#but I will *never* get over my sister's ''oh well what does *Neji* have to be miserable about?'' comment

[coockie8]

Sorry just remembered like over ten years ago my sister tried to play Oppression Olympics™ between Sasuke and Neji, claiming Sasuke's had a harder life and like yeah his entire family was killed and his brother made him watch it and that sucks.

Neji's family literally owns him.

Look I don't want to compare them or anything, and having to watch your family die is, objectively awful, but being actively kept as a slave by your own family is also an objectively awful thing lol

[sakuraharuno156]

"…So you claim Hinata had no consideration for life of anyone other than Naruto... and then use a screenshot from the manga of her literally showing consideration for the wellbeing of someone who isn't Naruto."

Considering how things went after Neji vs Naruto, chances are that things changed in the Hyuuga family for those other than just Neji. Even if not, Hinata risking her life =/= a lack of consideration for anyone's life other than Naruto's, despite consequences. Or are you saying you’ve never done anything without carefully considering every single possible consequence first?

But hey… "Tell me you didn’t read my ask properly without telling me you didn’t read my ask properly".

"Or are you saying you've never done anything without carefully considering every single possible consequence first?"

First of all, sure, everyone did, but not necessarily when the consequences are:

1) you will just get in a way of a battle and be a great inconvenience instead of helping

(of which she was aware of)

2) getting your guard punished/possibly killed

3) you hurting the person you are supposed to "help" (I'm not gonna repeat myself, you can read it here)

4) you dying for no reason

5) if you somehow don't get killed, you becoming a burden to medics who could devote their time to people who did help or got hurt by ricochet of the attack.

Second of all, you are putting it in a way that implies that Hinata did that only once, and you are wrong.

At some point of someone consistently doing the same thing you have to admit they either do that maliciously or that they are plain stupid.

I'm just gonna bring a few examples (that I talked about before over and over, but I'll do that again, especially for you)

Shimamaru: almost died

Hinata: "But I want to stay beside Naruto too"

Does she care? No. Naruto-kun. That's all she cares about.

But maybe that's because they weren't too close, because who cares about a person from your class that is your comrade in war, he's not Naruto-kun.

How about her own teammate BEING CARRIED OUT BY MEDICS?

The oiment Hinata has is more important for Naruto-kun, who is completely fine.

Who cares about Kiba, he is just being taken by medical team, but he can be an afterthought, they are just teammates after all.

How about her family?

Neji, who will be punished for hurting her (because, as you recognize YOURSELF, it's before Naruto vs Neji fight, so the punishment WILL BE THERE), who asked her TIME AND TIME again to just give up. Why will he do that, huh? Maybe because he had known what happened TO HIS FATHER FOR JUST THINKING ABOUT HER IN A BAD WAY.

Anyway, how about making Neji hurt her, then provoking him by RUBBING IT IN HIS FACE THAT HE IS BELLOW HER?

Neji just said (again) that she should give up and stop the suffering, she just casually mentions that he is "lost and suffering" because he's not in the main family.

(And before you say it was nice of her, NEJI AND THEREFORE MANGA showed us he didn't appreciate it, and the guard also saw that Neji was provoked and WAS ABOUT TO CHARGE AT HER FOR THAT COMMENT)

But ok, maybe they weren't close enough of a family, so it was acceptable to provoke him and get him to be punished, because you know...

Naruto-kun is watching, so...

How about closer family? How about her own sister?

(Now, I don't like to quote the movies because I prefer to base my opinion on canon manga only, but you, Hinata Fans, love it, so let's go)

(Credit to whoever made it, I can't find the original)

Hanabi was just kidnapped, but Hinatas mind is occupied, because well... Naruto-kun 🥺

BUT OK, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF A BOND BETWEEN THEM TO CARE.

Let's look at the person who took care of her for her whole life, her guard, her family, let's look at Ko:

Oh wait, we have already seen it.

It doesn't matter who it is, if it's her comrade, friend, teammate, cousin, sister, guard. If that person is not Naruto-kun, their life or well being is irrelevant to Hinata.

She cares about Naruto, that's it. Nothing else and noone else matters.

Do you understand?

So back to the beginning:

At some point of someone consistently doing the same thing you have to either admit they do that maliciously or that they are plain stupid and when it comes to LIFE OF OTHER PEOPLE I'll say that it either way makes you a bad person 🤷‍♀️

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, in conclusion:

I did read your ask, I just assumed (and that is my mistake, I apologize) that if you are protecting Hinata, you shoud know first thing about her, but not only you didn't read the manga, you didn't even read the parts that had Hinata in it.

So, please, first read at LEAST chapters that have Hinata in them, before you speak (It's not a lot, she is a background character after all) or I'm not gonna answer to you again, because I'm tired of repeating myself for a 1000th time.

[yenqa]

MORE TIME WITH YOU!

chapter 6

i forgor

warnings : food, swearing, nervousness, slender man??, implied dirty thoughts (it’ll make sense when we get there)

ignore timestamps!

yujin was such a cute baby, niki wanted to squish it’s cheeks and never let go, but obviously, he would probably get in a lot of trouble if he did that.

niki had never been a fan of kids, but here he was. freaking out over how yujin almost started crying whenever he was in view.

sure, he looked pretty scary and he was tall. so, obviously niki looked like slender man or something to her. but yujin couldn’t even be in the same room as him?

he glanced at you, feeding yujin, making some incoherent noises while bringing each spoon to her mouth. how could someone be so good at taking care of other people? and why wasn’t yujin scared of her? well she is pretty short, and cute maybe. scratch that. what was niki thinking?

niki brushed off his original thought, you’re just likable and easy to get along with! he reassured himself. yujin glanced at him, eyes widening. she quickly looked away, starting to moan.

“oh c’mon! why does she hate me so much!” niki complained, dramatically falling to his knees.

“she doesn’t hate you!” you argued, “just scared of you.”

niki groaned standing up, “even worse.” he glanced at the camera he was using to blog his day, winking at it, then panning it to you, feeding yujin. suddenly, a grand idea came to niki’s mind.

“can i try feeding her?”

“great idea niki, maybe she’ll start choking while sobbing her eyes out.” you answer sarcastically.

“oh you’re right.” niki sighed, cursing himself for being so tall.

“i have an idea, how about i put her on my lap and you feed her?” you smile at him, he grins at you nodding at the idea. so you gracefully lift yujin, as niki goes to grab her food, you sit down on the gray couch, moving around to be comfortable. he walks up to you cautiously, slowly walking towards you as he sits down. slowly picking up a spoon full of food for her.

yujin looks nervous, she whips her head around for approval as you nod, guiding her to the spoon. niki slowly moves the food closer to her mouth as she reluctantly opens her mouth, letting niki feed her. once the food in her mouth niki started jumping around the room, picking up the camera he had just placed down to see his achievement.

“did you see that engenes? and…”

“swiths,” you answer.

“and swiths? yujin loves me,” he sings while panning the camera to you, being excited for yujin for facing her fears.

what you didn’t notice was how the camera froze in place, as he watched you play with her. but he didn’t notice either.

“alright that’s enough filming for today everyone! good job everyone and you two,” the producer stops you two, “get some rest, you’ll need it.”

“we will, thank you so much!” you answer, grabbing your stuff to go back into your room. you’re about to walk in when niki stops you.

“hey have you ever babysat before? you’re really good with kids.”

“yeah, i have a little sister,” you answer, smiling at him.

“oh, cool.”

you continue walking when he stops you again.

“y/n are you going to go to sleep?”

you turn back around, “probably not, i’ll probably just lay in my bed.”

riki stops, then proceeds “want to watch a movie with me? i think we have snacks in the kitchen.”

you smile, face turning a light shade of pink, “yeah! just let me change into my pajamas! i’ll be right back.” you jokingly wink at him, walking to your room to freak out sbout it.

back masterlist next

sypnosis - a new idol variety show makes 4th generation maknaes take care of a kid for a month! what happens when niki gets paired with a random girl who he maybe had one interaction with a few months ago? and when the reality show ends, why does he want to spend more time with you?

a/n : more writing now that the show started 😊😊

taglist : @hanniluvi @aki1e @bookishcalls @imhuh @millksea @nejis-puta @asunova @gojosimpp @mitsukifilms @sstarrysshit @kalliyen @inlovewsimjaeyun @invusblog @astrowonomical @luvdokja @trsrina @kittyeij @niktwazny303 @voidbeomgyu @jeongintwt @szvirm @zi-ever @luveuly @ilovewonyo @blossomnct @ineedaherosavemeenow @ahnneyong @anti-romanitc-blues @flower-lise @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @strwberrydinosaur @luviehyuk @pw00kkat @lomzy5 @i-yeseo @7myoi @seesaweun @captain-satan @kyanmeai @gfksn @xiaoderrrr @softiegukk @soov @bougiesunoo @wonwonieeee @nomniki @flwrsforriki @meiiiwa @2tothee2

bold can’t be tagged!

[captnjacksparrow]

Okay this is just for fun. I saw a NH shipper person comment on a strictly Sns platform ( don't know why they bother) say that Sasuke was jealous of Hinata. When someone else replied that he wasn't even aware of her existence and Naruto literally ignored her confession in pein arc and right away went pining for Sasuke and in the next arc, repeated the same lines to Sasuke as Hinata (guessing Hinata's lines are retconned since there's no way Kishi wrote her lines before Naruto's to Sasuke), this was their response:

no he didn’t he just forgot u can tell that he liked her because he was worried if she was injured or not and he really think Sasuke was his first ever friend that got me annoyed cause like shikamaru and choji was always there for him and he straight up and said that I love Naruto but he can be dumb sometimes and the only reason he was chasing after Sasuke was 2 things kinda 1. Was the promise that Naruto and Sakura had form the Sasuke saving arc episodes

2. So he can get there bond back together so Sasuke wouldn’t break it forever I’m clearly not dumb I actually watched the anime and fell in love with the plot and the characters instead of shipping Sasuke and Naruto for the kisses and there rivalry I ship Naruhina because hinata was always there for Naruto since they were 3? She didn’t care he had the nine tails in him she was the first to admire him and she literally confessed to him she’s a strong girl and she had a good character development Naruto will protect his friends to Sasuke he’s like a brother to him he loves Sasuke as much as he loves all his friends in the hidden leave village including gaara we all know Naruto liked Sakura and we know why but it was never confirmed that Sasuke liked Naruto but he might’ve liked Sakura in one of the Naruto movies with the actor he looked jealous Sakura was fangirling and he was like 😒 or 😐

(Anon again) So yeah.....levels of delusion are just crazy...

Gosh!!! This is not fun at all, Anon. Don't you pity me??? 😩😩😩😩

These shippers are just lunatics to the power of million.

he just forgot u can tell that he liked her because he was worried if she was injured

According to Naruto (the character's) standards, his reaction was pretty substandard as compared to how he worried for other people before. He just felt her Chakra in Sage mode and found that she was fine... Aaand that's all. He didn't even bothered to ask her 'How does she feel?'

he really think Sasuke was his first ever friend that got me annoyed cause like shikamaru and choji was always there for him and he straight up and said that I love Naruto but he can be dumb sometimes

This is what I call, 'Cockblocking'. There you go, I said it.

Before Shikamaru and Chouji gave any damn about Naruto's strength, Sasuke realized Naruto's pain when they were just 8.

By Land of the Waves arc, he already offered up his life. So, I would appreciate them if they stop spouting such bullshit.

1. Was the promise that Naruto and Sakura had form the Sasuke saving arc episodes

There you go, he said it. It's not for the promise he made with Sakura. He wants to do it for himself.

2. So he can get there bond back together so Sasuke wouldn’t break it forever

I don't even understand what this means. But do they even know anything about Sasuke???

I’m clearly not dumb I actually watched the anime and fell in love with the plot and the characters instead of shipping Sasuke and Naruto for the kisses and there rivalry I ship Naruhina because hinata was always there for Naruto since they were 3?

Well, that person is dumb actually. Why did that person bring up some filler shit?? I agree Anime added few stuffs in Pain Arc. But it was not when they were at age 3.. It was around when they were 6 or 7, where he saved Hinata from bullies and Hinata kept her eyes on him ever since.

She just stalked him creepily but never provided any emotional support. So, ignore that creepo.

She didn’t care he had the nine tails in him she was the first to admire him and she literally confessed to him she’s a strong girl and she had a good character development

None of Naruto's peers knew about Nine Tails until Part 2. How come Hinata knew this before?

Talk about Character Development... Pffft.... She Stalked, Naruto kun..... She Stalked, Naruto-kunnnn.... She Fainted, Naruto-kunnn She Clowned before pain, She Orgasmed over Neji's dead body, Naruto-kunnnn, Your hand is big and warm.....Poof..... She got Naruto-Kun's Duck.

