Episode 32--> Ninja Round Up (1st half)

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Gaara and I automatically looked over.

"..." (-__-) Gaara remained silent as we stood shoulder to shoulder.

"..." (=__=) Frankly I was also speechless.

Together, effortlessly, Gaara and I found Choji... cracking coconuts... It honestly didn't take us long to find him... Shikamaru could probably hear us talking how close were to our original spot. Gotta love my Teddy-Choji.

"Oh, hey, you guys!" Choji slurped down the coconut water and then, delivering a single chop, he opened the coconut shell and ate the meat inside.

"Hi, Choji..." That was the easiest find so far... If it's going to be this easy, this will be no fun at all. I know I only went looking for everyone as a pretense but I was looking forward to it anyhow. I silently pouted, "Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, well, it was getting hot so I thought I'd get myself a drink. Want some?"

Gaara and I gave him some form of agreement and Choji scuttled back up the coconut tree. Choji fought and struggled trying to free the coconuts for our consumption.

As Gaara and I were waiting patiently for our drinks, a certain someone spotted me from above. Just when Deidara had started to sweat from losing Naomi's little cousin, he finally laid eyes on a familiar little head.

"Ah ha! Found you, you lil grizzly, hn." Coming in hot, he had a scolding on his tongue. But he had to abort. In the middle of descending, Deidara spotted the mat of red hair and realized he should not approach right now.

"Crap!" In a last ditch effort to conceal himself, he took an unformulated turn and honestly it didn't work out for him. His aerial creation got caught between the branches of a pair of trees. And for Deidara, well he got flung off. He went flying, although he didn't have very far to fall.

He barrel rolled across the ground quite clamorously, "Buur~ laah~ booo~ buuuh~ ahh~ uuguwaagah~ I die, hm~!" and came to a complete stop soon after.

Splayed out in the grass and sand, Deidara stared up into the blue abyss, that he couldn't actually see past his tangled hair, and he reevaluated his life choices. This was the last time he tried to be an upstanding citizen. The good it did. 😑

"...ey..ou...uy..." Deidara could hear a ringing in his ear. Maybe the heat was getting to him? He heard a fairy. A distant voice. A female's voice. She was calling out.

In meerkat mode Deidara sat up and glanced around himself, not trying to see but to hear. There was a dull thumping in his chest. Filled with excitement, forgetting everything else, Deidara eagerly dashed off, instinct guiding his way, carrying him to her.

(Hmm? Did I hear something or...?) Naomi heard a ruckus from nearby but wasn't sure in which direction it came from. She somehow managed to get separated from everyone and was hoping it was one of the others.

Now standing alone, surrounded by the tropical foliage of her homeland, she placed her hand on her waist, truly exasperated. It would be too ridiculous if they got lost while looking for a lost person. Quite chill about it Naomi tries calling out to her companions.

"Hey you guys...." She calls out a few times. It didn't take long for someone to respond. To her pleasant surprise Naomi could hear someone heading her way. She swung around, but the smile dropped at the unexpected that met her.

(The ablondinable snowman!) Naomi gasped. Coming from the bushes in front of her was what she could only describe as a disheveled wild-child. A rather hot, fit and familiar looking wild-child...

"Dei?!" Naomi blinked in surprise at the state Deidara was in. Pine needles and cones, sand, leaves and scratches littered his body. Total disarray.

"Naomi? It really is you, hmm?" His sight obscured, he blindly reach out to her, closing the distance between them.

"Did you follow my voice all the way here....?" She commented while feeling impressed by the skills he must have to accomplish such a feat.

Deidara grabbed Naomi by the shoulders with clumsy accuracy and she placed her hand on his waist, steadying him a bit more.

He didn't want to make it obvious, but he felt impatient because he wanted to look at her. He shook his matted hair but to no avail he could not see a thing.

Naomi giggled at the shaggy puppy shaking his fur before her.

"You're laughing at my expense, hn." He noted wryly.

"You know it, creampuff! You're like a puppy!" He could hear the smile in her voice.

