Wonder Mod Powers, Activate!
kilerkki, darksideofstorm and jbmcdragon are here. With me that makes three of the four Mods of Fallen Leaves (and we're sorry Winter couldn't be here), and JB who might as well be a mod, only she doesn't want to be. As a writing exercise we decided to throw character names and scenario ideas into a pot, draw at random, and then take 20 minutes to create a short story. Here are my entries in the Modly drabble games. They could probably do with an editing pass, but please enjoy.
Raidou & Pakkun: Young
It was long after the point that Pakkun had become annoyed that he finally said something. And then it was only because he simply couldn't stand it anymore. Kakashi had, after all, expressly told him to stay out of it. Anything having to do with that damn Shiranui was something Pakkun could let well alone as far as he was concerned. And in truth, Pakkun shared Kakashi's opinion on that score. Not that he held quite as much unprocessed hate for the other ninja as Kakashi, but that was a matter of experience. Kakashi was still a pup after all, compared to Pakkun's many years of experience and wisdom. Pakkun had seen it all before, including watching men and dogs die because the medic couldn't get there in time. You mourned your dead and moved on. Eventually Kakashi would learn that.
But the real problem here wasn't Kakashi anyway, or Genma. Well it was Genma, but the thing that was annoying Pakkun was Raidou. It sort of figured a guy built like he was solid muscle under his fancy scarification was as dense as particleboard. And if he'd been someone Pakkun never had to run into, then it wouldn't have mattered, but the fact of the matter was they shared the 3rd floor of the ANBU apartments, along with Kakashi's other dogs, and Kuromaru. And all the dogs were painfully aware of the situation. Painfully.
So when it had reached a point where Pakkun couldn't take it anymore, where Hoshika was whining and pawing at her nose and Kuromaru was begging Tsume to take as many away missions as possible, Pakkun decided that as the senior ninja on the floor (and he had seniority on these ANBU pups' grandparents, Kakashi's included, but just don't ask him to tell you his age) it was up to him to share his sage advice with the poor confused little whelp.
"Hey kid," he said, trotting up behind Raidou as the other man came from the stairs. He was dressed in a sweat-soaked, reeking gi, flushed red with eyes shining, obviously fresh from a spar with the object of his affection.
Raidou stopped and looked around, locating the speaker with an amused chuckle when he found a cape-wearing pug standing at his feet.
"Yeah you, and don't laugh. This is serious. You obviously need some guidance here, and as your sempai, it's up to me to give it."
"The hell?" Raidou asked, baffled but in a good humor.
"We can all smell it, every single one of us. Would you quit stalling and just jump him or something?"
Raidou started to interrupt, but Pakkun cut him off. "At first we couldn't figure it out, because Shiranui pretty much will sleep with anything with two legs and a beating heart, so why was he holding back with you, right? But then we finally got it. When there's a bitch you really want, sometimes the best way to get her is to let her come to you. We figure that's what's going on here."
"Bitch? What?" The red in Raidou's cheeks deepened, and his half-grin turned to a scowl.
"Are you really this stupid? I mean, this is so bad it almost seems like an act." Pakkun stared at the big oaf for a long minute before finally speaking slowly and carefully as one would to a simpleton. "You're going to have to make the first move here, because he's afraid he'll scare you off."
"He? Who? I...." Raidou's scowl turned into a glare.
"Yo Rai, what's.. Whoah!" Genma nearly collided with man and dog as he came out of the stairwell.
The scents that spiked from both men were nearly enough to choke a dog. Pakkun coughed and rolled his eyes. "Him, idiot. Him. Right there in front of you. Oh for god's sake!"
"Oh. Kakashi's dog" Genma said dismissively. "Come on, let's get cleaned up. I won and we're having hot pot!"
Pakkun heaved a deeply aggrieved sigh, gave Genma a look of utter loathing, and turned on his heels. Maybe he'd be able to persuade Kakashi to take a nice long mission to someplace with hotsprings. Far away from the idiot brigade.
