133 - Temari
Mindy, I'm clearing out my closet. If there's anything you want, you might as well come and help yourself. You can probably fit into some of these, and the rest will fit next week the way you're growing.
[She pans the camera over a startling collection of evening gowns, short shorts, jeans, tank tops, and other things she's picked up during ( Read more... )
[She pans the camera over a startling collection of evening gowns, short shorts, jeans, tank tops, and other things she's picked up during ( Read more... )
She picks up a pair of jeans]
Ooooh, I don't have any jeans... where did you get all this stuff, jesus...
[She looks up for a second. It'd take...well, it'd take someone about as observant as a ninja to spot the new scars sliding across one cheek, cunningly hidden by makeup, but they're there]
Also, he gets at least one week of not being a lazy ass for saving my shit last week.
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Everywhere. Every time we get sent some place, I end up with more clothes. I like jeans, I always pick up a pair or two, but now I have too many. [She holds up a pair of jeans from Manhattan, tipping her head to the side. She has no clue that they're very expensive designer jeans.]
Since when did that apply to me? And we need to have a talk about being on a battlefield like that. I was a bit preoccupied and didn't even see what happened, Shikamaru had to tell me afterward.
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Can I have...that pair right there that you're holding? [She points, maybe bouncing up and down a liiiiittle bit] I...like the color on those...
[Mindy sighs] Well I'm sure not going to give him hero makeouts. Look, I know, in hindsight it was a stupid thing to do. But at the time, there were people being all dramatic and going "Everybody get out side we're blowing stuff up!" and it was an F3, and I had all my blowing stuff up stuff... I wanted to help out.
Not my fault they can't aim right. Am I not brightly colored enough?
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Hero makeouts. No, that was just disturbing. [She shakes her head.] It's probably progress that you know in hindsight that you weren't supposed to be out there like that. Shikamaru had to stay in town because he didn't belong in that destruction. That doesn't make him weak, that makes him not suited for that kind of fight. If it was a delicate or strategic situation, I would have been no where near the front lines.
From my experience, techniques that size can only be aimed so much. People weren't using any restraint. [She touches Mindy's cheek, right over the covered up scars.] This was not the worst that could have happened. I'm glad you weren't near where I was working with Gaara. Sand burns tend to get infected.
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[She makes a frustrated little sound] Fine, then when is the situation where I get to be on the front lines? Everybody here does it better, Shikamaru had to freaking carry me back because I can't even run on blood!
I know. I don't blame John, or whoever threw that fireball, it just seems like I've been taking all these lessons from you and Shikamaru and it doesn't matter how good I get, I'm still sitting in the bottom ten percent of people here if it came to a fight.
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This is why so many gennin get their asses killed.
[She huffs a sigh and turns to move some other things back into her closet. Black and white armor with a mask laying on top.]
You want to find your niche, the situation where you'll be the front line fighter. All right then, what are you best at in a combat situation, in your opinion? I have my own opinion on where you could excel, but it's probably not what you want to hear.
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No offense, you guys are a hell of a lot better than others.
[She gives her a look]
You can't say that and not tell me anyway. Come on.
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No offense taken. I'm not a heavy weight in my world. Both of my brothers could blow me off the map in terms of power. I work around it.
[She sets her armor in her closet so she can turn and face Mindy.]
I think you're better suited to espionage and black ops. It's not flashy, it's not cool, and most of the time no one will even know what you did, but then power means nothing. A bullet through the back of the head is pretty damn effective, or a slit throat. You don't belong on the front lines in a war. You belong behind enemy lines, and preferably not seen. You've got the makings of an assassin. I've said it to you before, but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.
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I can reload a gun in each hand while sprinting in under three seconds. Running out isn't much of an issue. How long do fights take where you're from?
But... yeah, you've got a point. This mean lessons are going to be changing then? Because we really haven't done any stealth work yet. You've been sticking mostly to Taijutsu [Yes she can actually pronounce it now] and Shikamaru's been doing basic computers and ninja checkers.
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Hours. Many hours, in some cases. [The never ending chunnin exams come to mind . . . ] You'd run out of bullets.
Are you ready to try stealth? You've had the opportunity, you just continue to crash through.
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[She thinks for a second]
True. The plant exercise, though, stealth is your element. You can move more quietly and you're definitely faster than me doing it, trying stealth there would have made it even more of a losing proposition. Sparring, I don't exactly have the option to chakra disappear or smoke pellet in an empty room with you. Ballet... I'm quiet during ballet.
I'm ready to give stealth a shot.
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I can move more quietly because I've been practicing longer. Face to face sparring isn't the place for it. If you want to go this direction, you can learn to move that quiet. Learn traps, learn how to sneak into places. Sometimes one person with no chakra but a really good, really nasty plan can take down a monster.
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And that sounds good. If it'll keep me from being useless dead weight around here I'm happy about it.
Is it bad that about five seconds into considering this I'm already stuck on how I could sneak past a psychic? We've got like two dozen of them...
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With psychics, I find that you need to have a reason to be there. And have a plan ahead of time about what you're going to be thinking very loudly, the more annoying the better.
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So be the opposite of stealthy. Damn. I was hoping to be able to actually sneak up on Lili.
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