Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Little Things In Life ❯ Tales From The Sandbox and Hinatahemotosis ( Chapter 8 )

 

Hey all SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE!!! End of another semester and now I have to get my sorry butt up at 5:15 in the morning, so a lot on my plate. Any who, lets get on with the next chapter. WARNING: SASUKE IS A BITCH…wait, you knew that already…

 

Naruto Uzumaki was preoccupied with two pressing things in this particular moment in time; one being an overpowering feeling of happiness at seeing his old friend, and the other being that he knew that said old friend would ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT QUESTION hold him to the dept that his prisoner owed. Damn GA for having a strict policy about barring Demons from it ranks! Damn it to hell! With all of the internal turmoil coming to a boil inside of him, Naruto barely noticed the Kazekage take three large strides across the green tiled floor to come face-to-face with him.

 

“Uzumaki, you can quit worrying. You don't have to pay it all at once.” The red haired shinobi stated curtly. Naruto heaved a sigh, letting his eyes roll.

 

“Great.” He grumbled sarcastically. Gaara smiled, then motioned for Naruto to follow him.

 

“Come, walk with me and enlighten me exactly as to why you're here.” Naruto shrugged, still somewhat distraught at his newly acquired debt before hurrying after the sand ninja.

 

After the short walk out of the Kazekage's tower, the two had found their way to the busy main street of the village hidden in the sand. As they walked, Naruto noticed how everyone smiled at them, waving and calling out “Lord Kazekage!”. Then there was the occasional group of young girls who would chatter excitedly as they walked past their leader. Seeing how well-received the new Gaara had become, Naruto couldn't help but smile to himself. Compared to the last time they had met, it was like Gaara had managed to become a completely new person.

 

“Well, you've really changed their opinion about yourself, Gaara.” Naruto complimented, still watching the love-stricken group of girls. Gaara smiled once again as he shifted his gaze to the bright sky, letting its rays fill his face.

 

“I couldn't have done it without you, Naruto. If you hadn't done what you did, I probably would have gone along hating them.” He turned from the clouds above him to his blonde companion. “Now Uzumaki, what brings you to our fair city? Somehow I doubt it was for a change of scenery.” Naruto scratched the back of his head, watching the ground pass under his feet.

 

“To tell you the truth, I guess I just needed a vacation.” After realizing how lame that sounded, especially coming from him, Naruto shook his head. “No, that's not it. I-I guess I came here because…Someone didn't really want me around.” Gaara crossed his arms as he turned to face his friend.

 

“Then you came to the right place, Naruto. You will always be welcomed in the Sand.” Gaara, knowing the best way the cheer the brooding leaf ninja up, redirected himself towards the training grounds. “Come, what do you say I teach you some Sand jutsu, then we get some ramen?” Before Gaara could turn around to see his reaction, Naruto had already grabbed his arm and sprinted towards the training grounds. It's too bad that the name `The Yellow Flash' is already taken. Gaara thought sarcastically as he disappeared into the distance towards the training grounds, knowing he would most certainly have to cancel any appointments he had the rest of the day. Once the two had made it to the sand villages training grounds, (surprisingly intact) Gaara had immediately began to teach Naruto some of his Sand jutsu. “Alright, Uzumaki,” He began, lifting a rock off of the ground and holding it in his hand. “Before I can teach you any real techniques, I'll need to teach you the basics of sand jutsu.” Gaara nodded towards the rock in his hand. “Considering the scarcity of sand in Konoha, the first thing you'll need to know is how to convert minerals into sand.” Forming a few simple seals with his free hand, Gaara easily succeeded in reducing the rock in his hand into a fine powder. “Alright Uzumaki, now you try.” Naruto located a rock and quickly took it into his hand.

 

“Alright, here it goes…” forming the seals, Naruto watched his rock expectantly, which turned out to be a rather dreadful idea as the stone proceeded to explode into many little pieces, catching him in his eyes. The Sand ninja chuckled softly at the spectacle before throwing another rock at his new apprentice.

 

“You've got the right idea; now just try using less charka…” Naruto nodded, focusing again at his rock, this time keeping his eyes squinted as to avoid another incident. Despite the act of personal safety, it couldn't fully protect the blonde's eyes from the explosion of his second rock, which sent a second wave of pebbles hurtling towards his poor blue orbs.

