Here's the (extremely belated) Halloween special chapter! Also, it's time for a disclaimer!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else that might be owned by someone in this story. They belong to their respective owners.
"Sakura, damn it, quit moving! You're going to make me mess up!" Yoko said angrily as she wrapped her hand around the younger girl's chin, yanking her face forward again. Sakura scrunched her face at Yoko, eyeing the charcoal black pencil poised in her roommates hand.
"I can't help it! It tickles whenever somebody else puts on my eyeliner!" Sakura pouted in protest. The look Yoko gave her promised several bad things to happen, so the younger girl cast one last glare at the offending object before slouching back into her earlier position. Yoko kept her hand on the girl's forehead as she tilted her head back and tried to finish the details around Sakura's eyes. After more blinking and arguing, the black haired girl finally finished adding the eye decal and stepped back to view her handy work.
"All done!" She chirped brightly, letting Sakura spin around in her chair to look at the results in the mirror.
"Ooh it looks so cool!" Said teenager grinned madly. Yoko had used a white eyeshadow to "extend" the white part of Sakura's eyes. Her eyes now looked incredibly doll-like, wide and ringed in feathery eyelashes. Sakura noted that if it hadn't been for the shockingly bright pink and white hair that threw everything off, her reflection looked startlingly creepy. Perfect.
Sakura turned back around to face Yoko, grinning from ear to ear. She set still as the older girl finished applying the make-up to her face, giving the rest of her a marionette-style look. Finally, she laid down the smudging brush as she finished applying the mouth lines.
"There we go; finished." Yoko said as she set her hands on her hips. Sakura hopped off the chair without looking in the mirror and nearly skipped out of the bathroom. She headed over to the two wardrobes that the girls split their clothes between and opened up the one on the right. She pulled out a plastic bag that contained her costume. Sakura barely managed to keep in the squeal that kept threatening to break out. She couldn't help it, really! Halloween was her favorite holiday, and she was very excited that the whole group was actually going around trick-or-treating this year.
Sakura slipped into her costume and walked over to where Hinata stood in front of the mirror, admiring her own handmade costume. The pinkette had to admit, Hinata had an amazing talent for sewing. She had made her own costume, as well as Yoko's and Sakura's, working very late to get them finished in time. Hinata turned to the side to look at a new angle of the dress.
The pale pink fabric fell down to about two feet from the floor. Two long, black ribbons ran down the length of the dress, cinching the end of the pink layer into a slight curve. A white, ruffled, two-layered petticoat fell the rest of the length to the floor, hiding black high heels. A white ruffle with a black ribbon through it ran around the top of the dress, resting snuggly against Hinata's arms. In the center of the ruffle was a big black and white striped bow that covered her chest, a pink flower acting as a broach. Around her slim neck was another piece of ruffled lace with a light pink ribbon striking through it.*
To top it all of Hinata wore a pink top hat with a curved up rim edged in black. A white sash went around the top part and tied into a bow along the side. The hat dipped down over her eye, and a ring of pink roses wreathed the underside of the hat, obscuring one of her pale, lavender-shaded eyes. Her bangs framed her face while the rest of her hair was pulled up into two high pigtails, silky ends curled slightly. Her make-up was done in similar fashion to Sakura's. If it hadn't been for the fact that Hinata would turn every few seconds, Sakura would swear that she was a life-size marionette doll. Well, that technically was the point. It was still pretty creepy though…
Sakura softly nudged Hinata's arm, politely telling her to quit being a damn mirror hog. Hinata started slightly, unaware of Sakura's quiet approach, but smiled softly after a few moments and stepped aside. Sakura smiled back and picked up the pair of black silk gloves that would reach to the middle of Hinata's upper arm, handing them to the other girl. Hinata took them with a nod and Sakura turned her attention to the mirror to take in her appearance.
Her own dress was simply alternating black and white in color. The collar was a simple uniform one, with black and white lace ruffles extending out around it to cover the chest piece of the dress. Two small white bows were attached in even spaces to the black upper portion of the torso; the bottom half was white. The shoulder sleeves were slightly poofed with a white lace band around the bottoms. The rest of the sleeves were also white and flared at the bottom, each ending in a lacey ruffle well past her fingertips. The skirt fell to her shins in a soft black material, four strips of lace placed evenly around its circumference. Sakura had donned a pair of white stockings and black baby doll shoes to finish off the ensemble. Her hair was pulled down and framed her face delicately, straightened with precisionistic care. The hot pink that made up the majority of her hair was the only bit of color in her costume.**
Sakura stood stock still as she continued to stare at her reflection. Her now twice as big eyes (thanks to Yoko's make-up skills and Youtube tutorial) stared back unblinkingly at her from the mirror. She saw Hinata twitch uncomfortably at the no doubt creepy site and turned her owlish gaze towards the blue-black haired girl. With a squeal of excitement that had been pent up all day she nearly tackled Hinata in a hug, jumping slightly as she did so.
