Update: 12.4.2016
So I'm back! An it's only been a month this time lol!
But seriously, Guest, you spammed me so much in one day I just had to oblige you! I don't think you guys realize how happy I get when I get reviews. It's like an assurance that I don't suck and that my writing is still interesting.
And the end of my first college semester approaches! Finals is in like a week, and then I'm on my way back home for Christmas and New Years. My one regret for this semester was that I didn't leave campus that much. Spent too much time in my dorm studying and the like. I went out for the first time yesterday to do some early gift shopping at this little village, and apparently there was a festival going on. That was way cool, seeing everyone dressed up like characters from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The only downside was that it took the bus over two hours to show up! But it's all good, I'm back now.
Anyways, this is an early Christmas present to all of you! Keep being awesome and review me guys! It motivates me like nothing else!
Disclaimer: আমি নিজের না Naruto (Phonetic translation: Āmi nijēra nā Naruto) (Bangali)
Ino scowled. It was way too loud.
The small shop had been overrun with LightningStrike fans, bodies crushed into the small space in the front from the counter to the door, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the wall Ino could only see more people. Cameras were out, phones were held aloft, and the screaming was unbearable.
Hinata gave her friend a wary sidelong glance, despite understanding where she came from. It was not a pretty thing when Ino got upset.
Ino got scary when Ino got upset.
Said blonde decided that it was time to clean house. Climbing up on top of the counter, she gave everyone a heated glare. "What the hell are you doing in my shop?"
A brunette a little ways from the counter was dumb enough to answer. "Karin said that LightningStrike was here!"
The resulting scream made the windows rattle and a pulsing vein appear on Ino's forehead.
"What's your point? Half of you should be in school, and the other half of you have lives that don't include crowding my shop!"
Apparently stupidity was catching, since someone else answered. "What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school too?"
Tenten vaulted up onto the counter next, snarling. Where Ino got pissed and vocal, Tenten got pissed and physical. "I swear to high heaven, if you all don't clear out now, you're going to get it!" Only a few people got the idea and left, but not many. Tenten still had a yardstick in her hand, and was on the verge of whacking people over the head with it.
And now Hinata had to intervene, before Ino and Tenten did something stupid. So she clambered up next to her friends and took a hard grip on their wrist to keep them from killing someone. She slipped into what the others had dubbed her 'scary teacher' persona and gave the crowd a cool glare.
"The three of us have express permission to attend to the shop today. You, on the other hand, do not. And as the people running the shop today, we will enforce the law that non-customers are not allowed on the premises should they cause a disruption. And you are all causing a very big disruption. Either you're here to do business, or you're not here at all."
Well, that certainly didn't go over well with the throng of people at all. Protests and obscenities and insults were hurled at the girls, despite the dual glowers and cold look from the three authoritative girls. For every person Hinata, Tenten, and Ino got to, three more pressed forward, demanding for them to bring out the band.
Tenten pulled on her arm, almost fighting Hinata's grip off. So the bluette made a split decision; Ino was less likely to start mauling people, so she let go of the blonde's arm and reached for her cell phone while pulling harder on Tenten's arm. "Be still a moment," she hissed at the brunette. "If people are still here after this, you can chase them out."
"Listen up," Hinata called out in a calm voice, not even bothering to raise it very much. "I am going to close my eyes and count to three. When I open them, I am going to call the police and file a harassment report on everyone still in the shop."
The people directly in front of the unimpressed woman got the message and started making their way out as she started counting slowly. And by the time she opened her eyes, a little less than half of the people crowding the store left. Hinata turned on her phone and dialed her friend Idate on speed dial.
She wasn't going to actually call the police; while riot control would be appreciated, it would make a big scene and a legal mess that none of the girls wanted to have to deal with. Idate was a police cadet and the younger brother of the head of the interrogation department over in the precinct, and had met Sakura a while back with a promise to come to their aid should they ever need it.
And by the way the remaining crowd was riling up again, they might need it.
"Hello? What's up Hinata?" Idate's sleepy voice woke up in an instant the moment he heard the background noise. "You need me to come over?"
"Just play along for a moment," Hinata whispered into the phone before raising her voice again. "Hello, Konoha Police Department?" She set the phone to speaker, and held it away from her face as she jacked the volume up.
"Yes, ma'am, this is Konaha Police Department. How may we help you?" Idate caught on in a flash and slipped into a more professional tone, sounding not unlike an actual dispatcher at the precinct.
"Yes, well, there's a horde of people at my workplace, and I feel as though a riot is about to break out at my shop."
Well, that certainly got everyone's attention. More and more people started edging towards the door, slipping out as Hinata and Idate continued their little conversation.