 

“God Dammit!”

 

***~***

 

 

Ino stood behind a tree only a few meters away from where one Shikamaru Nara now lay, quietly snoozing in the grass. She took a deep breath. She could do this. OF COURSE she could do this; she wasn't some kind of Hinata-like-faint-at-the-sight-of-your-crush wuss, was she?

 

Certainly not. Simply out of the question!

 

Then why where her knees shaking like it was thirty below?

 

Because she had to walk a long way to get here of course! That was the only plausible explanation.

 

Then there was her light-headedness…

 

She had skipped breakfast, and was simply suffering from some low blood sugar. It happened to everyone!

 

And the fact that she could feel her heart pounding in her throat…

 

That…that was…um…Damn the lack of medical explanations! It was Hinatahemotosis? Alright, so maybe she was a tad nervous, but who wouldn't be? Taking cautious steps out from behind her tree and toward her target, Ino attempted to calm herself. Come on! This is cake! All you have to do is go over, wake him up and start a conversation. “Hey there, Shikamaru, you're looking nice today. Good weather, huh? Would you be interested in some frenching later?” sure, good plan. Luckily for the blonde haired Kunoichi, she came back to reality just in time to avoid tripping over her teammate. She steadied herself from her almost-trip, and shifted her gaze to the boy at her feet. He always look so peaceful when he sleeps, she thought. I bet he's dreaming about those damn clouds he likes so much, or Shogi. That buffoon should be dreaming about me! What if he's already dreaming about me? Oh no! he just frowned! What if I'm in one of his nightmares?! Suddenly, a half tired, half annoyed voice cut through Ino's internal ranting like a hot knife through butter.

 

“Ino?” Aw crap…I feel k-kinda dizzy… It was then that Ino did one of the best Hinata-like-faint-at-the-sight-of-your-crush wuss impressions she could muster, and did so on top of said crush. Shikamaru caught her before she could hit him or the ground, then gently placed her beside him. While looking her over for any injuries (yeah that's what he was doing), the lazy shinobi caught sight of the flushed look that now covered her delicate countenance. He quickly looked away, embarrassed that unconscious girl would somehow see the blush that had found its way onto his face. Shikamaru sighed to himself.

 

“Man, why do I feel like this is gonna get really troublesome?”

 

^^^##^^^

 

“Well well Uzumaki, I think you've started to get the hang of it!” and indeed the young leaf ninja had. After the fifth rock explosion, Naruto had slowly but surely managed to control the amount of charka he sent to the stone, until eventually he held in his hand not the rock he had started with, but a pile of fine sand. After a thorough inspection of his student's handiwork, Gaara crossed his arms and nodded in approval. “Alright, now that you know how to make the sand, I'll teach you to control it.” The Kazekage closed his eyes, Naruto was quick to follow suit. “Now, I want you to feel the sand in your hand, make it apart of you.” Naruto took a deep breath before concentrating himself on the powder in his hands. Okay, be the sand, BE the sand…nope, nada. It just felt like sand, and he just felt like a moron.

 

“Gaara, I don't think this is working.” Naruto groaned, “It just feels like sand.” Gaara nodded, having remembered the difficulty Naruto was currently experiencing well.

 

“It is hard to connect the sand directly to you at first; I had the same problem when I started learning sand jutsu without Shukaku. An easier exercise is to think of something that makes you happy and channel that into the sand instead.” Seeming to be a much easier option that becoming that sand, Naruto nodded with approval.

 

“Sure, now to think of something that makes me happy…” now, what made him happy? Well, ramen made him pretty happy…Na, making a bowl of ramen out of sand would only make him hungry. Training? Then again, how do you make that into sand? Then, of course there was…

 

“My, quite the insight into yourself, Uzumaki.” Gaara goaded. Naruto's eyes snapped open. No, he couldn't of; he only thought about it for a minute, he couldn't possibly have…

 

He did.

 

There, sitting in the palm of his hand, was a sand sculpture of he and Sakura locked in a passionate kiss. Naruto blushed unabashedly as he let the two figures dissolve in his hand. “Yeah, um… I-I think ready to try being one with the sand again.”