"It's gorgeous Hina-boo!" Sakura bubbled, squeezing her friend tightly. "It looks just like something a doll would wear!"
"Well yeah," Hinata laughed, squeezing her roommate back. "It's based off of Lolita, of course it's gonna look doll-y." The two grinned before turning to rush (as quickly as they could in their dresses) towards the remaining wardrobe wear Yoko's dress was kept. Hinata gingerly pulled it off of the rack of clothing and cradled it in her arms to the bathroom. Sakura tapped on the door and opened it as she stuck her head in.
"Yo, here's your costume!" She said brightly, withdrawing so Hinata could hand over the dress. Yoko took the dress carefully from Hinata, holding it away from the counter covered in various items of make-up and hung it on top of the door.
"Alright, gimme just a few more minutes," she called. "I gotta finish my make-up" Hinata and Sakura absently called back affirmation to her before turning back to the full length mirror on the wall again. After a few minutes the bathroom door opened up and Yoko stepped out, padding across the carpet to the mirror. Sakura and Hinata both stepped sideways to allow the elder girl to get a full view of herself.
Yoko's costume was the simplest of all three. It was a soft beige-y pink color, very thick to help fight off the cool air. It was a very simple British style waistcoat, with two pockets on the side. A short, fur trimmed shawl wrapped around her shoulders, giving the outfit a slight Russian and aristocratic look. A maroon bow held the shawl closed at the top.*** Yoko's black hair was curled gently and fell to the small of her back; a Russian white-furred cap sat atop her head.
Sakura thought to herself that Yoko really fit the aristocratic look. It was simple, efficient, and very elegant, a style that accentuated the older girl's personality. Yoko seemed to think so as well, for she gave a nod and a quick smile before turning to Hinata and giving her a hug.
"It's perfect!" Yoko exclaimed as she drew back. "Very nice." Hinata blushed at the praise and nodded shyly.
"Th-thanks." She breathed softly. "I'm glad you two like them!" Yoko grinned and patted Hinata's head before she walked over to her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of white winter boots with fur around the top. She slipped them over here white stockings and got back up.
"Ready to go then?" She asked, hands placing themselves on her hips.
"You bet!" Sakura chirped, running over to her very unmade bed and yanking the pillow out of its cover. She skipped back over to her roommates and smiled brightly.
"You're really taking a pillow case to carry candy in?" Hinata deadpanned. Sakura paused, placing her finger delicately on her bottom lip.
"Yep!"
"Whatever…"
oooooOOOOOooooo
Temari finished placing the purple wig in place, making sure that none of her honey blonde hair was peeking out of the hair net it had been forced in to. Satisfied with her reflection, she turned her attention to the annoying voice shouting at her from the other side of the locked bathroom door.
"OI! Temari! Quit hogging the damn bathroom! Some of us actually need to get ready!" Ino's perpetually annoying voice screeched over the loud bangs of her fist on the door. Temari sighed irritably, forcing down her rising temper. She honestly couldn't stand the Yamanaka brat. She was a spoiled, rich brat who was used to the ways of upper society and obviously had never been anything but an only child. Temari unlocked the door and threw it open, giving the annoying blonde her worst glare.
"Alright!" She yelled angrily. "Quit making such a racket, I'm out of the bathroom!" She crossed her arms across her chest and kept glaring. Ino had obviously stopped thinking for a moment because she was standing completely frozen, hand poised to bang on the door again and mouth hung open in surprise.
"What?" Temari snapped, tapping her foot impatiently. She had a pretty good idea at what had gotten the girl to shut up, but wasn't in the mood to not pick a fight with Ino. Temari didn't have long to wait before Ino shook herself out of her frozen stupor and smirked hotly at Temari.
"And what are you supposed to be?" She said smugly. Temari could feel the vein above her eyebrow begin to twitch in irritation.
"My costume," She ground out through her teeth. "Is an anime character. But of course," here, Temari smirked back. "You wouldn't know a damn thing about it, Princess." Ino tossed her long ponytail over her shoulder, brushing harshly past the senior on her way into the bathroom.
"Of course not," she drawled snobbishly. "I'm not one who indulges in such childish and incredibly stupid shows. I'm much too old for something for a child." With that, she closed the bathroom door in Temari's face. The older girl opened her mouth to shout something filled with several choice and profane words at the pompous bitch she had as a roommate when she was interrupted by a bored voice.
