Authoress's Note: -gets down on knees and presses hands together- Please forgive me for such a long wait!! I didn't intend on making everyone wait so long for this new chapter. I've had the WORST case of Writer's Block recently. I'm hoping that I finally got over it, and that this chapter was worth the wait -nods- I'd like to thank those that participated in my poll. :)
Anyway, here's Chapter Fourteen: Partners? ! I hope you enjoy it!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters that it portrays. I DO own the plot, the zoo, Tai, Makoto, Iria, Naoko, and the students. Thank you. Enjoy!
--
Tai watched Sasuke with a bored expression plastered across his tanned face. The Uchiha was explaining—in an I-don't-want-to-be-here tone—how the ram in the cage next to him could be compared to the hand seals that they would, soon enough, be using in live combat to perform Ninjutsu and Genjutsu.
Tai wasn't paying very much attention to what Sasuke was saying, though. He'd heard this lecture already; only without the presence of live animals. Besides, he was too busy thinking about what he and his friends had planned for Sasuke to really care what the Uchiha was saying, anyway.
Sasuke was in the perfect position, too. He was keeping a steady eye on the ram (to avoid being startled and embarrassing himself, no doubt), while also using the hand seal as a demonstration.
Tai inched over sideways and jabbed Makoto in the shoulder with his index finger, catching the young boy's attention almost instantly.
"What is it, Tai?" he asked softly, staring at the boy in question.
"We can start now," Tai replied with a tone equally as soft while he turned on his heel and adjusted his crutches. "I'll tell Naoko, you go let Iria know."
"All right," Makoto said, a spark of determination lighting up in his eyes. He began to search for his target.
Tai already knew where Naoko was. She was located near the back of the group of Academy students. He limped over to her and stood beside her.
She was paying close attention to what Sasuke was saying, but Tai couldn't understand why this could be. She had been in the same class he had when Iruka had explained this to them. He gave her a soft nudge with his elbow.
This action caused the young girl's head to snap in his direction, her eyes wide and unfocused because of the action. Once she realized who he was, her expression hardened. "What is it, Tai?" she hissed; obviously not wishing to be heard.
Tai stared at her for a moment before deciding that she would probably have to be reminded. "The plan's all ready," he stated, smirking. "All we have to do is alert everyone."
"Plan?" Naoko repeated, watching him cautiously. After a second or two, she nodded slowly. "Oh yeah, I remember now . . . I'm ready, then. Let's do it," she said, her usual sinister smile showing on her face, alerting Tai to the fact that she was, once again, back into her regular state of mind.
Was that a good thing?
He wasn't sure. But hey, if she got the plan working, he wouldn't complain.
"Get to work on getting a hold of the other students' attention. We start just as soon as Sasuke gives us an opening."
"You've got it," Naoko smiled, stretching. "Let the plan be put into motion."
"You've got it. Chicken-haired man is going down for the count, and there's nothing he's gonna be able to do to stop it," Tai smirked, before settling his crutches in a way that would help him walk easier. "Let's do it."
--
"-and that is how the ram represents the hand seal," Sasuke concluded; his throat feeling scratchy from all of the talking he'd been forced into doing. He cracked his knuckles, which were slowly getting sore because of the repeated hand seals he'd been forming. He turned on his heel, sighing slightly.
"Now come on. We've got one more to go look at, and that's the tiger," he stated seriously, beginning to walk in the direction of the pen that kept the animal he was seeking.
He was mentally pleased with himself. Apparently the children really had listened to him and calmed down, considering the fact that there was little to no noise following him as he continued walking.
This fact made him nearly smile until about half-way to the pen, in which he began to get a little uneasy. He sighed, stopping and turning around.
His heart nearly stopped in reply. They were all gone.
--
Tai smiled. Oh, yes, it had worked perfectly. They had refrained from speaking for a small amount of time while making noises so that Sasuke didn't suspect that they had gone. A few of the students would depart at a time so not to become suspicious, right up until Tai and Naoko were the last two. At that point, they both vanished; leaving Sasuke all alone without a single student trailing behind him.
