(Jinni’s POV)
I sat lazily on my couch drifting in and out of a daze; I was so bored. Kakashi, team 7, and I just back from wave country and well…I had nothing to do. Besides having Anzu training me and dreading what Anko wanted me to ‘help’ with on the upcoming exams, I had couldn’t find anything else to do. Sure I had sketching that could entertain me but I really wasn’t in the mood to sketch; it reminded me of home now. I felt my mood drop even lower; I wonder how the guys were doing with me being gone; Mark probably still being a dork as usual, David well his usual self I guess but…I really miss them. Missed fighting with Mark and complaining to him that strawberry yogurt does not go with shrimp.
My eyes drifted over to the window and gazed out of it, not really seeing the scenery but back into my mind; back at home. I didn’t really miss not going to school anymore because of the fiend called math but, school was okay in an odd way. It gave me something to do along with babysitting and allowed me nice friends…I wonder how Jessie and Tony are doing. I hope that they’re not sad that I’m not around; I didn’t like them being sad that way.
I sighed and got off the couch; it was starting to get too emo for my taste, staying in the house all cooped up. Haiiro flutter through the window and landed on the couch top; “Hey Jinni what’s with the long face?”
“Just thinking about home…”
The bird tilted his head at me; “You really miss the guys?”
“Well no…yes…I don’t know. I’m just wondering how their doing that’s all.”
The bird looked at me with his tilted then fluffed his feathers, seemingly deep in thought. I chuckled at the notion; Haiiro wasn’t the type to have that look from what I’ve seen or at least fluff up his feathers in that way. I walked to the kitchen and grabbed an apple and bowl of blueberries out of the fridge, Haiiro followed me and perched on one of the chairs next to the table. I set down the blueberries next to him and sat in the other chair, munching on the apple. Silence blanketed us till Haiiro broke it.
“Jinni…what would you say if I could get you back to Chicago; to the guys?”
I didn’t hear what he said at first but then it sank in. I dropped my apple on the table and gapped at the parrot as his words rang through my head; to go back home…was it possible? I mean I know Dr. Moe was able to send Kakashi and I here and all, but if could I go back….would I…with everything that has happened, could I really just go back?
The parrot swallowed a few berries before continuing; “I can’t make it permanent but, for a few weeks at most…would you like that?”
“Well… I dunno the Chuunin exams are coming up in two weeks…”
“The time difference between these worlds is 1 day here and 2 days there; you can spend a week and a half (10 days) and have still a week to prep for it plus then some.”
I thought about it…the time difference was tempting, that is if Anzu doesn’t mind; I’ve been really working hard on the justu she’s been teaching me and I really wanted to see how everyone was faring…
“Well I can go for at least a week … that’s if Anzu…”
“I cover it with her, go get who and what you want to bring and meet me at the restaurant.”
I stood up and skipped to my room and smiled back at him zealously before confusion ran over me, “Who I want to …?”
“Well I thought you might want to drag some friends with you to meet your other family so you have…you don’t have to if you don’t want…”
“Nope, that’s a great idea!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I went back to my apartment and grabbed a few pieces of my clothes, sketch book and pencils, and tossed them into a bag; I still need to practice so Anzu didn’t totally bite my head off so I grabbed box of kunai/shuriken as well. I leaped out my window and jump off a few buildings and landed on the ground with the grace of a cat; man, did I love ninja training. I started to pace towards the restaurant then remembered what Haiiro said…Well who would I bring with me on this trip?
Kakashi already knew the family…well actually he only talked to David on the phone so he didn’t really know them…but I had a weird feeling about asking him to come back to my world for a few days…so who else could I bring?
I could bring Naruto…him and Mark could definitely be buds or at least tolerant of one another. Sakura, I really dunno…I think she would feel out of place there with all the guys, Sasuke wouldn’t go period I knew that for a fact; he’s always a stick in the mud. I couldn’t bring Zabuza or Haku cause well…I didn’t know where they were plus ….Zabuza might hurt someone or get drunk or maybe both…In all I didn’t really know anyone here super to semi well besides Kakashi and Naruto.