"You might as well give it a rest Tema-chan." Tenten said from her spot on her neatly made bed. The brunette had yet to change into her Halloween costume and was instead flipping through a martial arts magazine. Her brown hair was shockingly hanging loose and fell over the shoulders of the football jersey she wore. Temari raised her eyebrow delicately.
"I hope that's not you're costume," the senior said lightly. "Cuz if it is, it really sucks." Tenten looked up irately at Temari, snapping to the next page of her magazine.
"No, it's not." She lightly growled, eyeing Temari's costume as she said this. "I unfortunately am being forced to wear something else and would like to spend the least amount of time possible in it." Temari nodded with a knowing look after a moment.
"That blonde she-devil making you?" She asked, pitying welling up inside. Tenten scowled and went back to reading furiously.
"Yes." Temari shook her head sadly and went over to check her reflection in the full length mirror hanging beside Ino's bed. She admired her handiwork on the costume, glad that it looked rather decent for something that was handmade.
"I wish my costume was at least something like yours…" Tenten said wistfully behind her. Temari looked over her shoulder at the junior staring longingly at the bright orange shirt tied around Temari's torso.
"What is she making you go as?" She asked curiously. Tenten took on a pitiful look and just shook her head, obviously to stricken to admit her costume. Temari would have pressed the girl if not for Ino opening the door, dropping several items onto the floor outside with a loud clatter and just as quickly retreating behind the door again, locking the door with an audible click. Temari swore loudly and stomped over to the bathroom door, stooping to exam the various items of make-up, hairspray, and Temari's very expensive (and only) hair straightener. She straightened for a moment and angrily slammed her foot into the door, ignoring the stab of pain that shot through her toes as she yelled.
"I swear if you broke my straightener, I'm going to flat-iron that ugly maw you call your face! Do you have any idea how much this damn thing cost!" Temari aimed one more kick into the bottom of the door, absently wondering how it was still intact after her constant abuse throughout being roommates with Ino. She scooped up her things and stormed back to her bed, half throwing them down in frustration. Tenten was staring at the door, an unreadable expression on her face before she shook her head with a sigh.
"Stupid, prissy, ungrateful, fucking bitch…!" Temari muttered under her breath as she flopped onto a bean bag, arms and legs crossing tightly. The senior glared crossly at the floor. A moment later she heard a door open and looked up, ready to unleash her full wrath on Ino's pretty face. However, the figure walking into the room was not the object of the girl's irritation, but the unfortunate freshman that was forced to room with them. The younger girl quailed slightly under Temari's furious glare and flinched slightly when Temari spat crossly.
"What the hell do you want kid?" The girl stared slightly wide-eyed at Temari, a fact that annoyed her greatly.
"Well?" She drummed her fingers impatiently along her arm. Tenten looked up boredly from her magazine to see who the unfortunate recipient of Temari's temper was.
"Oi, give the kid a break Tem," Tenten said, casting an exasperated look in her direction. "I know you're pissed at Ino, but sheesh…" Temari shot a glare towards the brunette before scowling again.
"Whatever." She stated bluntly, glaring at the wall. She absently saw the freshman girl inching into the room and hurriedly grabbing something from her wardrobe. A slight tinge of guilt ate at Temari's consciousness for snapping at the girl. The unfortunate freshman had tried to be nice to her older roommates and was obviously uncomfortable with the living arrangements, especially once she discovered that Ino and Temari hated each other with a very livid passion. The girl usually kept out of the room and rarely was there if she wasn't sleeping, and even then she looked as if she'd rather be elsewhere. Casting a seemingly indifferent glance in the girl's direction, Temari nonchalantly tried to make conversation with her out of pity.
"So, are you getting a costume for the Halloween party…?" She asked lightly. Their roommate didn't respond and Temari was about to snap at her again when realization dawned on her. The girl probably had no idea that she was the one being addressed.
"Oi, kid," Temari said louder, turning her head to look at the freshman fully this time. The girl seemed to realize that she was indeed being spoken to and turned around to look at Temari apprehensively.
"Y-yeah…?" She asked, eyes not meeting the older girl's.
"I asked if you were getting your Halloween costume for the party." The girl nodded her head after a moment, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Temari wasn't any better off, suddenly stricken with the awkwardness of it.
"So, uh…What is it?" Temari's eyes flicked over to the wall, trying to continue their line of conversation. The girl shyly complied by holding up the bundle of clothing in her arms, the cloth tumbling down.