Now, though, he was sitting atop the monkeys' pen, watching Sasuke carefully from his position while remaining hidden. He smirked to himself, looking around the area. He could spot his fellow students.
They were all looking at him.
Nodding, Tai stood up carefully with the help of Makoto and used chakra to get down from the cage. "Ready?" he asked Makoto curiously; the blue-haired boy nodding in response.
"Three . . ." he muttered, a grin forming on his face. "Two . . ."
A man turned the corner at the cage, paying no attention to the boys as he started walking down the path. Tai grinned.
"One! Get 'em!"'
--
Sasuke was doing his absolute best not to panic. That would have been a very terrible thing for the young Uchiha to have done, and he knew it.
Not like it was the easiest thing to accomplish, though. Heck, if he hadn't of practiced a non-emotional façade for when he had fan-girls around, he probably would have been screaming in terror at the moment.
But Sasuke had more self control than that.
This was exactly why he wasn't going to run around and scream for the kids to come back.
Instead, he was going to take this very seriously, and very calmly. He couldn't handle having his reputation smashed to the ground again because of the children.
Picking up his pride and pulling it back into sorts, he took a deep breath and looked around the area.
There wasn't really much to tell of the small location he was at. There was a few children he didn't know running around and looking at the many different assortments, a squirrel that was enjoying an acorn, and--
Sasuke froze with astonishment.
He knew the two that were standing about thirty feet in front of him, looking at the monkeys and conversing! All panic fled from him, and he felt quite a lot of relief. Maybe they can help me out, he thought hopefully, refraining from running straight towards the two and shouting out their names. Instead, he began to walk towards them leisurely. He shoved his hands into his pockets, silently praying that he didn't look overly stressed.
My lucks changing! Thank Kami! He thought with a slight sigh, coming closer towards the two. He was just about to get to them when a crying child and his mother walked by. One of the two—a female Sasuke recognized as the Kazekage's elder sister—looked over, her brows furrowing in concern until she saw Sasuke. Her teal eyes hardened slightly as she registered who he was.
Sasuke merely stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he walked around the mother and child, about to completely approach the two when Temari's eyes widened.
"Uchiha—look out!"
Her comment registered in Sasuke's mind just a moment too late. He stepped on something cold and slippery, and the next thing Sasuke knew, he was laying face-first upon the cold ground.
Sasuke groaned softly, lifting his head slightly. He could hear a lot of roaring laughter close-by, and he could feel his face heat up with embarrassment and anger.
At the moment, though, his embarrassment was the least of his worries. Standing up and brushing himself off, he took a deep breath and turned to face the Kazekage's sister, as well as Neji, who Sasuke had just actually recognized as the Hyuuga. Here he'd thought it was a girl.
He mentally groaned.
He had absolutely no doubt in his mind that the Hyuuga would be holding this against him for quite a long time after this.
"You don't pay much attention to your surroundings, do you?" Temari asked haughtily. Sasuke glared at her, while she merely continued, "it makes me wonder how you ever became a shinobi, Uchiha . . ."
"I was distracted," Sasuke stated sharply. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Hey, I could ask you the same thing, Uchiha," Temari smirked. "But, I'm pretty sure that you're here to visit your girlfriend."
No sooner than she had said it, she gestured to the cage beside her, which held the monkeys. Sasuke scowled once he realized what the blonde kunoichi was implying. He was just about to make a scathing remark when she started to speak again.
"As for why I'm here; Gaara, as Kazekage, has recently become quite fond of children. As a result, he helped your Hokage to fund this zoo here. He asked me to come and see what it looks like."
Sasuke scoffed slightly. "Gaara fond of children? Not very likely," he stated, crossing his arms. He looked over to Neji, who was just listening to their conversation, looking at something over Sasuke's shoulder.
"What about you, Hyuuga? Why are you here?"
