(no subject)
Well, just so you know, I got almost all of these done in time for Christmas! Sadly, Fi wasn't able to get on Christmas Day to post them, but she is doing it now!
Yes, Fi got caught ninja!sneaking online, which is why she hasn't tried getting on in the last few days, 'cuz she didn't wish to risk more parental wrath. >>; It's not her fault that her parents got a cell phone while she was at school and she forgot about it and got on while her parents were trying to call home.
*pokes Neji* The kid's so difficult to write.
The day Hyuuga Hinata was scheduled to become a caged bird, Neji was out training. His presence was not required for the occasion, so the jounin found little reason to vary his routine.
He slowed his spin, watching as his world goes from a mass of blurred color to a new, but familiar, landscape: assorted weapons scattered for meters around the depression he was standing in the center of.
"Why did you stop?" he asked Tenten. His female teammate was directly behind him, about four meters up into the branches of a tree.
There was no answer. Neji frowned, and reduced the flow of chakra to his eyes, disengaging his bloodline limit. It irritated her sometimes, to have him continue on a conversation with her without "looking" at her. It was best, in these instances, to comply with her whims. Otherwise, she got testy.
Neji turned around to her tree, just in time to witness her leap down onto the ground. She was twirling a kunai around her index finger-a sure sign of anxiety. "Why are you here?" Tenten asked, studying his face as she advanced.
Neji's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I'm training. With you," he added, tilting his head to indicate the weapons strewn about like corpses on a battlefield.
She shook her head dismissively. "Why aren't you back home?" The kunai stopped its circular movement, coming to a halt with the hilt pressed into her palm. "Everyone knows that your cousin . . ." Her words trailed off, and it was her turn to frown.
Neji made a conscious effort not to stiffen. "Hinata-sam . . . Hinata-san would not want a larger audience to witness her humiliation," he said matter-of-factly. "As it is, there will be over thirty people in attendance to watch the seal placed on her."
"Who?" Tenten was less than a meter away, and her eyes were still seizing him up. Or at least, attempting to-compared to the Hyuuga Clan, her eyes saw almost nothing.
"Hiashi-sama. Hanabi-sama. Various Elders, other prominent people in the clan." Neji watched as his teammate came to a halt.
Her empty fist came up to her hip and planted itself there; the fist with the kunai hung at her side. It was a familiar pose-one that she used when she was getting ready to scold Lee. "I don't suppose it's a wonderful sensation, having that-" she jerked her gaze up to the hitai-ate he was wearing "-burned into you, is it?"
Neji scowled. Tenten had never mentioned the seal in his presence and had alluded to it less than a handful of times. "No." Even now, thirteen years after receiving it, he could still remember the pain, remember how his father's gentle hands had been the only things to prevent the young fingers from clawing into the sensitive forehead and trying to rip away the center of agony.
Her voice was quiet. "Does Hinata have any friends in the Branch?"
"No." Neji's hands were now in fists. He knew how much the former Heir had been despised by both sides of the family.
"Then why are you here?"
When Tenten gathered her weapons from the ground and the nearby trees, she did it alone.
According to zuul, there aren't nearly enough fics with the entirety of Team Ten (um, this works, technically >>). Interestingly enough, I associate this team (when they're young) with a lot of noise and chaos. So, here's my best shot, dear.
The first mission Team Ten went on was a complete disaster.
Surveying the smoldering ruins of a tool shed and listening to the shrieking of one irate blonde, Sarutobi Asuma conceded that whoever the hell it was that came up with the saying that being lazy would get you killed one day had obviously been a jounin-sensei.
It had started out innocently (how long had it been since anyone had been able to apply that word to him?) enough, the bearded man thought with the dazed sort of thinking a shell-shocked shinobi often had after a particularly nasty mission. Run-of-the-mill D-rank mission, designed more for the sake of the team than the sake of the task. Gather the scattered gardening tools, do some minor lawn maintenance, and clean up the shed a bit, putting the varied implements into some semblance of order.
There never had been any order.
"Ino, can't you go any faster?"
"Get off your butt and help your teammates, Shikamaru!"
"Sensei . . . "
"That's weed killer, not fertilizer!"
"You're supposed to cut the lawn, not sleep on it."
"Sensei."
"Those are for the hedges, not the trees."
"Don't run the kid over, Chouji!"
"Sensei!"
"What?!"
Ino pointed to the cloud of smoke that was drifting out from the shed. "You didn't put out your cigarette."
It really was too bad that liquid fertilizer was a highly combustible material.
