Sunergos, Chapter 8, draft (Naruto)
Ah, decided to post this at the last minute. I don't really have the leisure right now, so I'll comment and stuff tomorrow (or the next day. x__x). I have to wake up bright and early tomorrow. Long day of driving. Pehehehe.
This chapter's a bit more on the character development side. *ducks flying crockery*
D21:54:48 Tuesday, 02 August, 2005
Chapter 8 Sunergos
The water sparkled under the winding day, its crystal clarity seemingly home to a multitude of yellow-stained diamonds. It flowed from the peaks of the Sleeping Mother, the petite mountain chain in southeastern Fire country. Eventually finding its way into one of such streams in its foothills, it was this water that fed the Chanting Falls, leaping down from a modest height of 300 feet and into a wide basin nestled among both ancient and young trees on the southwestern side of the Knees, the smallest mountain of the range.
At the very thickness of these slim silent towers, once upon a time, a princess and her entourage came for a picnic. She was an in-between sort of princess---not so pretty but not so ugly, not so tall but not so short. She wasn't a particularly disagreeable person, but she got unlucky. Alcohol was involved in the little party, and she had probably gulped down a little too much and had wandered away. Apparently, some wood kami took offense at her intoxicated blathering and turned her into a spring on the mountainside, that same one people now call Chanting Falls, where she continued to babble to this day. Of course, people didn't think Babbling Falls as elegant as Chanting Falls, thus the name change. Or so Naruto thought when a cantankerous old fisherman told him of that local legend.
Chanting Falls was breathtaking not because it was grand and imposing----which it actually wasn't, being a little lopsided. It had a simple beauty that caught ones breath. See, this area of Fire country was famous enough for its idyllic scenes, but wasn't necessarily well-visited; it was a rocky sort of place, the terrain unexpectedly sliding into steep slopes, and even sheer drops, here and there. Naruto supposed it wasn't as steep or sheer as those crags, mountains, and gorges at Rock Country, Cloud, Sand, or even Mist country, but that didn't really matter to those who ended up at the bottom, broken in several places. The simple beauty of the Chanting Falls came from the fact that it was actually made out of several falls. What used to be a near-vertical slope of the Knee's rockface was now ornately carved by the eons of rushing, dripping, freezing, and thawing of water. The stream skipped from at least three outcroppings; by the time the water reached the foot of the drop, the force of its descent was softened enough not to grind its visitors to pieces. There was even a natural cavern at the topmost of these outcroppings, a tiny and usually damp place that Naruto had to sleep in once when he was caught in a vicious typhoon, invisible from the outside. Shrubs and even the more limber trees grew as close as possible to the springwater, their boughs intricately twisting to catch sunlight, tenaciously digging into the rock and packed earth for nutrients.
Naruto, breathing deeply the clean crisp air, was glad to be there.
When Naruto was briefed yesterday evening, he was told that the mission was more in nature of a guided tour than a bodyguarding one. He figured he was qualified for the job since he had experience as a part-time wanderer. Hinata-chan's visitor had his own bodyguards, a genin team and their sensei. Hinata herself was here as a civilian, as Naruto found out when he puzzled aloud over her attire. Along with her came Neji.
The mission started off fine. Prince Amarillo was wide-awake at 3 in the morning, as perky as the early-rising rooster, and the ensuing hike didn't dampen his mood at all. At first, he spoke in whispers, enthusiastically sharing how excited he was, how free and adventurous he felt, but the farther they went from the Konoha gates, the louder his exclamations became.
The only remarkable thing that morning was that run-in with the smuggler in the road to Umeda.
Naruto knew the man had been nervous, had been ready to attack had anyone confronted him. He didn't think the man would move at all, but he had still been tempted to investigate. (The man was being suspicious.) He decided to let the teamleader decide what to do; it was never nice to get insubordination charges.
Neji had probably wanted to investigate, too, thought Naruto. That would have been easy. The ANBU would have tried to strike up a conversation about some mundane thing, or something similarly inconspicuous. If the guy didn't cooperate, a hidden kunai or some choice threats would have made him stay.
