"Was that the girl version of Sempai?" Tobi asks bouncing in his chair as he watches Ino walk out the door. Deidara death glares at Tobi.

"Oh no, that's just Ino." I start, sitting down, "She's my best friend. She just came by to pick up her dinner; I had no idea she was coming," I say quickly, trying to dismiss the subject.

"She was wearing a ring on a chain," Pein says.

"Yes, I saw other girls wearing similar styled necklaces as well" Itachi says.

"Whoa, he said something," I think.

"More evidence that the ring is somewhere here," Sasori adds.

"Yeah, some girl probably saw it on Hidan's finger and wanted to be part of the cool crowd and took it, un," Deidara says sitting back.

"So close Deidara…"

I wore my necklace for two days and already others are copying me. I took it for revenge… it was a victory prize, not a fashion statement! First Sakura, then Ino, and now who knows is wearing a ring-necklace too. Sakura works at the hospital. I bet grandmas are thinking, "oh! This would be a great present for my darling grand daughter!" Who knows how many people will catch on.

The real question is: could I use this to my advantage? With everyone wearing a ring dangling from their neck, this search mission could take longer, scanning everyone's jewelry and all. I could devise a plan to discreetly put Hidan's ring in some jewelers shop… or heck, toss it into the street. That way it'd be a real search. Or maybe… I could act really innocent and pretend I don't know what the ring looks like and just hand it to them. Or better! I could just say that one of my friends found it!

Ugh, why do I lie so much?


While eating dinner, I got to know the gang a lot better, and in return they know about me too. Of course, I still can't fully trust them, so I didn't reveal too much about my personal life, but just enough to befriend them. Kisame was asking me about my fake name. He understood my fear of strange men and apologized for the prank he pulled earlier. In fact, he now jokes around calls me Nena, even though he's the only one. We already have an inside joke, ha!

Konan and I girled up the table with our beauty talk and giggles. The guys never really get a chance to talk to any girls besides Konan, so asking things about what girls like never came up to avoid discomfort. But now that there's more than one girl, the guys were very open with their curiousness, and Konan and I were very happy to answer their questions.

These people are so close to each other, and even though I was a complete stranger this afternoon, I feel like they're my friends already. I can only hope that they feel the same for me… Am I being too clingy? If there was any other person at the river today, they would have chosen them, right? I mean… Deidara said I was a temporary member and gave me one of the matching straw hats. Kisame played a prank and apologized for it sincerely. Konan sat next to me, glad that there's another girl in the group. Is it safe to say that I can trust these people?


Kakuzu pays for the entire dinner and we leave with our bellies full and in good spirits. I continue down the main road pointing to popular places, but no one really seems to be paying attention besides Pein, so I shut up for a while and we walk in silence. As the sun starts to set, a familiar conversation comes up.

"Nene, find us a place to crash," commands Hidan. Again.

"Please,"I scold for the second time. "I vow to make him ask for something nicely. At least he didn't curse this time."

"Are you really doing this again…" an annoyed Sasori asks.

Hidan and I stay silent. It's really hard for me to get used to this guy. First his perv scheme, which was a terrible first impression, then his innate rudeness, which is generally hard for people to like, and now, I just don't know if he's teasing me or what.

I take a deep breath. I don't know where to house this eight man group. I have a guest room, but if I brought eight random strangers home , my parents would freak out!

So to get an idea on where to leave them, I try to figure out where the group is thinking of spending the night.

"So…what exactly do you guys want?" I ask, and suddenly demands are thrown at me left and right.

"Nothing shitty!"

"But it has to be something cheap."

"Hot water."

"An included breakfast wouldn't be too bad..."

"Something clean."

"Maybe a pool?"

"A hot tub is better."

"A well lit room with big windows."

"Room service."

"A casino would be awesome."

And so on.

Such picky people! Exactly how was I suppose to find a cheap luxury five-star hotel? Not many tourists visit where I live, too. A hotel is probably on the other side of the village, and not only that, they probably need a reservation since they have so many people. They probably want separate beds, too, so they need to rent about four rooms? Does Konan get her own? If finding a hotel to suit them all took as long as finding dinner, it'll be morning by the time they pick a place to stay.

And before you know it, we're in front of my house.

"Oh geeze… should I…?" I contemplate.

"Tobi doesn't see any hotels around here," A sad Tobi says.

"Yeah… about that," I start. I stop and turn to face the group, "All the hotels and apartments are on the other side of the village and it's already dark. You could have rented some rooms or stayed in a bed and breakfast if you wanted something nice, but it's too late to make reservations. If you really want something cheap, your best bet is some cheap motel in the shady part of town… but I highly doubt you want to go there…"

"So, what, we sleep in the streets, un?" Deidara asks.

"No fuckin way am I doing that," Hidan says crankily.

"Yes, I understand you all need your beauty sleep…" I sigh, "But… if you really want, I can ask my parents if you can stay at my house… Just for tonight though!"