(Other than making Naomi laugh, shaking isn't working...) He'd have to try to untangle it properly and what a pain. Distracted by his thoughts, Deidara was blindsided by the alarming sensation of Naomi's body pressing up against his own. He was speechless, not understanding what was happening, his dilated pupils hidden by his messy hair. The warmth they shared as their bodies touched made his head swim. It was a good thing she couldn't see his expression.

She was pressing her weight against his chest to balance herself as she tiptoed to reach the top of his head. Her fingers began working with his messy mane, running through his hair and grazing his scalp, which felt extremely nice. It was a not so unfamiliar feeling.

(Wait... is she just fixing my hair...? Hmm.) He should have figured this out sooner, Deidara calmed down considerably. He tilted his head downward so she could have better access and held her by the midriff to keep her balanced.

Once she artfully removed as much debris as she could, she then pulled all of his hair back and worked it into a high ponytail style. He had a perfect view of her pert face now. She was focused on fixing his hair so her eyes were trained upward, her pink tongue poking out in concentration.

(So close...) He didn't know what he might do if she made eye contact with him but he knew he couldn't look downward. He made the mistake of glancing at her entirety once he could see again and her skin exposure was on a celestial level today. Ironically, he decided closing his eyes was his best bet.

Defenses raised: Deidara used restraint.

Satisfied Naomi smiled at her masterpiece, "There. Remember to wash it later, ok. Plenty sand is caked in there."

She smiled softly and he felt at ease, like he'd been forgiven. But he won't allow himself to be complacent. He had to be mature about it and address the situation because it was important to him. He removed his hands from her waist and instead clutched her shoulders, pushed her away and forced some distance between them. Surprised Naomi blinked up at him. He took a cleansing breath, readying himself. He didn't want to kill the lighthearted mood but he had to do this, "I'm sorry I tried to kiss you, Naomi..."

"Apology accepted." She replied slowly, wonderingly.

His serious, blue-gray eyes bore into her bewildered, blue-green eyes, "...Can I ask why doing that made you react like you did, hm?"

She'd knocked the spit from his mouth for an attempted kiss.

She gave him a look, like you really need to ask? "You shouldn't do that kind of thing to me."

He released her and broke eye contact, hesitantly asking, "Did you hate it, hm?"

"That's not why I said that...." she tilted her head and gazed up at him curiously, "You shouldn't go around kissing on girls who aren't your girlfriend, duh." It was common sense she thought.

(Reasonable...) "Oh, is that why, hmm?" Sheepish, Deidara felt relieved by the truth. Its possible she could've said she hated him or didn't want to because she was promised to someone else, but it was something fundamental that his wild imaginations never considered.

He winced when she kicked him in the shin but her cheeks were pink. Seeing Naomi like that rendered him speechless.

He didn't interrupt her as she spoke, "You're always messing with me and junk, but that was taking it a bit too far... Besides, I'm not used to that stuff so t-the um, the situation probably got exaggerating in my head."

He watched her ever shifting kaleidoscope of expressions and gestures and an inexplicable warmth building in his chest. (Cute...) It should be illegal for a grown woman to be this cute.

He shook his head of bubbly thoughts. (But if this is the issue between us then--) He cleared his throat and met her gaze. He should do things in proper order.

"Naomi, will you be my girlfriend, hn?" He had a pleasant smile on his face as he gazed into her eyes and said those incredible words.

His sincerity didn't quite land however...

Naomi guffawed with an attractive short, "Ha! You sooo want the V!"

"Huuuh...?!" Deidara's heartfelt proposal went straight through her ear and out the other didn't it? Unbelievable.

His cheeks glowed red with frustration. He wasn't asking her out just so he could do pervy things to her but nothing he could think to say could prove his innocence since he hasn't been much of a gentleman towards her.

She spun around and wiggled her hips with her fists at her waist in a way that was meant to be an immature taunt. "You can't have it~ naughty DD~ none for you~!" But with Naomi being in a bra-less tank-top and boy-shorts that contrasted her usual modest uniform, Deidara couldn't help reacting. It was cute, too cute! It was unintentional eroticism! Oh boy! Deidara swore under his breath and nursed a nosebleed. She landed a critical hit.