Now before Neji could decide about that, the guy was already dead. Maybe the man was going to attack, but the Cloud girl beat him at it. Naruto didn't really say much about it, but he disliked random killings like that. The man was up to no good, true, but they didn't even know what that no good thing was.
But that aside, the girl interested Naruto, as well. She had acted rashly, and judging from the reaction of her teammates, she didn't do so often. Her reason was obscure, something to do with some conflict with her teammates or even her teacher, but her expression, which she carefully kept hidden, had been a curious mixture of self-righteousness and gnawing shame. Naruto'd been through that sort of thing. How many years had he spent trying to prove himself? Prove that he's better than Sasuke?
Amarillo had been shocked by that casual killing. He looked like a ghost and became violently sick, but he actually insisted that the dead guy be buried. Naruto was impressed by that. And that was when Naruto became chatty with him. The prince really reminded him of somebody, but he just couldn't remember who...
Anyway, Prince Amarillo was a nice fellow. He had eyebrows as thick as Lee's, but Amarillo's were more evil-looking, looking like they're ready to pop out and start munching on people's fingers. He was a fun guy who talked a little weirdly and asked a lot of questions, but Naruto enjoyed being his companion.
The rest of the walk to the town of Umeda was uneventful. Amarillo gradually relaxed and became more like his talkative self. Mai, however, wasn't so quick to revert back to normal. Her sardonic remarks were absent during the whole trip. Impassively, she acknowledged her teammates friendly overtures, but she remained reticent. Maybe she just didn't take well to failing. Or maybe Iga didn't.
Iga was okay. He was mostly quiet, politely staying in the background. However, once Naruto got him going, broke the ice a little, Iga could get a little chatty, too. And that's how Naruto found out the Clound nin liked ramen as much as he did.
Umeda was the sort of town that always had a few visitors hanging around. It was regarded as the gateway to the Sleeping Mother, for several trails winding on to the mountains started there. It was easy to get lost up there; the man-made trails were easy to confuse with those of the various animals moving about. Adventurers, miners, hunters, and some of the usual never-do-gooders passed by Umeda to buy supplies. Occasionally, some people barter trinkets for dumpy-looking maps. Some even pay for guides, something Naruto wouldn't necessarily advise others to do. But all in all, Umeda was a good place to get information, be it the ordinary kind or the ninja kind.
It was also a good place for ramen. Naruto never figured out why he loved Umeda's special ramen----or he did once and had already forgotten----but it had a certain flavor unique to those parts. It probably had something to do with the secret blend of herbs and spices gathered from the extensive forests surrounding the town.
That was when Iga began being talkative.
“Ramen's also my favorite food,” said the Cloud nin. “While I was growing up, we practically lived on it. My siblings got pretty sick of it, but not me. I guess, that’s why I had a pretty happy childhood in spite of things.”
“You eat ramen everyday?” Naruto said. “So do I!”
“Well, I certainly wish I could, but no.” Iga laughed. “I don’t control the kitchen, see. We usually have other types of grain available, not just rye.”
“Rye?”
“One of our staple crops is rye. It grows well in high altitude and it doesn’t mind the bad weather we have up at Cloud country that much.”
“But you do.”
Iga smiled sheepishly. “I hate snow,” he admitted.
“And you get lots of it in Cloud, just like in Mist country,” said Naruto. “So you use rye to make the noodles?”
“Yes. We also grow wheat, and we mix that with the rye. Rye isn’t really that great tasting by itself when you’re talking about ramen. And bread, too, actually.”
“But we’re mostly interested with ramen anyway,” said Naruto fervently. “I’d definitely swing by Kunigakure no Sato the next time I’m in Cloud country.”
“Look me up, Naruto-san,” urged Iga. “I’ll show you to the best stall.”
“Yeah right, sensei,” said the funny-haired boy, whose name was... Hib? “As if Naruto-san needs to travel to that infernal ice hole to get ripped off.”