Naruto will protect his friends to Sasuke he’s like a brother to him he loves Sasuke as much as he loves all his friends in the hidden leave village including gaara

Ahhh, This Brother bullshit. Nobody will declare to die along with their brother. Brotherly bond or any Sibling bond is all about protecting the younger one at any cost. Here, Naruto says,

So, If I ever say this to my little sister, then I am the worst sister in this world. 

If I let my little sister say this to me, I would slap her so hard. 

As for Gaara,

Yes, Naruto empathized with him and tried his best to save him. When he saw Gaara dead,

Naruto was crying. Agreed. And why is he making reference to Sasuke here??? I wonder.

When Naruto can’t stop Sasuke, 

Naruto was Sobbing. 

So, crying for someone’s death and sobbing for someone who is still alive but travelling on the path of darkness should not be measured on the same scale, Right????

Not to forget, Naruto got hyperventilated for Sasuke when he heard that the entire world turned up on him.

Naruto liked Sakura and we know why but it was never confirmed that Sasuke liked Naruto but he might’ve liked Sakura in one of the Naruto movies with the actor he looked jealous Sakura was fangirling and he was like 😒 or 😐

Movies are not canon, for shit sake. 

Even by that logic, in Bonds Movie, When Hinata was trying to flirt with Naruto, Naruto was disgusted. So, can we accept that Naruto never liked her???

Sasuke never looked jealous at Sakura in that movie at all. He was looking like his normal self.

But he made jealous remark on Naruto for admiring that princess though. LOL.

Here Sakura is also admiring about the hero of that movie but resorted back to admire Sasuke.... to show her loyal feelings. 

But Sasuke don’t care either way for her remarks. However when Naruto started to admire about the princess, Sasuke made a witty (jealous) remark. LOL

Sakura : Geez!... I want to watch that Michy Sama who played Sukeakuro a little longer. Oh, But Sasuke-kun you are the best, of course.

Sasuke : .......

Naruto : Isn’t there someone like her anywhere? If I could fight for a princess like her, being a Ninja would would be heaven.

Sasuke : Ridiculous!! It was just a movie.

So, Sasuke was jealous.... True.... but not on Sakura!!!! LOL

Again in Bonds Movie, Sasuke shutting up Hinata...... 

Apart from the Last movie, Pinata is just a wastrel who did nothing in the Manga!!! Or Even in the movies. 

NH wankers are some buffoons who don’t have enough canonical materials to participate in a discussion and yet they make loud noise by twisting facts related to other people like Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Shikamaru, Choji. 

DISCLAIMER : By no means, I consider the above gifs from movies are canon. It’s just that NH stans brought up a movie crap and I am responding accordingly

[lotusfartstwice]

A = amnesia with Lee?

[This thing is...probably too long and a little too weird especially if someone isn't familiar with KND stuff lol so yeah! Weird naruto/knd crossover thing.]

==

It’s the day after his 13th birthday that Rock Lee feels like something is wrong. He wakes up in his bed like he’s always had but...something is missing? He feels like maybe there should be a feeling of urgency or excitement but for some reason he can’t muster it. It puzzles him until he realizes that he better get moving or he’ll be late for school. 

“How’s it feel being 13, kiddo?” his foster father asks as he serves breakfast.

“Um...good I guess?” He shrugs, looks over at his foster siblings who avoid his eyes. Huh.

“Did you sleep well?” Tenten finally asks, eyes weirdly sad.

Lee shrugged. “I guess. I can’t remember falling asleep.”

“Oh.”

He feels Neji touch his shoulder. “I think you and I will be spending more time together.”

“Huh?” Well, that was weird, Neji usually avoided him (and Tenten? Strange, he can’t seem to recall) like the plague.

Neji just takes his hand back to return to his meal while Tenten looks annoyed.

“Is something...wrong?”

Tenten shook her head and began stabbing at her breakfast.

Lee looked at Gai, hoping his foster father had answers but the man just looked equally bemused.

--

Neji insists on sitting with him on the bus to school which is unusual. He thinks. Honestly, it’s fuzzy and maybe he should be concerned but he can’t find it in him to question it too much. He does feel weird to see Tenten outright avoid him.

But why?

His head starts to throb so he tries to focus on counting the stains on the back of the seat in front of him.

--

“Isn’t it a bit early to be bringing him with you, Neji?”

“Yeah, he’s barely turned 13.”

Lee wonders what his age has to do with joining his brother at lunch. They’re in the same grade. Why wouldn’t they have lunch together?

“It’s fine.” Neji’s tone is curt. “Lee’s a fast learner.”

He isn’t sure how to take the compliment...they were just sitting down for lunch. “Um thanks?”

Temari, a much older girl, snorts. “We’ll see about that.”

Lee just furrows his brows.

--

“What is going on?” He yells over the chaos of water balloons and silly string (he was going to ignore what looked like lasers cuz that was ridiculous). Things had been so mundane! He and Neji were going to meet up with some of their class at the ice cream parlor when out of nowhere kids screaming began attacking the street.

Neji glances at him. “The Kids Next Door are attacking us.”

“B-but we are kids as well!”

“No, we’re teens.”

“Barely!”

Neji scoffs. “You’ll understand soon.”

--

The conflict is explained to him but he really doesn’t understand.

Kids hated teenagers and adults so in turn they hated them back? Gai never gave him those vibes. He loved being their dad.

He had seen Tenten attacking with the kids so she was in on the conflict.

Why?

They were family weren’t they? Maybe he just needed to talk to Tenten.

--

“I can’t talk to you about it. We’re enemies now.”

Lee frowned. “But...we are family.”

“Yeah but you’re still a teen so until it’s my turn we’re enemies.”

“Your turn?”

Tenten looked away. “I’ve said too much.”

--

He avoids both his siblings from then on. He wasn’t interested in the weird conflict between kids and teens or whatever it was because it made no sense to him. He did however want answers and if neither sibling would cooperate then he would have to find them on his own.

Through his search he finds himself in the middle of a lot of disputes involving the two groups and sometimes adults. Adults who went out of their way to make kids miserable for some reason? No wonder the kids wanted to retaliate. 

He still refused to believe it was inherent like the two groups believed it to be, so he tucks away in the library hoping he’ll find something.

“You keep digging you’re not gonna like what you find,” the library assistant tells him as he passes by the table he’s sitting at.

“I am sorry?”

Kabuto smiles at him, tilting his head. “You made me wonder but you really don’t remember being a part of the KND.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “I was- I do not-”

“It’s alright. They make their operatives forget after turning 13.”

“Wha-”

“Can’t let those pesky adults know how to beat them, I suppose.”

“Why- I mean, how do you-”

“I work at a library. It’s my job to know things.” Before Lee could articulate a proper question he walked away.

--

“Tenten!” he banged on his sister’s door.

“Go away!”

“No! You must answer me- I have to-” What? Did he just want proof? If it were true he highly doubted his sister would provide it. They were “enemies” now. “I just...I do not remember.”

It’s quiet behind the door but when he hears footsteps he takes a step back.

“I’m sorry Lee I can’t-” she took a deep breath. “I can’t talk to you about that stuff. It’s just the way it is.” She crossed her arms. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be with Neji planning our demise?”

Lee just shook his head. “No, I do not want any of that. I do not want to fight either of you.” He gripped the front of his shirt. “I love you.”

Tenten’s gaze softened. “You may not remember all our adventures and stuff but...you’re still you.”

“Of course! Who else would I be?”

“Dummy.” He stiffens when she wraps him into a hug but he quickly relaxes to hug her back. “I miss you.”

“I have not gone anywhere.”

“I know but it’s different.” She sighed. “Soon I’m gonna forget too.”

Lee swallowed. “I want them back.”

“Huh?”

“I want my memories back. I want this fighting to end.”

Tenten laughed. “Oh, Lee...never change, okay?”

[sagemoderocklee]

Prompt list 2, #11 for gaalee!

okay, it’s been ages since i reblogged whatever that prompt list was and i don’t remember what it was and i was only able to find one list of prompts and tbh, i had so much fun writing Gaara drunk for Kado that i’m just gonna roll with the prompt I found because i need a warm-up writing exercise to get me movin today. this is kind of aimless and rambling and not really anything special fyi.

based on the prompt it’s probably obvious, but tw for discussions of alcohol use (past, not shown) and also for insensitive jokes surrounding drunken sex (there wasn’t actually any but kankurou can be an asshole)

things you said when you were drunk

Gaara groaned, rolling over and directly into another body. It was a well-muscled body, because it felt like Gaara had rolled directly into a wall. His mouth tasted foul. Worse than foul. Was there a word for that? He didn’t know, and his brain wasn’t offering up any stronger alternatives at the present moment because it was head was pounding as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to it.

He forced his eyes open, lifting his head to stare at the prone figure at his side. 

“Oh no,” he groaned. What happened? Had he really gotten so trashed at his sister’s wedding that he’d taken a stranger up to his room and--

“Good morning!” The stranger was awake. And very loud.

Gaara groaned in protest, pulling his pillow over his head.

“I am so sorry,” the man dropped his voice. Barely. “Would you like me to order some room service?”

Gaara shook his head beneath the pillow. What he wanted was for his drunken mistake to go away. Far away.

“I am sorry, I could not hear you. What was that?”

“Please,” Gaara begged, voice cracking. “Please, don’t talk. Just... shhhh.”

The man gave a quiet little ‘ah’ of understanding, rising from the bed and shuffling around the room. Gaara changed lifting the pillow up to look at the stranger, who was busy putting a shirt on. Gaara’s face flushed.

“Do you--do you know what happened last night?” he finally asked. He shifted, rising from the bed in a hunched fashion, blankets falling to reveal his rumbled suit.

“Of course! You got very, very drunk and uh, well...” The man flushed, his odd, boyish face turning bright red. He coughed. “You said some.... things. I promise, nothing happened.”

“Then... why are you in my room?”

The man laughed, as loud as he talked. “We are in my room. You were too drunk to tell me what room was yours, and I could not find any of your friends or family to help me. I did not want to leave you all by yourself in your state, but I promise, I was a perfect gentleman.”

His rescuer struck a pose, the most dramatic thumb’s up Gaara had ever seen, and smiled with all his teeth. 

“Are you sure you do not want me to order some room service? I have it on good authority that the free coffee is not particularly good, and I am sure you could use a pick me up.”

Gaara’s stomach turned over. He smacked his lips, his mouth as dry as a desert. Finally, he relented. “I could use some coffee.”

“Perfect! Here.” A menu was thrust into his face, the words blurring for a second. “I was going to order breakfast, too. Feel free to pick out whatever you want.”

“Um... I don’t wanna put you to anymore trouble,” Gaara hedged, though he couldn’t deny he was hungry.

“Nonsense! If it was any trouble, I would not have offered.”

“I can pay you back--”

“Please, think nothing of it.” The man disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him, leaving Gaara to look over the menu and wonder about the finer details of the night before.

He could remember the first toast and the second toast clearly, but by the third his memory was fuzzy. He’d always been a lightweight, but he was usually more careful about how much he drank, knowing full well the limits of his tolerance.

The man returned from the bathroom, smiling as though he hadn’t spent the night before partying. How could he be so chipper first thing in the morning?

“Did you decide on what you wanted?”

“I’ll just have a plain omelette.” That should hopefully be gentle on his roiling stomach. “And a coffee. Black with sugar.”

“That sounds like the perfect thing to perk you up!”

Gaara didn’t want to ask, but he had to know. “What exactly happened last night? I mean, I know nothing--nothing happened between us, but I don’t remember even meeting you.”

The man’s expression was caught between open embarrassment and dejection. “Ah, I should have realized you would not remember that. I think you were already quite drunk by the time Naruto-kun introduced us.”

“Naruto? So then you were one of Shikamaru’s guests?” He’d had to assume, given that no one else was in the room with them that this stranger hadn’t been anyone’s plus one. And he certainly didn’t seem like the sort of person his sister would associate with.

“Indeed, I was! Shikamaru-kun and Naruto-kun are very dear friends of mine, and I was overjoyed to hear about Shikamaru-kun’s engagement to Temari-san! She is your sister, right?”

“Um, yeah. How come I’ve never met you before the wedding?”

“I live abroad! I work in the film industry, so I am always traveling back and forth between LA and Japan. Of course, when I got the invitation, I was worried I would not be able to make it, but thankfully, my schedule opened up and here I am!”

Gaara had to wonder if everyone in LA was this upbeat and earnest.

“And can I ask your name?” An embarrassed flush crept up the back of Gaara’s neck, mixed with the guilt of having forgotten everything about the man.

“Rock Lee!” Again, the man gave a thumb’s up, the dramatic flair perfectly suited to a career in film, Gaara thought dryly.

“Rock Lee. Well, Rock Lee, I appreciate you taking care of me last night. I hope I wasn’t too much trouble.”

The embarrassed flush from before returned to Rock Lee’s incredibly expressive face, a dead giveaway that he was leaving out some very important details. He laughed nervously, waving his hands. “N-no! You were no trouble at all, Gaara-san! Just a little too drunk to be left alone!”

