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It was almost 5 a.m. and the party had drawn to a mostly close. Shanay and Jake lay passed out in front of the TV, various bottles of liquor between them. They had been the last people left in the drinking game that had been started while watching Die Hard, drinking for every explosion and swear word. About halfway through the movie, Kira and Aaron had started playing cards while Jess and Sam had stalked off somewhere being very secretive. The pair ended up coming back into the room with a double layered chocolate cake, singing happy birthday. Aaron took this opportunity to break out the embarrassing snapshots that made the 21st birthday a memorable event. Though slightly intoxicated, Kira managed to confiscate the private picture that she had given Aaron for his 19th, only after it circulated the room.
Steve had gone to bed at around 2 a.m. as he had to go to work later in the day. Jess was asleep in the armchair having been kicked out of her spot on the couch by Aaron who now lay sprawled, half falling onto the floor. Kira was leaning up against the wall with a drunken Sam clinging to her lying in her lap, muttering for "Itachi not to leave." Kira was beginning to regret her costume choice as the drunken Sam reverted back to the way she was when she was 13, including the crush she had on Itachi. It had served for some minor embarrassment earlier in the evening when a greatly intoxicated Sam began calling herself 'Kisame-chan' and rubbing up against Kira, slinging her arms around her neck and refusing to let go. Eventually, Kira gave in and let her friend hang off her waist, giving her cloak away as a pillow.
Kira rubbed her eyes and looked around her living room. The leech on her waist stirred as she tried to get up, muttering soft profanities. Kira pushed on Sam's arm, eventually loosening the grip her friend had on her, though waking her up in the process.
"Why are you moving Itachi?" Sam asked, pushing herself into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Can you help me… drag the drunks to bed?" stammered Kira, holding her head, "Mmph… moved too fast…" Sam grunted and nodded her head slowly. The two girls stood carefully, helping each other balance straight before breaking out into soft sniggers. The two quietly tripped over the cans that littered the floor, shushing one another as they went to move their first target; Shanay. She was curled in ball, holding a vodka bottle like it was a teddy bear. Kira took her feet while Sam held her under the arms, stubbing her toe on the edge of the TV cabinet. They heaved Shanay to the first bedroom in the hall, dumping her on the single bed.
"Do you wanna have a piggy back race?" asked Sam, following Kira back in the living room, skipping, "Winner gets your bed."
"Sure, why not," replied Kira. Sam took hold of Jess, awkwardly positioning her twin on her back while Kira stood against the wall laughing quietly. Kira went over to Aaron and somehow in her drunken state managed to sling him over her shoulders in a fireman's hold, wobbling slightly and walking with a deformed slouch. Sam was laughing so hard that she fell to the floor, Jess dropping on top of her, squashing her, though she still laughed. Kira was also struggling to maintain her posture, her legs just not wanting to support her weight let alone an extra 85 kilos. Slowly, she was slipping down the wall, eventually collapsing to the floor with laughter. The sudden hard movements woke the previously sleeping people being used as instruments in the girls' competition. Aaron and Jess looked around groggily, muttering incoherently.
"What are you doing?" asked Jess, "Ow... my head.." She pushed off Sam's back, not noticing her sister under her, and dragged herself to the hall, going into one of the bedrooms. Sam and Kira were still laughing like idiots; Kira's head buried in her arm to try muffle her laughs. The vibrating of her shoulders rolled Aaron onto the floor. Annoyed at having his pounding head bashed into the floor, he crawled to the hallway and went in to the bedroom, muttering the whole way how he was going to kill them in the morning. Sam commandoed her way to Kira, laughing.
"Hey K-kira, my back kinda hurts…" she laughed, "Let's drag Jake to the room…"
"That sounds like a good idea," breathed Kira. The giggling girls slithered over to where Jake lay, taking one leg each they began dragging him out of the living room. Surprisingly enough, he didn't wake up, not even making any motion that he noticed he was being moved. Even when they accidentally smacked him into the door frame when pulling him into the room.
"So who gets the room?" asked Sam, "I don't mind sharing the bed."
"It's my bed Sam," said Kira in disbelief.
"But I'm a guest," reasoned Sam, "You should let me have the bed."
Kira sighed, "Fine, take the bed, the couch is comfier anyway." She pulled her cloak off the floor and slumped onto the couch, still warm from Aaron laying on it. She pulled her cloak over her body and curled into a ball. Sam looked over at her, "I woulda shared the bed, you know." Kira stuck an arm up and waved her friend away.
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"So which door are we going through?" asked Naruto, watching Kakashi do his 3rd round of eeni meeni's.
"The ninth one," Kakashi announced.
"From which side?" asked Sakura. Kakashi's visible eye went happy and he scratched the back of his head, "The right, I suppose."
'All that was for nothing then?' thought Sakura and Naruto.
"Well, let's go then!" cried Naruto, running to Sasuke's surprise, the correct door.
"So you can count," the Uchiha commented.
"Shut up! Of course I can count!" roared Naruto, glaring at Sasuke.
"Hey now, calm down," said Kakashi, "Just open the door." With the rest of the team assembled behind him, Naruto turned the door knob. The door opened to reveal a surprisingly dark room.
"This is it? I thought it'd be bright and dramatic," grumbled Naruto in disappointment, taking a step into the room, "Ow!! That hurt!!"
"Is it a trap?" asked Sakura. The team prepared for an ambush.
