[ Log | Yes, still in progress ] - Can't fight the moonlight...
Who: Tenten [blue] and Naruto [orange]
What: Bonding time
Where: Pool house at the Sabaku Villa
When: Late night, sometime in July
With the pad of her finger, she smeared the two colors together to create a darker shade of blue to blend into the background. It was not too often that Tenten got a chance to use oil pastels because of how messy they could get. But she had bought them to take on the trip in hopes of using them now. And because she had an inkling that it might be something Naruto would enjoy, she had felt it appropriate to bring them out for their evening under the stars. Already there was a rainbow of smudges on her fingers and hands, and a few along the lean muscles of her arms as well from where the oil pastels had touched her skin.
It had not been her intention to start before the rambunctious blond had arrived for their moonlit rendezvous, but he had said to meet at midnight, just like that night so many years ago. And they were no longer under strict dormitory rules, had not been for years now. Surely he would understand Tenten's impatience and would not expect her to sit idly in wait with the night sky looking so beautiful in its deep shades of darkness. That was simply too much to ask of her, she who had formerly held a strong relationship with the finer aspects of art. Still, as she swept her fingers over the crisp surface of the sketch paper, there was a small part of her that hoped that Naruto would come early, if only so they could begin earlier (or so that he would not be so far behind when he finally arrived).
Earlier that evening, a mishap had occurred that left Naruto in that odd bubble of disgruntlement he usually tried to keep far, far away from. It just wasn't in his character to be upset or unhappy. When those times came though, he knew exactly where to turn to and who to trust with his thoughts. Thoughts of which he didn't need to say or explain. Tenten was just the source he needed right now, moment after his heart had plummeted to his stomach and he wanted to kick in a wall. The thought of spending the evening with the woman had calmed his nerves a bit though and he hadn't taken his time to meet up with her. Instead, he had taken the short cut through what could have been a good half hour of walking and made his way to the pool house a tad early.
Surprise wasn't felt when his eyes had fallen upon his best friend. Nostalgia maybe. All that while ago had been a night like this with the moon high in the sky. He had thought it would be romantic, like in those stupid love movies. That maybe he could very well win Tenten over with some of his prepubescent charm and lack of art talents. it had ended on a good note, but the future of a budding relationship was no dice. He left that dream behind brokenhearted. However, he and Tenten had created such a nice union since then. Maybe that date failure was really worth it so long ago...
Slipping inside, his feet barefoot and silent against the tile floor of the pool house, Naruto crept forward and took little time winding his arms around the woman. It felt so nice and warm right there and he instantly felt his spirits lifting. She always felt so nice in his arms like this, didn't she? "I can see it now. Picasso, ne? Na, got it wrong. That old fart has nothn' on you."
Lost in her own world filled with a multitude of colors lined up side by side in the box she had bought them in, and the scrap of parchment she had taken out from her sketch book, Tenten had not realized anyone else had entered the pool house until she felt Naruto's strong arms wrap themselves around her slender frame from behind. And with it came a knowing smile as the crisp scent of wind engulfed her senses. She had been humming a few bars of 'Finale B' from RENT, a play the both of them had participated in when they had been attending classes at a boarding school in another district of Tokyo. Again, she had simply played the piano and was the accompanist for their high school production, always lingering in the background where the young woman had lived for most of her life. And for the most part, she preferred it that way.
"Pablo Picasso was an artistic genius who revolutionized modern art in the twentieth century and died in France while entertaining friends." However, it was somewhat of an obstacle where Naruto was involved. He made fairly it difficult to fade into scenery, sometimes forcing Tenten believe that he had made it his personal goal to bring her out of the darkness of her obscurity. Not that she was complaining. Sometimes it was just nice to be noticed. "Being compared to him isn't exactly an insult."
Reaching out, she brushed her fingers along the faint lines of the paper to blend in the colors even more before holding it back a bit to regard how the changes affected the piece as a whole. "So what do you think? I'm not exactly done with it, but it's a good start, hm?"
". . . "
A short pause turned into an awkward silence as Naruto slowly processed that tiny history lesson in his mind. He was never one to hold tiny bits of information well and wasn't about to try and convert it into Uzumaki-ese. Instead, he acted like he did understand and nodded, his chin bumping against Tenten's shoulder. Surely the woman didn't expect him to know about any of that stuff anyway. He was a creative mind! An artistic individual! And... unfortunately, someone who slept away in the more important classes like art history.