“What are you not telling me?” Gaara asked, but Rock Lee had already picked up the phone and dialed room service. Gaara narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t avoid the conversation forever. Gaara was still in his room, after all.

Once their breakfast order had been placed, Rock Lee offered to let Gaara shower while they waited, a clear sign that he was trying to avoid filling Gaara in on all the horrid details from the night’s festivities.

Gaara allowed him to sidestep the issue--a shower did sound nice and perhaps if he let it go, Rock Lee would drop his guard and let something slip.

By the time he got out of the shower, their food had arrived, and Lee had changed into fresh clothes.

“Breakfast!” Rock Lee chimed. “How was your shower? Do you feel rejuvenated?”

Gaara couldn’t fathom the way Lee spoke. He shrugged. “A bit. Food smells good.”

The omelette was perfectly bland, and the coffee sufficiently strong, which went a long way in lifting Gaara’s mood and settling his stomach. He eyed Rock Lee carefully from the corner of his eye as he ate, weighing the best way to get the truth out of him.

“So,” Gaara began when his omelette was almost gone and his head had cleared. “Did you have fun last night? I mean, before you had to babysit me.”

“I did not mind that!” Rock Lee insisted. “And I did have fun! It was so wonderful seeing all my friends again, and to be able to celebrate Shikamaru-kun’s union with your sister!” A tear glistened at the corner of his round eye, caught between his thick lashes.

“Um, yeah. It was great. Really nice ceremony and all.”

“The ceremony was magical!” The tears in his eyes welled, fat drops clamoring to be free from the clutches of his lashes. “I have never seen such a splendid wedding! Well, I have not been to very many weddings. My friends, Neji and Tenten, are getting married next summer--oh, but you probably do not remember them.”

“They don’t sound familiar,” Gaara confirmed.

“Well, Neji is Hinata-san’s cousin--”

“And that is?”

“Naruto-kun’s girlfriend!” Lee said, scandalized. “How could you not know her?”

“Honestly, I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend.” Had she been with him last night? Gaara remembered running into Naruto, but he definitely didn’t remember a woman with him.

“Oh, that is--well, I suppose you and Naruto-kun have not been in touch recently! Because they have been dating for some time now.”

The look on Rock Lee’s face kept Gaara from countering this fact. Clearly, there was trouble in paradise if Naruto had been dating her for ‘some time’ and not told Gaara.

“So,” Gaara quickly searched for a new topic, something that would lead to more concrete answers about the night before. “Naruto dumped me on you, and then ran off with his girlfriend?”

There was a long moment of silence wherein Rock Lee’s expressive face pinched tight, his strange mouth pressed into a line so tight his lips went white. “Actually, he was distracted by Sasuke-kun, but... well that is always how he has been. But I did not mind taking care of you!”

“My brother says I’m a handful when I’m drunk,” Gaara goaded. “Says I get really weepy.”

“Not at all! You were perfectly happy to be in my company! You even--” He stopped short, flushing. He cleared his throat. “You were very happy to spend time with me, even if you do not remember.”

Damn. So close.

“Huh. Well, lucky you then. You didn’t drink much, I take it.”

“Actually, I cannot have alcohol at all. It... does not agree with me.”

Gaara snorted derisively. “I don’t think it agrees with me either.”

“True,” Rock Lee said with a laugh. “However, at least you do not cause property damage when you drink.”

Property damage? Gaara’s curiosity was piqued, but as he opened his mouth to ask further questions, his pocket began to vibrate. The caller ID was a photo of Kankurou, and he answered quickly. “Hey.”

“Heyyyyyy,” Kankurou drawled, his tone arch. “How’s my lil brother doin’ today?”

Gaara glared. “Hungover, no thanks to you and Naruto.”

Kankurou guffawed, his laugh echoing loudly through the phone’s speaker. “I’m sorry,” he said after a minute, completely unapologetic.

“No you’re not,” Gaara said.

“You’re right. I’m not. Soooo. What happened with that guy? The bowl-cut? You two were gettin’ pretty cozy, eh?”

Gaara caught Rock Lee’s wide-eyed gaze at that moment, both of them equally red thanks to Kankurou’s carrying voice.

“Unlike some people,” Gaara stated, accusingly, “Rock Lee didn’t abandon me to fend for myself.”

“Oh, I bet,” Kankurou teased.

“Fuck you,” Gaara said, rolling his eyes. “He made sure I was okay. That’s it.”

“So if I go to your room right now, I’m not gonna find that bowl-cut in there?”

“You’re not gonna find me in there, either. I’m in his room.” Not exactly proof solid that nothing happened, at least not in Kankurou’s mind, but Gaara knew his brother. He’d be knocking down Gaara’s door any minute.

Kankurou whistled. “Damn. And you expect me to believe nothing happened?”

“He’s right here. You can ask him yourself.” Gaara put his phone on speaker, holding it between himself and an indignant Rock Lee.

“Oh shi--”

“Hello,” Rock Lee greeted, his tone clipped. “I will have you know that I would never take advantage of someone in their drunken state and I do not appreciate your mockery!”

Gaara sniggered, covering his face with his hand, while the other end was silent.

“Damn, looks like you got yourself a knight in shining armor, huh, lil brother?” Kankurou finally said. “All right. Guess I better leave you to it. Sorry for insulting your character, Bowl-Cut.” Again, Kankurou did not sound even the least bit sorry.

Rock Lee’s huff of indignation made it clear he wasn’t buying Kankurou’s apology.

“Whatever, jackass,” Gaara said. “I’ll see you later.”

He hung up without another word, tossing his phone on the bed.

“Sorry about my brother.”

“That is all right. I know what it must have looked like to others, but I promise I would never do anything untoward!”

“Yeah, I gathered,” Gaara said. “I appreciate it, by the way.”

“Please, do not mention it. Common decency does not need to be rewarded with thanks!”

Gaara eyed his phone thoughtfully, a thought occurring to him. “I suppose that’s fair. I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

He snatched his phone from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom again, opening up his photo album. Sure enough, there were countless photos and videos from the night before, including a particularly long one, the thumbnail of which he could see Rock Lee’s shining black bowl-cut.

He pressed play.

“--so cute,” a drunk Gaara slurred, the image shaking as he held his phone and zoomed in on an oblivious Lee sitting with a pair of people he didn’t recognize.

Naruto’s familiar snicker echoed through the video. “You think Gejimayu’s cute?”

“Shhhhh!” Gaara shoved the camera and his free hand directly into Naruto’s face, clamping a hand over his mouth. “He’ll hear you!”

The camera zoomed in on Rock Lee again, his friends rising from the table and disappearing on the crowded dance floor.

“You want me to introduce you?”

“Noooooo,” Gaara said. “No, he’s--he’s so--”

The expression on Naruto’s face was one of comic confusion. He stared back and forth between the camera and Rock Lee, eyebrows high on his forehead. “I don’t know a single person who’s ever looked at Rock Lee and been flustered. You are drunker than I thought.”

“Dick,” Gaara grumbled, training the camera on Rock Lee again. “Oh, shit.”

The video ended, the camera half falling as Gaara fumbled to turn it away from Rock Lee who had caught him filming.

Gaara swiped to the next photo, which was of him and Naruto, both utterly shitfaced. The next item in his album was another video, shorter than the first.

“--dare you to go talk to him!” Naruto was egging Gaara on.

Gaara snickered, even his laughter filled with drunken slurring. “What--what should I say?”

“Tell him you think his eyebrows are sexy,” Naruto laughed.

Gaara swung the camera around so that it focused on Rock Lee over his shoulder.

“You have to come with me,” Gaara begged.

Gaara couldn’t take it anymore and he closed out of the video, his face awash with heat. He wondered if he’d ever actually told Rock Lee his eyebrows were sexy or if he’d done some other embarrassing thing in front of him.

Either way, he was amazed the man hadn’t abandoned him.

When he returned from the bathroom, Rock Lee had gathered up their dishes and was making the bed.

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked, looking up from his task.

“Yeah, I--” He stared at Rock Lee’s face and his thick eyebrows, embarrassment hot in his face. “I hope I didn’t say anything or do anything last night that was um...”

The smile Rock Lee sent his way was filled with fondness, which was strange given how little Gaara remembered from the night before.

“You do not need to worry. Even if you were a bit handsy,” he added, then blushed.

Gaara was mortified, but he couldn’t say he was surprised to by the admission based on what little he’d been able to bring himself to watch on his phone.

“I’m so sorry,” he managed, fighting to find his voice through embarrassment.

“Please do not worry! I did not mean to say that, I was just--I mean--it was fine! Honest! I understand you were drunk, and Naruto-kun probably put you up to it--”

“What? No! He didn’t--I mean, he encouraged me to talk to you because I thought you were cute--”

“Right, when you were drunk--”

“I think you’re cute now!” Gaara said quickly. “I’m just not... good at this stuff.”

A smile worked its way onto Rock Lee’s face, so wide it looked like it hurt. “Really? You--you actually think I am cute?”

Gaara shifted awkwardly. “Yeah, I mean, is that really so surprising?”

Rock Lee laughed. “For me, yes. Most people do not think I am cute.”

“Their loss.” 

“Do you,” Rock Lee began, then stopped, hesitating. “I hope this is not presumptuous of me, but would you want to grab dinner sometime?”

Gaara couldn’t quite believe his luck. He’d have to thank Naruto for foisting him off on Rock Lee, because if he hadn’t, there was no way Gaara would have worked up the nerve to have talked to the man.

“I’d love to,” he finally managed, a smile on his face.

Who knew waking up hungover could end so well?

[justabrazilianwriter]

The Party (SHIKATEMAWEEK 2020 - Day 4).

Another day, another chance to write shikatema fics, another oneshot to contribute to the week of the best Naruto couple! This is also published on Ao3. Hope you guys enjoy it!

DAY 4: Roomates.  SUMMARY:  It was common knowledge that Shikamaru Nara was not a party person. Because of that, it's obvious that he is in a bad mood when he is forced to attend one made by a new friend of Kiba. He doesn't want to be there. Everything sucks. But when the host's older sister shows up, maybe going to that party wasn't such a bad idea. CONTENT NOTICE: use of alcoholic drinks and drugs. They are all adults.  (3987 WORDS). 

English is not my first language, so I translated this story through the google translator. If you find any grammatical or concordance errors, please let me know!

It was well known that Shikamaru Nara was not a party person.

Not that he hated parties with all his might, but he just didn't understand why everyone adored it. Shikamaru liked to drink here and there, but getting completely drunk only gave him the worst hangovers the next day. Weed left him dying from sleep and he was not a person who needed help with that. When the clock passed midnight he was ready to leave and sleep, but none of his friends allowed it and he had to stay, listening to Ino's terrible musical taste exploding on the speaker for long three hours.

Not to mention that parties usually never had a measly place to sit and Shikamaru had to spend hours leaning against the walls. What did people have against chairs or sofas? Some people needed a moment to rest for God's sake!

So, when Kiba invited him to a small party at the home of a new friend of his (some foreign kid who recently moved in to town and ended up saving him from an assault), Shikamaru's first thought is to deny. He does not want to go. Making new friends is a lot of work and he doesn't understand why he would need it. He already has enough friends, thank you very much.

But Naruto knows the younger brother of Kiba’s friend and Naruto, much to Shikamaru's despair, never gives up. He wants everyone to know each other, which means he doesn't leave Shikamaru alone. He sends messages, addresses him whenever he can, knocks on his damn door until he answers and, in the end, Shikamaru give up only so Naruto can leave him in peace.

Which brings him to that moment, when he stumbles down the sidewalk with Chouji by his side, sighing and moaning sadly.

"Why do we need to go?" he asked sadly to the heavens. Chouji laughed beside him, enjoying his mood.

"Look on the bright side," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The sooner we arrive, the sooner you can leave."

Shikamaru laughed, wrapping his arm around Chouji's shoulders.

"That's why," he said, giving him a smile. "You are my best friend".

Chouji laughed with pleasure.

"Don't let Ino hear that," he joked. "She hasn't gotten over the last time she heard you say that and it's been years."

"Ino has no morals to say anything" replied Shikamaru as he put his arms behind his head. "Since she started dating Sai, she hardly spends time with us."

Chouji shrugged and smiled warmly.

“Who can blame her? She's in love". He looked at Shikamaru and raised an eyebrow. "Not that you know much about it."

An indignant exclamation came from his lips.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. "I dated Shiho for almost a year!".

"And look what happened".

Shikamaru didn't have an answer to that because he knew that Chouji was right. Shiho was a nice girl he met in an eccentric code-cracking class in college. She was cute, smart, kind and liked him, so Shikamaru asked her out. They dated for months and never fought, never fell out, never had any problems.

It was very boring.

There was no stimulus, there was no sparks, there were no emotions at all.

And when he realized he was absolutely bored in that relationship, he ended it all. And it should have hurt a lot more than it hurt, he should have suffered a lot more than he suffered. But in spite of everything, what hurt him most was seeing Shiho cry because she was a very nice girl and a good friend. Just it.