Neji looked at him upon being spoken to and crossed his arms. "I am here because Shikaku has stated that I need to be out of the house and Village for a little while," he stated seriously. "And our Hokage was in need of someone to escort Temari around, so I was chosen."
"You?" Sasuke scoffed. "I suppose we should keep you away from the rabbit pens, then."
Neji glared at him. "And you away from the spiders and ice cream vendors."
Sasuke could understand the first part, but the second confused him. "Ice cream?"
Temari gave a bit of a laugh, before gesturing behind Sasuke. The Uchiha turned, and then immediately realized what the Hyuuga had meant by his comment. There was a dirty, melting ice cream upon the ground. In the middle of it was a skidded footprint, and Sasuke growled softly as he noted that the ice cream had been what he'd fallen on. He turned back to the two, who each had an amused look on their faces.
Sasuke bit back the urge to shout a few bad words at the two, and took a deep breath before looking at Temari. "Do you really want to know why I'm here?"
Temari looked at him curiously and nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'm bored and don't have anything better to do."
"Good," Sasuke said, trying to hide the obvious relief in his tone. This seemed to interest the two shinobi, and they stared at Sasuke curiously. Sasuke forced himself to ignore their looks and began to explain.
After he had finished, he half-patiently awaited some sort of response, looking over their expressions in hopes of a clue as to what was going through their minds. Temari looked just about ready to burst into laughter, whereas Neji looked a bit more contemplative over the situation. Unfortunately, Temari was the first to speak.
"So, what you're telling me is," she stated, obviously trying to refrain from laughing at him. "That you're Hokage actually trusted you with a bunch of kids from the Academy? No offense, but I think your Hokage needs a brain exam!"
Sasuke glared at her. "I'm more than capable of taking care of the children."
"Which is why you have absolutely no idea as to where each and every one of those children is at the moment, correct?" Neji asked sarcastically as he looked at Sasuke. "I do hope you realize how important it is that these children are found – don't you?"
"Of course," Sasuke stated – his tone a little more bitter than he had intended it to be. Sure, he didn't like the Hyuuga, but he couldn't risk being too cold, considering Neji might not wish to help at all if he did.
Neji didn't seem to care, though, and sighed. "You have requested our help," he stated calmly, looking straight at the Uchiha. "I will help."
Temari smirked. "You know what? I think I'll help too," she said with a slight nod. "After all, with this, I can rub it in Kankuro's face that I got to mess with you, and not him."
Sasuke suppressed a growl, mentally cursing up a storm directed at the blonde kunoichi. He faked a calm façade, though, and merely nodded. "All right."
"So," Temari stated turning on her heel. "I'll go this way, and you two pathetic morons can go that way."
Without saying another word, the kunoichi had begun walking off, looking around casually.
Neji shook his head, turning on his heel. "Why are all Sand Ninja so bossy?" he mumbled to himself, before casting a glance at the Uchiha who was still glaring at the back of Temari's head like she'd just killed his pet puppy. "Are you coming, Uchiha?"
"Yeah," Sasuke stated, turning on his heel after casting one last glare at the girl. He began to walk with the Hyuuga. "This had better be worth doing . . ."
"It is," Neji stated calmly. "It's for the children, is it not?"
". . . Right," Sasuke lied. "For the children."
--
"That's not fair!" Naoko growled, watching as Sasuke conversed with the Sand Kunoichi and the Hyuuga. "He had to mess everything up!"
Makoto sighed. "There's no way we're going to be able to pull this off now," he muttered. "Honestly, there's not a chance . . ."
"Don't say that!" Iria insisted, casting a glance over at Tai, who was watching the blonde girl as she walked away from the group. Iria turned back to her friends. "Tai's not panicking, so neither should we."
At the mention of his name, Tai turned around, looking at his three bickering friends. "What's going on?"
"What do you think is going on, Tai?" Naoko asked firmly. "It's Sasuke-sensei! He's gone and gotten help!"