“Don’t say that,” protested his sensei lamely. Then, he turned to the others to explain. “It’s a custom in our village for the guest to pay for the expenses of the host, as long as the guest resided under the host’s roof. Of course, that applies only to the people of the Cloud who are familiar to that custom. I’m not as shameless as my student here makes me out to be.” He glanced witheringly at the boy.
“Not entirely shameless,” corrected Katsuo. “He wouldn’t bring his belt bag along to filch food the way he usually does.”
“As you can see, I am not exactly their favorite.” Iga sighed.
“Not exactly true either,” Katsuo assured. “We do like you, sensei, even though you make us sleep in sewers because you’re too crusty to pay for inns.”
“Yeah,” chimed in Hib. “You’re a favorite, sensei. Like a toy.”
“Speaking of toys, invite Baby Mai, as well, when you eat out with sensei, Naruto-san. She tries to chew on us whenever he’s out of sight. I think she’s teething.”
“So take all of us! We’ll keep her out of your hair while you slurp down noodles.”
Naruto chuckled. “I hate to break it to you guys,” he said ruefully. “But I’m kinda broke.”
“Huh?” said Hinata. “But you’ve just been promoted.”
“Yeah, but I owe Sasuke a lot of money right now. I kinda broke his kitchen.”
Amarillo looked at him curiously. “May I ask how one breaks a kitchen exactly?” he asked.
“With chopsticks,” answered the jounin with aplomb. “And a broken watch.”
“I didn’t follow that.”
So Naruto recounted the night of his past birthday and his misadventures in the Uchiha kitchen.
After shooing off various hiking-gear hawkers and wanna-be forest guides, Naruto led them to a wayside hiking trail that didn’t really look that different from the rest of the woods. Anyway, the trek started off like a walk in the park, even with all the brambles here and there, the thick bushes covering the forest floor, and the occasional burrows and holes. Gradually, the level ground became increasingly steep and rocky. The trees weren’t stout enough to travel on like around Konohagakure no Sato, but instead were sinuous slender things that were entangled with various vines. The also had to slow down for Amarillo so they had to pick their way through it all, instead of just flitting about. It was exhilarating exercise.
Amarillo was a nice surprise to Naruto. He managed to keep up and even had breath to acclaim one natural wonder or another. He found the trees and the fungi growing on them fascinating. The cacophony of bird calls was sweet. He asked about rock types and the name of that adorable kitten with that luxuriant golden coat-wow, what teeth!
In fact, his only problem was that he seemed to have an affinity with animals-the fanged ones. Naruto didn’t like killing wildcats (and panthers and bears and warthogs), since they’re mostly sleeping in the morning anyway, and he never found any of them particularly good tasting. (Plus, their meat was sinewy and hard to chew.) He sort of accidentally had to slice up one that tried to hamstring the wide-eyed prince. He wasn’t sorry about skewering that boa constrictor, though-multiple encounters with Orochimaru as a kid did do things to your head.
As they neared the waterfalls, their path became rockier, steeper, and most of all wetter. Amarillo did know a thing or two about rock climbing-he was a prince of Rock country-but what he wasn’t used to was moss. They grew everywhere in those parts, coating nearly every surface like carpet. It made balancing pretty challenging for laymen, but the prince kept on without a single complaint. He was red and puffy, but there was a lot of water around anyway. They passed by quite a few mountain streams and though it was autumn, Amarillo wasn’t the only one who dunked himself into each pebbly rush (or trickle. The prince garnered a glistening souvenir on his forehead at one particularly stony brook.)
They arrived at about four in the afternoon. They set up camp at the banks of the pool fed by the falls and were more or less lazing about now. Neji had just gotten back from scouting and was puttering about their campsite, putting things in order, maybe counting firewood-who knew? Naruto and the prince were sprawled under a tree, watching the two genins teach Hinata how to play a traditional Cloud game. The girl Mai wordlessly sat a ways from the shade, her bare feet in the water.
“You have known the lady long, have you, Naruto-san?” Amarillo said suddenly.