"No... I crashed into something," replied Naruto bashfully, "What the hell is this thing?" He threw the object on the floor, soon becoming aware of the glare Sakura was giving him. Kakashi sighed and put his weapon away. The others stepped into the room as well, the space becoming cramped quickly.
"It's squishy in here," commented Sakura, trying to get free of a shelf that was poking into her back, "What is all this stuff? Ow, my foot!"
"Sorry, Sakura," chuckled Naruto, "Hey, I think I found the doorknob."
As he moved his hand to turn the handle, he felt a familiar rumble in his stomach. 'Uh-oh,' he thought. Trying to hold it in, he turned the handle and stepped out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief. 'Thank god!' he thought. A massive rumble erupted from his behind, freezing his face in terror. Sakura screamed, pushing Naruto out of the way and bursting into the next room. Sasuke and Kakashi stepped out, holding their noses.
"I can't believe you!!" cried Sakura, tears coming out of her eyes, "That was disgusting! Argh!"
They heard a groan come from the far corner of the room, a figure sitting up on a couch. The person was illuminated by the faint moonlight that was coming in through the window. A set of red eyes with three black commas stared blankly at the intruders.
"Sasuke!" said Kakashi in a warning tone. But it was too late. In a split second, Sasuke had flung a set of kunai and was charging at the person. The knives embedded themselves in the wall with dull thunks, missing their target by mere inches.
"Die Itachi!!" cried Sasuke, bringing a kunai to the person's neck, only to find himself in an arm lock before being flipped onto the ground with the kunai pressed to his neck.
"Who are you people and what are you doing here?" asked the person, the female voice alerting them that this was not Itachi. 'I shouldn't have done that,' she thought, feeling nauseous. The girl felt something sharp being pressed across her throat, she let her own knife loosen, still keeping Sasuke pinned to the ground.
"Drop the weapon," ordered Kakashi, glaring down at her. She flung the kunai to the floor, embedding it an inch from Sasuke's face. "Identify yourself."
"Kira... Dominicov," she replied. She put a finger between the knife and her neck, "And you are?"
"Kakashi Hatake," he replied. Kira took in a jagged breath. 'There's no way...' she thought.
"I must be drunker than I thought..."
A light came on in the hallway, Zoey stepping in to the living room. Still dressed as Sasuke, her hair was dishevelled and she was rubbing her eyes and holding a white teddy bear. Her appearance shocked Team 7.
"Sis, I had a bad dream..." yawned Zoey, "Can I sleep with you?" Opening her eyes, she looked around the room, staring at the new faces. "Who are all these people?"
"Just some friends that dropped by now," answered Kira, swatting Kakashi's arm out of her sister's view. Zoey pulled a face.
"This is a strange time to drop by someone's house," she muttered, "Kinda rude..."
"Just go back to bed, sweet," replied Kira with a chuckle, "I'll be there in a minute."
"Fine, just don't get distracted with your boyfriend," said Zoey, disappearing back into the hall. Noticing the intruders were distracted, Kira side stepped Kakashi, and before he could react disarmed him and Sasuke, and disappeared into the hall. The 4 ninjas remained in shock.
"How did she?" asked Sakura, "I didn't even see her move."
Kakashi closed his eye, thinking carefully about the situation.
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Walking down the hall, Kira was in serious thought. 'Ow, my head... why did I do that? I hope none of this is real... how can it be real? It's a cartoon for god's sake!' She looked to the weapon pouches in her hands, "They feel real though..." She put the four pouches in her pocket and continued on to the last room in the hall, seeing Zoey sitting up in the bed. Joining her sister she pulled her into a hug.
"Now what was this dream about?"
Zoe looked down, "There was a big monster with torn and bloody skin and biiig biig spikes. He said he was going to eat me. He was sending his flesh-eating bugs after me and I couldn't hide from him!" Zoey held Kira tightly around the waist. Stifling a giggle, Kira stroked her sister's hair.
"You poor thing," she cooed, "Tell you what; you ever see this monster again... tell him I'll cook him en flambé if he tries anything." She kissed Zoey's forehead, "That goes for any other monsters as well." Zoey smiled up at her sister, giving her one last squeeze before going back under the covers, snuggling into the bed. "Good night, sweet." Kira left the room, closing the door behind her. She spied the grouchy Uchiha staring at her from the living room, a glare on his face. Still reeling from a drunken headache even though she hadn't had that much, she went into the bathroom. She washed her face with some cold water and massaged her temples. Sasuke's reflection appeared in the mirror.
'Still hasn't worn off...' she thought, "Keep standing there like that, and your face will freeze that way." There was no change in the boy's facial expression. Sighing, she walked back out to the living room.
"Here's the thing, I'm just gonna ignore you all and hope by later in the morning you all disappear," she announced, "If you are really here, make yourselves comfy... if not, then I'm just a crazy drunkard." She walked past Sakura and Naruto, going into her bedroom and locking the door. She emptied the pouches into a drawer which she then locked before slumping onto the bed, pushing Sam across to make room for herself.
"I don't think I'm gonna drink for a while after this..." she muttered into her pillow.
Back in the living room, the genin looked to their Jounin sensei, wondering what to do next. Kakashi sighed and went over to the couch, lying down.
"Well, you heard her," he said, "Make yourselves comfortable."
"Can we trust her?" asked Naruto, "How do we know she's not working for the Akatsuki or some other organisation?"
"We don't," replied Kakashi, draping his vest over the edge of the couch, "But we may as well make the most of this hospitality while we can."
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