"I see. May I have the address of your shop and the approximate size of the crowd ma'am? I'll dispatch a riot containment unit right away."
"Of course," Hinata said, a smile plastered across her face. "There's about a hundred or so people here, completely filling up the front of my shop and spilling out onto the street. The address is – well, you know where the shop is Idate," Hinata laughed after the last few stragglers stumbled out of the front door in a mad rush. Both Ino and Tenten relaxed immediately, dropping down to the floor after Hinata. Ino pressed her fingertips into her temple, hoping to rid herself of the spearing headache that had taken root.
"Yeah, I do," Idate laughed. "I'm guessing your problem disappeared?"
"Yep!" Tenten called out to Idate as she jogged over to the front door and flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED after she locked the front door. Sakura had the keys anyways. "They all left, thank you Mister Officer!" She and Ino sniggered as Hinata scoffed and took Idate off speaker.
"In any case, thank you for playing along Idate," she said. "It was a really big help."
"No problem," he replied, letting another yawn out. "Tell the others I said hi and to take care of themselves."
"Will do. Go on back to sleep, and sorry I woke you." Hinata leaned against the counter as Ino sank into a chair.
"Not a problem. Happy to help any time. But going back to sleep does sound nice right about now. Later."
"Bye." Hinata ended the call and slipped the small device back into her sweater pocket as she pulled open the security door that lead to the back. "Come on, let's go entertain our guests."
The entire band was still milling about the back room, trying to find something to keep themselves occupied while those odd girls did crowd control. The noise that filtered through the thick security door was reminiscent of a concert audience – the only difference here was that none of the males were in the mood to perform, and even less inclined to meet with fans. Especially since they didn't have their security detail hanging around the periphery, ready to jump in when things got out of hand.
Things always got out of hand.
"I feel slightly bad that we left them out there to take care of that mess," Kenji murmured to himself. Naruto nodded in agreement.
"I know what you mean," he murmured. "I mean, I know we didn't exactly drag all those people here, it was that redhead's fault, but I still feel like this is partly out fault, you know?"
"Well, like you said, Naruto," Sai cut in, "We didn't ask them to run this place over. And the last thing that we need is to get hurt or dragged into a mess because of overzealous fans." Still, he had to suppress a wince when an expletive wormed its way into the room through the slightly-opened security door.
"They better know what they're doing," Neji muttered, eyes flicking back to the door.
"Well they did volunteer," Sasuke replied. He got a noncommittal sound in response.
Though it felt like an eternity, the noise from the other room eventually went silent. A few murmured words drifted through, indistinguishable and anonymous, but still the band stayed put and kept silent. They didn't exactly feel like risking a look outside just yet. But when the door swung opened, they all jumped up and tensed, expecting an ambush instead off the three girls from before.
"Relax, they're gone," the platinum blonde said, flicking a hand around in the air as if to brush it off. All of the males blinked.
"They…they are?" Naruto spoke the unanimous thought and got a nod in response. "How? It was like – like three against three hundred!"
The brunette sniggered behind a hand. "Hinata went scary domme and pretended to call the police for a riot squad, and they cleared out like the building was on fire." The girl that Neji had said was his cousin sent the brunette a frown even as her face flushed a bit.
"Watch your tongue," she hissed at her laughing friend. "Remember, they're customers. Behave!" After clearing her throat, she picked up her inventory list and pen as she addressed Naruto. "It takes years of practice with the five of them. And it just so happens that those two are some of the most aggressive girls I know." She nodded to the still giggling blonde and brunette, who gave an indignant 'hey!' in protest. Neji's cousin – Hinata – ignored them. "Tenten, dearest, you still have to finish Karen's dress remember?" she reminded the bun-haired girl sweetly.
Said bun-haired girl, whose name was apparently Tenten, blanched before scowling at the mass of red fabric behind Shikamaru. "I'm going to tear that dress to shreds," she grumbled as she shooed him out of his seat. "Ino? How many more do we have to do?"
Since the only other girl without a name answered, she must have been Ino. "Only five more, sweetheart."
The band startled as Tenten made the machine jump with an agitated flip of her wrist. The other two girls just ignored her little tantrum.
"I'm sorry, but we do have work to get done before the other three girls get back. Would you mind waiting in here with us? We'd move upstairs into the den, but, well," Hinata gestured to the room and the machines. "It would be slightly inconvenient. And I doubt you'd be comfortable up there by yourselves."
"It's fine," Sasuke said as he took his previous seat besides the door. The others eventually nodded and settled back down to wait out the next two-ish hours left.
