Edit: November 1st, 2016
Yeah, I just said fuck it, let me take down the old crappy chapters. This is getting ridiculous.
As are my apparent absences, for which I am sorry. The last time I updated was back in May, and it's been almost six months since then. Butt the good news is, between then and now, I got two chapters done to my liking and have the third halfway done. Hence the reason I took down all the old crappy chapters. It would be confusing to keep them up.
And now, I will let you continue to the better version of this story.
Disclaimer time: andikwazi mna Naruto (Xhosa)
"Hey Piggy-chan, can you get me a red bobbin?" Tenten didn't even bother to look up from the crimson dress she was working on as she called out over the noise of the machines. Said blonde looked up at the dress Tenten was working on and reached over to pluck a matching bobbin off the rack behind her. She tossed it over with a noncommittal 'here' and went back to folding the newly altered sundress in front of her. Tenten caught the airborne bobbin and set it down next to her for when she was ready to switch.
"Tenten, these aren't due for another week. No need to slave over them now," Hinata softly chided aforementioned bun-haired girl as she continued to take stock of their materials.
It was a Friday, and a new set of clothes had come in to be altered. The woman was picky, marking and pinning things in the way she wanted. Sure, the alterations were fairly simple, but the woman herself was adamant about fitting them every day to make sure that the clothes were to her liking. Today would mark the third day Tenten had to fix the hemming of this dress again, in particular. And as it was the only other project that the shop had seen since the suits, the girls were both glad to have something to do and harried at their customer's finicky nature.
"Yeah, but I swear Hina-chan, if Karen asks me to alter this one more time I'm gonna-" She stopped herself and ground her teeth together as she lifted the foot of the sewing machine a bit harder than was necessary, making the metal give a sharp tack as it hit the body of the machine.
"We know, Tennie, just chill. If she wants it done again, I'll take it from you." Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's overreaction, snapping a clothing bag off the hook behind her. "She has great taste in style, but she just buys things that don't suit her."
And it was true. All of the clothes that Ino had folded up over the past two days suited Karen perfectly once the finishing touches were added. But some of the patterns were questionable at best, Ino felt. Like that cheetah-slash-tiger print top. The cut and style looked great, but really? Cheetah and tiger? It would have looked better in soft pastels.
"Great taste in style my ass," Tenten grumbled as she spun the red dress around. "The other three are lucky they have school today." She would do anything to be solving algebraic equations instead of seeing more red fabric. Hell, even history sounded better than undoing the work she had just completed yesterday. It was like running and getting nowhere fast.
"Relax darling, it-" Hinata trailed off as the bell for the front door sounded. She put a smile on her face and went to the front to greet their newest customer. "Hello! How may we help you … today…"
Both Ino and Tenten looked up and through the open security door to see what had caused Hinata to fall silent and were stunned to see a shopping cart piled high with bags of clothes being rolled in. Stiletto heels clicked on the linoleum floor, and a flash of red hair appeared from behind the mountain of cloth.
"What a tacky little shop," Karin drawled, pushing her glasses up. Crimson eyes flashed over the unimpressed faces of the three girls in front of her. "And less could be said of the occupants."
"Karin. How wonderful of you to stop by today. How are you doing?" Ino plastered on a fake smile and coated her voice with so much sugar you could swear she had just eaten a jar of molasses. Still, it wasn't enough to mask the contempt swirling around in her ice-blue eyes. She really disliked this girl. Karin sniffed at the obvious distaste and threw her hair back.
"I'm doing wonderful, why thank you for asking! Now, about my clothes? I recently lost a bit of weight, so everything needs to be fitted." Karin fluttered her eyelashes, a snide smirk sliding across her face. Ino barely resisted glaring at her from behind the main counter; the only reason she didn't was because it looked as though Karin was a customer, and like Sakura's aunt before them, the shop welcomed any customer, no matter the personal history. Ino found herself wishing they could break that rule just this once.
"Of course, Karin." Hinata easily stepped in and played peacemaker. "But you do realize that you should be in school right now, yes? If we were to start now, you wouldn't make it back in time for that Global History test we have this afternoon."
Hinata hoped that Karin would take the bait and not remember that the test was actually next Friday.