“Yeah,” answered the other. “Why?”
“It seems you and Hinata-hime are quite close.”
“Hinata-hime? I’ve never heard that one before.” Naruto scratched his chin. “We went to the Academy together but we didn’t really become friends till much later.”
“But you’ve known her since childhood?”
“I guess.”
“Has she always been like that?”
“Like what?”
“A contradiction?”
Naruto sat up, frowning. “Contradiction?”
“She’s cold, but not entirely. Her bearing is haughty and yet her words humble. She’s calm and unaffected, but there are moments her passion comes through.”
The ninja paused to mull that over. He thought he probably knew what Amarillo was talking about. “Sometimes, Hinata-chan doesn’t give herself the respect she deserves,” he finally answered.
“I don’t understand.”
“Yeah? It’s hard to explain.” Naruto laid back down. It was hard to explain. It’s just how he knew Hinata---a little jumbled up inside. She was fixing it, he knew, and that was always something he admired about her.
“I comprehend your meaning, though incompletely. I suppose, she is also circumscribed by courtly manners, as I am. Ironic. I have always equated ninja with absolute freedom. Is she as strong as they say she is?”
The blond young man was puzzled again. “Hinata-chan is strong. She has a different sort of strongness than what many people admire.”
“More limber than stout?”
“Uh...” More limber than stout? Like a tree? Naruto squinted at the prince, but the latter was staring off in space.
“Yes, yes.” Amarillo was deep in thought. “I thought so.”
Naruto shook his head. Weird or not, he was going to keep his answers honest but as non-committal as possible. Amarillo was just curious and basically harmless, but still...
“She is a very important person, isn’t she?”
What was with all this questions? Naruto answered anyway. “In her family, she is. The Hyuuga heiress.”
“She will make a fine queen.”
Startled, Naruto suddenly remembered the purpose of the other man’s visit to Konoha. “Oh, yeah, you’re courting her.”
The prince nodded.
“So that’s why you’re asking all these weird questions,” accused Naruto.
“My apologies.” The prince bowed low. “My eagerness to know the lady better has usurped my manners. One most know one’s future wife, as well as be ingratiated with her friends.”
Naruto practically goggled at him. “Wow. You sound really sure of yourself.”
“One has reasons for optimism.” Amarillo grinned boyishly. “Not that I trust so much in hearsay, but I have heard stories of Hinata-hime being likened to the Yuki-onna.”
“The snow lady? The ghost who sucks out people’s life force?” Naruto guffawed. “Hinata-chan?”
“We are of the same mind.” Amarillo laughed as well. “I have taken it as a sign of favor, her thawing. She’s actually a gentle soul, isn’t she?”
“Hinata-chan’s very nice.” Naruto settled with the answer, not sure what the other man was getting at.
“So I have observed. Royalty tends to gravitate toward the placid and submissive brides of strong political families. She fits one out of three.”
“Hmmm...” Naruto was starting to doze off.
“A lot of people will miss her if I take her away, correct?”
“Naturally.” Only a little bit of blue was peeking out from under the jounin’s lashes. He was currently debating about which flavor of instant ramen he should cook, the pork or the super hot-and-spicy seafood one.
“Your birthday was celebrated the other day?”
Definitely the seafood flavor. It’s like having a bonfire in your mouth, but that’s why there’s a pond full of water beside them for all to share. It’ll be good with fish. “Yeah, ‘twas my birthday.”
“She was there.”
“Of course, she was,” he affirmed. Now, what should they do with the fish?
“It’ll be most unfair then,” Amarillo murmured to himself. “She is most appealing all the same, outwardly. Not the beauty of legends, surely, but a beauty nonetheless. Truly, she is a conundrum that demands exploration.” He sighed. “The bane of over-analytic people.”
Maybe they could just fry the fish. It’s very pleasant to pull them out of the water, clean them fast, and have them floating in oil a few minutes later. He loved picking out the skin and even the fins, when the fish has been fried to paper crispiness.