"There's no way we'll be able to get to him if he has two others helping him," Makoto added complainingly.
"Is that all?" Tai asked, standing up from his lenient pose against the ostrich cage.
Naoko glared at him. "What do you mean 'is that all'?" she asked sharply.
Tai sighed a little, realizing that, unfortunately, Naoko was back to her moody state of mind. "What I mean," he stated calmly. "Is that things aren't nearly as bad as you all are making them out to be."
Makoto gave Tai a weary stare. "If you're not worried about these two people, would you mind telling us why? We've worked so hard to get this set up!"
Tai smiled at his friend. "I'm not worried because I pay attention to the little things."
"Oh, yeah Tai, way to welcome us into your world," Naoko stated sarcastically. "Just what do you mean?"
"I mean," Tai replied. "That I was watching how everyone acted. If you would have done the same, you would have noticed that the blonde Sand Ninja didn't seem to like Sasuke."
"Tai, what does her not liking him have to do with anything?" Iria asked tentatively. Tai turned his focus to her.
"It's simple," Tai said, settling on his crutches. "I believe that, with the correct words, we can convince her to join our side. She could be a lot of help."
"You can't be serious," Naoko seethed, watching as the Sand kunoichi walked their way. "That's way too risky."
But Tai didn't answer her statement.
He was already heading towards Temari.
--
"Why aren't you using your Byakugan, Hyuuga?" Sasuke asked sharply, looking at Neji. The latter man looked back at him.
"Because chakra is prohibited in this place," he replied calmly. "That is why."
"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, turning back to search for the Academy students—or brats, as he liked to put it.
"Do you have any idea where they could be at, Uchiha?" Neji asked curiously. Sasuke cast Neji a bitter look.
"If I did, I wouldn't have asked you for help, now would I?"
Neji returned the look before shaking his head and turning away again. "Do me a favor, Uchiha."
"What's that, Hyuuga?"
"Remind me to never let you baby-sit my children."
Sasuke scoffed slightly, rounding a corner towards the animals in smaller cages. "I wouldn't, even if you did ask me to."
Neji smirked a little. "Of course not. Besides, it's painfully obvious that you'll never have children of your own, so why should you take care of someone else's?"
Sasuke cast him a scathing glare. "For the last time: I'm not ga—"
"I meant with the way you act towards children."
". . . Of course you did," Sasuke muttered sarcastically. "Let's just go find the brats."
"Children."
"Brats, children . . . Whatever."
--
Tai ignored the urgent whispers of his friends as they tried to get him to come back to them. Instead, he put on a fake smile and limped towards the Sand Ninja.
When he got to her, the woman's head was turned away, giving him a good opportunity to be, well, cute. "E-excuse me?"
The blonde's head snapped in his direction, looking at him in surprise. It was evident that she hadn't expected him to be there. "What is it?"
"Well," Tai said thoughtfully, trying to choose his words carefully. "I saw you over there talking to Sasuke-sensei."
Temari sighed slightly. "Yeah, an—wait, you just called him 'sensei'. Are you one of those kids that he's looking for?"
Tai nodded. "Yes Ma'am."
Temari smirked. "Good, I found one of you . . . Now, would you mind telling me why you left him in the first place?"
That's why I came, Tai thought, shaking his head. "No Ma'am. I'll tell you, but could we please sit down?" he asked, gesturing towards a bench that was positioned a small ways away from the two of them. Temari stared at him for a moment in confusion before she finally seemed to realize that he was on crutches.
"Yeah, sure."
Tai nodded appreciatively before going over and taking a seat on the bench. He really had needed the rest. Temari took a seat on the bench as well and looked over at him expectantly. "Well?"
Tai gave a soft sigh. "Well, the thing is, Sasuke-sensei has been taking care of us—meaning me and the other students—for a while now, and we've gotten really used to having him around . . . Unfortunately, he'll be leaving soon, and when he does, everything's going to go back to normal."
Temari looked at him, her expression little more than unsatisfied with his answer. "What has that got to do with running away? If you're so worried about him leaving, why run away from him?"