To the girls' chagrin, Karin rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip in defiance. "So what? I can just pay Danzo off later to let me pass. Now, start writing this down, I have a few things I want done here."
Hinata could feel the two girls besides her bristle as the redhead started to rattle off a myriad of instructions and directions and specifications and the like. Not good. If Karin kept this up, an all-out war would start. Not to mention that with this pile of clothes, they would be working morning to night for the next month!
"Oh, and I need them all by Monday."
Well, that was beyond impossible.
"Karin, you do realize that with the amount of clothes you bought that it would take all six of us until next Wednesday to complete right?" Tenten's voice was calm but tight, as though she was in physical pain. No doubt from trying to not slaughter the redhead.
Karin, in turn, just shrugged. "You're not there half of the time anyway. So what?"
Hinata's eyes were drawn to a movement outside the shop. A sleek black limo had pulled up to the curb, the windows tinted black, its engine purring softly. Six figures stepped out, and Hinata found her mouth dry, no matter how many times she swallowed. The tiny bell sounded as the figures opened the door and stepped in.
The blonde gave Karin a slightly sour look. "I hope you aren't overloading these three girls with your entire wardrobe. They're supposed to be doing out suits."
Karin blanched as she froze in place. Slowly, she turned the slightest bit to find the owner of the loud voice. Ino, Hinata, and Tenten nearly laughed outright as Karin staggered back and sagged against the counter.
There, in their little seamstress shop, was LightningStrike in all their glory.
"Y-you're L-Li-Light-" Karin looked about ready to faint, not even able to complete a coherent sentence. Her knuckles were white where they gripped the counter. The blonde who had spoken before raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Yeah, we're LightningStrike, now can you take your clothes and leave so we can get ours?"
That seemed to wake up Karin. She went from awe-struck and silent to star-truck and squealing in the blink of an eye. Two dark-haired boys at the end of the line of males rolled their eyes. The one with his hair slicked back reached for the shopping cart and swung it around to face the door to the shop while the other held it open while motioning to the limo out front to move. The first male gave Karin a look.
Karin's face, interestingly, matched her hair as she stumbled to take hold of the cart and wheel it out of the small store, seemingly forgetting her contempt for the three females behind her.
"Well, that was…interesting. I wonder what her problem was." The pale boy with black hair slicked down questioned to no one in particular as he stared after the girl. Some of the other males scoffed or laughed in amusement.
"I guess that's one way to put it," the other black-haired male responded.
The males turned back to Ino, Hinata, and Tenten, each party regarding the other in silence.
Well, until the blonde spoke again.
"So do you know where the lady who's supposed to be doing our clothes is?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking around as if to find said 'lady' among the racks of clothing. It ticked Ino off something fierce.
"Yeah, we do know where they are," she drawled out, a hand on her hip. "Three of them are standing right in front of you!" She took the moment of stunned silence to take a good look at the six boys. One caught her eye; partially because he was gorgeous as hell (they all were, in their own way), but mostly because he had the same pale eyes as Hinata. 'Hmmm… I wonder…'
Tenten got over her initial fangirling side and sauntered up besides Ino, jumping up to sit on the counter with ease. "Yeah, and we do know where your suits are. But, see, the thing is we can't get to them." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, towards the back room. "They're locked up back there, and the other three girls who helped make them have the key. Unfortunately for you, they won't be back for at least another few hours."
"I guess it can't be helped," a third male drawled, with a mumbled 'troublesome' under his breath. "I'll be waiting in the limo; give me a call when the other girls get back." He suppressed a yawn and turned to leave, but the boy with curly-brown hair and deep teal eyes slung an arm around the other's neck, effectively making him stay put.
"Sorry about him. Do you mind if we wait in here?" He gave the girls a charming half-smile.
"Of course we don't mind," Hinata jumped in just as Ino was about to harass them more. She enjoyed raking that blonde male across the coals too much, it seemed. "Besides," she hissed at her friends, "it would be better if you kept out of sight, since I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Karin just mass-texted everyone on campus about you being here. And I bet everyone will find a way out of the last two or so hours of class to crash here looking for you all."
Ino and Tenten burst out laughing at how fast the band's faces drained of color.