Ginta & [spoiler]: Barber
In a ninja village there weren't a lot of things that were segregated by sex. It was a fairly egalitarian world, really. Sure there were some things that had to be gender-specific, like gynecologists for the women and prostate exams for the men, but really, outside of a medical setting it didn't much matter. Although dress and lingerie shops were certainly more frequented by the distaff half of Konoha's population, and the majority of condoms were bought by the men, when it came to ninja at least, the activities of daily living were pretty unisex. Kunoichi bought their weapons and food and books, their survival gear, the things they decorated their apartments with, and their tea at the same shops as their male counterparts. They went to the same dentists and eye doctors, and shoe shops, because footwear specialized for ninja were sold in only a few select locations.
But there was one almost anachronistic division that remained. Women did not get their hair cut at the barber shop. And men did not invade the beauty parlors. In fact the hair styling venues and the public baths were the most rigidly sex-segregated spots in Konoha.
When Ginta walked into the barber shop for a cut and a shave, deciding to treat himself to a little luxury after a long three weeks in the field, he was astounded to find the place in a state of extreme tension. Every man in there, patrons and barbers alike, was deadly silent, and all eyes were focused on one really rather awful-looking head of hair and the man slashing at it with a straight razor like it was some sort of infectious mold that might creep up his arm at any moment.
This, of course, aroused Ginta's curiosity. Deeply aroused. It had been a long, tedious mission, and here was finally a chance to get some neurons firing again. The chair's occupant was faced away, but a quick glance in the mirror told him it was an Inuzuka or someone who really wanted to be one and had faked the tribal tattoos.
The nearly white eyes could have belonged to a Hyuuga, but what Hyuuga would ever want to be an Inuzuka? Although that would definitely have caused the heads to turn. But the heads in the room were turned and watching as if the barber were attempting to diffuse a bomb, not whacking at the silky hairs of an errant Hyuuga.
So it was probably a real Inuzuka, but where was his dog? Maybe the dog was the problem? That made sense, the Inuzuka had some scary as hell dogs. A second look confirmed that there was indeed one of those freakishly outsized canines here, curled quietly at his master's feet. And that's when Ginta burst into laughter.
"Tsume!" He bounded over to the chair, horrifying the watchers and causing the nervous barber to chop a rough handful of his client's brown hair off at an angle he surely hadn't been intending.
"Ginta!" Tsume returned brightly, then stopped and starred, just as horrified at her ANBU comrade's appearance as the men of the barbershop had been at her.
"What?" Ginta asked. He bounced on the balls of his feet, rocking up and back, daring the others in the room to comment. Kuromaru looked up at the small man and slowly wagged his tail, sweeping hanks of fallen hair back and forth along the grey tiles.
"You... you.." Tsume was still staring, Still looking as if she could see the ghosts of every man Ginta had ever killed lined up behind him.
"I what?" Ginta asked, and finally stood still.
"Your face. You..." Tsume reached a hand up from under her drape and stroked at her cheek.
"Oh yeah," Ginta laughed. "Got a little cut up on the mission, but it's not that bad. It won't scar much."
"No. It's... Not that." Tsume snickered. "It's..." She snickered and guffawed and Kuromaru howled with her. "You have a beard!"
Genma, Line Dancing, Joyful
When Raidou said, "Let's go out tonight," Genma was pleased. When Raidou added, "Dancing," Genma was elated.
"Dancing? Awesome! We could go to Club Zen; they have a new DJ, and a great bar."
"No," Raidou said. "I'm picking the place. We're going to the club where my dad met my ma."
"Oh." Genma sounded a little let down. And he was. The place where Raidou's parents met would have to be a completely het place, after all. Which meant Raidou was looking to pick up a chick. Genma sighed. It wasn't like the two of them had sworn eternal faithfulness or anything and it had only been a couple of weeks since they'd become more than just best friends, but he'd had the distinct impression that Raidou really wasn't interested in women. That all his prior experiences with them had left him cold and unfulfilled. That when the two of them had finally crossed the line they'd dreaded for months and slept together, Raidou had experienced an epiphany about himself and his sexuality, and why exactly it was his attempts to date women had been so thoroughly unsuccessful.