There was a positive side to all of this, Asuma decided as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. At least there wasn't a lawn to worry about anymore.
. . . I tried, lefty? ^^;
Ino knew what had happened the night that Sasuke left the village. Sakura had told her, in a forced, easy tone that did nothing to hide the tears in her eyes. The Yamanaka watched as they dripped down the pale face, and before she knew it, Ino had pulled her former rival into a hug.
It was strange, Ino realized after Sakura left (scrubbing at her face) that she somehow couldn't dredge up the show of emotion that the pink-haired girl had. Ino leaned against the doorframe for a long time, trying to piece together how she felt.
A Yamanaka must always be in control of her emotions, she thought to herself, must remember when it's safe to reveal the true face and when the mask must be worn. Yamanaka can never have a troubled mind or heart, not when the clan jutsu depended so much upon the manipulation of both.
Ino pushed herself off the doorframe and went inside. It had taken less time than she had thought, to sort through her feelings about the situation.
First and foremost was anger. She was furious that Sasuke had left the village. The betrayal stung worse than any slap she had received from her father for misbehaving. Loyalty had been spoon-fed to her from infancy, and to leave . . .
The second most prominent emotion was worry. Not for Sasuke, but for Sakura. Ino could only guess at what was going on in the other girl's mind (especially with that frightening other-self she'd had the pleasure to meet in the Chuunin Exams). But she was confident that, for now, Sakura wouldn't try anything, not with Naruto still in the hospital.
The third, and final feeling, was what sent her to her room. Ino snatched her kunai holster and shuriken pouch and strapped them on. She strode out of her house and down the street to hunt up someone to train with. Maybe she should pull Shikamaru out of the hospital, he needed some fresh air, and he might be willing to do something for once . . .
Sakura would have a run for her money to see who was going to bring Sasuke back.
I loved your description of this in the info you gave me, and I couldn't resist.
A common, but unfortunate, side-effect of getting drunk was that the higher the blood-alcohol level, the lower amount of common sense one retained.
There was reason to celebrate-the Shodai's son had finally managed to attain jounin status-and Shigeru was taking advantage of the fact that his friends were handling the tab. And were currently handling some of the feistier kunoichi, so they couldn't complain if he took advantage of the many liquors available.
By the time the first hour of the morning took over, Shigeru was lucky he could remember his name, let alone what he was celebrating. So when a slip of a beauty sat down not far from him, he did something he'd never done before.
At least, not that he could remember. He frowned a little, wondering if maybe he had sent a drink to a hot kunoichi before, but it hurt to strain his mind that much. Shigeru blinked, and watched out of the corner of his eye as the bartender handed her a round. She looked a bit surprised and turned her head to look in his direction, following the bartender's index finger.
Shigeru jerked his eyes back down to his glass, staring intently at the little puddle of amber liquid in the bottom. For the life of him, he couldn't remember if this was-
"Thanks for the drink."
He jerked his head in her direction so quickly that the room spun. Shigeru blinked rapidly, forcing his eyes to focus on the girl in front of him. The way the lights of the bar caught on her hair, turning it from blonde to a muted gold. And her eyes-he hadn't been able to see them clearly from where he was-they were a perfect hazel, did they change color, like-
He realized that he had been staring for a good fifteen seconds without saying anything. "Ah . . . um. You're welcome?"
She raised an eyebrow at him.
He stared. And then what vestiges of common sense he had kicked in. "My name's Shigeru." At least, that was what he meant to say-some where in there he seemed to have lost command of the language, and there had been quite a bit more slurring than there should have been on those syllables.
She took the seat next to him, giving him an appraising eye. "I'm Kana."
Shigeru downed the remainder of his drink and ordered another. What remained of his common sense fled with the next shot.
It really was too bad, he reflected the next morning, fighting off a combined hangover and concussion in the hospital, that he couldn't remember what exactly it was that had set her off. He remembered with better clarity how those mesmerizing hazel eyes had turned deadly. He also remembered how her tiny fist had been heading toward his face.
After that, he remembered nothing, although an irate bartender had seen fit to come yell at him, saying something about paying damages for a splintered table and partially smashed wall, Shodai's son or not.
But Shigeru didn't mind all that much. Because when he woke up, there was a tiny daffodil on the bedside stand. The scrap of paper next to the little flower had only one work on it: Kana.
_ladymacbeth, dragon_bite, I'm really sorry, but I fail at the Akatsuki. ;_; I shall persevere, and get your Christmas!drabbles done as soon as I can. Same for you, sna32, Midori!muse failed, but I shall get that done quickly!