"It's supposed to be an Alice in Wonderland costume…" The girl said shyly. Temari looked over the costume, which consisted of a blue and white short dress with a checker board print underneath the skirt, the ends of a black laces petticoat peeking out from underneath. A pair of black and white striped stockings was in one of the girl's hands as well. Temari smiled slightly and gave the girl a nod.
"I like Alice in Wonderland, it was a good movie."
The girl smiled shyly in return and began scuffing her feet slightly. After a few minutes of awkward silence in which Temari returned to staring at the wall, the girl's quiet voice spoke up.
"So, um, w-what are you supposed to be?" Temari looked over to the girl, surprise lighting up her features. It took her a moment to reply.
"Yoruichi." She answered blankly. She shook her head and elaborated. "She's a character from an anime I like." The girl nodded in response, a soft "oh" dying on her lips. A few more seconds of awkward silence passed before the bathroom door was suddenly opened. All three girls looked up to see their fourth roommate step out of the bathroom, adjusting her costume.
"Ah hell nah." Ino's head jerked up as the words left Temari's lips, shooting an irritated glare towards her.
"What's your problem, Sabaku?" the blonde snapped, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder. Temari stared pointedly at Ino's outfit for a moment before a smirk graced her lips.
"Actually, no," she said airily. "It rather suits you." Ino placed her hands on her hips, continuing to level an icy glare.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" She ground out. Temari appraised the other girls' costume again.
"Well, you act like a whore half the time, so you dressing up like a playboy bunny makes sense." A coughing sound caught the two girls' attention and they looked over to see Tenten with her fist half shoved into her mouth, eyes screwed shut tightly. Ino sent a glare towards her friend before huffing and turning towards her bed. At that moment, the blonde caught sight of the newest arrival standing completely still, eyes widened to the point of comedic horror at Ino's costume. Ino pointedly looked the girl up and down.
"Who are you and why are you in here?" She stated rather rudely to the girl, foot beginning to tap impatiently at the girl's lack of response. Tenten had managed to get over her fit and sat up on her elbows, giving Ino a blank stare.
"Dude, she's our roommate." Ino blinked and stared at the girl again.
"We had another roommate?" Temari rolled her eyes. Leave it to that ditz to forget something like another roommate.
"She's hardly ever in here because she doesn't want to listen to you bitch all the time." Temari smirked, enjoying the scowl that marred Ino's face.
"Please," Ino retorted. "She's probably terrified of you and your overbearing rudeness. Maybe if you didn't look so damn rough and creepy all the time, she'd actually be able to stay in here." Temari's smirk was replaced by an angry glare as she sat up straighter. She was about to yell back that Ino could take her opinion and shove it up her trampy ass when their younger roommate cut in.
"Er, actually, it's both of you. You guys are kind of annoying when you start fighting and all. I can't do any homework and you both come off as rather overbearing and bitchy." The whole room was dead silent for a few heartbeats as they stared at the freshman girl kicking her heels against the floor.
Without warning, Tenten and Temari erupted into roars of laughter. Ino whirled around with an offended look on her face, storming back towards the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her. Temari managed to cough out between fits of laughter at the girl who now stood there awkwardly, looking for the entire world like she wanted to just sink through the floorboards at that moment.
"Ya-ya know, kid," Temari giggled. "You're not half-bad for a-for a freshie!"
oooooOOOOOooooo
"Oi, Gaara! Get out of the bathroom!" Kankurou shouted as he pounded on the door. It had been twenty minutes and the brooding red head still hadn't finished getting ready. Naruto really didn't pay much more attention to the older brunette yelling at the door as he sat trying to wriggle away from the teenager before him.
"Sit still Dickless, this won't take long." Sai said monotonously, reaching forward again with one hand, a brush in the other.
"Noooo…!" Naruto whined, leaning as far away from the other boy as he could. "You're gonna put weird stuff on my face!" Kiba turned around in his desk chair and chuncked a rolled up object at Naruto.
"OI! Shut up and let him do whatever it is he's supposed to be doing!" The Inuzuka boy said loudly. Naruto glared over at his friend, scooping up Kiba's rolled up socks and flinging them back.
"No."
"Dickless, do you want to have a good Halloween costume or not?" Sai asked boredly. Naruto looked helplessly at him, head finally bowing in defeat.
"Fine." The black haired boy held up Naruto's head and after staring thoughtfully at it for a moment, began to brush the make-up paint onto it. Naruto scrunched his face as he felt the cold, sticky substance touch his skin and he tried to pull away. Sai's grip on the top of his head tightened, however, preventing the blonde boy from squirming away. Finally the boy seemed satisfied with his handiwork and released Naruto's head, leaning back to give the face paint one final look.