Pursing his lips, he pushed that topic aside and narrowed his eyes at the blur of colors set before him. Tenten wanted an answer, but he wasn't at all sure how to reply to it.As much as he had tried his artistic talents in school it just never... soaked in. He was good with acting. The Shakespearean stuff. Singing was a pretty awesome talent, too. But even after all that time he had spent perusing the better forms of art with pencils and paints... He had in lack of better terms fallen short. It just wasn't for him and his work that went into trying to impress the beautiful artist in his life went amiss. Not that it didn't earn him a date or two, but nothing worth the money he blew on those horrible supplies.
"Nice? It's nice! Amazing, Tenny. The best... blotches I've ever seen. Really!"
Insert a small chuckle from Tenten. She should have known that things had not changed since their days in high school. Granted, there had been a time when the young woman believed that Naruto held some potential in the fine arts, in the beginning when she was just getting to know him and his bouncy personality. He had a very creative spirit after all. But there was simply nothing in the field that could serve as an outlet for his endless energy and exuberance. Painting and sketching was simply too tamed to settled the beast within him. There was promise in sculpture and pottery, but the prospect of the sort of mess he would create was something no one would wish to face.
So it had made sense to her when the blond began exploring the many aspects of performance art, namely in actively participating in local theater productions and getting a job at a Karaoke bar where he would have free sessions for being an employee. And Tenten had to admit that she had never seen him happier than when he was in front of an audience doing his thing, whether it was hamming it up for the crowd or simply giving a serious monologue of his character. He just seemed to fit in extremely well in that sort of environment.
"It's supposed to be the night sky, silly. See, this is the moon and those swirls over here are clouds." With a chalk-covered finger, she pointed out the smooth curves of the full moon at the top of the page. She knew full well that it might have been pointless to attempt any sort of explanation. Art was simply not an interest for Naruto. But at the very least, Tenten was happy that he indulged her whims.
"Ugh, never mind. My talents are wasted on you." With a particularly devious grin and playful demeanor, she tapped her finger against the tip of Naruto's nose, leaving a small blue streak. "I prefer the real thing to a poor imitation, anyways."
When it came to acting though, Naruto had his own doubts. There were many positives like being able to act out and be applauded on top of that. But then there were the negatives like having to act within a script and working with some of the most snobby people he had the displeasure of coming in contact with. Naruto was a patient sort of guy, but even he had his breaking point. He looked forward to the day that he didn't have to return to the school stage and drop this acting thing altogether. It just wasn't in his big plan after all. Or in his plan at all to be matter of fact.
Acting wasn't for him. He knew this. For now it could be his stability, but the future held something else for him. He just knew it.
Letting Tenten guide him through the picture, Naruto took special attention to slowly spot the little details like the specs of assorted colors in the sky and moon. Always so overly detailed and complex but just simple enough. Just like Tenten in her special little way- Narrowing his eyes and then crossing them to spot the blue so annoyingly placed against the bridge of his nose Naruto gawked and let his jaw drop, his stare wide as he glued his attention onto the woman.
"Tenny! My skin! My beautiful, untouched skin! It's tainted forever!"
Tightening his grip, the blond leaned in and squashed his nose against the young woman's cheek, his shocked expression taking on something of a mischievous gleam. No, no. He didn't need an audience at all to act out. Just a willing participant. And by the looks of things Tenten was always happy to lend him the hand he needed. "C'mon get it off! Who's gonna want me if I look like a damn blueberry, huh?!"
Maybe it was not Naruto's destiny to hold the spotlight on center stage forever, or even in the foreseeable future. But for now, Tenten was just glad that it was enough to give his life something to look forward to. Aside from spending time with his closest friends, something she supposed was a normal and shared preference for anyone who was not socially inept or distant to people in general, the young woman could not recall when she had seen him happier than when he was up there entertaining the crowd. Being himself. Being accepted.
And maybe that was part of the equational mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. But it was nothing more than another mask for him to wear. Or perhaps simply just a valid reason to wear a mask, for once. As she had learned over the years, there were many sides to his personality. And sometimes it was a great task determining the fictitious faces from the real ones.
Whoa...getting too deep with the wandering thoughts, there, Tenten... And clearly, she had spent too much time thinking about these things. But too much philosophy will do that to you, I guess.
Instead, she tried to refocus her attention back on what was already developing into an already rowdy encounter with the one and only blond whirlwind of Japan. But that was fine. This was who they were. So the warm press of his nose against the soft skin of her cheek was welcomed and appreciated. And in response, she turned her head to gently rub their noses together in a rather cutesy gesture. "Well, I don't know. I'm rather fond of blueberries~ Especially when they're in season." A light dust of blue showing up on the bridge of her nose as a result when Tenten pulled away.
"Besides you're not exactly a blueberry just yet." However they would get nowhere promising with cute, at least not this brand of it. So it was with her own mischievous smirk that the young woman brushed her chalk-covered fingers across his cheek, over the marks that were already there. "But now you're a little bit closer."