Tai smiled at her kindly. "Well, it's because we still haven't had enough . . . Fun with Sasuke-sensei."
This statement seemed to pique Temari's interest, as her expression turned to a more curious one. "Fun?"
"Yeah," Tai replied. "Fun."
Temari leaned back in her chair, looking at the sky. "Who would have believed that the Uchiha was capable of giving kids menial entertainment?"
Tai laughed. "No, actually, it wasn't little fun . . . And half the time he fell into the fun."
Temari stared at the kid once more. "Explain what you mean by that."
Tai smiled innocently, and then proceeded to tell Temari everything that he and his friends had done to Sasuke since the first day the Uchiha had entered the doors to their Academy classroom.
--
"I still believe that we stand a better chance if we get away from this section of the zoo, Sasuke."
Sasuke ignored the Hyuuga's fourth attempt at convincing him to get away from the small animals' cages. Instead, he continued looking around purposefully.
Neji, on the other hand, was doing his best to keep an eye on Sasuke and keep an eye on the cage that was across from him: The rabbit's cage. He just couldn't get the thought that they were planning to come out and attack, or dance, him to death out of his head. His eyes were playing tricks on him and making the rabbits' colors change, as well. It sent shivers up and down the poor man's spine.
Sasuke wasn't nearly as paranoid of the rabbits as Neji; mainly because he'd managed to escape from that wretched prison (and kick the rabbits). He could handle the rabbits.
"Perhaps we should try the insect area? Kids enjoy gross things, right? Not fluffy ones . . ."
Sasuke turned to glare at the Hyuuga. He was almost sure that that had been a crack-joke at the fact that he was scared of spiders. "No," he stated. "I don't think they'd be there."
Neji suppressed a growl. The Uchiha was being too stubborn about not leaving these cages. Couldn't he see that Neji wanted to get away from these things?
Or perhaps that's why he didn't want to leave . . . That was a possibility.
Neji leaned against the wall, doing his best to avoid looking at the bunnies. They couldn't take over him if he wasn't paying attention to them, right?
He looked up at the roof that was covering this certain part of the zoo (considering the small animals would probably get over-heated if out in the sun for too long in their cages) and gave a soundless sigh, wondering how Temari was currently doing in the hunt for the children. Hopefully she wasn't having too much trouble locating them.
Considering it looked like he and Sasuke were going to be here for a very long time.
--
Temari was having a difficult time trying not to cry.
"So, what you're telling me, is that you've managed to insult him, dye him different colors—"
"Paint, Ma'am. Not dye."
"—Whatever. Anyway, you and these kids actually did all of this to Sasuke?" Temari asked, biting her lower lip in order not to burst out in laughter, which, in turn, would probably end up in tears of joy. Kankuro would get a kick out of this when she got home!
"Yes Ma'am, we did," Tai smiled. "And we wish to do at least one more thing with Sasuke-sensei, but if we get found out, then there will be no way we'll be able to do it."
Temari looked at him curiously, as if debating what to do behind her steely blue eyes. Finally, she smirked and nodded. "So, you want my help to stop you from getting caught, hmm?"
"Yes, please."
"Very well," Temari stated, her smirk widening. "You've got yourself a partner. Besides, I've always wanted to see what the Uchiha would look like after being embarrassed, anyway."
Tai grinned. "Well, you don't have to wait any more," he said happily. "Because we've got just about everything set up."
Temari nodded. "Good. Now, tell me something . . . Tai, wasn't it?"
"Mhmm."
"Right. What exactly is this little plan of yours, Tai?"
"Well . . ."
--
"I don't believe it," Naoko mumbled, watching as Tai and Temari conversed on the bench. "Tai was right."
"Of course he was right," Makoto stated, crossing his arms as he leaned against the Ostrich cage. "After all, he usually is . . . Except when it comes to class work, that is."
"Yeah," Iria agreed, smiling slightly. "He actually convinced the pretty kunoichi to join in with us!"