"That should do it." Sai stated bluntly as he stood up. Naruto jumped up with a relieved shout, rushing over to the bathroom door. He tripped over his foot and nearly fell headfirst into the wood, managing to catch himself by slamming his hands against the door.
"OIGAARAGETOUTOFTHEBATHROOM!" Naruto shouted in one breath, pounding on the door. Said door suddenly swung open and an irritated, dead-white Gaara glared out from the door frame.
".?" Gaara dropped each word in his gravely, low voice. Naruto paused for a moment, taking in the boy's appearance. A moment later he was bouncing into the bathroom, shouting excitedly and asking what Gaara was supposed to be. To Kankurou's amazement, Gaara didn't throw something at the over reactive Uzumaki boy, and instead calmly told him that he was a vampire. Naruto paused once more and stared thoughtfully off into space.
"It fits." He declared with a decisive nod, whirling around to view his reflection in the mirror above the single sink. He shouted in surprise and awe as he saw what it was that Sai had painted on his face. The young artist had painted Naruto's lips black and thickening the whisker markings on his face. Sai had then painted around the edge of Naruto's face in red and black, making it appear as if there was a dark skin of blood reaching up to cover his features. The red, cat-like contacts that they had spent most of the afternoon trying to get in his eyes along with his hair being forced to lay down by copious amounts of hair gel gave Naruto a wild, feral look. A little case with four fake fangs to complete the look rested on the corner of the sink, his name scrawled across it in black sharpie. Together with the orange, white-tipped ears that went with the ensemble, Naruto's costume would resemble a fox.
The idea for the costume had surprisingly come from Sai. The other boy had said that because Naruto was born on the Night of the Kyuubi, it made him the most reasonable choice to dress up like the Kyuubi, an entity known for its foxlike appearance. Naruto, even more surprisingly, thought the idea was brilliant and went along with it. He could care less if anyone gave him disapproving looks for his costume idea; this was a costume too good to pass up.
With a grin, Naruto placed the artificial fangs into his mouth and dashed out of the bathroom, sliding across the carpet in his socks to where Sai was sitting picking up his make-up kit. A few feet away from the black haired boy, Naruto let his momentum carry him tumbling to the ground, tackling the other boy with a loud yelp.
"THANKYOUITLOOKSAWESOME!" Naruto yelled at the top of his voice, completely oblivious to the very disturbed looks he was receiving. Sai managed to push Naruto out to arm's length and held him there, eyeing him widely.
"Don't ever do that again." He stated bluntly. "And don't move around so much or rub your face. You'll mess it all up before it dries." Naruto nodded vigorously, grin plastered across his features as he jumped up and looked around for something to do. His now bright red eyes fell upon the furry white mass next to Kiba who was fixing something onto its head. Naruto walked over to get a better look at Akamaru.
"So what are you two supposed to be?" he asked, bending down to get a good look at the giant dog. A black diamond shape had been painted on to the center of Akamaru's forehead and each of his paws had been dipped into black paint. Two stripes were added to his bushy white tail as well. Kiba sat back, finished with attaching a pair of black ears to the top of Akamaru's head.
"Well, I'm supposed to be a demon slayer, and Akamaru here is that cat thing from Inuyasha." The brunette said absentmindedly, messing with the fake ears again. Naruto nodded, not really sure what Kiba was talking about, but pretended like he did nonetheless. The blonde looked over at Kiba to examine his costume. The other teenager was wearing a full body black suit with simple yellow-green armor covering his elbows and torso, tied together with green ribbon. Naruto let his attention wander around the room again, trying to get a better look at everyone's costumes. His red lensed eyes fell on the form of the other brunette across the room, lounging in a chair with his feet up on a cluttered desk. Naruto looked closely at the intricate costume he was wearing, trying to figure out who he was supposed to be.
Kankuro was wearing a black jacket that had a double row of silver buttons running down the front, with a silver broach on the left side that had a chain reaching over to the other, connecting it to three black roses. The white under shirt had an upturned collar with a black ribbon tied around it and the ends poofed out of the jacket's sleeves and back, long and ruffled. The boy was also wearing a pair of black shorts that ended just above his knees and grey knee high socks with a pair of fancy black shoes that looked like the belonged in a time period way before the present.
To top of the outfit, he was wearing a black high top hat, tied with a black sash and adorned with two black roses. Naruto could barely see the black eye patch over his right eye. He thought at first that Kankuro was dressed as a pirate due to the eye patch, but thought that the costume was too dressy to be that. Kankuro was twirling a black cane through black gloved hands and the blonde noticed a blue ring flashing on his thumb. Naruto continued to scrutinize the costume but finally gave up.
