediately. But being in the anti-Kiba mood he was in, he didn't say a word and continued to hang, a smirk forming on his lips.
"YEAAAAHHH! WINNING FEELS—AHHH, OH, NO, NOT AGAIN!" Kiba screamed, his victorious cry being interrupted by flames erupting onto his sleeves.. After flailing around, the fire only travelled farther up his arms. He literally ripped his shirt off and threw it to the ground, repeating the earlier process—jumping on it to stop the flames.
"WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME?!" he mourned, running both of his hands through his hair.
"You smile a lot, don't you, Pai?!" Tobi rejoiced, clasping his hands together. "I smile a lot, too. I just love smiling! Don't you, Pai?!"
Sai didn't take notice of Tobi's name error and only continued to smile. "Um... yes. I suppose so."
Sammy nodded. "Weji..." she repeated, a giggle following. She then turned to face her cousin after feeling her sit down. "Hey, cuz!" she greeted, giving Savanna a fist-bump.
After she turned, she noticed how Kiba's shirt was torn, charred and on the floor... and began laughing hysterically again. What was it with Kiba and fire?
After following Sammy's gaze, Savanna couldn't help herself from cracking up, as well. However, she also had a little trouble tearing her eyes away from Kiba's chest...
Naruto, now finished with hanging up all of the coats, closed the closet door and erupted into laughter. "HA! You really got it that time, Kiba! Sucks for you! Hahaha!"
Kiba sent Naruto a glare that could have put out the flames of Amaterasu. "Shut up!" he growled. "It's not my fault I was beating you by a lot!"
His arguments didn't even faze Naruto, who was close to crying once more, but this time with laughter. "Nahhh," Naruto drawled, waving him off. "It's just because you buy clothes with crappy fabric! Ha!"
"I DO NOT!" Kiba yelled. "My clothes were made of material from the Inuzuka clan! They're a one-of-a-kind, and now they're ruined!" Apparently, he seemed to forget about the spare pair of his pants Savanna had in her closet.
By this point, Naruto already had the upper hand in the argument, so he really didn't have to continue talking back to Kiba... But Naruto did just to provoke him.
"Oh, yeah?" Naruto taunted. "Pshh, who cares about that? Besides... I bet your clothes were made by your MOM!"
Surprisingly, Kiba didn't immediately bark out a comeback. Instead, his cheeks faded into a vibrant crimson. "...So? She's good at making clothes!"
Kiba and Naruto's bickering made Savanna want to bang her head repeatedly against something and roll around laughing at the same time. Deciding that she had enough, she smiled at Sammy when said person greeted her and stood up from the couch even though she hadn't been sitting there for two minutes. To ensure that Kiba wouldn't ignore her, she grabbed a hold of his wrist and started pulling him upstairs. Naruto barely noticed, for his laughter was starting to take over his whole body. Rolling her eyes, she said, "I have a new jacket identical to your old one in my closet, just like I had a pair of your pants. Don't let Naruto provoke you, Kiba... Everything will be fine. Your reaction is all he wants."
Looking (only he could tell what he was feeling) relieved because he was somewhat relieved of Tobi for the time being, Deidara took out a small amount of detonating clay and proceeded to mold it with the mouth in the palm of one of his hands. Merely a few seconds later, a very detailed, miniature clay bird sat in his hand when he opened it up. "This is true art," he murmured as he gazed at the bird.
Tobi lightly bonked his head with his fist. "Well, duhhhh! Everyone likes smiling! You can only smile when you're happy!"
"I beg to differ," Sai said pleasantly.
"Huh? How is it possible to smile when you're NOT happy?"
"You force yourself to smile," Sai bluntly replied.
Tobi blinked (as far as Sai was concerned) for a moment. "What would be the point of THAT?" Tobi asked curiously. "You can't just force a smile without being happy, too!"
"I beg to differ," Sai repeated, the fake smile somehow staying on his face. "I actually smile plenty without having any emotions."
"Well..." Tobi tapped his chin in thought. "Well, I can tell you have a lot of happiness and sunshine right now!"
Shaking his head, Sai corrected, "Actually, I don't."
Tobi sighed impatiently and hesitated, waiting a few seconds. "How about... now?! Are you happy and sunshine... sunshiney now?!"
The shake of a head was the answer Tobi got.