"You never fell in love either," he murmured to Chouji, seeing him roll his eyes. "You are not in the position of pointing fingers."

"I'm an incurable romantic, you know that" defended Chouji looking good-natured. “And I will find love someday. It's just that, unlike you, I don't go around denying the sadness of my love life and being all resentful about it”.

Shikamaru pouted and crossed his arms, listening to him laugh beside him. Feeling the words of his best friend entering his chest, he tried to change the subject.

"What's the name of this new Kiba friend, anyway?".

"Kankuro" said Chouji looking at his cell phone and checking the address. “And his younger brother, who knows Naruto, is called Gaara. I think they have an older sister, but nobody seems to know her ”.

The two finally arrived at the house, ringing the bell. From the inside, Shikamaru could already hear Lee's joyful screams and Ino's music bursting through the speakers. It would be a long night.

The door opened and a tall boy with brown hair and lots of makeup on his face appeared. He smiled at them, raising his eyebrows.

"Hello," he said. "And who are you guys?".

"I am Chouji" he said before pointing to Shikamaru. “And this is Shikamaru. We are friends with Kiba ”.

"Oh yeah! He commented that you would come. Friends of the blonde who speaks loudly and took over my sound, right? ” joked the boy. "I am Kankuro".

"It's a pleasure," muttered Shikamaru as he entered the house. "And I'm sorry for Ino."

Kankuro laughed and shrugged.

"Don’t be. I'm used to blonde women who like to yell at me. My sister got  me used well ”.

The rest of the group, who were scattered around the room, looked at Chouji and Shikamaru and shouted in celebration. Naruto left where he was sitting and pulled Shikamaru into a bear hug.

"I knew you would come," he said with a huge smile on his lips. "You say you don't like it, but I know you can't resist a party."

"What I can't resist is how insistent you can be" replied Shikamaru while rolling his eyes. "You literally started showing up in my nightmares."

Naruto laughed heartily and Chouji rolled his eyes fondly. Kankuro appeared behind them, pointing around.

“Beers can be left in the kitchen, over there. There's a bathroom up the stairs and please, cigarettes just near the windows or outside. Gaara hates the smell ”. He then pointed to a red-haired boy with eye makeup who was listening to something Lee was saying. “That's him, my little brother. I don't think you need me to introduce anyone else ”.

"I didn't want to be the person to warn you about this, but calling this group of people into your home was probably the biggest mistake of your life," muttered Shikamaru. Kankuro laughed before taking a sip of his beer.

“Kiba's friend, that quiet guy with the sunglasses, said the same thing, but we moved out a little while ago and haven't met anyone yet. Kiba said that we would get along with his friends, so why not? As long as no one pukes on the carpet, I think we'll be fine. Temari would make me clean the dirt with my own tongue”.

The party continued for the next hour. Shikamaru found a comfortable place to lean against the wall and drank a beer while watching his friends around. Ino and Sakura talked to each other non-stop, while Sai and Sasuke listened to them in silence as usual. Naruto tried his best to convince Neji to compete with him on ‘who could drink the most’, but Shikamaru knew it was a lost cause. Hinata watched them with a resigned look and Tenten laughed so hard that she looked like she was about to cry. Lee was talking non-stop, his cheeks slightly red, sitting on the sofa very close to Gaara, who was listening to him with all his attention. Shino, Kiba and Kankuro talked and laughed about something. Shikamaru also noticed that Kiba and Kankuro seemed to be leaning a little to close to each other.

Chouji tried to start conversations with him, but while he was drinking, Shikamaru couldn't help repeating the conversation they had in his mind.

He wasn't that bad when it came to love. He had his share of relationships here and there since puberty and he considered himself a handsome and intelligent guy, thank you very much. Okay, Ino was his first kiss and it was so absurdly weird that they just looked at each other afterwards and burst out laughing, agreeing never to do that again. He and Sakura also tried to date when they were younger, but Shikamaru was not in the mood to be with someone who was clearly in love with other guy.

They grew up, he had his dates, he lost his virginity, he dated Shiho. So, yes, maybe he never fell in love so deeply that he lost his mind and became as stupid as Naruto with Hinata, but that didn't mean he didn't understand anything about love or was hopeless.

Right?

And it was with these thoughts in mind that he heard her voice for the first time.

Key noises could be heard, but no one seemed to pay attention. The front door opened, someone entered, at the same moment that the music faded and, before anyone could do anything, a voice came up saying:

"Why is there a bunch of strangers in my house?".

Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed and he turned his head, the beer can still on his lips, while he drank. His eyes sought the owner of that voice, going to his right, until he fell into...

Holy fucking shit.

The personification of his wet dreams was standing there, at the entrance to the room, looking at everyone with a raised eyebrow. Shikamaru almost let the beer can slip from his fingers, too impacted by the sight of her to be able to put strength in his own hand. His mouth was slightly open and he sure looked like an idiot, but at that moment, who cares?

His eyes followed beautiful tanned legs, covered with fishnet tights, to the smallest skirt in the universe. Then they head up, where he tried not to focus because he was educated to be a gentleman, but Shikamaru's brain melted. A  stomach line, tight T-shirt, a long and elegant neck that led him to a beautiful and dangerous face. Sand-blond hair tied in two ponytails, expressive eyebrows, delicious lips contorted in a grimace. Her eyes swept the room and fell on him for just a second. The world caught on fire.

He has never seen a woman like her in his life. He had never felt such an overwhelming urge to be trampled by someone like in that moment. He would let her step on him like a rug and then he would say thank you.

The music was paused. Everyone looked in her direction. And Shikamaru realized that she was clearly older than them, because all her energy screamed maturity. She seemed to dominate the entire room with just a look and he was certainly included in it, like an insect hypnotized by a light trap.

"Temari!" exclaimed Kankuro, looking slightly paler. "Shit. What are you doing here?".

She looked at him for long seconds without an expression on her face.

"I live here" replied simply and Shikamaru controlled himself not to laugh. She seemed to be a smartass like him.

"I know" replied Kankuro, looking indignant. "But I thought you were going to spend the night at your boyfriend's house."

"Oh, yes, me and Daimaru broke up" Temari replied, not looking shaken by it. Something in Shikamaru's chest hummed, happy that she was single.

"Are you alright?" asked Gaara, looking slightly concerned and speaking for the first time since Shikamaru arrived. She shrugged.

"Yes. He cried, but meh, it's okay” she replied. Then she put her hands on her waist and Shikamaru had a flashback from his own mother when his father was in trouble. "Now, can you tell me why there are a bunch of strangers in my house?".

"Well, you always say that we should make more friends, so I met some people and thought about making a social with them".

"In our house?".

"Yes".

"In the middle of the week?".

"Yes?".

"Without telling anyone?".

"I told Gaara!" exclaimed Kankuro, trying to defend himself. Temari's eyebrow went up even more and she looked so dangerous and powerful that Shikamaru lost his breath.

"Gaara is not the one who pays the bills" she countered and the silence followed for a few seconds. Everyone's eyes passed between them, as if watching a game of ping-pong. Shikamaru's chin was still slightly dropped.

"Kankuro...?" Temari started saying.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You are the worst roomate I have ever had in my life."

"I'm the only roomate you've ever had," he countered. Temari crossed her arms, indicating the sofa with her head.

"This is not true. I have Gaara”.

"Gaara is so quiet that sometimes I spend days without seeing him".

"And he couldn't be more perfect" she returned and a little smile appeared on her beautiful lips, because she knew she was winning the argument. The sight of that smile sent a delicious shiver down Shikamaru's spine. Suddenly, he was no longer tired. On the other way, he was full of energy.

In a quick movement, Temari took the beer can out of Kankuro's hands and drank.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's mine!".

"Yours?" she asked.

"Yes, I paid with my money".

"Oh, so do you have money now?" Temari murmured, smiling in an almost feline way. Shikamaru's heart exploded in his chest at the thought of what it would be like to have that smile directed at him. "So how about you start helping with the rent then?".

She and Kankuro faced each other in a silent battle. He was the first to look away and she smiled victoriously.

"That's what I thought," she said, before taking a second sip. Then she pursed her lips, pretending to think and sighed. "Okay, I'm not going to ruin your party."

"Oh God, thank you" sighed Kankuro. "Tem, you are the best big sister in the world-".

"But I have some conditions."

Kankuro groaned. Gaara laughed, clearly enjoying the situation. He was not the only one. All the women present looked at Temari as if she were a powerful example to be followed. Shikamaru also couldn't take his eyes off her, but for other reasons.

“First, don’t break anything. Any mess or dirt has to be clean tomorrow morning”.

"Deal," said Kankuro automatically.

“Second,” continued Temari, looking amused by her brother's bad mood. She moved closer to him, with her long bare legs moving slowly and Shikamaru's hands were sweating so hard that he thought he would pass out from dehydration. “No weed in the back area. The neighbor will complain and I hate to deal with her”.

"There's no weed," lied Kankuro, making both Shikamaru and Temari roll their eyes. The smell was literally everywhere.

"Tell that to your friend who's eating mustard with pickles and peanuts," she argued, pointing at Chouji a few feet away, with his eyes a little red. Everyone turned to him and he flinched, his mouth still full of that culinary crime.

A loud laugh escaped Shikamaru's lips before he could stop himself. Temari turned, looking at him and her eyebrows rose slightly. Her eyes slowly studied him from top to bottom and the temperature in the room seemed to be so hot that everything would start to melt. Her lips lifted in a smile, still staring at Shikamaru and he can't stop himself from smiling back.

"You are not funny, Tem" groaned Kankuro.

"The cute one over there thinks I'm funny," she countered, indicating Shikamaru with her head and making him almost choke on his own saliva. “Well, rule number three: no loud music for the same reason as before. The neighbor is a bitch and she'll probably call the police. I am the eldest, everything will fall on my back and I swear to God, Kankuro, if I get arrested because of you, I will kill you”.

"Nobody's going to be arrested," he said in a groan. "Anything else?".

Temari took a long drink of beer, her eyes on her brother, just to torture him a little. Then she sighed and smiled.

"No” she said. “You can continue."

And the party continued.

Shikamaru's eyes seemed to be drawn to her figure like magnets. He tried not to look, but it seemed like a completely impossible task. He saw how Ino and Sakura approached Temari right after, monopolizing their attention for a long time. He saw her drink more, saw her smile, saw her laugh, saw her cross those damn legs together, thick thighs showing and making him shiver.

Worse, he saw her look at him. With her beautiful and mysterious eyes, Temari turned to him once in a while, sometimes without expression, sometimes evaluating him again, sometimes with that feline smile appearing on her lips and Shikamaru drank so much without realizing it, completely distracted by her, that his mind was completely blurred.

When she moved again, laughing at something Ino had said and her skirt went up a few more inches, Shikamaru stood up, desperate for a cigarette.

He went to the kitchen, opening a door to the back and stayed there, smoking, trying to distract his own head and ease his heartbeat.

Completely useless, because a few minutes later he heard footsteps and her voice haunted him again.

"Cigarettes are very bad for you, you know."

Shikamaru turned, seeing her leaning against the doorframe with her shoulder. His hands started to sweat again, but a mischievous smile appeared on his lips.

"Your brother is smoking weed less than ten meters away," he argued. Temari's eyebrow rose and she walked closer to him, looking amused.

"Kankuro is a hopeless case since I dropped his head on the ground when we were kids," she said. She leaned her elbows on the center counter of the kitchen, projecting her back slightly forward and making his mind go blank. "Are you a hopeless case?".

"I like to think not," he replied, taking a drag on his cigarette. "Some would say that I am very smart."

"Oh, so I heard" replied Temari with a raised eyebrow. “Your friends were telling me everything. A genius, huh? ”.

Shikamaru's cheeks burned.

"The title can be a bit over the top," he said, scratching the back of the neck. Temari laughed, raising her hand.

“Temari” introduced herself. He squeezed her hand and her skin was warm under his fingers.

"Shikamaru" replied.

"Well, it's a pleasure, Shikamaru," Temari said, letting go and leaning back against the counter. His name on her lips was music to his ears. "So, which one of my idiot little brothers brought you here today?".

Shikamaru laughed, finishing his cigarette.

"None" replied, throwing it in the trash and taking a few steps towards her. “I am friends with Kiba, the make-up boy who is not your brother. But I came because Naruto insisted”.

"The blond who doesn't know how to speak softly?" asked Temari and Shikamaru laughed.

"The one nd only" replied. Both she and he looked through the kitchen door, watching Naruto and Lee talking animatedly with Gaara, on the living room sofa.

"He and Gaara seem to get along," she murmured. Shikamaru smiled, finally standing next to her and realizing that he was taller by long centimeters. It was surprising, because her energy screamed that she would be able to put him on the floor in a few seconds.

"Naruto likes him," he said. "He convinced everyone to come so we could get to know him."