"Oi, who are you supposed to be anyway?" Naruto asked. Kankuro looked up boredly and pointed to himself silently after a few seconds. Naruto nodded slowly, matching the boy's expression evenly.
"I'm supposed to be a puppeteer, but it ended up looking more like Ceil Phantomhive from Kuroshitsuji." Naruto stared blankly at the older teen's response. A few moments, the name clicked.
"Oh wait, you mean the blue-haired kid from the show that Sakura and Hinata-chan are obsessed with?"
"…Yes." Kankuro replied. Naruto nodded in understanding, going back to looking around the room. Gaara had left the bathroom about the same time as Naruto had and was now laying on his bed staring boredly (murderously in Naruto's opinion) at the ceiling. The door to the bathroom opened up and Naruto looked over to see Sai emerging dressed in an elegant butler's costume. Naruto noted the dark red contacts Sai was now wearing.
"And you are…?"
"A butler." Naruto blanched at the simple reply.
"Well I know that."
"Then why did you ask? Do I need to change your nickname from 'dickless' to 'brainless'?" A vein twitched above Naruto's right eye as he stared through narrow eyes at the black haired boy. Sai just smiled and kept going.
"If you must know, it was Sakura-chan's idea. Well, it was really mine, but Sakura helped and took all the credit." Naruto shook his head after a while.
"Whatever…" the blonde muttered crossly. "Are you guys ready or what?"
"Sure." Kankuro got up and stretched leisurely, looking around the room in expectation for the others. Sai walked towards the door as Kiba stood as well and hopped on to Akamaru's back. Naruto followed Kankuro to the door and cast a look over his shoulder, making sure the final room member was following as well. A moment passed before Naruto broke the short silence.
"'The hell'd Gaara go?"
Four heads looked back into the room with curious looks plastered on their faces. Silently, they all studied the room but found no signs of the brooding ginger anywhere. They all stepped back inside, different levels of scowls crossing their features as they looked for the missing boy. After a few minutes of calling and looking under piles of clothing, the boys were surprised by a dark voice coming from the doorway.
"What are you morons doing?" The four boys looked up in shock.
They hadn't noticed Gaara leave the room.
oooooOOOOOooooo
Neji sighed irately, wishing for all the world that he didn't have such an irksome roommate. Really, it was unbelievable the amount of idiocy that the other junior possessed. The Hyuuga rubbed his temples, trying to rid himself of the oncoming headache that he felt.
"You are not seriously considering wearing that embarrassing costume in public are you?" Lee turned back towards the brown haired teen at the sound of his irritated voice.
"Of course!" Lee nearly yelled, a grin flashing across his face, eyes peering out from underneath his shaggy black hair. Neji subconsciously wished for eternal damnation on the hairstyle; in his opinion, it was not fit for a man to hide his face underneath unkempt hair. He wished not for the first time that Lee hadn't listened to that annoying pink haired girl and let her change his appearance. The black haired boy turned around, grabbing the end of his cape and swirling it around behind him dramatically.
Neji rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to slam his head against the wall. He couldn't believe that Lee was seriously going to go along with the others' plan of attending the school's Halloween party and going out trick-or-treating as well. Not to mention he was going to go dressed as a superhero. A mumbled voice spoke to Neji, followed by the sound of a crinkling chip bag.
"Ah, lighten up a bit Neji-san." Chouji said from where he perched on his crumb covered bed, a bag of BBQ chips clasped tightly in his fingers. Neji eyed the younger, brown haired boy, who happily ignored the Hyuuga and continued to eat. The Akamichi boy was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a yellow shirt, with a green sleeveless jacket. His shoes were opened toed sandals that looked to have some kind of clawed animal's "foot" around them. Neji cleared his throat and asked as delicately as he could.
"And what exactly are you supposed to be?" Neji said through slightly clenched teeth, trying to be a cordial as he could to the younger teen. Chouji looked up at the Hyuuga boy and tilted his head to the side, a few chips held between his teeth.
"I'm a bear." Neji stopped at the short reply. A bear? Why anyone would choose that as a Halloween costume was beyond him. So Neji settled for a shake of his head and turned his pale white gaze over to the figure stretched out on the neighboring, unmade bed, a shogi book across his face.
"Please tell me that you, of all people, are not joining in on this ridiculous holiday." He asked sardonically, hoping that his so called "genius" roommate was more mature than the other two. Unfortunately, his hopes were crushed when a bored, muffled voice spoke from under the book.