What: Bonding time
Where: Pool house at the Sabaku Villa
When: Late night, sometime in July
With the pad of her finger, she smeared the two colors together to create a darker shade of blue to blend into the background. It was not too often that Tenten got a chance to use oil pastels because of how messy they could get. But she had bought them to take on the trip in hopes of using them now. And because she had an inkling that it might be something Naruto would enjoy, she had felt it appropriate to bring them out for their evening under the stars. Already there was a rainbow of smudges on her fingers and hands, and a few along the lean muscles of her arms as well from where the oil pastels had touched her skin.
It had not been her intention to start before the rambunctious blond had arrived for their moonlit rendezvous, but he had said to meet at midnight, just like that night so many years ago. And they were no longer under strict dormitory rules, had not been for years now. Surely he would understand Tenten's impatience and would not expect her to sit idly in wait with the night sky looking so beautiful in its deep shades of darkness. That was simply too much to ask of her, she who had formerly held a strong relationship with the finer aspects of art. Still, as she swept her fingers over the crisp surface of the sketch paper, there was a small part of her that hoped that Naruto would come early, if only so they could begin earlier (or so that he would not be so far behind when he finally arrived).
Earlier that evening, a mishap had occurred that left Naruto in that odd bubble of disgruntlement he usually tried to keep far, far away from. It just wasn't in his character to be upset or unhappy. When those times came though, he knew exactly where to turn to and who to trust with his thoughts. Thoughts of which he didn't need to say or explain. Tenten was just the source he needed right now, moment after his heart had plummeted to his stomach and he wanted to kick in a wall. The thought of spending the evening with the woman had calmed his nerves a bit though and he hadn't taken his time to meet up with her. Instead, he had taken the short cut through what could have been a good half hour of walking and made his way to the pool house a tad early.
Surprise wasn't felt when his eyes had fallen upon his best friend. Nostalgia maybe. All that while ago had been a night like this with the moon high in the sky. He had thought it would be romantic, like in those stupid love movies. That maybe he could very well win Tenten over with some of his prepubescent charm and lack of art talents. it had ended on a good note, but the future of a budding relationship was no dice. He left that dream behind brokenhearted. However, he and Tenten had created such a nice union since then. Maybe that date failure was really worth it so long ago...
Slipping inside, his feet barefoot and silent against the tile floor of the pool house, Naruto crept forward and took little time winding his arms around the woman. It felt so nice and warm right there and he instantly felt his spirits lifting. She always felt so nice in his arms like this, didn't she? "I can see it now. Picasso, ne? Na, got it wrong. That old fart has nothn' on you."
Lost in her own world filled with a multitude of colors lined up side by side in the box she had bought them in, and the scrap of parchment she had taken out from her sketch book, Tenten had not realized anyone else had entered the pool house until she felt Naruto's strong arms wrap themselves around her slender frame from behind. And with it came a knowing smile as the crisp scent of wind engulfed her senses. She had been humming a few bars of 'Finale B' from RENT, a play the both of them had participated in when they had been attending classes at a boarding school in another district of Tokyo. Again, she had simply played the piano and was the accompanist for their high school production, always lingering in the background where the young woman had lived for most of her life. And for the most part, she preferred it that way.
"Pablo Picasso was an artistic genius who revolutionized modern art in the twentieth century and died in France while entertaining friends." However, it was somewhat of an obstacle where Naruto was involved. He made fairly it difficult to fade into scenery, sometimes forcing Tenten believe that he had made it his personal goal to bring her out of the darkness of her obscurity. Not that she was complaining. Sometimes it was just nice to be noticed. "Being compared to him isn't exactly an insult."
Reaching out, she brushed her fingers along the faint lines of the paper to blend in the colors even more before holding it back a bit to regard how the changes affected the piece as a whole. "So what do you think? I'm not exactly done with it, but it's a good start, hm?"
". . . "
A short pause turned into an awkward silence as Naruto slowly processed that tiny history lesson in his mind. He was never one to hold tiny bits of information well and wasn't about to try and convert it into Uzumaki-ese. Instead, he acted like he did understand and nodded, his chin bumping against Tenten's shoulder. Surely the woman didn't expect him to know about any of that stuff anyway. He was a creative mind! An artistic individual! And... unfortunately, someone who slept away in the more important classes like art history.
Pursing his lips, he pushed that topic aside and narrowed his eyes at the blur of colors set before him. Tenten wanted an answer, but he wasn't at all sure how to reply to it.As much as he had tried his artistic talents in school it just never... soaked in. He was good with acting. The Shakespearean stuff. Singing was a pretty awesome talent, too. But even after all that time he had spent perusing the better forms of art with pencils and paints... He had in lack of better terms fallen short. It just wasn't for him and his work that went into trying to impress the beautiful artist in his life went amiss. Not that it didn't earn him a date or two, but nothing worth the money he blew on those horrible supplies.