I sighed and gazed up at the clouds floating by; Hinata couldn’t come either, her family was just like that. After looking at my list of maybes, I guess the only ones I could ask were Naruto and Kakashi. I looked back down at the rode and speak of the devil; there was Naruto and Kakashi with the rest of the gang in from of the restaurant.
“Hey guys; Kakashi what’s up?”
“We would be asking the same to you?”
“Hm”
“The Hokage gave us a mission to accompany you somewhere, mind telling us where?”
I stared at Sakura dumbfounded…Haiiro did he…? Anko poked her head outside the restaurant doors.
“That would because of me Sakura, everyone come in please.”
We followed her in and sat down at a booth as she with Haiiro who flew on her shoulder from the kitchen, start; “Jinni wishes to see her old family and I want to make sure she doesn’t get hurt while she does.”
“I thought you were her family, Anko…”
“I am Naruto but, she has another one from a different place that took care of her when I couldn’t.”
Kakashi looked at me for a moment and sighed; I glared a little at Haiiro, this is how he ‘covers’ it? This completely makes things bad for me!
“So when do we leave?”
I glance over at Sasuke surprised, then again… he probably didn’t care; a mission was a mission to him. I bet he just wanted to get stronger on it; stupid little prick…
“In two hours; bring a several pairs of spare clothes and anything else you need. Then come back here; you’ll leave afterwards.”
Team 7 left the restaurant and Anzu turned her displeased gaze towards me; “Jinni, Haiiro is going with you and you’ll be able to see the guys for a week and that’s it! Once you get back I expect you to be able to use the justu perfectly by then do you hear?”
“Yes Anzu…”
“And you still have to do your other training; Kakashi will be handling that, right Hatake?”
He nodded avoiding her gaze; Anzu was sure scary when she wanted too…
“Then it’s settled, Jinni you stay here as I go and get something.”
I nodded meekly at the woman as she left and returned to the kitchen. She came back with a box; “Was your mother’s figured to give to you now before I forget.”
“Aunt I’m not going away forever it’s just for a few days…”
“Just in case, here you go.”
She pulled out of the box a ring and glove with lines of steel studs; “Your mother wore in battle with your father…”
I stared at the objects stunned; the gloves were a wine red color and the trim was gold with brown diamonds engraved around it in an engraved leaf design, in all, they were lovely. “Thank you Aunt, I’ll keep with them with me always.” I hugged her and fought back the tears in my eyes; she really didn’t want to lose me again and I to her. She hastily wiped the budding tears in her eyes and looked down at me; her smile pained and sad.
“Well... we best be getting outside; time is a wasting.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all stood in an open field not too far from the village; everyone had their backpacks and waited patiently for the mission to begin. Haiiro flew from my shoulder, in front of us and hovered in the air; “Okay this will feel very odd for those that haven’t done this…”
“Meaning all of us”, I muttered; “So it’s best to hold hands and close your eyes.”
“I thought we were going to Jinni’s old home?”
“We are Naruto; this is how we’re getting there.” Naruto glanced over at me fretfully as Haiiro started to chat loudly a strange clicking language; the air started to crackle with electricity. Anzu waved at me from the edge of the field as Haiiro continued to chant; I saw her saying something but couldn’t hear it from the increasing of the crackling. Sakura whimpered and screwed her eyes close as she gripped my hand forcefully, Naruto followed suit as the wind started to pick up and encircle us like a tornado. I couldn’t see through all the wind for it stung my eyes like bees and screeched in my ears like banshees. I felt it lick and slash my bare skin and clothes; I gritted my teeth; swearing softly at the growing pain. I could hear Sasuke swear and Naruto starting to shout as we were lifted into the air; the pain increasing tenfold.
“Son of a…”
“What the…”
I didn’t hear the end of Sasuke and Naruto’s swears for the next instant a flash of white seared across my vision and a rustle of feathers echoed as I was ripped into a flashing darkness and space…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ugh…my head hurts…” I groaned as I sat up groggily; I felt like I was just pushed through a 2 centimeter pipe, stretched out like fresh poured concrete, squished up in a garbage truck, flatten like a pancake, chewed up through a wood chipper, and squashed down like a cockroach. In all it hurt a lot to even breathe!