"Yep," Naoko stated. "I guess I should have believed him after all . . . It's just hard waiting . . ."
"Hey, just think!" Makoto stated thoughtfully. "If Sasuke-sensei's got that Hyuuga guy with him, maybe we can get him into the plan too!"
"On Sasuke's side, I hope," Naoko stated. "I don't want any more allies. It's funner to get the enemies."
"Yeah, you've got a point, there," Makoto nodded. Iria smiled, before suddenly standing straight. "Hey, they're coming this way!"
"Who? Sasuke?"
"No, Makoto! Tai and the kunoichi."
"Really?" Naoko asked, turning her attention away from Makoto and back to the two who were indeed heading their way. She grinned. "Looks like we'll be starting now, after all!"
Iria nodded, waiting until Tai was close enough before waving. "Hi!"
"Hi," Tai smiled, stopping in his steps and leaning on his crutches. "Temari-san's going to be helping us."
"Great," Naoko stated, looking the blonde kunoichi over curiously. "So, can we start, yet?"
"Yes," Temari said, looking at the three kids. "You all go and tell the others that we'll be starting the plan in ten minutes from now. The time, of course, will alter with each person you see, so make sure you tell them the right time, okay? I do believe they know what to do, right?"
"Yes Ma'am," Tai replied. "We've gone over the plan with each other."
"Good," Temari stated, turning back to the others. "Then go, and come back once you've alerted the groups."
"Right!" The three said in unison, before dashing off in separate directions to contact their friends. Tai looked at Temari. "You're really going to help?"
"I wouldn't have sent them off if I wasn't going to," Temari stated, looking at the Ostriches. She smirked. "Looks like we're going to put your plan into action after all. I just hope you don't mind a second target."
"What do you mean?" Tai asked curiously.
"I mean that man who Sasuke was with," Temari stated. "He won't help, and his name's Neji. So, he'll be targeted too."
"Hyuuga Neji?" Tai asked, looking at her seriously. "The one who's frightened of bunnies?"
Temari stared at him, looking as if she was about to burst into laughter. "H-he's afraid of bunnies?" she asked, her tone incredulous. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I am," Tai said honestly. "It's been said all over the village. Just like Sasuke-sensei's afraid of spiders."
"Oh, this is great," Temari smirked. "This'll make this all the more fun."
Tai nodded. "Yes Ma'am. And I don't mind a second target. It will be a new challenge."
"I like you kid. You're smart," Temari stated, laughing a little. "Now we'll just wait for your friends and then we'll get Sasuke."
"Okay."
--
Sasuke smirked slightly as he finally decided to end Neji's suffering. He figured he probably should have stopped when the Hyuuga had started glancing back and forth between him and the rabbit's cage, but he'd let it keep on until, like now, Neji had been staring at the rabbit's cage unblinking.
So, Sasuke dragged Neji away from the rabbit's cage and was walking towards the West side of the zoo. Perhaps some better luck would come to them there.
Neji remained silent as they walked, though Sasuke could easily feel the Hyuuga's eyes searing holes into the back of his head when he turned to look away, but when he'd glance at Neji, the man's head would be turned. So, Sasuke just ignored him and walked.
This silence remained until Sasuke heard a rumbling sound. It surprised him, and he turned to glare at the Hyuuga. "Contain the noises in your stomach."
Neji challenged the glare with one of his own. "It wasn't my stomach, Uchiha. Perhaps it was yours."
Sasuke scoffed. "No, I know when my stomach does such things, Hyuuga."
"Apparently not."
"So, then, if it wasn't your stomach or mine, then what was it?" Sasuke asked, crossing his arms defiantly. Neji looked about ready to comment, but a loud shout caught both of their attention.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!"
--
There you go!! I certainly hope that this was worth the wait. I believe this story will end in the next chapter, unforutnately. Once again, I apologize for the long wait, and for those who waited, thank you so much!!
Please Review!!
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