"Umm... hmm... now?!"
Another shake.
"Let's see... um... one... two... three," Tobi counted. "How about now?! You have to have sunshine now! You just have to! It's the law, Pai!"
But Tobi received yet another head shake.
Deidara, who continued to sit and admire his work, found a fault. "What am I going to do with this masterpiece, hmm...?" he murmured, glancing around the room until his eyes landed on Tobi.
Kiba grunted, just the thought of Naruto making him want to punch the guy across the face. Why was he so annoying? "It's kind of hard when he's so freaking annoying," Kiba pointed out, almost reciting his own thoughts, "But yeah. I'll definitely try to have more patience with him..."
As Savanna led him into the closet, he finally realized the grasp Savanna held on his wrist, and the slightest hint of a smirk revealed itself on his face. Naruto's not up here with Savanna... alone, Kiba thought, his smirk growing more and more visible as each second ticked by. That's what he gets for being a stupid, annoying little rotten bowl of ramen.
Sammy's laugh died down to a giggle, which eventually died down all together. After a few more seconds, she leaned back against the couch and turned on her iPod, examining the apps she had on the home screen, figuring there was nothing better to do... especially since she didn't have an idea for a conversation with Neji.
As Savanna read Kiba's thoughts, she let go of his wrist and blushed ever so slightly. In an attempt for her blush to slip by unnoticed, she turned around and took Kiba's jacket off of a hangar. However, Kiba did, in fact, notice the faint shade of pink coloring her cheeks, so his smirk grew.
This is slightly awkward, Savanna thought. She already knew that Kiba caught her blushing, so she figured that there was no use of hiding it any longer. Turning back around so she faced him, she smiled and held out his jacket for him, taking care not to let her eyes roam to his chest. "Well... Here you go."
I'm actually glad Naruto's down there laughing his butt off, Kiba thought. He's totally missing out. Heh, heh... "Thanks, Savanna," he replied, slipping the dark gray jacket over his shoulders. "I don't know what I would have done without you."
Aww... His complements are too nice! Savanna thought. "No problem."
After a minute or so of observing Tobi harassing Sai, Deidara's facial expression increasingly changed into a frown. "What an idiot, un," he muttered to himself.
Still not believing a word Sai said, Tobi bounced up to him and grabbed a hold of the corners of Sai's mouth, forcing them upwards in what looked like a demented smile. "What about now? You're DEFINITELY, POSITIVELY happy now, right?"
Unlike any other person, Sai didn't push Tobi away; he didn't even make a move to brush Tobi's gloves away from his face. "Of course not," he responded. "Now, you're making the smile even more forced."
"GAH!" Tobi screamed in Sai's face, causing the latter to flinch the tiniest bit. "You're lying, Pai! Everyone is ALWAYS happy when they smile!"
Sai had already proven that statement invalid, but Deidara further supported Sai's side when his scowl morphed into a malicious smirk despite his very low mood. "Tobi needs to be silenced, un," he stated as he lowered his eyes to his clay bird. "And he needs to be silenced by none other than my work of art."
Totally oblivious to Deidara's evil plans, Tobi continued to pester Sai about the "correlation" between happiness and smiling. Somehow, Sai kept his trademark fake smile plastered on his face as he denied the Akatsuki member over and over without fail.
With a rapid flick of his wrist, Deidara introduced his creation into the air and created a hand sign with the other hand, guiding the bird towards Tobi's location across the living room. After several seconds of precise coordination and patience, he managed to lightly land his work of art on an ignorant Tobi's shoulder.
Sai's obsidian eyes drifted to the same white object. "Tobi, there's something on your shoulder."
Tobi jerked his head to the shoulder devoid of the clay bird. "Whaaa? There's nothing there! Can you see invisible things, Pai?!"
Sai shook his head slowly. "No, it's-"
Tobi didn't give him a chance to finish. "Pai, are you keeping a secret from me?!"
"No, it's on the-"
"I knew it... You are keeping a secret! That's it... We can't be friends anymore!-"
"No, look on the other-"
"KATSU!"
Deidara's deep voice ripped through the air like a blade; his one word signaled the clay bird to detonate. Since it was one of his smaller creations, the following explosion wasn't big in size. However, it's force was sufficient enough to send Tobi flying into the air... And falling onto Neji's lap.