A loving smile broke out on her lips.

"I'm happy" she said and the tone of her voice was so gentle and soft that Shikamaru's heart beat again. He didn't know which Temari he liked best: the seductive and mysterious or the gentle and smooth. In the end, it didn't really matter. He would accept whatever she wanted to show. “Gaara is very shy. It is difficult for him to make friends. I'm glad that the blonde and the boy with the strange haircut adopted him “.

Shikamaru laughed again and she looked at him. The silence followed for a few seconds, before he tried to break it, not wanting their interaction to end there.

"So, difficult day?" He asked. Temari looked confused.

"No, why?". Shikamaru's cheeks burned and he was slightly lost.

"Well, you told about your breakup and these things are usually complicated ..."

"Oh, yes," said Temari before giving a dry chuckle and shrugging her shoulders. “I wouldn't say it was that difficult. My relationship was about to end for a long time, but it seems that only I saw it. I think I should be sadder than I really am, but I can't explain it”.

"Actually, I completely understand" Shikamaru said and she looked at him with surprised eyes. "I just broke up and was more sad to make her sad than the break up itself."

"Yes, exactly," muttered Temari and they continued to stare at each other with surprise. “It is difficult to explain, but it is as if Daimaru and I were just great friends. There was no...”.

“Spark” completed Shikamaru. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Yes! Chemistry, ” she said. "Everything was so normal, so monotonous, so ...".

"Boring".

And they looked at each other in even more surprise, with a strange and delicious energy pulsing between them. Temari's eyes assessed him again and a smile appeared on her lips. Suddenly, she looked like a predator ready to take a victim. And Shikamaru couldn't be happier to be her prey.

"... Yes" she murmured. "That's exactly it."

Shikamaru found himself completely lost in the deadly beauty of her face. He had, in five minutes of conversation, more chemistry with Temari than in his entire relationship with Shiho. She was beautiful and sharp, smart as hell, ready to give back in equal measure everything that anyone threw at her. Temari dominated the environment only with her presence, everyone around seemed to be under her command. She seemed to be someone who didn't bow her head at all. She looked like someone who would eat Shikamaru alive if he had the honor of being involved with her.

She looked like the most troublesome woman he had ever met.

And it was absolutely addictive.

The sound of an alarm broke their trance. Temari closed her eyes, cursing under her breath and took her cell phone out of her skirt pocket.

"I have to go" she said and Shikamaru's shoulders fell in disappointment.

"I thought you lived here," he said and she raised an eyebrow like he was an idiot.

"I meant to leave the party, genius" she countered with a smile in the corner of her mouth. "Some people work early in the morning."

She walked away from him, walking on her back, her eyes still on him. He saw her beautiful thighs move away, her beautiful silhouette move away, the idea that maybe he would never be able to see her again appear and Shikamaru tried to think of something to say, to prevent her from leaving, but his brilliant brain, for the first time time, didn't have a plan.

"Wait! Temari ”exclaimed on instinct. She stopped, looking expectantly at the doorframe.

Shikamaru swallowed, praying that he wouldn't ruin it.

"Why don't you give me your phone number?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "You know, so I can let you know if your brother wants to throw a party behind your back again."

She looked at him for what seemed like hours, probably loving to see him sweat like she did with Kankuro earlier. In the end, her eyes sparkled and her smile became excitingly feline. Shikamaru felt an impulse to run and thank Naruto for being a stubborn idiot.

"I thought you would never ask."

[theanarik]

Day 11: Red

Happy SasuHina Month, everybody! It’s day 11 already! This one can be read with the one coming for day 14.

TW:  there is depictions of blood. Also, an inapropriate relationship between Hinata and an OMC who's a lot older than her. This author does not condone that.

Also, 110 is the emergency number in Japan according to Google.

Day 11: Ruby Wine Stained Her Lips (my original thoughts were about poison but couldn’t find anything about that for my research)

Red

You can aso read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673345

When Hinata was little, she used to play with her little sister. She was a toddler at the time, couldn’t be older than two, and they had lots of fun together, chasing each other around in the gardens. Sometimes, their cousin, Neji, would come to play with them, but most of the time he would just sit down and supervise them.

Hinata was a happy girl.

Then, one afternoon, she arrived from school and found all her family in the living room. That wasn’t all that uncommon, but most of the time these meetings happened over dinner. Her mother grabbed her arm, and she realized that they were not alone. In front of them there were ten men – she counted them –, dressed all impeccably, but had guns on their hands. A minute later, they were firing.

*

She woke up in a deafening silence. Something – someone – was on top of her, and the house was almost dark. She pushed the body off of her and stood up. It wasn’t dark enough for her to tell that there were a lot of people on the floor and she started crying. Blindly, she looked for the light switch, and when the house became alive again, she realized that her whole family had been killed.

The pool of red, red blood reaching the piano a few meters away.

Hinata went body after body, trying to wake them up just like she did, but none of them responded. Her cousin’s back turned and full of holes as he tried, in vain, to protect her little sister. Numbly, she grabbed the phone and called 110. She laid on the floor, in a fetal position, trembling and crying. When the police officers arrived, they started recognizing the scene and one of them came to her, sat down and stayed there until she recovered enough to sit down herself. She looked up at the man, he was kind-looking, had long hair and eyes as dark as the night outside.

“Hey, my name is Itachi,” he said with a gentle, soft voice. “What’s your name?”

Hinata took a second to register the words and looked down again. “Hi-Hinata…”

“Alright, Hinata, were you the one who called to the station?”

“Y-yes.”

“Okay, how about we wrap you in a blanket and we head back to the station, then?”

“No!” Hinata yelled, eyes panicked. “My s-sister, I-I can’t leave her.”

“Hinata,” Itachi started, “you are a very brave girl, but I need you to be brave for her too, okay?”

Hinata looked directly into his eyes, open and understanding, and she turned to look at the other policemen that were marking everything on the floor.

“S-she…” she looks at Itachi again. “S-she wasn’t breathing.” Hinata felt a tremor go down her spine, and she started crying again.

“Shhh,” Itachi shushed her, ruffling her hair. “Let’s go outside, okay?” he stood up, offered his hand and Hinata took it as she sobbed.

*

As she grew up, Hinata became distant of every single person she met before the murder of her family. The only people she kept constantly in touch with was Itachi, and his little brother Sasuke. Although there were times where she didn’t say a word to either of them for months.

Hinata finds Sasuke again in a coffee shop, almost six months after she communicated last. Her hair is short, her lips are blood red, and she looks slightly out of place. Sasuke’s sitting with two other people, a blond man and a pink-haired woman. It takes him a moment to recognize her, but immediately after he does, he stands up as fast as lightning, previous conversation forgotten.

“Hinata!” he says, and she turns around slowly. Her coldness becomes surprise, and her surprise becomes warmth.

“Sasuke!” She leaves the coffee line taking a step to the side and collapses against his arms.

“It’s been years since the last time I saw you. Almost didn’t recognize you. You have contacts on.”

“Yeah, well, I can say the same! Look at you, you’re all big now!”

“Shut up.” Sasuke says smirking at her. A moment later, Hinata becomes collected again, her features turning solemn.

“Follow my lead.” She whispers, and then an old man enters the coffee shop. “Honey!” she says, and she flies herself to the man’s side. Sasuke can see the minute way her body tenses as he kisses her on the mouth. He frowns. “Sweetie, this is Daisuke. He’s one of my childhood friends!”

Her voice sounds fake, her posture is too rigid, and her green eyes are hard. Not for nothing, Sasuke is the brother of a cop.

“Hello,” he introduces himself.

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet a friend of my Hikari,” Sasuke refrains himself from raising his eyebrows as he very pointedly keeps his eyes on the man. “She always talks so little about her past.”

“Oh, sweetie, you know it’s because nothing else matters before I met you.”

Yeah, that gives him a heads up that he should stay quiet and analyze what’s happening here. Hinata would never ever talk about her family like that, change her or his name and also the color of her eyes. There is something going on here and Sasuke will find a way to find out.

“Dai, let us buy you a coffee, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!” Hinata says, enthusiastically, “Can we, love? Can we?”

“Of course, how could I say no to my little light.” He pecks her in the lips, her red lipstick already smothered, and Sasuke feels his stomach churn.

Gross. What the hell is going on here?

Hinata disentangles herself from the man, and they both wait until she comes back from the coffee line in silence. Sasuke adventures himself and catches a look from Naruto and Sakura, and he shrugs minutely, like he’s just as lost as they are. Hinata comes back a few minutes later with three cups. He handles him his and then gives another one to the man.

“Ah, wait!” she says, before he starts drinking. “We’re forgetting your medicine.” And then she checks out her purse, takes a bottle of pills, opens it, and gives the man a blue and red pill. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

“What would I do without you,” he says, as he takes the pill and downs his coffee.

Hinata eyes him for a second and signals him with her eyes that he should take a look at his cup. Sasuke lowers his eyes and catches black ink popping from below his hand and turns the cup a little bit so the man doesn’t see it. She sighs relieved.

“Well, we should get going,” Hinata says, putting the pill bottle inside the bag and grabbing the man’s arm. “Dai, it was so good seeing you again.”

“You too,” Sasuke answers, unable to call her by any name.

As they get out, Hinata turns slightly and mouths Thank you at him. Sasuke nods and goes back to his seat.

“Who was that?” Sakura asks, interest in her tone.

“Just an old friend.”

“You have friends other than us?” Naruto asks mockingly and Sasuke rolls his eyes.

“Well, she left you a really big note.” Sakura points to the cup with her index finger and Sasuke lowers his gaze. There is, indeed, a note written in black sharpie.

Sasuke.

I know this is weird, I can’t really explain anything right now, but believe me when I tell you this:

I’m safe. I’m okay. Everything that’s happening is because I want it happening.

I cannot tell you anything else, and probably won’t tell you ever.

Trust me, please.

Text me.

xxx-xxx-xxxx

Sasuke can’t really believe that Hinata wants a man that probably triples her age kissing her, touching her, or even calling her love, not after seeing her tense up every time he did so.

He’s going to find out what’s going on, and he will not rest until he does.

You can aso read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24673345

[dianapana]

SasuHina Month 2020 - Day 5

Prompt –Collage AU

Long Distance- Part 3

Hinata POV

Sasuke drives like a pro; whenever I’m in the car with Ino I fear for my life, Neji drives really smoothly but he always goes really really and I mean really fast so, I find myself griping the side of my seat a lot. But with Sasuke the speed is good I don’t feel like we’re about to pierce to the vail of time and his movements are confident and easy; he seems to be at ease. We’ve been on the road for about 45 minutes and we haven’t really spoken much but the silence is pleasant and it doesn’t bother me.

“So, you’re from Konoha and about my age how come we never met in school?” Sasuke is the one to break the silence.

“I was homeschooled until 10th grade. And after that I went to Suna Academy for girls. I am what you would call ‘sheltered’. My mom told my dad I should attend public school before university but he just about had a heart attack. He didn’t really want me going to University either” I didn’t mind being homeschooled I’m more of an introvert and I know that; it’s not because I didn’t go to public school it’s just how I am and I’m ok with that. But I did want to go to university so I fought for that as well and when mom came to my aid too dad didn’t stand a chance. I’m happy with my decision; I’ve made a few really good friends and enjoyed the experience so far. I also loved the freedom of doing whatever I wanted without asking for permission. I’m not a party person but I did discover I enjoy certain things that mom or dad would never allow.

“Ah makes sense. My older brother was homeschooled for about 2 years but neither mom nor dad really liked that so when I started school, they sent me to public school from the get go”

“Are you going to be a senior this year?” he looks older and more mature than I do, or at least than I feel.

“Yep, what about you?” I look from the corner of my eyes at the way his muscles move in his arm when he changes the gear. He’s not built like most guys in my classes.

“I’m also going to be a senior. What’s your major?”

“I only declared my major last semester so despite it being my last year I’ll have a lot of courses to take. I’m majoring in education. I was accepted on athletic scholarship and have been a starter on the hokey team since the second semester of my freshman year so I plan to either go pro or coach. What about you?”

“I major in creative writing and minor in photography or as my dad says, I’m paying money to become a starving artist. I’ve never seen a hockey game; my sister likes it and played a little in middle school but I was away in Suna so I never went to any of her games.”

We talk a little more about collage, I find out that he lives with one of his teammates who is also his best friend and another friend that’s a tattoo artist and is majoring in fine arts at KU. I also applied there but the creative writing program is better at the UoA. I did hear that the graphic design department from KU has some of the pest teachers in the country. I told him about Ino who I met at orientation but, we also share the same minor; her major though is flower arts, surprisingly she has a lot of business-oriented courses to pretty much teach her how to run her own shop. We’re about 15 minutes away from KU and once again I feel guilty; he’s been on the road for 4 hours even though under normal circumstances he’d just now hit the road. After passing KU we finally hit the highway and Sasuke speeds up but it’s still comfortable.  