“It’s not just her gentle face and manners that appeal to me. Her eyes are mystifying as well. The proportions of her body is quite admirable. Not bone-thin and willowy as the ladies I have always been presented, but fleshy and rather curvaceous---”
Or they could stew the fish with the ramen. It’s not exactly from the sea, the fish, but still... These fish you get around here weighed at least five pounds apiece and measured up to a foot and a half. They were chubby, silver things. They looked like ordinary fish, the sort of fish you think of when you think of edible fish, but they definitely didn’t taste ordinary. Their flesh was very, very tasty, and they’ll infuse the ramen’s broth with the stream’s flavor. Naruto’s mouth watered at the thought.
“-good sturdy ankles she have, womanly but strong-looking. And those calves are well-developed. Must be all those leaping you ninjas are involved in. Oh, and her skin is really very pale, isn’t it? Her face and arms are a little bronzed by the sun, but she looks like a ghost underneath her clothes. Gorgeous fabric, by the way, that dress. Light plays upon it most seemly and it clings to her body in the right places---”
Nah. Skewer the fish and just put in on the open fire. It’s the easiest way to do it. Besides, it’s fun to pick on your fish-in-a-stick once it cooled down a bit. And once you remove the burned skin and get to the juicy inside, oh man! You’ll definitely swoon.
“-specifically enhances the shape of her derriere and hips. A voluptuous woman, she’s born to bear children. Great shall be her progeny. Her generous bosom shall give suckle to healthy babes, and she shall bloom with motherhood, her pale cheeks blushing like a rain-soaked dawn, her mystic eyes shining. And she’ll cradle each in her round arms and lay them against her breasts. And-”
Naruto roused att the word, “breasts.” What was this guy talking about?
“---softer than softest down, the curves of pomegranates only Mother Nature could render-”
The blond young man frowned at Hinata’s direction. She was wearing a lavender calf-length dress that was now quite soaked; the boys were wrestling in the water and she was standing by getting splashed, her arms outstretched over her head as she tied her damp hair back, which in turn naturally drew Naruto’s eyes over her most prominent features, being her... well, her boobs.
Hell.
Viciously, Naruto turned on the prince and barked out, “Hey, pervert! We’re not yet that close, dammit. Fantasize elsewhere, geeze, you’re like my sensei. And my shishou...” He shuddered affectedly.
Amarillo’s face was serious as he listened to this. “Ah, but perversion is in the mindset,” he said, mildly chiding. “I am but detailing the notable and admirable assets of the lady. If it offends you, then the perversion, I am afraid, is of your own conjuring.”
Naruto flushed. He wasn’t an innocent; don’t get him wrong. He has been sneaking into porn shops since age ten and has spent more than three years with Jiraiya the toad-senin, writer of erotica and a self-proclaimed open pervert. Besides, he has 137 versions of Sexy no Jutsu and Oiran no jutsu combined under his belt. Also, he has invented at least 14 types of perverted jutsu, each with at least five versions. Still, Hinata-chan was Hinata-chan. It was wrong!
“Deny my words, if you can,” Amarillo was saying. “Tell me her breasts have not a lush, well-roundedness, and I shall call you a liar. Deny the appeal of this woman’s attributes, and I shall call your honor to heel for such an audacious falsehood. I am simply describing anatomical parts. Why must the art that is the human body always be equated with sex and the lewd and the--”
At that point, Naruto just took off at a dead run.
~~~
Enfolded in the earth’s bosom, the sun adamantly kept illuminating the world with its pate, the only part that still stuck out. Above the trees, the sky still glowed a sullen orange, but elsewhere, the preparations for the coming night went underway. Nocturnal animals were stirring now, about to embark on hunting, whatever it was they did first to start their day.
Hinata, still damp from frolicking with the others in the water, was squatted in their camp, kindling the fire. Serenity made her heart light and the shivers brought by the occasional cool breeze was pleasant. The mission was like a sorely needed vacation-technically, it was one for her. Slightly surprised, she realized that she didn’t mind as much as she had when first embarking for the hike.