"Nice? It's nice! Amazing, Tenny. The best... blotches I've ever seen. Really!"
Insert a small chuckle from Tenten. She should have known that things had not changed since their days in high school. Granted, there had been a time when the young woman believed that Naruto held some potential in the fine arts, in the beginning when she was just getting to know him and his bouncy personality. He had a very creative spirit after all. But there was simply nothing in the field that could serve as an outlet for his endless energy and exuberance. Painting and sketching was simply too tamed to settled the beast within him. There was promise in sculpture and pottery, but the prospect of the sort of mess he would create was something no one would wish to face.
So it had made sense to her when the blond began exploring the many aspects of performance art, namely in actively participating in local theater productions and getting a job at a Karaoke bar where he would have free sessions for being an employee. And Tenten had to admit that she had never seen him happier than when he was in front of an audience doing his thing, whether it was hamming it up for the crowd or simply giving a serious monologue of his character. He just seemed to fit in extremely well in that sort of environment.
"It's supposed to be the night sky, silly. See, this is the moon and those swirls over here are clouds." With a chalk-covered finger, she pointed out the smooth curves of the full moon at the top of the page. She knew full well that it might have been pointless to attempt any sort of explanation. Art was simply not an interest for Naruto. But at the very least, Tenten was happy that he indulged her whims.
"Ugh, never mind. My talents are wasted on you." With a particularly devious grin and playful demeanor, she tapped her finger against the tip of Naruto's nose, leaving a small blue streak. "I prefer the real thing to a poor imitation, anyways."
When it came to acting though, Naruto had his own doubts. There were many positives like being able to act out and be applauded on top of that. But then there were the negatives like having to act within a script and working with some of the most snobby people he had the displeasure of coming in contact with. Naruto was a patient sort of guy, but even he had his breaking point. He looked forward to the day that he didn't have to return to the school stage and drop this acting thing altogether. It just wasn't in his big plan after all. Or in his plan at all to be matter of fact.
Acting wasn't for him. He knew this. For now it could be his stability, but the future held something else for him. He just knew it.
Letting Tenten guide him through the picture, Naruto took special attention to slowly spot the little details like the specs of assorted colors in the sky and moon. Always so overly detailed and complex but just simple enough. Just like Tenten in her special little way- Narrowing his eyes and then crossing them to spot the blue so annoyingly placed against the bridge of his nose Naruto gawked and let his jaw drop, his stare wide as he glued his attention onto the woman.
"Tenny! My skin! My beautiful, untouched skin! It's tainted forever!"
Tightening his grip, the blond leaned in and squashed his nose against the young woman's cheek, his shocked expression taking on something of a mischievous gleam. No, no. He didn't need an audience at all to act out. Just a willing participant. And by the looks of things Tenten was always happy to lend him the hand he needed. "C'mon get it off! Who's gonna want me if I look like a damn blueberry, huh?!"
Maybe it was not Naruto's destiny to hold the spotlight on center stage forever, or even in the foreseeable future. But for now, Tenten was just glad that it was enough to give his life something to look forward to. Aside from spending time with his closest friends, something she supposed was a normal and shared preference for anyone who was not socially inept or distant to people in general, the young woman could not recall when she had seen him happier than when he was up there entertaining the crowd. Being himself. Being accepted.
And maybe that was part of the equational mystery that was Uzumaki Naruto. But it was nothing more than another mask for him to wear. Or perhaps simply just a valid reason to wear a mask, for once. As she had learned over the years, there were many sides to his personality. And sometimes it was a great task determining the fictitious faces from the real ones.
Whoa...getting too deep with the wandering thoughts, there, Tenten... And clearly, she had spent too much time thinking about these things. But too much philosophy will do that to you, I guess.
Instead, she tried to refocus her attention back on what was already developing into an already rowdy encounter with the one and only blond whirlwind of Japan. But that was fine. This was who they were. So the warm press of his nose against the soft skin of her cheek was welcomed and appreciated. And in response, she turned her head to gently rub their noses together in a rather cutesy gesture. "Well, I don't know. I'm rather fond of blueberries~ Especially when they're in season." A light dust of blue showing up on the bridge of her nose as a result when Tenten pulled away.
"Besides you're not exactly a blueberry just yet." However they would get nowhere promising with cute, at least not this brand of it. So it was with her own mischievous smirk that the young woman brushed her chalk-covered fingers across his cheek, over the marks that were already there. "But now you're a little bit closer."