…I opened my eyes a crack and saw that I was in Dr. Moe’s guestroom or a room that looked like his guestroom. I saw the gang and Kakashi on the ground sprawled as well; Haiiro was nowhere to be seen. I sat up on the bed, a nice thing to land on considering Sasuke landed on the desk...ouch. I felt like jelly legs as I tried to stand up and wait for the others to start to come around as well. Naruto was the first to come round; he landed on the chair with Sasuke and now slid off groaning.
“I feel like I just got squished through Choji’s intestines…”
“Baka we all feel like shit…”
Sasuke pushed Naruto of the rest of his back and swayed as he tried to stand. I tried to help him but, he swatted my hand away causing him to fall on Naruto who was on his fours.
“Damnit teme, get off me!” Naruto grunted as he pushed the boy off, Sakura who came around afterwards smacked Naruto before trying to help Sasuke up like I did; he did the same to her but, she clearly didn’t care. Kakashi was the only one smart of enough to stay on the floor till the vertigo and effects of traveling stop.
“Looks like you guys are finally up!”
“Haiiro I gunna kick your feathery ass!” I growled as I glared at the parrot that flew over to the bed, perching at the end. He fluffed his feathers and cocked his head in a justified manner.
“Well I did warn you…”
I growled at him to shut up; I didn’t need to hear it as I was trying to stay up right.
“So we’re back then?”
“That would be so Mr. Hatake.”
I glanced over towards the door, to see Dr. Moe was standing there in the door way; “Moe!”
He smiled at me and walked over to me, grasping my hands; “It’s good to see you Jinni! How was your time in Konoha?”
“Good…I did though cause some things to change there, however…”
“Oh…?” He glanced over to Kakashi then to Team 7; “I see you brought back some guests too…” I sheepishly grinned at him and rubbed the back of my head with my hand.
“Who’s the old guy Jinni?”
“Naruto…this is a friend of my old family; Mr. Moe.”
“Oh, just call me Moe kiddo.”
“Ok, Moe where are we?”
“She didn’t tell you?” Moe looked over at me mockingly disapproving of me; “Jinni…”
“It’s not my fault; Anko got the Hokage to assign them on the trip; I didn’t even get a say in it.”
Moe chuckled as he strolled over and ruffled my hair. I huffed and smacked his hand away slightly; pouting. He kept chuckling as he looked at the guys with a friendly smile. Everyone shook hands with him and Moe signaled us to follow him downstairs; “I wasn’t aware of the extra company part from Kakashi but, what can you do? Jinni I do believe there are two people who wish to see you…”
“Hey Jinatanic”
I was at the landing of the stairs when I was tackled by a fast moving blonde object; stars flew across my eyes as I tried to get my breath back in my lungs. I growled at the mass and smacked it squarely on the head.
“Damnit Mark not so hard, that really hurts!”
“I can’t help it; your sister goes missing for a month in a different world where she could die…how do think I would act?!” I stunned at Mark’s muffled crying as he clung to me in a bear hug….it was not like him to get all gushy on me. I pat his back awkwardly not really sure what else to do with him…he was a guy and my brother…He wiped his tears of hastily and scowled at me; “Don’t go disappearing like that ever again Jinni, I mean it!”
“Wow Mark… I didn’t expect you to get so emotion with her.” I heard slight chuckling ahead of me and saw it was David standing next to Moe.
“Shut up David, you were worse when you heard she went missing!” I stared over at David shocked; I made him cry too? I was only gone two months there! Well…a month here but…still I didn’t think that they would cry about it!
“Mark, you know she belongs there as well as I do. Even though it’s hard to accept…she’s just visiting here for a week…”
“I know…that’s why I’ve already decided that she’s coming with us!”
“Woh, where am I going?”
Mark had stood up and dragged me over towards David, holding my arm hostage and looked me fiercely; “To Alabama of course! Shelly’s parents are taking her and us to go visit their grandparents and celebrate Mardi Gras!” I felt my mouth drop; he wants to drag me with her….
“Shelly…you’re still dating her? I know she’s a pretty strawberry blonde with the jade eyes but…she’s really possessive and a total nut for…”
I glanced back at Sasuke to see him raise an eyebrow to my statement; he had no idea how much Shelly like him in anime…she was Karin at the anime convention she dragged Mark to before I went the Naruto world; she was damn right scary with the whole ordeal and me being around…a psychic girlfriend much?