From the water and to pebbly bank, the voices of the others floated atop discordant splashes and the steady undertone of the flowing stream. Iga-san was teaching Amarillo-san how to fish. Earlier, they constructed simple rods using strong slender sticks picked out from among the firewood and the coil of string from the Cloud sensei’s pack. Right now, the prince didn’t sound like he was having the sort of luck he’d have wanted. Apparently, his line had snapped for the third time.
“I will take a bath now,” Mai announced.
Several people turned to the chuunin, who was standing by the water. She had barely spoken since early that morning, and Hinata couldn’t blame her, whatever her reasons were for killing the cart driver.
“Why?” asked her team mate, Katsuo, rather bluntly.
“I’m filthy,” answered the other. “And so are you.”
“Hey, I was in the water for more than an hour, so you’re filthy by yourself.”
“My underwear has blood in it.”
The irrepressible Hib replied to this. “Yeah, right,” he said skeptically. “You did that yellow fatty so good a while ago, you didn’t even get splashed by his filthy innards, babe. Come on! You don’t have to make excuses for your stupid girly habits like taking baths too much and-oh.”
Mai smirked at him. “I didn’t think you wanted that much detail about my life. Now, get off my face.”
The boy swore under his breath but moved away from his teammate. Mai, however, remained where she was expectantly.
Finally, she spoke again, her tone grating. “Do I have your permission, sensei?”
“Yes,” her teacher answered as he flicked his fishing pole. Then he turned to smile at the Hyuuga heiress. “Perhaps, Hinata-sama would like to join you.”
Hinata hesitated, not wanting to get caught in whatever was going on with the two. “I’m afraid I-”
“I’m going to have to insist,” Mai said coldly.
“Oh, all right then,” Hinata conceded. “I know the perfect place.”
When they reached the little alcove of closely knit trees hugging a small pool of water, twilight had already overtaken them. There was precious few of daylight left, and what give them scant illumination was their firelight glowing from a distance, through the clumps of small bushes giving them their privacy. Hinata had bathed here before. Overhead, the canopy opened to the sky, and she knew when the moon was full, it’s light fingered the still surface of the water.
They were silent for the most part.
“I know you’re dying to ask,” Mai said crisply. “Just do it.”
Hinata started. She actually wasn’t dying to ask anything-not Mai, anyway. Her thoughts were on her sister, Hanabi, whom she was dying to ask several questions, particularly about why she threatened her elder with a kunai. That excuse sounded a little pathetic, however, even for Hinata. “Are, uh, are you feeling better now?”
“That’s assuming my mood deteriorated in the first place,” said the teenager evasively.
“You appeared upset about this morning to me,” Hinata said honestly.
“Maybe I was.”
“You didn’t like disappointing your sensei?”
“Sensei is a fool,” the girl snapped viciously. Then, her expression softened. “But, no, I don’t like disappointing sensei.”
“I usually feel better when I say it aloud like that,” offered Hinata gently.
“Yes,” the girl admitted. “But I’m still not sorry about killing that vermin.”
~~~~
Hinata-sama had barely left when Neji caught Naruto’s eyes. The blond jounin quickly got his meaning and casually reclined under the tree the Hyuuga was standing in.
“Finished with the boobs?”
“Aa. Standard triggered tags. They can be circumevented.”
“Seen anything out of the ordinary so far?”
“No.”
“Neither did I. You think somebody will come?”
“Yes. The dead man a while ago died for a reason.”
“Are you saying they have something to do with this?” Neji could hear the frown in the other’s voice. ‘They’ referred to the Cloud nins.
“We will find out.” They would keep their eyes open, naturally. It didn’t even need to be said that both of them had been on their toes from the beginning. “Our defenses must be sound.”
“Right. Hinata had instructions?”
“Unnecessary. She is a civilian in this operation.”
“Why?” Naruto sat up. “She’d still need information.”
“Which is why you’re with her.”
“What?” The younger man’s voice rose slightly. “Are you pushing this job to me just because I used to peek at women in the baths?”