We talk a little more for the following few hours and I’m surprised by how easy it is to talk to him. He even explains hockey to me as briefly as possible and says he’ll invite me to a game when the season starts. The implication that we will talk after the end of this pleases me. We’re about half the way to Konoha when we stop so Sasuke can fill the tank and so we can go to the bathroom, maybe drink another coffee since we drank the extra ones I packed as well already and eat something. Thankfully the gas station has a McDonalds next to it.

Sasuke POV

Once we hit the road again after eating the only noise is the radio but we don’t talk. The silence isn’t unwelcomed and awkward. After a couple more minutes I peek at Hinata and see she has fallen asleep. I dim the music a little and continue driving. We have about 5 more hours to go.

About 4 hours later I make another stop at the gas station; I need to go to the bathroom. Hinata hasn’t woken up yet. I’m debating whether to wake her up or not when her phone starts ringing loudly and waking her up anyway. She wakes up and answers in a hurry while rubbing the sleep away from her eyes.

“Hey mom. Yea we’re about…” she looks towards me and I mouth ‘1 hour away’ “1 hour away. We just stopped at a gas station. I’ll see you soon ok? I want to go to the bathroom. Bye” she hangs up not really waiting for a reply.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry I fell asleep for like 4 hours.” Her cheeks are red and I can tell she feel guilty and embarrassed but I shrug.

“No big deal” It looks like she wants to apologize again so I get out of the car. Each of us goes to the bathroom and then Hinata buys some snacks and I get myself a Pepsi and we get back on the road.

Hinata rips open the packet of candy she bought and eats a few. “Do you want some?” she asks. Usually I’m not a huge fan of sweets but I do want some sugar to get energy so I nod. I can’t take my hand that instant off the wheel so I make a small pause with full intention to extend it in a few moments but before I can do that Hinata leans over and pops a candy in my mouth. I am shocked and I look at her from the corner of my eye and she is frozen in place, her face red as a beat.

“I…umm I am sorry” her voice is barely a whisper and she leans back in her seat. “I did that without thinking sorry. I do that whenever Ino drives. In the beginning she would take her hand pff the wheel mid turn and it would freak me out so I developed this habit of feeding her rather than her letting go of the wheel. I am so so so sorry” she talks really fast and her hands are over her cheeks.

“It’s ok. You just surprised me” I say. Hinata I realize is very socially awkward. She blushes easily and apologizes a lot about everything. Despite me trying to reassure her she doesn’t talk much for the rest of the road.

Hinata POV

The candy incident happened almost 20 minutes ago but my heart still beats way too fast. I did that on instinct and the moment my fingertips touched his lips I was gone. I am way too aware of him now to be able to talk to him normally. Even if I don’t want to I notice everything about him. From his muscles that shift whenever he moves the slightest bit, to his beautiful profile, to his dark and shiny hair.

I keep my hands joined in my lap because I’m scared, I’ll do something embarrassing again. I want to touch him. I want to take pictures of him. He would be a great subject for a photoshoot. Images of him in a studio dim lighted and a bit destroyed fill my brain. He would suite something grunge or maybe something with neon lights to give him an eerie atmosphere. That is his attitude, if we were to talk about his looks, he is handsome and beautiful; he would look good surrounded by white, that would make him look like an angel. The angel analogy starts to run while when I imagine him naked with only a silk sheet over his lap. I feel my cheeks growing redder again.

I shake my head and look out the window. The familiar scenery tells me we’re only about 15 minutes away from my house, after waking up I gave him my address to put into the GPS. I curse myself for sleeping half of the ride. There’s no use lying to myself. I like Sasuke, he’s easy to talk and cool. His good looks only aid this predicament.

“We’re almost home” I say.

“You don’t sound that happy. You did say you didn’t want to return. Why is that?” He answers, eyes still focused on the road, his voice even. He really does not think about the candy incident. The knowledge hurts a little. I kind of wanted him to be as shook as I am.

“I liked the freedom I have at University. I’ve never really been the one in charge before” Mom and Hanabi are the only ones home which means we will be doing a lot of shopping. They’ll make me try on things I don’t particularly like. Most of my closet consisted of thing mom and Hanabi think look good on me but that I don’t like to wear so when I got to University I started selling them.

“I get that, I feel the same. That was also my reason for not coming back home” He admits and it shocks me a little, Sasuke doesn’t seem like someone that would let himself be controlled by someone else. This makes me relate to him, admire him for admitting something like that, Neji is very prideful and he would never say something like this.

When the car pulls to a stop in front of my house, I have to admit I am glad. I like spending time with him but I feel myself developing a crush on him that can only lead to my own demise. I look to the front door half expecting mother to come running outside but she doesn’t. Sasuke gets out of the car as well and helps me with the suitcases. I go to open the door but it is locked. I unlock it and the house is silent. Sasuke asks me where to take the suitcases and I abuse his kindness and tell him to follow me to my room. In the mean time I call mother.

“Hey mom I got home…but where are you?”

“Hinata baby I’m over at Mikoto’s come with Sasuke. She wants to meet you and we can all have a nice late lunch or early dinner” Her voice is chipper and light, is…is mom drunk?

“O….k?”

“See you soon baby” She says and hangs up on. I look at my phone and then to Sasuke.

“Um…she’s at your house” I say and he laughs.

“Of course, she is. How did we not see this coming?” Sasuke asks rhetorically as we walk back to the car. I top to lock the door. “I mean they are best friends so of course they are together.”

The drive to his home takes about another 10 minutes and this time when the car stops mom and another woman, I assume Sasuke’s mother wait for us on the front porch and they each have a wine glass in their hands. Mom is smiling wide and chats with Mikoto lively.

“Are they drunk?” I say out loud. Sasuke narrows his eyes.

“I don’t know about your mother but my mom is a lightweight. If she drank a glass of wine, she is not only drunk but wasted.”

“Mom can’t hold her alcohol very well either” I admit, we both turn to look at them still chatting away, obvious to the fact that we have arrived. We turn to look at each other and chuckle a little.

“Come o let’s go join them, drink a glass of wine too. Why should they be the only ones to have fun?” He says and gets out of the car. My heart is beating faster once again. I can’t move for a moment. Sasuke opens my door and extends his hand to me, I look at it and take it. His skin is warm and rough but I feel sparks going up my arm. I look up at him and he’s smirking at me. The sun is just now setting behind Sasuke and it gives him a golden glow. That is the moment when I realize that I already like him, this boy I met today. He lets go of my hand to go get his own bags but I can still feel his touch. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in. When I open them he’s next to me and nods towards out mothers, I nod back and we start walking up the driveway. The two of them finally see us, put their wine glasses down and come towards us for hugs. Mom kisses my cheek and tells me how much she missed me; than she hugs Sasuke and thanks him for bringing me while Mikoto hugs me and tells me how nice it is to meet me.

Looking at this scene with them so happy makes me realize that I don’t regret coming home. I’m glad I could make mom happy. I’m glad to see her having fun with a new friend. I peer from the corner of my eye towards Sasuke. I’m glad I came because I met him. I’m still looking at him when he turns his eyes to me as well and smirks. I wonder what he’s thinking. I wonder if he feels even remotely like I do. Even if he doesn’t, I hope he will still be my friend because Sasuke Uchiha is pretty cool and I’d love to have him in my life. If his mother is anything like him, I can’t blame mom for calling Mikoto her best friend already.  

Part 1 (This happens after the 2nd and 3rd part)

Part 2

[chemicalmagecraft]

Foresight is 20/20 Chapter 11

I smiled even before we reached the gates. "It looks like we have a welcome party," I noted, then licked my lips.

"How can you tell?" Gai asked.

"Chakra sensing."

As soon as we were inside the gates of the village, I was tackled by a very energetic blonde. "Kouki!" Naruto yelled as he did his level best to crush me like a tin can.

I awkwardly patted him on the back. "Heyyy, bud. Could I please breathe?" I choked out. I gasped for my breath after he released me from his adamantium grasp. "Stupid freakish Uzumaki strength," I grumbled in between breaths.

"What was that?" Tenten angrily asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Not directed at you."

"Hey Kouki," Naruto said, "why are you all brown?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay first off I think technically it's more 'bronze' than 'brown,'" I said, "and b, it's called a tan."

"How did you get so tan in only a few days?" Dad asked me. "Didn't you have a parasol?"

I sheepishly put my hand behind my head. "Well..."

~~~~ku

I sighed as I lounged on the thankfully clean floor in front of the window.

"Are you sunbathing!?" Temari asked me.

"Soooo waaaarm~" I replied.

"I swear you're a cat or something."

I grinned a catlike grin. "Meow~" She sighed and stormed off.

~~~~ku

"...I guess I get tan really easily?" Okay to be fair I do. And it stays for a while, even if I stay inside most of the time. When my brother, whose complexion is almost exactly the same as mine, got a similarly dark tan from being a lifeguard, my mom noted that it was probably due to our "gypsy blood." I wouldn't put it that way myself, mostly due to the fact that the word "gypsy" is actually kinda offensive what the heck mom, but I guess it's a plausible reason... I was thankful, though, that the sun didn't give me any more freckles. No offense to people with a lot of freckles, but I'm fine with only having like ten freckles on my face that mostly just look like a bunch of beauty marks, thank you very much.

"Welcome back, niisan," Hinata said with a smile. I couldn't help but notice that Kurama didn't at all look like he was annoyed with Hinata carrying him.

"Sup, Hina-chan. Did Kurama-chan tell you guys I'd be here?"

He huffed and turned his head away from me, the tsundere.

"Love you too, bud!"

"So what are you going to do now that you're back?" Neji asked me.

I shrugged. "First I'm going to take a bath, then I'll probably take a nap or something. I'm pooped."

"Surprising to hear that from you," Ai commented.

"Even I have my limits, Ai. Working on the seal was fun, but I'm glad it's over and done with." I yawned. "Now if you guys don't mind, I'd like to go take a nice, long bath now." I waved goodbye. "Thanks for coming to greet me!"

kukukuku~

I yawned, sat up in my bed, licked my lips, and stretched my arms. Then I fell back to sleep.

kukukuku~

"Okay, time to work now," I said after I rolled out of bed. Before doing anything, though, I checked out my window. It was nighttime. I shrugged. "Not that much of a problem to someone with twenty four-plus hour days." I licked my lips. "Right, let's get crackin'." I assumed a meditative position on the floor and reached inward, to my chakra. Mostly the red stuff, but also some of the blue. Just as a human touched by the red (I.E. me or the jinchuriki) has to have over a certain amount of red chakra in them to not die, it seemed that beings made from the red needed at least some blue in them to function. To be honest, I should've figured that out sooner, what with how the Biju Dama uses blue chakra. 'Course, I did figure it out when I sensed not only another biju, but Karura, who was a non-biju red chakra spirit. And with that revelation came some important progress on an idea that I'd had. And over the ride home, I'd honed and perfected that jutsu, one that I was now ready to use. Sure, I'd been wary of potential danger, but I felt a lot better after a message from my future self, or at least a future self... Future vision can get pretty freaky.

And so, I grabbed hold of almost all of my red chakra, just leaving a comfortable yet small amount over the minimum amount I needed to live, as well as enough blue chakra to sustain a demon of that power level. I used yin-yang release and some of the mechanics behind clone jutsus in general to mold that chakra into the proper shape. When I was done, the chakra moved on its own.

I opened my eyes to see my shadow turn pitch-black, then split off into two, one normal and one still a me-shaped abyss. The ebon shadow moved and stretched so that it was across the room from me. The shadow... rose, changing in shape and color to form what felt like an alternate-universe mirror. First off, shadow me looked even more girly than I did. Sure, that wasn't saying much what with how I was still way prepubescent and had girly hair, but she had longer hair and a skirt with leggings, so there's that. Plus she looked a little shorter than me. Second off, she had what appeared to be fox ears and a tail, likely an artifact from Kurama even though they didn't look exactly like his. Third, she was both a pallette swap and mirror image of me. While her complexion was roughly the same as mine, her eye markings were white with black dots instead of black with white dots, her clothes were dark red instead of blue, her hair was a shade of blue so dark it was almost black, and her eyes were red with slit pupils. As for the mirror part, her bangs were parted to the right instead of the left and each of her freckles were situated to be on the opposite side of her face from mine. Though she had fox ears instead of human ears, I could see she still had a rendition of the nubby nub nub thing on her right ear as opposed to my left.

"I am thou, thou art I," she said in almost my voice. Man, that was weird. "Sup, me."

"Sup," I responded, then relaxed my posture. She did the same, though she was mindful of her skirt. I was already kind of sure of the answer, but... "Hey, just to be clear here, you're supposed to be a girl, ja?"

She nodded. "Ja." She blushed. "I have more control over my form than just using the transformation jutsu and I figured I should differentiate myself as much as I can from you, so..." I feel like something could be said about me that "I" felt the need to justify that even to myself...

"I take it you picked out your own name too, right?"

