Another World | NejiTen

Chapter 12 | Schemes

After the girls ate at the restaurant, Ino drove them to the gigantic mall they always shopped at. They stepped out of the car, Ino clicking the lock button on her car keys as they walked towards the glass doors.

The first store they walked into was another costume store, filled with different colored and themed halloween costumes, all very elegant. Hinata walked towards a yellow dress that held her attention. It reminded her of Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast, which was indeed beautiful. The costume before her had gold embellishments near the hem, complimenting the sparkling yellow color of the gown. 

"So, are you getting it?" Ino asked Hinata, startling the midnight haired woman.

"Oh, I guess so," Hinata replied, smiling. 

"It'd look great on you!" The platinum blonde complimented her truthfully. She held some sort of orangish-brown animal costume in her hand. Hinata didn't question it, considering this was Ino Yamanaka. The costume could be for anything, and she'd rather not meddle with Ino's schemes.

Hinata took the dress and headed towards the checkout, only to be stopped by Ino, who demanded to pay for the costume. After a bit of arguing, Hinata gave in, allowing her to pay. "How will I ever repay you, Ino?" Hinata asked softly.

"Oh trust me, there's no need to," Ino replied, grinning and winking. She definitely had something up her sleeve. But then, it seemed like she always did.

Meanwhile, Temari was texting Shikamaru about the costumes. They began dating after what happened at the haunted house, but she had yet to announce it to her friends. Ino knew about it already of course, considering the fact she was Ino plus her roommate. However, the platinum blonde reluctantly agreed to keep her mouth shut about the news, respecting Temari's wishes for telling all their friends herself. She also agreed to pick out her and her boyfriend's costumes, since Shikamaru decided that getting ready for the Halloween party was troublesome. Typical of him. 

The two decided on a dark green color, but they had yet to figure out what theme. If figuring out a theme ended up being such a drag, they decided any costume would do. When Temari discovered a massive gold fan to her liking that was more than half her size, she went in search of something to match. She settled on a dark green and gold, long, elegant costume that nearly went past ankles. After exchanging a few more messages with Shikamaru, she picked out a dark green and gold suit for him, which matched her costume. The blonde then went to find the perfect masks.

Ino, once again, insisted on paying.

After all of them left the costume shop, they headed towards a shoe shop, Temari half-dragging her huge gold fan. Ino gave her the keys and told her to put the thing in the car trunk, which Temari gladly did. Ino remembered that some of them still had costumes to haul around, so she took Hinata's costumes and accessories to place in the car, walking off with Temari while the midnight haired lady headed to the shop with Tenten and Sakura.

Hinata found a pair of gold pumps that matched her costume perfectly, while Sakura found a pair of snow white pumps that glistened with silver crystal embellishments. Tenten decided on a pair of red heels, something she wouldn't normally wear but decided would fit the occasion perfectly. When Ino and Temari came back, Temari found a pair of gold flats while Ino decided on blue and gold pumps.

"All of you are wearing something with gold," Sakura commented.

"Yes forehead. We did it so you and Sasuke would stand out among the silver," Ino joked, smirking.

"Wait, did you seriously plan it?"

"Of course not forehead, it just happened," The platinum blonde assured her, chuckling. It was the complete truth; they just all happened to find their desired costumes, which had gold. After all, it was a common color.