It also wasn't that Genma was jealous. He wasn't the jealous type, after all. He was an advocate of the no-strings-attached lifestyle, of casual sex and friends with benefits. The fact that since he and Raidou had finally hooked up he had turned down every offer made to him but the ones from his best friend meant nothing. And if Raidou wanted to take a walk on the het side, that was good. Genma liked women, after all. The two of them had certainly cruised their share of het bars before, and brought home dates. If the fun on Genma's side of the wall had been more enthusiastic, well that was something Raidou maybe needed to just confirm for himself one more time.
"It's called the Bar-H Bar, and they have line dancing," Raidou said, and grinned as if he expected this to please Genma.
"Oh," Genma said again. "Like choreographed?"
"No, they teach you the steps, and everyone dances in lines. It's great!"
"Oh." Genma looked down, studying his toenails. They needed trimming soon, he thought. Trimming. He glanced at Raidou's feet, large and solid, and his own, bony and scarred, and wondered if Raidou had ever noticed the curly hairs that grew on the knuckles of his large toes. Or if he only saw the broken-healed joints. Or if he'd ever noticed at all.
"Yeah, it will be great. I'll pick you up at eight." Raidou grinned and reached a hand out to tug at Genma's hair, to pull his friend's gaze back up. "Wear something sexy."
Genma remained subdued all the way to the Bar-H Bar. He had, as instructed, worn sexy low-slung jeans and a black-mesh shirt. Raidou looked like an extra from a cowboy movie, in loose jeans and a plaid shirt, with a belt buckle large enough to deflect a kunai strike.
It was only when they got to the bar door and Genma saw the sign, that his mood changed. "Line Dancing. Men's Night Tonight!" it proclaimed, with rainbow flags and a pair of interlinked circles and arrows.
Genma stopped, and stared. And punched Raidou in the arm.
"Got ya!" Raidou laughed. "Come on, partner. You're dancing with me tonight."
Raidou & Pakkun: Young
It was long after the point that Pakkun had become annoyed that he finally said something. And then it was only because he simply couldn't stand it anymore. Kakashi had, after all, expressly told him to stay out of it. Anything having to do with that damn Shiranui was something Pakkun could let well alone as far as he was concerned. And in truth, Pakkun shared Kakashi's opinion on that score. Not that he held quite as much unprocessed hate for the other ninja as Kakashi, but that was a matter of experience. Kakashi was still a pup after all, compared to Pakkun's many years of experience and wisdom. Pakkun had seen it all before, including watching men and dogs die because the medic couldn't get there in time. You mourned your dead and moved on. Eventually Kakashi would learn that.
But the real problem here wasn't Kakashi anyway, or Genma. Well it was Genma, but the thing that was annoying Pakkun was Raidou. It sort of figured a guy built like he was solid muscle under his fancy scarification was as dense as particleboard. And if he'd been someone Pakkun never had to run into, then it wouldn't have mattered, but the fact of the matter was they shared the 3rd floor of the ANBU apartments, along with Kakashi's other dogs, and Kuromaru. And all the dogs were painfully aware of the situation. Painfully.
So when it had reached a point where Pakkun couldn't take it anymore, where Hoshika was whining and pawing at her nose and Kuromaru was begging Tsume to take as many away missions as possible, Pakkun decided that as the senior ninja on the floor (and he had seniority on these ANBU pups' grandparents, Kakashi's included, but just don't ask him to tell you his age) it was up to him to share his sage advice with the poor confused little whelp.
"Hey kid," he said, trotting up behind Raidou as the other man came from the stairs. He was dressed in a sweat-soaked, reeking gi, flushed red with eyes shining, obviously fresh from a spar with the object of his affection.