"Yup." She grinned. "To counter your light-light hope-and-fortune name, I picked Chikage."

"Thousand Views?" I asked jokingly.

She facepalmed and groaned. "Okay yes, I guess that that's the traditional reading, but I meant more along the lines of Thousand Shadows. Or even Blood Shadow. Heck, Shadow of the Earth is kinda cool too."

"So does that mean I have your permission to keep 'Kouki?'" I asked.

She gave me a deadpan stare. "Dude, I literally said that I picked a name to balance out yours."

"Yeah, but if you think about it, 'Kouki' is us, not me. The guy that is us combined is Kouki."

She shrugged. "Would be pretty weird if you randomly started to go by another name. You're Kouki Prime and I'm totally at peace with that. Let's stop talking about semantics and see what this jutsu of ours does, exactly."

I nodded and clenched my fist. "I think I got weaker..." I unclenched my fist and did a few small stretches.

"Makes sense," Chikage said. "Even if you aren't using it, your red chakra still enhances you. Still, that also means you should have more control now."

"Right," I said. I held my hand out and tried to make some wind chakra. It felt a little off without my red chakra, but I got the hang of it surprisingly fast. Much faster than I'd managed the last time I'd tried it, wire-thin threads of wind chakra burst from my fingers, curling around my new double/clone/sister maybe? "Sorry, but you understand what I'm doing, right?

She snorted. Curiously, a small puff of smoke came from her nose when she did. "Dude, I'm you. Of course I know. Just make sure to ask future you first to make sure it doesn't screw us both over."

"Right, was going to do that anyway." I activated my eyes for just long enough to get a message coded to a version of myself in the exact situation I was in.

"Yup. Go ahead."

I didn't want to completely spoil every single highly-dangerous-yet-incredibly-interesting experiment I did, but I knew it'd be stupid to actually do them without using the Shoraigan to make sure I didn't end up turning Konoha into a crater. And so in my time of need, I discovered another power of the Shoraigan that was just as good as the ability to tell the future. At least, I'm assuming that's what happened in about a thousand other timelines that I never went down. Or I guess I did go down them, but just not the me that is me? Man, anything involving time travel gives people headaches, doesn't it. I could only time-warp information and yet I still got headaches.

Where was I?

Oh right. Main Shoraigan power number three. Or maybe just another version of the first main power? In addition to being able to download future information directly into my brain, I found out I could send my past self and/or selves information when I randomly got thousands of very similar chronopathic messages saying something roughly along the lines of "Holy crud we can send messages to our past selves!" and some telling me to stop sending messages back to past me, which was very hypocritical of future me, but I complied. I wonder if there's a version of me who found out about the Shoraigan by having that future message sent back by an alternate version of-

"You're getting off track," Chikage said, her eyes now a slit variant of the Shoraigan. Guess that meant she could use it too despite not having my eyes(?). "Stop telling the fans about our cool new power and kill me already."

"Right, sorry." I closed my hand into a fist, causing the Wind Release: Razor Wire to chop her into pieces. Instead of blood going everywhere, though, the cuts became red chakra which reformed back into her body with some loss.

"That hurt," she muttered. "But it seems we won't find out what happens when I die if we use that. Maybe try fire?" She was made from an aggregation of the powers of Kurama (fire/wind) and Shukaku (earth/wind), so while there was some fire in her it wasn't out of the question that fire would hurt her a lot more than wind...

I nodded and we both stood up. I guess maybe it was customary to use fire chakra from the lungs, and yes that was apparently how you got the most power, but I liked the idea of channeling it through my hands better, plus that way I could try to add lightning to it despite not knowing how to do it too well. I knew fire from the hands was possible from the flashback to the time of Ninshu, so theoretically... "Do not try this at home, kids." I made a few hand seals, then held my hand like how Kakashi does with the Chidori. An unfortunately uncoordinated ball of fire and lightning chakra emerged from my palm, as well as the slightest whiff of burning flesh.

Ow.

Chikage waved her arm in front of her torso, creating either a bullseye target or the illusion of a bullseye target. I thrust the ball of plasma right into the center of the target. Her body destabilized almost as soon as the probably-poorly-thought-out concoction of chakra touched her. While some was... ruined, I guess, by the attack, the majority of the chakra Chikage was made from was sucked back into my body. With the chakra came her memories, which was... interesting. I feel like I should note, though, that getting pyrolectrocuted hurts like the dickens.

"Is everything okay?" Uncle asked as he barged in. "I heard crackling sounds."

I casually stuck my hands in my pockets. "Yeah. I tried to use lightning release. Do you think you could ask Dad if I could get official training? That kinda hurt."

He looked concerned. "Are you hurt?"

I gave him a thumbs-up with my unburned hand. "Yeah, just a little stinging. Nothing a little healing factor won't cure. You should see the other guy."

"O...kay..." He thankfully left without much question, allowing me to take the other hand out and assess the damage. The friction from just taking it out of my pocket stung.

"Eeee..." I winced. I mean, it didn't look like it was too bad of a second degree burn, but... it was blackened. I really hoped that was just soot. I applied some red chakra to it and it thankfully just flaked off and didn't scar or anything. "Not doing that again, at least without adult supervision. Hope my pocket isn't ruined..." I tilted my head a bit. "Now before I can forget, I should probably do this." I activated my Shoraigan and sent a message coded to two certain iterations of my past self. Sure, it'd have happened anyway because of diverging timelines, but insert dead Daves joke here. "Right," I said. "Now that that's over. Chikage, out." She didn't do anything. I blinked. I could definitely feel her somewhere in me, but...

Oh.

I was Chikage. Well that was interesting. I concentrated on what I'd done before and felt a small snap in the back of my head.

"I'm back," she said in my head. Red chakra flowed from my body, forming Chikage, arms crossed and leaning back onto thin air. "Is that what it feels like to fuse?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess maybe with Pink Steven it was, just with less nearly dying and womanchildish giants."

She chuckled and picked me up. "C'mon, we gotta do it now."

I smiled and hugged her, laughing. She hugged me back. We started laughing and spinning each other until we just melted back together. "Ah, good times," I said. "Now we should probably get a training ground so I can see what I... you... we... can do..." I sighed. "Man, this is going to be weird..."

[sakura-blossom28]

Heartbroken

All fixed! Thank you to everyone who has read and left encouraging words, they’re really helping! Hope everyone likes the direction of the story. My goal is just to write about how I wish to find happiness one day and just projecting my thoughts out there! Let me know what you think!

Part 1 / Part 2 /  Sakura hadn’t felt this awake in a while.  She was excited about starting her new kickboxing class today with Temari and Hinata.  Last night was non-stop laughing between the three of them.  Sakura was finally starting to get back her appetite.  For the months since the breakup, her eating habits were all over the place.  One minute she feels so sick she could barely eat, the next she is scarfing down food as if her life depended on it.  Last night was good for her.  She felt closer to Temari even though they had just met, but she felt a true genuine feeling about her.  

Things were feeling okay.  Sakura got up at 8 AM to get ready for her new class.  They had to get there early to fill out some forms and pay for their class.  The gym was pretty close to where Sakura worked, so if she liked it enough she could go right after and not have to go home first.  That was the hard part for Sakura if she went home she would never leave her house. 

Today she wore her favorite maroon workout pants, a white t-shirt with a little cartoon cactus on it, and her usual black running shoes.  Sakura looked in her mirror in her room and decided to put up her hair.  Normally she liked to keep her pink hair down, but now that it was almost touching her shoulders she could make a real ponytail.  She thought back to when she was much younger and had long beautiful hair.  Sakura missed braiding her hair, it felt like forever.  It made her feel soft and delicate, but she hadn’t felt like that in a while. 

Clearing her mind she looked at the time and she was ready to go.  Sakura already felt her adrenaline rising as she quickly drove to the gym.  When she pulled up it was a simple brick building.  The gym’s name was simply called Power.  A bit intimidating, but Sakura did want to get strong.  Figuring Hinata and Temari would pull up any second she decided to go inside to get started on the paperwork.  

Walking into the gym, Sakura did not expect the design to be the way it was.  The front desk was very clean and organized with all silver detailing matching the equipment behind the desk.  Being early on a Saturday morning Sakura expected the place to be bustling with grunting men and women pumping iron to their heart’s content.  Instead, it was just a handful of people just calmly going about their routines. They weren’t super muscly like everyone thinks a typical gym has, but just average people.  That made Sakura feel better.

Nowhere in sight was any punching bags.  There were two doors next to each other in the very back, and two doors side by side on her left.  Maybe locker rooms? Surprisingly enough it was a very calm atmosphere.  This completely relaxed Sakura of any lingering fear that she had in the back of her mind.  The front desk attendant smiled at her kindly and welcomed her in. 

“Hello! My name is Tenten. Welcome to Power.  Are you here to join one of our classes?” she said still continuing to smile.  Tenten clearly used the privileges of her job, because she was fit.  She had deep brown eyes and dark brown hair styled as two buns sitting on her head, a style Sakura always wanted to try but could never pull off.  Maybe she was teaching the women’s class, Sakura wouldn’t mind working with her.

“Yes, I’m here to sign up for the kickboxing class with my friends,” Sakura said offering a smile of her own.  

“Great here are the forms while you wait for them!” Tenten said reaching under the counter to grab a printed out form.  Sakura thanked her and sat down at a small table in the front to fill out her information.  If Sakura had been paying attention she might have noticed Tenten taking out her phone to snap a quick picture of her and start frantically texting on her phone to her work group-chat. 

Tenten: Hey Gaara, is this the girl your sister was telling me about last night??

Gaara: I have no idea why Temari is making such a big deal out of this, but yeah that must be her. How many girls have pink hair like that?

Tenten: She’s pretty cute! You better get down here pretty fast, I think I hear Lee coming…

Gaara: What does that have to do with anything?

Neji: That must be the girl who Lee wouldn’t shut up about for weeks. He was introduced to her by Naruto. 

Lee: Don’t let her leave!! I’ll be there in 10 minutes!!!

Gaara: I’ll be down in five.

Tenten snickered to herself.  Finally some workplace drama!  She totally remembered this was the girl that Lee was obsessed with for a while.  She heard Sakura turned him down nicely and was kind enough to listen to his crazy ramblings for one whole night.  Tenten thought it would be good for Gaara to start seeing someone.  Maybe he wouldn’t be around the gym so much bossing them around.  Thankfully Neji was level headed and ran the books for them, or the place would already be in the ground.  

Normally girls would fall over any time they caught a glimpse of Gaara and he could not be bothered by them.  And this girl who he seemed to barely know was getting him out of his apartment, very strange.  Temari made it a point to say that Sakura didn’t even see Gaara’s face when they “met” so she had to watch her face very closely and report back to Temari.  Hearing the door open Tenten was ready to see her redheaded boss, but instead, she saw a blur of green rush past her towards the table that Sakura was sitting at.  She was too shocked to see that Gaara was coming in right behind it.

“Sakura!! It is so good to see you again! I am so glad that you have decided to join our gym! I am most looking forward to you improving your skills so you may join my advanced class! If you ever need any personal help…” a voice said right in her ear.  

Sakura knew the voice immediately.  She only knew one person who could give Naruto a run for his money for talking that fast and had no concept for personal space.  She peeked up from her forms to see a bright smile attached to bushy dark eyebrows and an unfortunate bowl cut.  

“Oh hi, Lee…” Sakura started with a weak smile, but before she had to continue the conversation a deep stern voice broke her train of thought.  

“Alright Lee back off.  Don’t go scaring the new recruits like that,” Gaara said as he made his way over.  Sakura looked up to meet cool jade eyes somewhat like her own.  This was Gaara.  His eyes were what was drawing Sakura in, she couldn’t place where she had seen his eyes before since she had never seen his face before.  His face was clear of any emotion, but the tone of his voice wasn’t harsh and he didn’t give off the vibe of being a gym buff.  He really didn’t have any defining features except being very handsome, but as Sakura was searching his face she noticed a tattoo on the corner of his forehead.  What a strange place for a tattoo, she thought to herself.  Not wanting to be rude she gave Gaara a small smile of thanks as Lee slunk away behind the counter next to a snickering Tenten.  

Gaara turned back to Sakura and asked, “Do you need anything before we start? I’m sorry my sister is running late, it’s her trademark.” 

“No, I think I’m alright, I just need some gloves to borrow.” 

“Alright you can follow me then,” he said as he started to walk towards the back of the gym.  Sakura got up trying not to look at the smiling Lee that seemed to follow her every move.  As they moved through the gym, she noticed that one of the doors led to the training room and the other was an office.  

“Typically people bring their own gloves, but since I knew you guys were coming I brought some of my old gloves for you and Hinata.  They’re pretty worn in so it shouldn’t feel too bad,” Gaara said to her as he was searching through a big duffle bag. “Here these look like a good fit for you.”

He handed her a well-worn pair of brown gloves.  With Sakura having smaller hands she was surprised at how well they fit.