“She’s not that bad Jinni! She’s been much nicer and kind on the matter!” he retorted his cheeks flustered a bright pink; he was so adorable in little brother way.
“Right…so what do you plan to do? These guys have to come with me, Hokage’s orders and I don’t think Shelly’s parents….”
“Jinni the subject is fixed; the Hokage sent gold with Kakashi and I was able to turn into cash for the plan tickets.”
I felt my eye twitch at Moe’s supposed helpfulness; he never met Shelly.
“So you use to live in this dimension and then came to ours? I can hardly believe it though I’m seeing it.”
I sighed and rolled over on my bed staring at the two genin in my room. We all went over back to my old house and settled down after the shouting contest I had with Mark about going. Sasuke and Naruto had to stay in Mark’s room, Sakura in mine, and Kakashi was on the couch. At dinner Mark over loaded me with questions about being in Konoha etc. Naruto pestered Moe for a while about this world till he loaded them on to me; I guess having a conversation with Kakashi and David was more important at the moment. Sakura and Naruto followed me to my room after dinner pestering me with more questions. Naruto was the only one really not getting what happened.
“I know it’s a lot to take in Naruto but…it’s like two bowls of tasty ramen and I’m the fishcake. I was once in the bowl with miso and now I’m the bowl with teriyaki chicken.” Sakura scoffed and stared at me like was I stupid but Naruto finally got it; I know because he smacked his fist into his palm and gave an O expression with his mouth. I chuckled at his simple headiness; he truly was the Konoha’s most unpredictable ninja.
“So this world doesn’t have ninja like Moe said?”
“Yep…well not in terms that are like you.”
“What are they like then?”
“Well the use different weapons mostly Taijustu plus they always wear dark colors to blend with the night.”
“That’s stupid…can people use justu here?”
“No; just Taijustu in your terms”
“Right…”
“So how the hell do you then protect yourselves and get missions done?”
I and Sakura smacked him for his thick headiness; Moe had covered this at dinner. “Naruto, we do D and C missions ourselves and let the government do the rest. We use what’s called the police for protection.”
“Oh…what are the police?” I felt my eye twitch from the question….it was going to be a long night.
The next day was hair splitting; Naruto pestered me with even more questions till I told him to go ask his sensei or Mark; I was tired of answering them. Went to Mark and made sure that Mark wouldn’t tell them anything about the series; I screwed up a lot of things so there was no point in letting them think what they see here will happen there.
I regretted telling him to go to Mark later; he and Mark hit it off like peanut butter and jelly. They went on a practical joke spree with putting rubber snakes in Sakura’s clothes and shoes, plastic spiders in my pencil boxes, etc. David finally got them to stop for the time but I was just ready to snap their necks along with Sakura. Sakura and I went to the park and talked after that.
She asked me questions about Mardi Gras and what it was about. I told her it was a holiday celebrating the time prior to fasting season of Lent; Lent wasis the preparation of the believer leading up to Easter. I told her we celebrate with parties with family and friends, parades, carnivals, etc. She really liked the idea of going to a carnival and parades, especially when I told her that we get large moving floats in the parades.
I was kind of excited myself; I haven’t had time to have fun since I got to Konoha and felt about time to party from all of it. We got back to the house at dusk. Sasuke, Naruto, and Mark were watching TV and Kakashi and David were talking in the kitchen. Sakura went up to my room to take a nap and I went to go take a shower.
I hummed a random tune as I washed my hair with shampoo; it felt good to take a hot shower again. I closed my eyes and smiled the water ran down my face. I finished up and slid the shower door open to reach for my towel. I froze when I saw the door open suddenly.
I stared in horror as I saw who it was opening the door. Kakashi and I just stood there for a few moments staring at each other till I flushed and realized I didn’t have my towel on.
“Get out!” I shrieked as I snatched up my towel with my face beet red and pulsing. He snapped out of it and closed the door hastily. I felt my legs gave out from the humiliation and I slid down and slumped against the shower door. Kakashi had seen me stark naked, no guy had ever seen me naked! It felt like hours as I sat there, mortified and embarrassed till Sakura came knocking and told me dinner was ready. I felt my face flush again at the thought of seeing Kakashi again so soon; it was going to be an awkward dinner.