Raidou stopped and looked around, locating the speaker with an amused chuckle when he found a cape-wearing pug standing at his feet.
"Yeah you, and don't laugh. This is serious. You obviously need some guidance here, and as your sempai, it's up to me to give it."
"The hell?" Raidou asked, baffled but in a good humor.
"We can all smell it, every single one of us. Would you quit stalling and just jump him or something?"
Raidou started to interrupt, but Pakkun cut him off. "At first we couldn't figure it out, because Shiranui pretty much will sleep with anything with two legs and a beating heart, so why was he holding back with you, right? But then we finally got it. When there's a bitch you really want, sometimes the best way to get her is to let her come to you. We figure that's what's going on here."
"Bitch? What?" The red in Raidou's cheeks deepened, and his half-grin turned to a scowl.
"Are you really this stupid? I mean, this is so bad it almost seems like an act." Pakkun stared at the big oaf for a long minute before finally speaking slowly and carefully as one would to a simpleton. "You're going to have to make the first move here, because he's afraid he'll scare you off."
"He? Who? I...." Raidou's scowl turned into a glare.
"Yo Rai, what's.. Whoah!" Genma nearly collided with man and dog as he came out of the stairwell.
The scents that spiked from both men were nearly enough to choke a dog. Pakkun coughed and rolled his eyes. "Him, idiot. Him. Right there in front of you. Oh for god's sake!"
"Oh. Kakashi's dog" Genma said dismissively. "Come on, let's get cleaned up. I won and we're having hot pot!"
Pakkun heaved a deeply aggrieved sigh, gave Genma a look of utter loathing, and turned on his heels. Maybe he'd be able to persuade Kakashi to take a nice long mission to someplace with hotsprings. Far away from the idiot brigade.
Ginta & [spoiler]: Barber
In a ninja village there weren't a lot of things that were segregated by sex. It was a fairly egalitarian world, really. Sure there were some things that had to be gender-specific, like gynecologists for the women and prostate exams for the men, but really, outside of a medical setting it didn't much matter. Although dress and lingerie shops were certainly more frequented by the distaff half of Konoha's population, and the majority of condoms were bought by the men, when it came to ninja at least, the activities of daily living were pretty unisex. Kunoichi bought their weapons and food and books, their survival gear, the things they decorated their apartments with, and their tea at the same shops as their male counterparts. They went to the same dentists and eye doctors, and shoe shops, because footwear specialized for ninja were sold in only a few select locations.
But there was one almost anachronistic division that remained. Women did not get their hair cut at the barber shop. And men did not invade the beauty parlors. In fact the hair styling venues and the public baths were the most rigidly sex-segregated spots in Konoha.
When Ginta walked into the barber shop for a cut and a shave, deciding to treat himself to a little luxury after a long three weeks in the field, he was astounded to find the place in a state of extreme tension. Every man in there, patrons and barbers alike, was deadly silent, and all eyes were focused on one really rather awful-looking head of hair and the man slashing at it with a straight razor like it was some sort of infectious mold that might creep up his arm at any moment.
This, of course, aroused Ginta's curiosity. Deeply aroused. It had been a long, tedious mission, and here was finally a chance to get some neurons firing again. The chair's occupant was faced away, but a quick glance in the mirror told him it was an Inuzuka or someone who really wanted to be one and had faked the tribal tattoos.
The nearly white eyes could have belonged to a Hyuuga, but what Hyuuga would ever want to be an Inuzuka? Although that would definitely have caused the heads to turn. But the heads in the room were turned and watching as if the barber were attempting to diffuse a bomb, not whacking at the silky hairs of an errant Hyuuga.
So it was probably a real Inuzuka, but where was his dog? Maybe the dog was the problem? That made sense, the Inuzuka had some scary as hell dogs. A second look confirmed that there was indeed one of those freakishly outsized canines here, curled quietly at his master's feet. And that's when Ginta burst into laughter.