"It's troublesome, but yes, I am." Chouji laughed lightly and stuffed another handful of chips in his mouth.
"Yeah, his girlfriend is making him come. She even got him to dress up!" Neji felt his eyebrow twitch. He didn't particularly like the eldest transfer student from Suna, preferring Shikamaru's old girlfriend, Ino, more. At least she had decent manners, unlike Temari who was crude and never could quite understand that as a girl, there were some things she couldn't do. Quite similar to another girl he knew…
Neji was broken from his absent reverie by Lee standing very close to him, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Yoohoo, Neji-san, are you in there?" Lee asked in a slight sing-song voice, staring curiously into the Hyuuga's face. Neji jerked back, slightly disturbed by the close proximity. Lee seemed unperturbed by Neji's reaction and a bright grin broke across his face.
"Oh, good, you're okay." Neji scowled at the other junior, crossing his arms across his chest.
"What do you want now?" He asked, annoyance clearly flickering across his face. Lee tilted his head and stared at Neji.
"Well, you kinda got that vacant look you get when you're either thinking really hard or thinking about Tenten." Neji spluttered slightly at the offhanded comment and felt his cheeks warm slightly.
"I was not thinking about that annoying girl." He spat out, recovering slightly. Lee just grinned ever wider.
"Suuure…" He said sarcastically, turning towards the door. "Anyway, we're gonna be late meeting up with everyone. You sure you don't want to come, Neji-san?"
"Yes, I am perfectly sure." The brunette bit out sharply, moving to sit down at his desk. Chouji shrugged and got up, nudging Shikamaru lightly as he did so.
"Suit yourself then Hyuuga," he said as he walked towards the door, grabbing a furry hat topped with bear ears and putting it on his head. "Guess you won't get to see what Tenten's costume is. I hear it's gonna turn some heads at the party." Neji pretended to ignore his roommates, trying not to worry about what kind of costume the dun-headed girl would wear that could possibly make people look at her in any way.
"What is Tenten's costume anyway?" Lee asked curiously, closing the door behind him. Just before it clicked shut, Neji caught Shikamaru's lazy, irritated voice answering bluntly.
"Catwoman."*
For the second time that night, Neji Hyuuga lost his composure, sputtering wildly as he nearly choked on his own spit. He tried to quickly erase the onslaught of images of Tenten wearing such an outfit. There was no way in Hell, even if said place was frozen over, that Tenten would ever allow herself to wear something like that. Honestly, whose idea was it to subject the poor sophomore to that kind of scrutiny? A few seconds later he was walking swiftly down the hallway, an irritated expression on his face as he told the other three to hurry up. He completely missed the three smirks aimed at his back.
oooooOOOOOooooo
Sasuke stood in front of his bathroom mirror, attempting to flatten the back of his hair. He had been trying unsuccessfully for the past half hour. With a sigh, he gave up and wandered back into his room. The black haired teen stood in the middle of the slightly messy room, looking around and trying to think of an excuse to get out of going to the Halloween party that Suigetsu and Karin had insisted on dragging him to. When nothing came to him, he let out another exasperated sigh and left his room, closing the door behind him. As he stepped out into the hallway, Suigetsu came out across the hall, attempting to fix a black tie around his neck.
Sasuke arched a delicate eyebrow and glanced at his "brother's" attire. The white haired boy was dressed in a black pinstriped suit, a solid red shirt underneath. His normally well-kept hair was tousled and spiked to the side, reminding Sasuke irritably of an old teacher he knew. Suigetsu glared angrily at the offending tie gripped tightly in his hands and swore under his breath, giving up on attempting to tie it. Sasuke rolled his eyes, going over to Karin's room and kicking the bottom edge of the door.
"Are you ready yet? I want to get this over with." The young teen called irritably through the door. He backed away as the door knob turned and swung open. Sasuke flinched as his eyes were assaulted by an overbearing amount of red. He absently heard Suigetsu utter a shocked 'woah' as the two stared at Karin's costume.
The red head had left her hair down, new extensions evening out the hairstyle until it reached to her knees. She was wearing her favorite pair of black shorts that hardly could be deemed as such, and a pair of knee-high, open toed boots. Her shirt consisted of something that appeared to be a cross between a maid and a butler's shirt, and a bright red jacket hung loosely off her elbows. A pair of black gloves covered her hands. Her normally black rimmed glasses were now blood red and a small skull-decorated chain connected the legs to each other around her neck. She caught Sasuke staring in mild surprise at the extremely different costume and smiled coyly.
"You like?" She purred. "I thought I'd try something different this year." She sauntered out in to the hallway, ignoring Suigetsu's presence entirely as she steeped closer to Sasuke.
