Chapter 23 - chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto!

“Ok, Hinata. It looks like Lee and Akane are heading for the park. It should be easier to spy on them right now than it is to spy on TenTen and Neji, so let’s keep Sakura posted.” Ino explained with a wide grin on her face.

“Whatever you say, Ino.” Hinata said with a sigh. The only good thing she could get out of this at all was, well, nothing. Very few of Ino and Sakura’s schemes ever worked out, and she was certain that this one would be another failure. But what could she do but go along with this one, since it involved both of her cousins?

“I was right!” Ino exclaimed, as she watched Lee’s car pull to a stop in the parking lot, letting the two teenagers out. Lee’s family owned smaller cars, although they still had a driver to take Lee where he wanted to go if he wanted to bring a friend with him. “Come on, let’s get out!”

“Ino, wait! You have to stay hidden!” Hinata said, shooting an apologetic look to their driver as she followed her friend out of the car.

“Don’t, worry, I’m way ahead of you!” Ino said, pulling out two newspapers from the tote she had with her.

“Um, Ino, won’t people realize we’re reading last weeks papers, not this weeks?” Hinata asked her friend as she sweat dropped.

“Hmm…I didn’t think about that. Oh well, it’s all we have now. Let’s go!” Ino said after a moment of thinking.

With Akane and Lee

“Wow.” Akane said as she stepped out of Lee’s car. “This place is so different from the last time I was home.”

“Ya, it’s a lot nicer now, isn’t it?” Lee asked the girl next to him. She nodded in response.

“Let’s go to the hedge maze.” Akane said with a little laugh. “I’ve always wanted to try and find my way through one of those.”

“That is fine with me.” Lee said. He then proceeded to lead Akane to the entrance of the maze. He took a little bow, and motioned for her to go in, while he said, “After you.”

Akane smiled at Lee as she did as he instructed. “Which way do we go?” She asked, looking this way and that. There were three different paths to choose from.

“Hmm…” Lee said as he contemplated the possible route that would lead them to the end of the maze. He had never actually gone into the maze, so this was new to him as well. “How bout you decide?”

“Me?” Akane asked. “Well, let’s go…this way!” She said as she grabbed Lee’s hand and dragged him into the path that led off to the right. They walked a little ways before they got to the next turn, and Lee decided which way they should go. It went on like that until they came to a dead end.

“Looks like we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.” Lee commented.

“Ya think?” Akane asked him. “Hmm…I guess we just go back and take another turn.”

“How do we know that we haven’t taken more than one wrong turn?” Lee asked.

“We don’t.” Akane said. “So we just have to go back the way that we came, and take a new turn.”

“But which way did we come from?” Lee asked.

“Good question.” Akane said. The two stopped walking and looked at each other, trying to figure out how they were ever going to get out of the maze.

With Neji and TenTen

When TenTen came to the top of the stairway, she froze. The balcony that they were on wasn’t inside the restaurant exactly, or outside. It was more like a glass bubble, sticking out of the side of the restaurant, over the water. The entire thing was like a big window, even the floor.

Neji looked back at TenTen and smirked. “It’s ok, you can walk on it. It won’t break.”

TenTen nodded as she stepped on the floor, gingerly. She was surprised by how strong that it felt under her feet. She walked over to the table, and sat down across from Neji. “Do you come here a lot?” She asked. By the way the waiter had acted when he saw him, she figured he would answer yes.

“Sort of. Whenever my mom gets the urge to go on one of her ‘family outings’ we come here.” Neji explained.

“How often is that?” TenTen asked, remembering what Neji had said about his mom not caring much about what went on in his life.

“Oh, once a month maybe.” Neji replied, opening his menu.

“Wow.” TenTen said. That was hardly any family time compared to what her family did. Her parents were so into her life, they had family outings once a week normally. There wasn’t a set day, but her parents always figured something out with everyone’s busy schedule.

“To you it may not seem like a lot, but to my mom, it’s really important, even if it is just once a month. It’s the only time she’s actually cared about Akane and I. Although, Akane rarely comes.” Neji said. Then, changing the topic, he asked, “So, do you see anything you’d like?”

“Umm…” TenTen said as she quickly scanned the menu. “I really don’t know.”

“Well, then, how about getting the crab cakes? They’re really good here.” Neji said.

“Mmm…I love crab cakes.” TenTen replied with a smile. “That makes the decision for me.”

Ino, Hinata, and Sakura

“Sakura, you there?” Ino asked into her walkie talkie.

“Where would I have gone, Ino?” Sakura asked back.

“I don’t know, I was just checking.” Ino replied back.

“So what’s up?” Sakura asked.

“Lee and Akane just entered the hedge maze.” Ino said.

“And?” Sakura asked.

“And We’re waiting for them to come out.” Ino replied. Wasn’t that obvious?

“Well, are you guys waiting at the entrance, and at the exit?” Sakura asked her friend.

“Why would we do that?” Ino asked, sounding confused.

“Because, if they get lost, they could come out either way, Ino.” Sakura said with a slight sigh. For coming up with most of their schemes, Ino could be pretty dense at times.

“I never thought of that!” Ino exclaimed, and Hinata could see that she was wide-eyed. “Well, over and out, forehead. We have some splitting up to do over here!”

“Ok, let me know when they’re on the move, and I’ll tell you when Neji and TenTen leave.” Sakura said. By this point, Sakura had on her ‘disguise.’ It consisted of a hat to cover her pink hair, and a magazine to hide behind. It was also good for when she was waiting on them to move to another location, like she was now.

A/N: ok, sorry for the late update. I’ve been extremely busy studying for my midterms and two finals. They’re all next week, so this weekend is going to be jam-packed with studying for me, along with the two Christmas parties my mom is forcing me to attend. I might not update on time next week, and I apologize in advanced for that. We only have two exams a day, and then we get to leave so that way we have more time for studying for the next days exams. Well, this chapter was ok. I don’t really like it, probably because I wrote it in kind of a rush, trying to have something to put up. Well, reviews are much appreciated!!

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