Merry (Late) Christmas!
-Fi
Yes, Fi got caught ninja!sneaking online, which is why she hasn't tried getting on in the last few days, 'cuz she didn't wish to risk more parental wrath. >>; It's not her fault that her parents got a cell phone while she was at school and she forgot about it and got on while her parents were trying to call home.
*pokes Neji* The kid's so difficult to write.
The day Hyuuga Hinata was scheduled to become a caged bird, Neji was out training. His presence was not required for the occasion, so the jounin found little reason to vary his routine.
He slowed his spin, watching as his world goes from a mass of blurred color to a new, but familiar, landscape: assorted weapons scattered for meters around the depression he was standing in the center of.
"Why did you stop?" he asked Tenten. His female teammate was directly behind him, about four meters up into the branches of a tree.
There was no answer. Neji frowned, and reduced the flow of chakra to his eyes, disengaging his bloodline limit. It irritated her sometimes, to have him continue on a conversation with her without "looking" at her. It was best, in these instances, to comply with her whims. Otherwise, she got testy.
Neji turned around to her tree, just in time to witness her leap down onto the ground. She was twirling a kunai around her index finger-a sure sign of anxiety. "Why are you here?" Tenten asked, studying his face as she advanced.
Neji's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "I'm training. With you," he added, tilting his head to indicate the weapons strewn about like corpses on a battlefield.
She shook her head dismissively. "Why aren't you back home?" The kunai stopped its circular movement, coming to a halt with the hilt pressed into her palm. "Everyone knows that your cousin . . ." Her words trailed off, and it was her turn to frown.
Neji made a conscious effort not to stiffen. "Hinata-sam . . . Hinata-san would not want a larger audience to witness her humiliation," he said matter-of-factly. "As it is, there will be over thirty people in attendance to watch the seal placed on her."
"Who?" Tenten was less than a meter away, and her eyes were still seizing him up. Or at least, attempting to-compared to the Hyuuga Clan, her eyes saw almost nothing.
"Hiashi-sama. Hanabi-sama. Various Elders, other prominent people in the clan." Neji watched as his teammate came to a halt.
Her empty fist came up to her hip and planted itself there; the fist with the kunai hung at her side. It was a familiar pose-one that she used when she was getting ready to scold Lee. "I don't suppose it's a wonderful sensation, having that-" she jerked her gaze up to the hitai-ate he was wearing "-burned into you, is it?"
Neji scowled. Tenten had never mentioned the seal in his presence and had alluded to it less than a handful of times. "No." Even now, thirteen years after receiving it, he could still remember the pain, remember how his father's gentle hands had been the only things to prevent the young fingers from clawing into the sensitive forehead and trying to rip away the center of agony.
Her voice was quiet. "Does Hinata have any friends in the Branch?"
"No." Neji's hands were now in fists. He knew how much the former Heir had been despised by both sides of the family.
"Then why are you here?"
When Tenten gathered her weapons from the ground and the nearby trees, she did it alone.
According to zuul, there aren't nearly enough fics with the entirety of Team Ten (um, this works, technically >>). Interestingly enough, I associate this team (when they're young) with a lot of noise and chaos. So, here's my best shot, dear.
The first mission Team Ten went on was a complete disaster.
Surveying the smoldering ruins of a tool shed and listening to the shrieking of one irate blonde, Sarutobi Asuma conceded that whoever the hell it was that came up with the saying that being lazy would get you killed one day had obviously been a jounin-sensei.
It had started out innocently (how long had it been since anyone had been able to apply that word to him?) enough, the bearded man thought with the dazed sort of thinking a shell-shocked shinobi often had after a particularly nasty mission. Run-of-the-mill D-rank mission, designed more for the sake of the team than the sake of the task. Gather the scattered gardening tools, do some minor lawn maintenance, and clean up the shed a bit, putting the varied implements into some semblance of order.
There never had been any order.
"Ino, can't you go any faster?"
"Get off your butt and help your teammates, Shikamaru!"
"Sensei . . . "
"That's weed killer, not fertilizer!"
"You're supposed to cut the lawn, not sleep on it."
"Sensei."
"Those are for the hedges, not the trees."
"Don't run the kid over, Chouji!"
"Sensei!"
"What?!"
Ino pointed to the cloud of smoke that was drifting out from the shed. "You didn't put out your cigarette."
It really was too bad that liquid fertilizer was a highly combustible material.
There was a positive side to all of this, Asuma decided as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes. At least there wasn't a lawn to worry about anymore.
