Kotetsu leaned heavily against a tree and massaged the stitch in his side. Izumo bent at the waist and heaved a few times before dropping to his knees.
"How far do you think we'll have to go?'' Izumo reached up and readjusted his headband.
Kotetsu simply shrugged. He didn't have enough air to answer yet. Both men looked back in the direction of Konoha then out toward the thick woods. Suna lay beyond those trees.
"Do you think we could get asylum there?"
Again, Kotetsu shrugged then pulled himself upright. A branch snapped behind them and both ninja took off in the direction of Suna. A moment later, their vacated spot was filled with three shinobi.
"They were here. Looks like they headed to the west."
"Shizune said words already been sent to Suna about them and the Kazekage's headed this way."
"Well, here's hoping they do a little of our job for us."
The three men took off into the trees.
0.0.0.0.0.0
(Flash forward)
"I was beginning to think the camera man was a little off or a fangirl. Over the course of an hour, Gaara, who never spoke or took off a stitch of clothing, had been seen on screen multiple times and had even been shown while main characters were continuing the story line as voice over. I had no problem seeing the man walk around the screen since, though he didn't have anything to do with the plot, he didn't speak over the continued story line. But the other members of my group were becoming a distraction all their own..."
(Flaaaaaaaaash Baaaaaaaaaaaaack)
Ino and Choji managed to push Naruto and Hinata from the long futon with little trouble. After all, the couple was staring gape-mouthed at Kankuro's naked backside laid out spread eagle at the rooms entrance.
"Wow. That was really cold." Choji glanced at the tanned sand puppeteer drooling on the hardwood.
"Doesn't look cold to me." Ino replied, handing her team mate a hot cup of coffee and admiring Kankuro's assets.
"TenTen. You're getting nose prints on the screen." Kakashi gripped the back of her shirt and pulled her back from the picture. The fog of her breath slowly faded from the surface as she whimpered.
Sasuke sat staring at the two clumps of hair in his hands. Large bald spot of shiny white scalp now showed all over his head. His spirits, severely deflated at the site of Sakuras relaxed and satisfied demeanor, had been completely annihilated with the introduction of a smiling, naked and equally satisfied Kankuro.
"Are you all just going to stare at him or is someone going to pick him up." He tried to sound put out but the words lacked any heat or conviction.
Naruto finally gained his composure and, taking pity on his team mate, pulled the sheet from the abandoned sleep mat and covered the nearly unconscious shinobi. Hinata pouted behind his back but reached back to pat the now nearly bald Uchiha on the shoulder.
"You can come out now, Neji. They went to the bedroom." Choji called.
A dark fall of silken hair peeked around the edge of the futon. Slowly, a shoulder emerged then a torso and finally linen clad hips. Neji peeked from behind the curtain of hair and sighed in relief. Genma and Shino were no where in site and the rest of the group seemed tame at the moment. His ass had finally stopped burning and now only ached a little and some of the bruises seemed to be yellowing. It wouldn't be long before he could go back to his normal life and act as if none of this had happened. Feeling more comfortable by the minute, he found a cushy spot on the uncovered sleep mat and closed his eyes.
A loud crash came from the front of the apartment and everyone went on alert. Shikamaru was laughing as he bounded into the room and dodged the people and objects on the floor to take cover on the other side of Kakashi.
"Perhaps this is a sign of things to come." Kakashi sighed and leaned back in his seat dropping his protector back over his eye. "Sharingan Kakashi: Human Shield."
Temari chose that moment to skid into the room, her fan held high and her face flaming. Her eyes were all for her wayward lover as she stalked through the opening and toward his cover.
"I'd suggest you start clarifying your answer." She growled.
Shikamaru simply shrugged. "Too much trouble." But he never stopped smiling.
Choji shook his head and sipped his coffee. "You really want to die don't you?"
Temari growled, lifted her fan, and tripped over the sheet covering Kankuro. She tumbled to the floor leaving Kakashi to save TenTen from her sailing fan.
"Why is she mad at you?" Choji asked as the slapstick performance unfolded.