The guys all look around with confused expressions, but Konan and Pein look at each other and nod.

"That would be much obliged, Nene," Pein says.

I nod and tell them to wait outside for a little while I seek permission from my parentals. It's almost nine o'clock when I walk in.

"Nene! There you are! I was getting worried," My mom says, looking up from her book, "Where have you been?"

"Well," I begin, sitting down on the couch next to her, "I went back to the river I went to yesterday to relax, and I bumped into some young travelers taking a break. We started talking and they were wondering if I could show them around the village, so I said yes. I took them downtown and showed them around, and they were so thankful that they invited me to have dinner with them. We went to the small barbeque place downtown."

"Oh, you had quite an adventure today, didn't you? That was so nice of them to treat you to dinner."

"Yeah, they're a really nice bunch of people…"

"So they left already?" My mom asks.

"Well… no. We were trying to find a hotel, but no luck."

"So where are they now?" She asks suspiciously.

"…Outside…" I guiltily.

"Oh, Nene, did you say that they could stay?" she asks unbelievingly.

"Why not?" My dad chimes in, jumping into the room, "They seem like gracious people if they bought Nene dinner. Besides, Nene says that they're good natured. We have a guest room for a reason, Sawako."

"Yeah, mom, please?" I beg, "I said it was only for tonight and we'd find a place tomorrow."

She sighs, but gives in, "Okay. Only for tonight! They owe you."

"Oh, thank you so much!" I exclaim, giving my mom and dad a hug.

I zoom out of my house and out the waiting group.

"Okay, my parents said you can stay for tonight, but there are rules!" I announce. They listen in.

"You need to be on your best behavior in front of them. I convinced them that you're friendly travelers and very nice people. So no rumbling or cursing. Luckily, the guest room is on the first floor and my parents sleep upstairs, but you still need to keep it down. M'kay?"

They all nod and agree while walking past me.

"H-hey!" I shout, catching up.

Konan and I are the first to enter my house. As everyone filters in, we stand in the in front of my parents who are still in the living room. Their jaws drop.

I forgot to tell them that it's a party of eight.


After getting all the futons we had layed out in the guest room, we had just enough to fit everyone who sleeps. Apparently, Zetsu prefers to sleep outside and Sasori doesn't need a bed. I'm still confused by his explanation though; he says he's a puppet. The only thing I understand from that is that he's easily manipulated… but I don't' know what that has to do with sleep.

Oh! And don' t think I left Konan there. Up in my room, I toss her an extra pair of pajamas. I invited Konan to sleep in my room since letting her sleep in a room crammed with men was out of the question. My mom also agreed. Plus, she likes Konan.

When Konan left my room to use the bathroom, a very angry Ino came swinging through my balcony door.

"Nene, I can't believe you. These guys are sleeping at your house?" She exclaims.

"It's not my fault! They couldn't find a place to stay and I used this as our last resort…" I replied squeamishly.

"I'm not talking about that!" she yells, "I'm saying that gorgeous hunks are sleeping in your guest room and you aren't in there with them!"

My face flushes as squeak-yell, "Ino! What type of girl do you think I am? I only met them today and you want me to sleep with them?"

"What the?" she says confused, "You have a dirtier mind than me! I meant ask them if they need anything while you're in some really cute pajamas or something!"

Now, my face is a thousand shades of red, "You're… joking right…"

"Do you think I am? These men met you because it's fate. The other night we went looking for a boyfriend for you and we found nothing. Then, today these handsome signs come right in your way. This is an intergalactic opportunity just for you!" Ino pushes.

"Now you're making them sound like aliens…"

"C'mon, what do you think I meant when I told you to 'hone your girl power?' When are these guys ever going to spend the night in your house again?"

"Ino… you haven't hung out with these guys. If I did that…" I lower my voice, "The guy whose ring I took will just call me a slut again… I don't want to do anything that would prove him right. I don't want him to win, which is why I'm determined to not simply give the ring back."

"So what exactly are you going to do-"

Knock-Knock.

Ino and I fall mute as someone stands outside my door. Is it Konan? Why would she knock? The door opens and reveals a confused Deidara.

"This… isn't the bathroom, un…" Deidara says matter of factly.

"Noooo… not at all," I say with a sweat drop on the side of head, "It's downstairs on your left… but Konan's in there."

"Right, thanks…" he says closing the door, "Stupid Hidan…that bastard…" he mumbles walking down that hall.

Ino and I look at each other in silence, both of our faces red. Deidara just walked into my room with his hair down and only wearing sweat pants. His body is gorgeous.

Ino and I sit down on my bed.

.

"Who was that?" Ino asks in shock.

"…Deidara," I say in a daze. Ino turns to me and puts her hand on my shoulder.

.

"Nene…This. Is a sign."


A/N: Ohoho Deaidara without his pontytail! And shirtless! XD Hope you liked this chapter c: Review please ^_^ it keeps me going!