. . . I tried, lefty? ^^;
Ino knew what had happened the night that Sasuke left the village. Sakura had told her, in a forced, easy tone that did nothing to hide the tears in her eyes. The Yamanaka watched as they dripped down the pale face, and before she knew it, Ino had pulled her former rival into a hug.
It was strange, Ino realized after Sakura left (scrubbing at her face) that she somehow couldn't dredge up the show of emotion that the pink-haired girl had. Ino leaned against the doorframe for a long time, trying to piece together how she felt.
A Yamanaka must always be in control of her emotions, she thought to herself, must remember when it's safe to reveal the true face and when the mask must be worn. Yamanaka can never have a troubled mind or heart, not when the clan jutsu depended so much upon the manipulation of both.
Ino pushed herself off the doorframe and went inside. It had taken less time than she had thought, to sort through her feelings about the situation.
First and foremost was anger. She was furious that Sasuke had left the village. The betrayal stung worse than any slap she had received from her father for misbehaving. Loyalty had been spoon-fed to her from infancy, and to leave . . .
The second most prominent emotion was worry. Not for Sasuke, but for Sakura. Ino could only guess at what was going on in the other girl's mind (especially with that frightening other-self she'd had the pleasure to meet in the Chuunin Exams). But she was confident that, for now, Sakura wouldn't try anything, not with Naruto still in the hospital.
The third, and final feeling, was what sent her to her room. Ino snatched her kunai holster and shuriken pouch and strapped them on. She strode out of her house and down the street to hunt up someone to train with. Maybe she should pull Shikamaru out of the hospital, he needed some fresh air, and he might be willing to do something for once . . .
Sakura would have a run for her money to see who was going to bring Sasuke back.
I loved your description of this in the info you gave me, and I couldn't resist.
A common, but unfortunate, side-effect of getting drunk was that the higher the blood-alcohol level, the lower amount of common sense one retained.
There was reason to celebrate-the Shodai's son had finally managed to attain jounin status-and Shigeru was taking advantage of the fact that his friends were handling the tab. And were currently handling some of the feistier kunoichi, so they couldn't complain if he took advantage of the many liquors available.
By the time the first hour of the morning took over, Shigeru was lucky he could remember his name, let alone what he was celebrating. So when a slip of a beauty sat down not far from him, he did something he'd never done before.
At least, not that he could remember. He frowned a little, wondering if maybe he had sent a drink to a hot kunoichi before, but it hurt to strain his mind that much. Shigeru blinked, and watched out of the corner of his eye as the bartender handed her a round. She looked a bit surprised and turned her head to look in his direction, following the bartender's index finger.
Shigeru jerked his eyes back down to his glass, staring intently at the little puddle of amber liquid in the bottom. For the life of him, he couldn't remember if this was-
"Thanks for the drink."
He jerked his head in her direction so quickly that the room spun. Shigeru blinked rapidly, forcing his eyes to focus on the girl in front of him. The way the lights of the bar caught on her hair, turning it from blonde to a muted gold. And her eyes-he hadn't been able to see them clearly from where he was-they were a perfect hazel, did they change color, like-
He realized that he had been staring for a good fifteen seconds without saying anything. "Ah . . . um. You're welcome?"
She raised an eyebrow at him.
He stared. And then what vestiges of common sense he had kicked in. "My name's Shigeru." At least, that was what he meant to say-some where in there he seemed to have lost command of the language, and there had been quite a bit more slurring than there should have been on those syllables.
She took the seat next to him, giving him an appraising eye. "I'm Kana."
Shigeru downed the remainder of his drink and ordered another. What remained of his common sense fled with the next shot.
It really was too bad, he reflected the next morning, fighting off a combined hangover and concussion in the hospital, that he couldn't remember what exactly it was that had set her off. He remembered with better clarity how those mesmerizing hazel eyes had turned deadly. He also remembered how her tiny fist had been heading toward his face.
After that, he remembered nothing, although an irate bartender had seen fit to come yell at him, saying something about paying damages for a splintered table and partially smashed wall, Shodai's son or not.
But Shigeru didn't mind all that much. Because when he woke up, there was a tiny daffodil on the bedside stand. The scrap of paper next to the little flower had only one work on it: Kana.
_ladymacbeth, dragon_bite, I'm really sorry, but I fail at the Akatsuki. ;_; I shall persevere, and get your Christmas!drabbles done as soon as I can. Same for you, sna32, Midori!muse failed, but I shall get that done quickly!
Merry (Late) Christmas!
-Fi