 

“I'm sorry.” Naruto's eyes turned towards Gaara, completely caught off guard by the apology. The sand ninja guiltily watched his feet. “When we attacked Konoha, and I hurt her, I didn't know you cared so deeply about her. I'm sorry.” Naruto hastily waved off the apology, hoping to quickly change the subject.

 

“It's alright; she's not interested in me anyway. She's already…involved with Sasuke.” Gaara's eyes lit up with a look of discontent.

 

“The Uchiha? You can't possibly be serious. He's as antisocial as, well, me.” Naruto laughed half-heartedly at his friends attempt to cheer him up.

 

“I don't much like him either, but if Sakura likes him, I guess I'll just have to learn to accept them and move on.” Naruto's one-man pity party was quickly disbanded by a sand ball to the noggin. Gaara crossed his arms in contempt.

 

“I never in all my days thought I would see you, Uzumaki, concede to the Uchiha. What happened to that nindo of yours?” Kyuubi fiercely agreed with the scolding his jailer was receiving. Damn Right! This guy knows what he's talking about! Now, I don't know if any of you are familiar with the feeling of being reprimanded from both the inside and the outside, but let me assure you that it is not a pleasurable experience. Naruto was beginning to feel its effects, as the two hammered away at his resolve. Finally, the last of the blonde's resistance melted away, leaving him defeated by their logic.

 

“Alright, ALRIGHT!” Naruto groaned. “I still love her, but what am I supposed to do about it?! She has Sasuke!” Gaara smiled.

 

“Fight, Uzumaki. You fight until you win. That shouldn't be that hard for you.” the Kazekage found his focused stance once again. “And what better way to impress her than to show off some new sand jutsu?” Naruto looked at his friend, the old fire that had been put out before had just found it's second wind. The blond flashed his sensei one of his trademark grins before assuming his battle stance.

 

“Alright, let's do it!”

 

(^*I*^)

 

“Ino, wake up. You're being troublesome again.” slowly, Ino's eyes fluttered open, to see none other than Shikamaru staring back at her. Despite her best efforts, Ino couldn't hide the rosy blush that began to fill her face.

 

“Oh, h-hey Shikam-maru!” wait, hold the phone, was she stuttering? My god, she MUST have gotten Hinatahemotosis. Slowly, the Kunoichi eased herself into a sitting position until her face was only a few inches from his. After a few glorious seconds, Shikamaru pulled his face away, a mild blush forcing its way onto his features.

 

“You took quite a fall right there, what were you doing out here anyway?” Ino began to feel light-headed again at the question. If she survived this, she was going to start a Hinatahemotosis foundation to find a cure for the wretched disease.

 

“Well…” What should she say? Should she just tell him the truth, or come up with an excuse? What she came up was a horribly disfigured combination of the two. “I came here looking for something.” Oh, that was smooth. Shikamaru cocked and eyebrow.

 

“Oh, and what was that? Did you lose something?”

 

“Well…” here we go again. “Not exactly.” Super smooth. Shikamaru looked at his teammate, now thoroughly confused.

 

“What does that mean, `not exactly'? You didn't lose anything? Then what could you possibly-”

 

“Would you just KISS me already?!” Ino yelled, her face now a bright pink. Yes, now I see it, you're playing hard to get. Like it. Shikamaru looked at Ino. Ino looked at Shikamaru. Shikamaru's brain had shut down due to shock. Ino's brain had been reduced to mush from all of her “romantic prowess”. Ino kissed Shikamaru. Shikamaru liked it. When they finally finished, Ino smiled at her new boy-toy. “Great, you can pick me up tonight at 8:00. See you later, Shika-kun!” About five or so minutes after Ino had walked off towards the village, Shikamaru's brain reboot itself. After a few more excruciating minutes of that damn hourglass, the little “You've got mail!” window appeared in Shikamaru's head.

 

“I'm taking Ino on a date tonight? God damn this is going to be TROUBLESOME.” Then again, Shikamaru found himself thinking he could deal with at least ONE troublesome night…or two. Yeah, two was good.

 

Tada!!!! Another chapter. I know, I deserve to be stoned for the dreadful update consistency, but I'm a procrastinator. AND WE'RE A PROUD RACE, DAMMIT! Next time, Sasuke…sucks. A lot.