Neji’s eyes narrowed. Sometimes, dealing with Naruto was exasperating. His inferences and conclusions, to say the least, sometimes didn’t follow.
“It’s like you’re too honorable to do perverted stuff on your cousin, right? And it’s perfectly all right if it’s me.”
He was amazingly idiotic sometimes, Neji conceded. Whatever Naruto had accomplished in the past, he was still a fool at the most inconvenient moments.
“Guess what? No,” he said adamantly. “I’m not going to watch Hinata-chan take a bath.”
“I did not say watch her,” Neji finally retorted.
Naruto’s face became serious. “It’s the same thing. Neji, she’s a jounin-level ninja. Just because your clan banned her from wearing a flak jacket, doesn’t mean she left her instincts home, too.”
“That was an order.”
“You’re her bodyguard. I don’t think she needs you, but what the hell about what I think? Watch her, if you want.”
Neji gritted his teeth as the other man moved away. Naruto was right about Hinata being competent enough to protect herself. That wasn’t the issue here. Of course, Neji knew the chances of Hinata getting attacked was close to nil. Even so, his job assignment of protecting Hinata superceded his assignment of protecting the prince and his bodyguards. Being team leader allowed him to delegate. Putting Naruto on guard over Hinata stemmed from a simple reason: it freed him to function as the leader, enabled him to move around more.
Meanwhile, Naruto had waded into the pond.
“Hey, I’m helping you guys with the fishing, ‘kay?” he said. “Kinda getting hungry here.”
“Would you like to use my pole, Naruto-san?” the prince offered ruefully. “My proficiency with the device doesn’t seem to be improving much.”
“Nah. I’m using my hands.” Naruto dove into the water, easily catching an arm-long fish by the tail. “See?” He said as he emerged, coughing.
Shinoda Iga laughed. “That’s much faster all right,” he said. “I don’t think you need me here then.”
“Naruto-san, can you teach me?” asked the Prince. “Please?”
“Well... Just, uh, watch the fish and dive for it,” answered Naruto.
“He makes it sound so easy, doesn’t he?” quipped Iga.
“Indeed,”Amarillo said fervently. He was sloshing about in the water now, as well.
“I think the requirements of this style still involves persistence.” Iga began walking back to the fire side. “I’m leaving you two to do the fishing, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” Naruto was busy. “Hey, prince. Get that bucket ready.”
Neji gestured to Iga. Necessity decided for him. Perhaps, in the long run it would be better this way, with Naruto staying with the Prince. He and the Cloud jounin could patrol the perimeter of their camp while Naruto and the genins guarded the prince, and Hinata-sama was away from the most probable target; he and Iga were of comparable level, so the possibility of betrayal didn’t faze him.
The Cloud nin knew what he wanted.
“Patrolling the area?” Iga verified, all the same.
“Aa,” said Neji.
And they disappeared in the way of the ninjas.
“Oh, Naruto-san! That fish was... that was titanic!”
“Hib, dude, did you see that fish?”
“Yo, Prince. Help me out here. Hey! Uhm, Hib, uh, will you see if Prince’s okay? I think he bumped that rock a little too hard...”
“Katsuo, dude, get the cooking stuff ready! Amarillo-sama, I’m coming. Hey, stop swallowing water, dude! Amarillo-sama?!”
And so it was. Hinata and Mai were in the baths, the fish were sizzling in the fire, and Neji and Iga were in patrol when they were attacked.
~2:16 091805
Oh, yeah. Sunergos was placed in another SasuHina C2 community. Am I doing something wrong somewhere? O__o As far as I know, I haven't even written a decent interaction between Sasuke and Hinata. Also, there's a reason why I removed the tag "romance" in that fic. I didn't want to get hounded by any sort of shipper. *sigh* Melps no baka.
I can't really write romance. *winces* I'm not a very touchy-feely sort of person. ^^;;
I'll shut up now, 'cause I need my wits about me tomorrow and will therefore need sleep.
Ja.