Shikamaru had rushed over to Temari but started backing away at the site of her brother now uncovered and naked on the floor once more. "Why is Kankuro...?"
"You first." The larger shinobi interrupted.
Shikamaru backed up slowly as Temari regained her feet and looked down at her brother with gathering storm clouds in her eyes.
"She told me if I wanted to do what we saw Lee and Anko doing I'd have to find a new partner. I told her it was too troublesome and she got pissed. Guess I should have told her which would be too troublesome but this was so much fun."
"Yeah. You wanna die." Choji turned up his coffee and finished off the cup. "What were Lee and Anko doing?"
Shikamaru told them. In detail.
Kakashi dropped TenTen and the remote. Sasuke dropped his head into his hair filled hands and sobbed. Naruto pumped a fist in the air and exclaimed, "Way to go, Fuzzy Brow!" before tossing a possessive arm over Hinata and grinning from ear to ear. Hinata and Ino simply blinked and stared. Choji blinked repeatedly while Temari poked at her brother to see if he stirred.
"Whoa... that's..." Choji swallowed several times and licked his lips. "Whoa."
"Kakashi-sensei? Is something wrong?" TenTen waved her hand in front of Kakashi's face several times but gave up when she didn't get a response. She glanced over at Kankuro sprawled on the floor nodded in appreciation then caught site of her obsession on the screen and once again plastered her face to it.
"Ican'thearyouIcan'thearyouIcan't hearyouIcan'thearyou..." Neji curled tighter into a fetal ball and rocked back and forth with his palms pressed tight over his ears.
"You're turn." Shikamaru turned his attention back to the focus of his question. "Why is he naked on the floor?"
"Because Sakura rode him into unconsciousness." Ino stated plainly.
"What?" Temari didn't sound happy.
"And when she walked out of the room, Genma decided to take it back and grabbed Shino. Next thing we knew Genma had dumped Kankuro on the floor and slammed the door. He screamed something about respect and privacy then it got all quiet."
It was Shikamarus turn to look stunned. Temari looked murderous. Sakura chose that moment to step out of the kitchen where she'd hidden herself after the Gaara discussion.
"Oh. You're back." She sipped coffee with a smile then looked down and gasped. "What did you do to him? Why is he on the floor?"
"What did I do to him?" Temari went from anger to confusion as Sakura rushed over, grabbed the sheet and wrapped Kankuro up in it. While the pink haired woman sat on the floor and pulled Kankuro's head into her lap, Temari wared with her inner need to rip the bitches eyes out, not only for trying to have her man but also HAVING her brother, and the feeling that if she could make Kankuro smile that hard and sleep that well she couldn't be all bad.
"Oh yeah, baby. Come to mama!" TenTen cried and caressed the screen with first a hand then her tongue.
Kankuro opened his eyes to Sakuras worried face and smiled. Memories of the last few hours drifted through his brain and he sighed in appreciation of all the aches and pains he was going to feel for the next few days. He wondered briefly why his ass was cold and why there was so much noise in the room before he looked back and saw his sister...
"Temari?" And what his sister was now looking at. "Temari! No!"
"Is that... GAARA!!" Temari turned her full attention to the screen as Gaara leaned back over a table and was doused with water.
"I can explain! I was... wait. Did you say..." Kankuro sat up and looked at the screen. "What the Hell!!"
TenTen nearly passed out.
0.0.0.0.0.0
Gaara shivered violently and dropped his cup. Matsuri reached down and picked up the cup, eying her Kazekage critically.
"Are you alright, Kazekage-sama?"
Gaara rubbed his arms up and down then looked around the area.
"It was strange. It almost felt like someone poured ice down my back."
"You mean like someone walked over your grave?"
He shook his head and took the cup she handed to him. He had a bad feeling about this trip to Konoha. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was.
0.0.0.0.0.0
I know this is short but I'm injured. Yard work and the never ending grape vine I'm trying to get rid of finally got my left shoulder and neck. Which sucks since I was going to do more this weekend. Oh well, enjoy the chapter.