"Thanks," Ino said as she pressed out a woman's blazer. "My name's Ino, by the way, the one throwing a fit is Tenten, and that's Hinata." She handled introductions quickly, motioning to the other two girls in term, and went back to her work. "If you need anything, just ask us."
It didn't take long for Naruto to become antsy again. He sauntered up to Tenten and hovered over her shoulder, just to watch what she was doing, while trying to stay out of her way.
She happened to notice not very long after, and started to explain what she was doing. "This customer is beyond picky. I'm making the skirt of this dress shorter so that she doesn't step all over it."
Naruto frowned. "Why not just buy it in the right size in the first place?"
Tenten outright laughed. "I wondered the same thing the first time I fixed this hem. She just buys things online, apparently, and always a bit bigger than she is, just so that she can get it fixed to exactly how she likes it." She sniffed and pulled the dress of the machine, taking a pair of shears and snipping the extra thread off. "It's fine for her, but it drives us seamstresses mad."
"No, Tenten, she drives you mad," Hinata called over from the silk racks.
"Well I can see why," Naruto mused. It would get annoying to have to keep fixing clothes for someone when that someone just deliberately bought things in the wrong size. Tenten gave the sunny blonde a grin.
With Tenten's impromptu sewing explanations, the next two hours flew by. The sun was just setting, hiding behind the tall skyscrapers and apartment buildings when the bell in the front rang again. A new set of voices filtered through the slightly ajar door.
"Hina! Ino! Tennie! We're back!"
The band looked towards the door in trepidation, fearing another mob scene. But none of the girls bothered to move, so they relaxed somewhat.
"We're in the back Sakura, and we have some guests!" She finished hanging and bagging a skirt before moving to open the door further. Three more girls streamed in, toting bags of books and groceries. One of the girls, a dark brunette with wavy hair, had her nose buried in a book and nearly walked straight into Kenji. The other blonde – not Ino – grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her away before they collided.
"Miharu, pay attention," she grumbled as she juggled at least ten grocery bags and Miharu. Her aqua eyes scanned the unusually packed room before she put on a tired smile. "Hey. I'm assuming you're the guests Piggy mentioned? My name is Temari."
The brunette still had her head in that book, so Temari handed some of the grocery bags to Ino and snatched it out of her hands, marking her page and snapping it closed in one swift motion. The brunette blinked at her empty hands a moment, before spinning on the taller blonde in a huff.
"Give it back Tema! I was in the middle of a fight!" She reached for the book, but Temari held it out of reach. Ino took the book and slid it behind Temari's back, where it disappeared with a 'here'.
"Miharu, we have guests," Temari groused, spinning the girl around. Said girl blinked again, seemingly noticing the band for the first time.
"Oh. Hi. I'm Miharu."
The boys gave various degrees of acknowledgement even as Kenji chuckled to himself. She was a trip.
"Who's behind you Temari?" Naruto got nosey and brushed past the three girls. "Oh hey – OW!"
All the girls looked over, and a second later burst out laughing. Naruto had gotten Miharu's book thrown in his face, apparently.
"Troublesome. Who did you piss off now, Naruto?" Shikamaru ran a hand over his face. Temari gave him a grin and stepped to the side, revealing a girl with … pink hair? … scowling down at the blonde.
Miharu was still laughing. "Yeah, we probably should have mentioned that Sakura doesn't like being spooked. She has a mean reflex."
Naruto winced as he rubbed his head. "Yeah, now you tell me," he grumbled. The rest of the room laughed while Sasuke hauled his best friend to his feet.
"Come on, now that the other girls are back, we can get you your suits." Tenten jumped up from the sewing machine and flounced over to a closet marked 'Completed'.
"Hang on, Tennie, let us drop this stuff off first!" Sakura gave her friend a sidelong glance before turning to the band. "Hi, my name is Sakura! Oh, and sorry about hitting you," she gave a sheepish smile to Naruto, who pouted for a minute more before grinning back.
"Okay, okay, go already!" Tenten gave Sakura a shove towards another door in the back of the workroom, Temari and Miharu following closely. All four disappeared up a set of stairs, and Tenten's voice could be heard rushing the other girls.
Ino gave a dramatic sigh. "See what we have to deal with?" Shikamaru scoffed.
"Don't, Ino, since you're just as bad," Hinata warned with a twinkle in her eye.
A/N: Introductions have been made!
Anyway, we shall see if I can get another chapter out before new years. I hope so.
Remember, A Compendium of Inspired Activity is up on FFN and on Deviantart, take a look at it, challenge me with a few prompts, check out the artwork, all that good stuff. And read my other stories as well!
And, naturally, favorite, follow, review, and stay safe everyone! See you all later!