I sat at the dinner table picking at my broccoli brewing at the green fiend, who likes to eat broccoli? David coughed quietly next to me. “Jinni what’s the matter? You’ve been really quiet tonight.”
I couldn’t even look up at him as I stared at my plate so more while stabbing the evil stalk. David gently grabbed my hand and looked over at him trying not to make eye contact. He sighed and released my hand and resumed picking. He leaned over to me and quietly talked, “Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong after dinner, on the roof okay?”
I nodded numbly at him and felt dread build in my stomach as dinner progressed. Mark and Naruto started a pea flinging war with their spoons and Mark nailed me right in the forehead.
“Hey!”
“Oops sorry Jinni…finger slipped…”
I narrowed my eyes at him and took a piece of broccoli pressed into my spoon; I smiled wickedly at him and spoke in a silken voice, “Your finger slipped…?”
Dave tried to get me too stopped but I just moved away from as I continuously aimed at Mark the lethal veggie. He tried to hide his smile with a suspicious visage but I saw right through it. “You wouldn’t…”
I smiled even wider and let loose the broccoli and it flew into his hair, “….I guess my finger slipped too.” Dave smacked the back of my head for playing along but it was on. Mark flicked pieces of his carrots at me and Dave. I chucked a bread roll at him and duck when he tried to hit me with his.
“FOOD FIGHT!” Naruto yelled and pegged Sasuke right in the kisser with buttered bread roll. Sasuke growled and smacked him with leftover chicken strips and then I pegged Sakura with more of my broccoli. It was on!
Dave and Kakashi stopped the food fight with smacks against our heads a few minutes later. I guess they thought it was enough when they got pegged with leftover spagatti. We all had to clean up the dining room table but it was well worth it. I felt much better after dinner till I remembered David wanted to talk on the roof…Oh boy.
I sat on the roof toying with my fingers anxiously. I knew Kakashi probably told him that he ‘accidently’ walked on me from the shriek earlier and he would want to talk about it. But I had a feeling that’s not the only thing he wanted to talk about.
“Hey Jinni why are you so nervous?”
I whipped my head around and saw him come up through the skylight and walked over to me. He stood next to me for awhile then sat down, looking at the stars as if he was searching for something.
“Kakashi told me earlier about why you shrieked…”
I felt my face flush and buried my head in my knees, he chuckled and patted me on the back. “It’s not that bad, girl. It could’ve been worse.”
“How?” I mumbled through my knees, eyeing him out of the corner of my eyes.
“Well…It could’ve been Naruto or Mark that saw you; they would’ve never let you live it down.”
“Great”
He ruffled my hair and brought me closer to him with his arm, “Ah don’t be that way Jinni; things happened and believe me this, this is nothing. You’ll see it later as something amusing.”
“When I’m in my hundreds maybe”
David sighed and looked back up at the stars; I looked up with him and stared up at the glittering sky.
“Jinni, when you left I didn’t know what to think. My first impression was to get you back by any means and when Moe told me he couldn’t retrieve you well…I lost it.” I looked down at the ground and swallowed the lump in my clenching throat. David pulled my chin and looked at me with a serious father-like aura “Hey, I didn’t blame him for you going. When he told me the truth about your family, I accepted that you belonged there. It was hard for Mark but, we accepted. We knew what you could face and hoped that you would be strong enough and safe enough to survive it and from Kakashi tells me, you are. Jinni I’m proud to have you be a part of this family and we will always welcome you here.”
I stared at David lost for words to what he said. I felt so ashamed and guilty for leaving them behind, wondering if they hated me for it or not and now to know they still loved me just as much as before. It made me feel like I could fly. I felt tears press up through my eyes and rush down my face as cried in relief. I curled up to his torso and smothered my face in his warmth. He hugged me close and padded my back, chuckling softly.
“Sh….Jinni you don’t need to cry; we’ll always be there for you no matter what.”
I fell asleep on the roof with David and he carried me back to my bed I shared Sakura. She was actually a very comfy pillow despite what people say about her figure. I woke up early for the next day and was sure to lock the door to the bathroom before showering. I didn’t care to have a repeat of the night before. I found Kakashi up as well downstairs in the kitchen eating Captain Crunch; go figure.