"Tsume!" He bounded over to the chair, horrifying the watchers and causing the nervous barber to chop a rough handful of his client's brown hair off at an angle he surely hadn't been intending.
"Ginta!" Tsume returned brightly, then stopped and starred, just as horrified at her ANBU comrade's appearance as the men of the barbershop had been at her.
"What?" Ginta asked. He bounced on the balls of his feet, rocking up and back, daring the others in the room to comment. Kuromaru looked up at the small man and slowly wagged his tail, sweeping hanks of fallen hair back and forth along the grey tiles.
"You... you.." Tsume was still staring, Still looking as if she could see the ghosts of every man Ginta had ever killed lined up behind him.
"I what?" Ginta asked, and finally stood still.
"Your face. You..." Tsume reached a hand up from under her drape and stroked at her cheek.
"Oh yeah," Ginta laughed. "Got a little cut up on the mission, but it's not that bad. It won't scar much."
"No. It's... Not that." Tsume snickered. "It's..." She snickered and guffawed and Kuromaru howled with her. "You have a beard!"
Genma, Line Dancing, Joyful
When Raidou said, "Let's go out tonight," Genma was pleased. When Raidou added, "Dancing," Genma was elated.
"Dancing? Awesome! We could go to Club Zen; they have a new DJ, and a great bar."
"No," Raidou said. "I'm picking the place. We're going to the club where my dad met my ma."
"Oh." Genma sounded a little let down. And he was. The place where Raidou's parents met would have to be a completely het place, after all. Which meant Raidou was looking to pick up a chick. Genma sighed. It wasn't like the two of them had sworn eternal faithfulness or anything and it had only been a couple of weeks since they'd become more than just best friends, but he'd had the distinct impression that Raidou really wasn't interested in women. That all his prior experiences with them had left him cold and unfulfilled. That when the two of them had finally crossed the line they'd dreaded for months and slept together, Raidou had experienced an epiphany about himself and his sexuality, and why exactly it was his attempts to date women had been so thoroughly unsuccessful.
It also wasn't that Genma was jealous. He wasn't the jealous type, after all. He was an advocate of the no-strings-attached lifestyle, of casual sex and friends with benefits. The fact that since he and Raidou had finally hooked up he had turned down every offer made to him but the ones from his best friend meant nothing. And if Raidou wanted to take a walk on the het side, that was good. Genma liked women, after all. The two of them had certainly cruised their share of het bars before, and brought home dates. If the fun on Genma's side of the wall had been more enthusiastic, well that was something Raidou maybe needed to just confirm for himself one more time.
"It's called the Bar-H Bar, and they have line dancing," Raidou said, and grinned as if he expected this to please Genma.
"Oh," Genma said again. "Like choreographed?"
"No, they teach you the steps, and everyone dances in lines. It's great!"
"Oh." Genma looked down, studying his toenails. They needed trimming soon, he thought. Trimming. He glanced at Raidou's feet, large and solid, and his own, bony and scarred, and wondered if Raidou had ever noticed the curly hairs that grew on the knuckles of his large toes. Or if he only saw the broken-healed joints. Or if he'd ever noticed at all.
"Yeah, it will be great. I'll pick you up at eight." Raidou grinned and reached a hand out to tug at Genma's hair, to pull his friend's gaze back up. "Wear something sexy."
Genma remained subdued all the way to the Bar-H Bar. He had, as instructed, worn sexy low-slung jeans and a black-mesh shirt. Raidou looked like an extra from a cowboy movie, in loose jeans and a plaid shirt, with a belt buckle large enough to deflect a kunai strike.
It was only when they got to the bar door and Genma saw the sign, that his mood changed. "Line Dancing. Men's Night Tonight!" it proclaimed, with rainbow flags and a pair of interlinked circles and arrows.
Genma stopped, and stared. And punched Raidou in the arm.
"Got ya!" Raidou laughed. "Come on, partner. You're dancing with me tonight."