"Come on in the back, you guys," Tenten chuckled, letting them file behind the counter. "It'll be easier for us to make them leave if you aren't seen."
Ino opened the security door leading to the back rooms, where she gave the males strict instructions to not touch a single thread, or else she would gut them like stuffed pigs and use them as mannequins. And on that happy note, she gave them a saccharine smile and closed the door almost all the way. Wouldn't do for them to feel trapped or claustrophobic, now would it?
"She is scary," Naruto murmured, trying and failing to hold back a shudder. The others nodded in agreement.
The back room was an explosion of color, bright enough to make their eyes water. Rack upon rack of fabric was stacked up high on the walls, and even more were placed across the floor, creating aisles and corridors that wound around the large room. The smell of cotton and linen permeated everything, and right in the center of the room were six sewing machines situated around a large hexagonal table, lit up under a large floodlight.
"Where do you suppose the actual owner of the shop is?" Neji asked as he browsed the various assortments of trimmings and tapes. All he received were various intonations of 'I don't know' or the like. Shikamaru looked over from his perch at one of the machines and scratched his head.
"Tsunade said that the girls made the suits, so they aren't the owners, I don't think. Even still, they're awful young to be working at all."
Naruto spun around on his heel, nearly knocking over a tray of pins. "Whadda mean, they made the suits?" Sai gave the blonde a condescending look.
"Did you forget? Or did you just not pay attention?" He got a semi-light punch on the shoulder for that.
Naruto sniffed. "Not my fault that I hate fittings. They suck."
"While I don't disagree with you," Kenji replied, "It would be in your best interest to pay attention more often than not. It avoids misunderstandings like these."
Sasuke, meanwhile, had edged towards the door the group had come from. It was open the slightest bit, and he could just hear he snippets of conversation between the girls out front.
"Hey Hyuuga, is that girl your sister or something?"
"Hmm?" Neji came over and peered through the door. "…No, she's my cousin." He didn't sound all that impressed or particularly enthused to pursue the topic, so Sasuke let the matter drop.
"Oh yeah, the pale-eyed girl, right? She's a cutie." Naruto clearly didn't get the hint, and received a harsh glare from said cousin. Which, of course, got both Sasuke and Shikamaru interested. Well, this was a curious development. As far as the rest of the band knew, Neji was an only child, and an orphan at that, with no relation to any extended family.
"Let it go, Naruto," Shikamaru warned. And not a moment too soon, since the blonde idiot finally clued in on the murder intent coming from their backup guitarist and backed away slightly.
"Dobe," Sasuke muttered, turning away from the enraged Hyuuga and leaned on the wall.
Kenji took a seat next to Shikamaru. "So why do you think three girls are here, three girls are out, and there's no legal adult to be found?"
Shikamaru sighed and scratched his head again. It was a puzzle, and it was going to bother him for a long time if he didn't figure it out. "I assume that the shop can't be left alone, so any workers here for the day would split up if an errand needed to be run. Although I can't imagine any extremely cumbersome order that would require three females to retrieve it. If it was that large of an order, it would be delivered here. And if not, then one girl should have been able to get it, no problem. As for the whereabouts of the owner…" he shrugged. "Who can say? It's not our place to pry."
The sound of the bell on the front door sounding caught the band's attention.
"Where are they?"
"Ohmygosh, I just have to get Naruto's autograph!"
"Bring them out!"
"I wanna hear them sing!"
"I must see Sasuke!"
"Just one kiss from Shikamaru! Please!"
And that just spelled trouble.
A/N: So just on the off chance any of you care about my absence (you were worried about me or you wanted to know what was so important that I just dropped off the face of the earth), in the past few months I've graduated from high school, signed up to be a voter in the state of New York, got my learner's permit, moved into my college dorm, and so far am doing admirably in college.
The last reason is mainly why I haven't been writing much lately. I procrastinated during the summer, and now have no time too really sit down and focus on my stories. If you follow me, you'll probably realize that I stopped updating my longer stories and for the most part put out oneshots that only take an hour or two to write. The only exception is A Compendium of Inspired Activity, which is just a little short poem here or there.
All the same, your patience with me and your ongoing support is always loved. Thank you all! Please favorite, review, follow, and I'll see you all later! Stay safe everyone!