“Good morning Jinni.”
“Good morning Kakashi.”
I went for the bread then the toaster for breakfast; I was in the mood for my favorite food, peanut butter and pickles. Kakashi watched me quietly as I made my breakfast and sat across him at the table.
“About last night…”
I looked over at him and waved the issue away; talking with David made me feel better about it. Kakashi nodded and went back to eat his breakfast as I ate mine. The room was silent till Sakura came down later asking me about some of the food we had. I couldn’t believe she never heard of a pop-tart or something like it. Sasuke came down took my undressed toast and went back up stairs; I glared at him as finished showing Sakura what was the breakfast food we had. She settled down for strawberry milkshake flavored ones with peanut butter on top; a treat turned into a somewhat healthy meal.
Naruto followed suit after Mark after a few hours; he whined how we didn’t have any instant ramen to eat. I knew he only ate the stuff and forfeit anything else to it. I eventually got him to settle for 4 packets of pop tarts; smores, wild berry, brown sugar cinnamon, blue berry muffin, and hot fudge sundae. I grimaced at him as he pigged out with Mark; I forgot how much he usually eats and how much Mark liked pop tarts. Nearly lost my breakfast from the mess they made when the door bell rang; salivation.
“I’ll get it!”
I raced to the door and swung it open and stared in horror who it was; Shelly.
“Hey girl!”
I slammed the door and screamed as I rocketed up the stairs and wrenched my open door shut. I listened through the floor as Shelly threw a fit about me slamming the door on her face. Mark apologized to her repeatedly and led her to the living room, I think. I could practically hear her shriek as if she was next to me when, I guess, she saw Naruto and Sakura. Poor little Naruto, now he would see why I dislike the girl so much; any kind of crazy fan girls are the ones you got to watch for.
Naruto apparently broke away from her as soon as possible for he was at my door in an instant, begging me to let him in to get away from her; I did for I didn’t want her to do what she did to that poor Sasuke cosplayer a few years back...I still think that restraining order is intact. Secretly I couldn’t wait till she got a look at Sasuke; she would definitely put fear into Sasuke at a whole new level. Noon rolled by and we had to go to the airport by 2 pm to make our flight to Alabama before dinner time. Naruto and I went to go get Sasuke as the scapegoat for lunch; neither us wanted to deal with Shelly and her craziness.
Sasuke didn’t catch on to our scheme till Shelly saw him. She went nuts; she bloody well tackled him and glopped him, begging him to let her get a picture with him. Naruto and I laughed our asses off as Sakura and Mark tried to save Sasuke only to have their heads nearly bitten off by the red-headed devil.
Sasuke got away from her by ducking out the bathroom window during lunch and refused to come back in till we had to leave. Lunch was much quieter but Naruto and I were still giggling at Sasuke’s horrified expression when Shelly asked if she have a clip of his hair; yeah she’s that obsessed about Sasuke.
After we got Shelly to cap it about Sasuke, we piled into the large old station wagon and drove to the airport; that was the start of a very long trip…. to Alabama.
“Jinni…what’s an airplane?”
Naruto and Sakura sat next to me in the station wagon; Shelly in the back with Mark and Kakashi; we had to put Sasuke in the front just for safety reasons and David drove the wagon. Naruto poked me to answer his question and slapped his away from my arm.
“Airplanes are giant bodies of steel that use engines to carry people and fly great distances.” Naruto stared at me blankly till I made a bird with my hands and flapped it to show what I meant.
“So… like a bird that people sit in.”
“Exactly Naruto, it’s like a bird! Just a very big bird that can explode or crash and kill us all”
Naruto’s and Sakura’s eyes were big as saucers as we drove in the large van to the airport; they never seen so many strange things in their life. Sasuke wasn’t as awestricken physically, but he did noted every detail, more than likely looking for something that could kill his brother easier or get stronger with; I better make sure he doesn’t find out about guns or steroids…That could very well make their world like ours in an instant.
As we drove up at the airport I smirked at their expressions; they were pure awe at the size of the place and planes, oh boy their mouths dropped at the site of the planes. I had drag Naruto out of the car after everyone; he didn’t want to fly in the airplanes.
