story (continued)
“You know, there’s a dance coming up,” Temari explained to her only son. His red-blue eyes shifted towards his hands.
“What of it?” the 13-year-old asked.
“I heard it’s supposed to be fun.”
“Doesn’t sound like it,” he murmured. Temari rubbed her temples in frustration.
“Why don’t you ask that Destry girl to go, Isa?”
Isamashii looked up, “No way!”
“Yes, you will,” she ordered, her voice stern.
“I don’t like her like that! We’re just teammates. Besides, she’d be all sappy and girly if I asked. She’d just end up getting the wrong idea.”
“Wrong idea or not, you WILL ask her. You don’t participate in anything this village does. It’s about time you got off your butt and did something. Besides, Destry’s your friend. There’s nothing wrong with asking a friend.” She sipped some tea in that way that meant ‘this discussion is closed.’
He sighed and returned his gaze to the wooden table. If he had to go to some stupid dance, Destry was certainly not the one he wanted to go with. But when his mother was like this, there was no use fighting her. He’d have to do it, despite his desires.
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“It’s going to be so much fun, you’ll see,” Shakino smiled brightly while playing with her younger brother’s ponytail. He batted her hand away.
“All right. All right. I heard you the first time, Shakino.” He looked up at her from the sofa.
“I’m mostly excited because not only will my lil’ bro and best friend get to go…but the love of my life will get to go also!” she said dreamily.
“You are really creepy sometimes, you know that? What do you girls see in Isamashii anyway?” Ando questioned.
“Well, I don’t know what those people see in him,” she began in disgust. “But I just feel this connection with him! There’s like a spark every time I’m around him. I just feel it!”
Ando stuck out his tongue, “Bleh. Well, I certainly feel something when I’m around him. It’s called a pain in my -”
“ANDO!” she shouted, punching the top of his head.
“What? I was gonna say neck!” he snickered. She crossed her arms and huffed.
“And to think I thought you of all people would understand. What with the way you feel about Destry.”
He froze in shock. “W-what are you talking about???”
“Please Ando, don’t play stupid. You have a huge crush on Destry. There’s no use denying it.”
“I - DO - NOT!” he shouted in defense, his face getting red. Shakino’s eyebrows raised in amusement.
“Oh really? Then why are you getting so defensive?”
“I-!” he looked around. The blush to his face was still not going away. “…Because that’s ludicrous!”
She smiled a devilish smile, similar to the one their mother had. “Oh? Well, in here it surely says otherwise…”
She whipped out a small notepad from her pocket and began marching around the room shouting, “Gosh, Destry sure looked pretty today. I wonder what she thinks of me.”
His eyes widened.
“Why can’t I breathe when I’m next to her? Gosh, I’m such an idiot. She’s just my best friend…but sometimes I feel that it’s more than that…”
“HEY! What are you doing with my jou-?!” he stopped before he could finish his sentence. “Wait a second…I don’t have a journal…YOU LITTLE-!!!” Ando furiously bolted after his sister, while she laughed and continued to read from the paper.
“MOOOMMMMM!!!”
“-and her laugh is so cute!”
“DDDAAADDDD!!!”
“Why can’t she look at me the way she looks at Isamashii?”
“SHAKINO’S BEEN READING MY THOUGHTS AND WRITING THEM DOWN ON PAPER FOR BLACKMAIL!!!!”
“I MIGHT HAVE FEELINGS FOR DESTRY THAT ARE STRONGER THAN I PRESUMED!!!”
“Children!” their father barked. “Why do you always have to pick at each other, especially when I’m napping?”
Ando and Shakino simultaneously pointed at each other and hollered, “THAT THING STARTED IT!!!”
Shikamaru rubbed his ear, “Yelling is so troublesome. I swear, sometimes you sound like a bunch of Uzumakis!”
“Speaking of which,” Shakino whispered in Ando’s ear. He pushed her off his shoulder.
“Hey!” Ino came running into the room. “What’s going on here?”
“Ask your children.”
“They’re yours too, Shika,” she sneered. He simply shrugged.
“When they’re quiet, sure, they’re my children. When they’re causing trouble, they’re yours. See how it works out?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and chuckled, “Oh, I don’t think so.” Her voice had a false sweetness to it. It was that tone she used when she was upset with him. Ooh how he didn’t like hearing that tone.
“Okay, spit it out. What happened?” Shikamaru interrogated, wanting to get back to his nap.
As assumed, both Nara siblings began spilling out their stories at the same time. The commotion was more than the parents could handle.
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Ino growled. “One at a time!”
“Shakino’s been reading my mind again! And what’s worse is that she’s using it against me!”
Ino crossed her arms, “Shakino, I thought we talked about this whole ‘mind-reading’ thing. If you don’t start using your jutsu responsibly-”
“Okay, fine. But I wouldn’t have had to use it if he grew some backbone already! I’m just trying to convince him to ask Destry to the dance. It doesn’t take a mind-reader to tell that he has a major crush on her!”
Ando felt that hot feeling in his face again.
“The dance is here already? Oh Ando you should!”
“Ma!” he moaned, feeling a little betrayed.
“What? Your sister’s right, you know. I think it’d be sweet if you asked her to the dance. Heaven knows you want to.”
He flopped his head back, “Urhhhh! Can we talk about something else, please?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Ino crossed her arms again and stood next to her daughter. “Now why can’t you just ask her?”
“Because-… Hey Dad, isn’t there some chores you want me to do?”
“Eh-eh-eh!” Ino wagged her finger. “You’re not leaving until I get an answer from you. Shikamaru, talk to your son.”
“Huh?” Shikamaru twitched. “But Ino, he said he’d do some chores. Wouldn’t you like him to do some stuff around the house? This is the perfect opportunity.”
“The men in this house, I swear!” she threw her hands in the air. She pointed, “You. You. Talk. NOW!”
“But-” both brunettes retaliated. The woman lowered her voice.
“I…said…now…”
The two quickly ran out of the room. Ino sighed, satisfied, and leaned against the wall. Shakino looked at the empty space that her dad and brother were just standing in, then at her mom. “You SO gotta teach me how to do that!!!”
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Darkangelsaku15 Community Member 
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