Defense lowered: 99.9%

Naomi basically became a backup dancer for MC Hammer before realizing she was being way too extra. She felt stupid now since Deidara wasn't saying anything.

Done with her dance, Naomi turned back to face Deidara. And he was gone.

"Dei-- Dei~!? That flighty heifer dipped out without a word?" Naomi puffed out her cheeks in vexation. "Dei, why did you leaveeeee??" She sighed and kicked an innocent rock that had been minding its own business.

"Naomi-san?" Her name was suddenly called upon.

"Hee!" (O∆o) Startled she swung around. And standing there, peeking over from behind a tree, was Hinata.

"Jesus, Hinata don't just stand there lurking in the shadows! Come here gal." Naomi pranced over to the young lady and pulled her out of hiding.

Hinata giggled, giving Naomi a knowing smile, "I guess you miss Dei-san & Sori-san, huh?"

Naomi got nervous, considering ketchup and mustard were currently taboo, but she kept it from her voice,"Why would you say so?"

"Dei-san, I heard you say his name just then... was I mistaken...?" Hinata's questions were innocent ones.

Naomi felt dumb for getting tense, "Oh, that guy? I've seen enough of him to last a lifetime or two. Not to mention he just wants the V." She prattled on as she took Hinata by the back of her shoulders and lead her away to get her started with the whole walking motion.

"???...He does... huh....???" Clueless on as to what the older female meant, Hinata walked along with Naomi.

And as they were walking, Akamaru popped out and trotted up to the girls.

"Akamaru too!" Naomi released Hinata and stooped down to show the ninja hound some love, fluffing his ears for fun.

And then Naruto came stumbling in from out of the bushes. (I thought I saw Akamaru walk by here...) Naruto eyes landed onto Hinata's face.

Happy that he was no longer alone, the whisker faced boy strutted up to her, "Oh, Hinata, you got lost too, huh?"

"N-Naruto-kun...!" Hinata threw her hands up in warning, alas in vain. He did not see the lying dog or the crouching Naomi.

Naomi winced, feeling a sudden foot in her back, "Ow, what the--"

Naruto tripped and landed face first into Hinata's bosoms. Hinata face erupted into flames and, with a soundless shriek, she reeled back causing him to faceplant at the girl's feet.

"A-Are you alright, Naruto?" Hinata panicked. She moved without thinking. She hoped he didn't get hurt because of her thoughtlessness. Without hesitation she worked to get him to his feet. He squeezed her hand back and used his weight to pull himself up. The action nearly made Hinata want to drop his hand because it was too much for her heart to take. She was holding hands with Naruto. The moment was short lived and to Hinata's relief he was on his feet. They released each others hand.

Naomi loomed over the pair sending warning bells off in Naruto's head.

"Gosh, Naruto, be careful." Naomi chided gently, surprising the boy who expected punishment. She proceeded to clean the dirt out of his hair with gentle diligence. She smiled to herself as she remembered doing the same for Deidara just before. (Two dirty blondes, aye, haha.)

"Thank you." Naruto's cheeks were rosy. Two females were doting on him, how could he not be happy about it.

"You're welcome, boo. It was partially my fault anyway. Well come on peeps, we should head back. Natalya must be pranking us. No use running around like spring chickens!" Naomi casually called it quits.

But Hinata wouldn't have it, "No! We can't! It would be better to be an foolish and respond to a false alarm than to be careless and ignore a cry for help!"

Naomi was moved by Hinata's powerful words, "S-So cool..."

It was the first time someone called her that. She smiled bashfully.

"You know, you are right, Hinata! Let's put an end to this hide and seek game then!" This blue eyed office lady was more enthused than a kid. She put her hand out and initiated a group huddle.

"Yeah, believe it!" Naruto bumped his fist against Naomi's.

"Right!" Hinata put hers in too.

"ARF!" Akamaru placed his big paw over the trios joined fists.

The group was unnecessarily hyped about this. They broke off running into the same random direction together, which was coincidentally the correct route.