“Ow, ow, ow Jinni that hurts!”
“That’s the point Naruto!”
“But I don’t want to fly Jinni; you said those things can kill us!”
“Stop being such a baby; they’ll only kill us if they’re not flown properly!”
“But…”
I smacked him for being a baby once more and rushed him to the group as they got in line. The lines were as long as I remembered. I sighed as we stood and waited in line for an hour to get to the terminal. Naruto constantly whined to me and continued to till I raided Mark’s bag and gave him a game boy advance with a Spyro game; Mark was too busy with talking all gushy like with Shelly to really care and that definitely shut Naruto up.
We finally got into the terminal, but I had to take Naruto the bathroom because he needed to go. I waited for him patiently and walked with him around, looking at all the stores before getting back to the group. I finally got tired and fed up with it and just dragged him back to the group with him whining and complaining every step the way.
“But I’ve never seen any this stuff before Jinni, it’s really cool!”
“I can care less Naruto; I don’t need you getting lost and me being held responsible. You can get Mark to show you around later.”
I sat down in black leather seat sighing some more as Naruto sulked about me forcing him to stay put. I handed him the game boy advance and he went back to playing Spyro. We boarded the plane on time and I must say surprisingly, team 7 did not like flying at all period. When the plane took off, Sakura nearly had a heart attack, Sasuke turned white as a sheet, and Naruto wouldn’t let go of my arm till we were landed.
Moe, David, and Kakashi were in one row at the front left, then Sakura, Sasuke, and Shelly in another farther down the plane to the right, and last was Mark, Naruto, and I somewhere in the back of the middle. The girls (Sakura and Shelly) bickered after a while, (most likely about Sasuke) and they had to be separated naturally, but I just ignored the problem along with Naruto’s nervousness about the flight and listening to my IPod till we landed.
The drive to the Shelly’s family house was several hours long; Naruto finished the game I gave him before we got there so I gave him another one….Mario something; this time Mark noticed his bag raided and started to bicker with Naruto. I didn’t care I just wanted to sleep and just get through the trip all in one piece. Somehow going back to Konoha was something I just couldn’t wait for to come.
“Shelly!”
“Mom, Dad!”
Shelly had raced out of the van we had rented for the drive; her parents gushed all over her like they haven’t seen her in ages and asked how her trip was. I stayed in the car, not needing anymore Shelly-like problems and stared at their house, it was huge; like a million dollar mansion huge. I was impressed with the size and design, but the color was well….not very flattering. It was a pastel pink color with white stair cases coming from the front white doors and white window edgings. It reminded me of an over sized Barbie house and caused my eye twitched irritably, I very much dislike Barbies. I looked over at Sakura and saw that she just adored the house. Figures; for her hair was the same stupid color!
Shelly dragged Mark out of the van and showed him to her parents; her parents went from loving doves to evil vultures; picked at him like he was a carcass with all sorts of personal questions before satisfy with him. I was very glad to be single at the moment. They had their servants gathered the entire luggage from the van and roped all of us to the house to be fixed up for the party that was following our arrival that night.
“Come on Jinni, the party is in full swing! Shelly’s folks got a band, acrobats, and a ton of other stuff! Come on!”
“I’m coming! Give me a minute!”
I tugged on the dress Shelly’s parents gave me to wear. I disliked the bright green color and how high the skirt went; it was simple though. It was sleeveless Christmas green that went down to my knees. I slipped on the matching colored flats and raced to the door. Naruto was wearing a bright yellow polo shirt with brown shorts on.
“Wow Jinni, you look good.”
“You too Naruto, now let’s go; I heard they got a sword swallower as well!”
We raced down the hallway then stairs where the party was indeed full swing. It was made of a sea of green, purple, and yellow and loud jazz rang about. I was speechless at how many people Shelly’s folks seem to know. Naruto dragged me through the fray of moving bodies to the team.
I nearly cracked at seeing Sasuke in purple; he was wearing the same style clothes as Naruto, but with black shorts. He clearly didn’t like wearing it where Sakura seemed pleased with her outfit; it matched mine but was purple. Kakashi was wearing olive green turtle neck with brown sweatpants. I poked him to get his attention from scanning the crowd.
“So how do like the party?”
“It’s loud.”