"Are you not dressing up?" She pouted lightly. Sasuke's eye twitched slightly at her annoying tone.
"No." He said bluntly, stepping away and heading past her. "Help Suigetsu fix that stupid tie of his." He commanded as he half stomped towards Jugo's room. He was a few feet away when Suigetsu's voice stopped him.
"He's not going to come out of there, so don't bother." Sasuke cast a bored glance over his shoulder. Suigetsu was standing slightly bent over, face fixated on Sasuke intently. Karin was standing slightly on her toes, hands frozen in the middle of fixing the tie around Suigetsu's neck, head craned around to stare at him as well. The black haired boy shrugged and turned away from the door, heading to the other end of the hallway.
"Whatever." Was all he said before disappearing around the corner. As he was walking away, he heard Suigetsu wondering out loud to himself.
"Wonder what Juugo does in there all the time."
"Who knows." Came Karin's sardonic reply. A few moments of silence passed before it was broken again.
"Ya know, Juugo's been living with us longer than I can remember, and I don't think we've ever seen the inside of his room."
"Fascinating… There, it's fixed." Sasuke heard footsteps following him as he entered the living room, picking his shoes up from beside the couch. He would never admit it out loud, but Suigetsu had a bit of a point. In all the years that Sasuke had been living with them, he had never gone into Juugo's room, or even caught a glimpse inside of it since the door was always closed. Come to think of it, Sasuke couldn't remember ever wanting to go in the other's room. It was as if the subject of the room had been taboo to them all from the very start.
The black haired teenager shook himself from his thoughts. It didn't matter to him that Juugo was secretive and hardly social. He himself had his secrets and (for good reasons) hardly interacted with people. He knew how irritating it was to have people invading on his life, especially when you lived with someone like Karin. So he would leave Juugo to his habits and not dwell on the curiosities.
He had a party to suffer through.
oooooOOOOOooooo
A sharp, icy wind blew far above Konoha's glittering lights. It's blustering dance blew back Mouse's bangs and caused her jacket to whip around behind her with loud, snapping sounds. The lights from the skyscraper beneath her cast shadows over her animal mask. Mouse currently stood atop one of Konoha's prominent business corporations, arms crossed tightly across her chest as she looked across the empty air in front of her at their target. She tried to push back the anxiety gnawing at her stomach by reviewing their carefully constructed plan one last time. It was simple, get in, grab the item, and get the hell out. Of course, there was a hell of a mess of complicated details in there too.
Mouse wanted to get this over with. It was bad enough that they were wasting time and possibly lives for this mission, now she had some unexplainable anxiety to deal with. Well, it wasn't exactly unexplainable.
Halloween was one of Mouse's least favorite holidays. It wasn't the holiday itself per se, just the fact that for some reason, people chose that night of all nights to cause a shitload of mischief.
Vampires were no exception.
Actually, they were the exact reason why Mouse hated this holiday so much. Just the thought of all the damage that could be done while they were busy here sent her insides coiling tightly.
She couldn't explain why, but it was as if all vampires had this unexplained urge to be more active on Halloween. They suddenly became more viscous, violent, and bold. It wasn't a surprise that more people tended to die on Halloween night in Konoha. It also didn't help that most of Akatsuki was actually an organization made up almost entirely of vampires. All of the undead members felt the sudden urge to rend flesh and bone in the most violent manner possible whenever this particular holiday rolled around. It also made delicate missions such as this difficult. If they weren't careful and got into any fights, a lot of people could end up dying quite painfully tonight.
Mouse was brought out of her dark, clouded thoughts as she felt a shift in the air behind her, as if the very space itself were condensing in on itself. Without turning around, Mouse waited for Crow to finish materializing. She kept her eyes glued to the builing across from her perch as the other girl stepped closer and delivered her message.
"Everything is ready, taichou."
Mouse let out a deep breath, running through the plan one final time and straightening her spine. It was time. She reached up to her neck, brushing her fingers across a thin chain as she pressed a button on her communication collar.
"Alright. Move out."
PHEW! FINALLY! I'm done with this stupid chapter! It took me over 16 pages to get this all out, and it's only over 7,000 words. :'( I'm sooo glad I managed to update this, finally. It's kinda more of a filler thing than anything else, which I really don't want to complain about. I leave whatever happens to everyone on Halloween night up to your imaginations. Besides, this holiday really wasn't supposed to be centered around these guys!
Hopefully I can get everything finished so I'll be right on track with the story!
Thanks for all the great reviews I've been getting, they're what gives me my motivation! You know the drill! ;)
~Cherry