“That’s the point, besides I don’t recall that being what Shelly’s parents gave you to wear.”
He looked at me and smile, “I really don’t like wearing yellow. It looks good on you however.”
I blushed at his compliment; Kakashi was much nicer than he has ever been to me, I wonder why. Suddenly the lively jazz flip to a slow mellow tune and Kakashi bowed to me then held his hand out, “Would you like to dance?”
I felt my face flush as I numbly nodded and he led me to the dancing floor. In my brain I was smacking myself for not saying no. If there is one thing I truly hate, more than anything. It’s slow dancing. He laced my fingers with his and pulled me close. I felt my face flushed even more as he spun me around before pulling me back in; I felt the world though melt as we danced. Even though I dislike it, it was nice to be that close to Kakashi….Wait a tic, what!? I snapped back in alarm at the thought when the worse thing happened. Mark and Naruto pulled my dress down showing the whole world my baby blue underwear.
I stood frozen at the horror, thinking it wasn’t happening, that it did not happen. Reality made it so as my stupor ended by some drunken men in the crowd cheering me on for being in my shimmies. I pulled back up my dress and raced out of the house when tears stinging my face.
I couldn’t believe that those two would such a thing to me! And in front of Kakashi when we’re dancing! I pushed passed people as I ran through the streets, not caring where I went. I finally collapsed next to a light pole from exhaustion and found myself sitting across the street at the carnival. I curled up against the pole and sank my head into my legs. I cried softly as I sat there till I felt someone sit next to me.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“No…”
I felt Kakashi pull me close to him and place my head under his chin. We sat there under the lamp post for what seemed ages till he helped me up. He lifted my chin to his face and quietly spoke, “Let’s go to the carnival and have some fun, okay?” I nodded at him and we walked into the festivity.
I felt the horror and shame melt away as we toured the carnival. Kakashi and I walked along the colorful tents and played some of the games. He won me a giant teddy bear and pretty gold crown with other things before we ran into the gang; I was glopped by Mark and Naruto instantly.
“Jinni!”
“Jinni, we are so sorry!”
“Yeah we didn’t mean for you to get so upset!”
“It was a really stupid joke for us to do!”
“Please forgive us!”
I laughed at the guys as they were crying slightly as they were hugging me on the ground; I pushed them off and got up, smiling at them. “Guys its okay, I forgive you.” The guys brightened up instantly and dragged me to all the stalls they were to. They had me get my fortune told, and face painted till Kakashi saved me and we went to the parade.
We watched the parade floats go past us; in all sorts of different designs, shapes and colors. I laughed at the float that had ten pigs flying around with crowns on their heads and golden farm in the center. It was very amusing to watch the people dance in the parade all crazy and lively like.
The celebration was really fun and I felt happy as ever as the parades came to an end and Kakashi led me to the gang, who were waiting for the fireworks to start before going back to the house. We sat down next to each other staring up at the star lit sky.
“You feel better now?”
“Yes; thank you Kakashi.”
“You’re welcome, you know; I think this is the most I’ve seen you smile in a day.”
I stared at him surprised; I didn’t think I’ve been that gloomy for the past few weeks. Then again, finding out so much about my family’s past and wondering about Mark and David...
“Well…I guess I’ve been much happier with you than in the past…” I blinked once, then twice and realized what that I just said that aloud, “Not like…I like being close with you or…stuff…” He chuckled at me and put his hand on my lips.
“It’s okay…I understand.”
I blushed at him and went back looking at the sky…maybe liking him and these kinds of things wouldn’t be so bad after all.
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Chapter notes: One shot for Jinni and Kakashi!
~DropDeadThenDance’s contest entry
This is a one shot story for DropDeadThenDance’s competition. I made a story line map for possible ideas looking for something new and ‘hip’ and well…I got this. Jinni X Kakashi in the very popular and amusing holiday; Mardi Gras!! It’s very long so well deal; I wanted it to very detail and a crown jewel of my mind’s fancy. Enjoy.
BTY I do not one Naruto or Jinni and none of this actually happened in DropDeadThenDance’s story. It’s just a challenge and something to amuse myself with.
also I feel that I rushed it in the end only so i could make the deadend on the contest but, I think its still good. Meh enjoy!