“How old are these gloves? You must have been a kid when you used these!” Sakura said gently hitting the gloves together.  For a first impression and talking to a guy this good looking Sakura thought she was doing pretty well.  

“Yeah, you’re actually right,” Gaara said with a small smile on his face.  His face completely changed when he was smiling.  Uh oh.  Sakura could already feel her face heating up.  Not what she needed.  No crushes.  Plus he was Temari’s brother! That made him off-limits right? But if she did think about it, wouldn’t it be better just to have a crush on Gaara and not do anything about it because she couldn’t?  

You’re getting way too ahead of yourself as usual.  Slow down you LITERALLY just met the guy.  What if he’s a total jerk? Talking to herself always helped Sakura think and the voice in the back of her mind was usually right.  But he went out of his way to bring old gloves for them when he didn’t have to.  

As Sakura was thinking, really talking to herself, Gaara noticed the look of concentration on her face.  He knew that look very well.  He too would talk to himself in his mind and think no one was watching.  No one had ever noticed before because he learned to control his face while he thought, but clearly, no one had told Sakura about this tip.  She actually looked kinda cute while she was arguing with herself.  That thought shocked Gaara.  Normally he didn’t notice girls, especially one with pink hair and delicate looking.  But who was he to judge a book by its cover? His whole life people did that to him and he promised himself he wouldn’t do it to others.  

Before they knew it they were both staring at each other lost in their own thoughts.  At the sound of the door opening to more students walking in did they look away.  Neither one of them noticed the slight blush that was growing on each of their faces.  Throwing it up to the room being too hot.  

“I recommend a spot towards the middle in the second row. You’ll be able to see pretty well without having to be right in the front,” Gaara said turning to pick up his duffle bag. 

“Thanks!” Sakura said with a real smile, it felt nice chatting with Gaara.  It felt like progress being able to look at a guy and actually have a conversation.  Maybe a little crush wouldn’t be so bad?  But what if he already has a girlfriend?  That nagging thought would be pushed into the back of her mind for now, “Would you happen to know who’s teaching the class?”

“Don’t worry it’s not Lee,” Gaara said with humor in his voice.  That made Sakura look at him.  He did give off the impression of being super stoic but in the few minutes of talking that didn’t seem to be the case.  

“Not that he isn’t nice, I don’t think I’d be able to keep up with him,” Sakura said with a small chuckle.  

“Don’t worry I’ll go easy on you guys since you’re new.  Don’t want to scare you off too quickly,” Gaara said as he started to smirk.  With that, he took his bag and walked to the front of the room, leaving Sakura shocked right where she stood.  

XxX

Hinata and Temari eventually showed up and the class started.  Gaara gave a small introduction to a group of about 10 people in the room.  Not only had Gaara been boxing for most of his life, but he owned the gym!  Sakura felt her jaw drop a bit when he mentioned that and she could hear Temari snickering next to her.  

Gaara went over the basics for them and it was pretty simple, kicking and punching.  Now just to do it a million times to create muscle memory to do it perfectly.  Then increase your speed and make a routine out of it.  Piece of cake.  The class was only an hour and Sakura could not remember the last time she worked this hard.  She could not perfect her moves in a single class.  Her arms and legs were jello by the time they were finished.  As they practiced Gaara walked around the small room to help everyone with their form.  

He purposely told Sakura about the spot in the middle so that he could keep an eye on her progress without being too noticeable.  Plus he knew Temari would have been mad if she was in the back of the room.  Sakura was actually doing pretty well for just picking up a pair of gloves for the first time.  She was a little stiff, but that was to be expected.  He started to walk towards her punching bag.

“You’re swing is a little off.  Try keeping your arm straight and pull it right back.  Arching your arm is for a different day,” Gaara said after watching Sakura give a few punches.  

She looked up, face flushed bright pink from the effort she was giving.  He was happy to see she perked up at the sound of his voice.  Lowering her arms and shaking them out, Sakura nodded at him and tried to do as he said.  After a few swings, she turned to him with a bright smile on her face.  She had a brilliant smile and her eyes were bright and alight compared to how she looked while she was going through his sketchbook.  He returned her smile with a small one of his own.  

“Alright everyone, that’s enough for today.  Go take a walk to cool off.  Sign up for another class if you’re interested.  Thanks for coming,” Gaara called out dismissing the class.  Everyone let out an exhausted sign with a few laughs.  

Sakura sat down hard on the ground out of breath.  She couldn’t remember ever being this tired, but she felt really good.  She would definitely be signing up for more classes.  Maybe Gaara would be teaching more classes…

“So what did you think?” Temari asked the two of them once they all caught their breath.  

“That was amazing! If I didn’t think it would kill me I’d come every day!” Sakura said with a laugh.

“And would that have anything to do with the teacher?” Temari asked with a sly smile on her face.  Sakura was surprised at the question, but Temari seemed to be the teasing type.  

“Temari that’s your brother! Plus he probably has a girlfriend or something right?” 

“Oh, so you’re interested hmm? Are stiff redheads your type Sakura? I can vouch for him he’s warm and fuzzy on the inside!!” At this point, Sakura was bright pink again from Temari’s teasing.  And of course, Gaara chose this time to walk up to them. 

“Temari are you being annoying again?  Leave Sakura alone,” he reached out a hand to help Sakura up, “Just ignore her that’s what the rest of us do.” The simple gesture touched her.

“Oh haha, you’re so funny, brother,” Temari said while rolling her eyes, “Hey I know! Since it’s Saturday we should all go out tonight! C’mon, it’ll be fun.  We can invite your whole crew! What do you guys say?”

Sakura was quiet at first waiting for someone else to respond, but it seemed everyone was looking at her to answer.  Strange, normally she didn’t make the choices like this, but it kind of felt nice.

“I’m pretty exhausted so I’m not too sure how much fun I can handle, but there’s a bar by my house that is pretty relaxing and has a lot of seating!” Sakura suggested.  Hinata and Temari seemed to be on board with the idea.  Gaara was walking away, but Temari called out to him.  

“Gaara you’re coming right?”  He seemed to pause but turned to look at them.  He seemed to be looking at each of them but lingered on Sakura to see what she would do.  Sakura smiled, she wouldn’t mind if Gaara came, it would be a good chance to get to know him better.  

“Fine I’ll go,” he said as he turned back around and walked out into the gym.  

“Finally! I’ve been trying to get him to come out for weeks.  And it’s all thanks to you Sakura,” Temari said and patted her on the shoulder.  What was that supposed to mean? She never did get an answer as they walked out after Gaara.  

“Tonight will be a great night you’ll see!” was all Temari said, giving Hinata a wink.  Oh, but did she have plans for tonight...

Part 4

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Thirty-Three: The Phone is Ringing ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Hyūga Hiashi, Haruno Sakura, Hyūga Hanabi, Hyūga Neji ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

It takes exactly eight rings before the answering machine picks up.

When it does, a honey-sweet voice speaks.

“Hello! You’ve reached Hinata Hyūga. I can’t make it to the phone right now, but leave your name and your number, and I’ll c-call you back as soon as I can!”

She’s always hated how she stutters in it. After a dozen tries and every single one having at least one hiccup, she just gave up and took the last one. In part, she wonders if it’s played any roles in certain calls simply hanging up rather than leaving a message.

The machine is on a little table in the entryway of her apartment, the volume soft as not to be too terribly overheard by anyone walking by. Beside it is a little bowl where she typically keeps her keys, and a hook for her coat and purse. Today, all three are missing.

When the phone rings, it proceeds all the way to voicemail.

“Hinata, this is your father. This is the fourth time I’ve tried calling you the past two days, and you’ve still returned none of my messages. This is hardly becoming behavior, young lady. Something we’ll have to discuss once you finally get back to me. Your sister tells me you’ve been ignoring her texts. You can’t avoid us, Hinata. We’re family, no matter how disdainful you might find that to be.”

There’s the subtle sound of a landline being set back in its cradle, and then the apartment goes quiet again. A bright red 5 blinks along the screen, eager for attention.

No one gives it.

A few hours later, rain begins to pour. Carried by the wind, it impacts rather noisily against the windows that face the north, droplets exploding and slithering down the glass. The view from the fifth story blurs. Downtown is drenched in grey as the storm settles over, headlights a soft yellow as they struggle to cut through the gloom. Neon signs of downtown flicker and warp in the view through the water.

Just as the sun starts to go down, the phone begins to ring again. After eight tones with no answer, the machine picks up.

“Hey Hina! It’s Sakura. Just thought I’d check in on you - it’s been a while! Haven’t heard from you in a hot minute, and uh...figured I’d see if maybe you’d be down to hang for a while! I’m back in town next week for a conference, and I’d love to see you. I know you’re pretty busy, but hey, if you’ve got a spare hour or two while I’m around, let me know! Bye.”

There’s a few muffled background noises before the message cuts off completely. The 5 changes to a 6.

Night falls, and still the table remains empty save for the machine. Light creeps in around the main door, and a light on a timer in the kitchen flares to life. Otherwise, the apartment remains dark, and just as silent.

And so it goes until morning.

At seven am sharp, the phone is ringing once again. Once, twice, all the way to eight times.

“Hello Miss Hyūga. This is your supervisor Kurenai Yūhi. It was brought to my attention that you failed to appear at work yesterday with no prior notice. I know that you mentioned, in passing, that you had some...personal issues going on. But work policy mandates that, outside of an emergency, you give at least eight hours notice before a missed shift. If this happens again, I’ll have no choice but to write you up and place you on temporary suspension. You’ve been an exemplary employee during your three years with us, but I can’t make exceptions. Please contact me at your earliest convenience.”

The line goes quiet.

The table is empty.

The 6 becomes a 7.

Midafternoon, the ringing tone of the phone shrilly sounds five times...and then silence. On the phone’s caller ID, an obvious spam number displays. It leaves no message.

It’s nearly five o’clock when it rings again. And again. And again, until her pre-recorded message greets the silent apartment.

“...hey, ‘nata. It’s me, Hanabi. Look, uh...I’m seriously starting to get a little freaked out? You’ve never ignored me this long. Not even when I broke that old rabbit figurine Mom gave you. Please, just...let me know you’re okay? I dunno what I did to make you mad, or...maybe it’s not me you’re mad at. But I’m your sister. We might not always get along, but like...we’re sisters. Talk to me, ‘nata. If Dad’s being an asshole, just ignore him. But please...don’t shut me out. Okay? Love you…”

There’s a small, audible sigh...and then silence. The 7 blinks, and is reborn as an 8.

The rest of the evening passes quietly. The only interruption is a rowdy group of young men stumbling drunkenly past the door, the sober among them shushing for silence only to be ignored. They enter the apartment next door, where music begins to play and raucous laughter easily bleeds through the thin walls. But despite all of the rowdiness that carries well into the night, there’s no one home to complain.

The next morning, it’s foggy with a light misting of rain. Kurenai calls again and informs Hinata that her formal suspension is now in place. Should she miss one more day of work, she’ll be forced to terminate her employment.

The 8 becomes a 9.

A random number calls around ten, proclaiming that a recent fraud case in her town may have affected her identity, and to immediately call this number to confirm. Yet another clear case of spam.

9 makes way for the double digits of 10.

And then, in the early afternoon, another call.

“Hinata. This is your cousin Neji. Your father is furious that you have yet to return his calls, and is in the process of filing a missing person’s report. I implore you - if you are simply being obstinate - to drop this charade immediately before the police are forced to intervene. You know we can’t have a scandal like this in the family over a petty disagreement. Whatever Hiashi has done...surely it isn’t worth things becoming this complicated. Whatever has happened, you know I’m here for you. But this has carried on long enough. I only hope that...drama is all this is, and you aren’t in any trouble, cousin. Please call me as soon as you hear this message.”

...10 becomes 11.

The day continues to wane. The rain continues to fall. The machine continues to flash, seemingly desperate to be seen as the bright red numerical digits only get brighter as the ambient light fades.

...and then the door opens.

Heavy-footed, a figure steps in, exhaustion clear in their posture, but otherwise seemingly fine. A bag is tossed under the table, keys barely flung into the bowl. Coat still worn, she pauses as she spies the machine.

“...oh, s-shoot…”

A dainty finger presses the play button. The first message is a telemarketer, which she promptly deletes. The next four are from her father, and Hinata’s lips press into a thin, irritated line. Each message becomes more and more agitated, and a small part of her can’t help but feel satisfaction.

After all, he brought this all on himself.

Her gut twinges in guilt at Sakura’s message - she’ll have to call her back later. Kurenai’s earn a grimace. She has her mobile number...why didn’t she try there? Hanabi also makes her shoulders wilt guiltily. As soon as she’s done, she’ll shoot her a text. She just...hasn’t been in the headspace.

Neji’s, however, makes her swear. Sure, it probably looked bad, but...really? Really? What an idiot her father is...she’ll call Neji and let him know Hiashi can call off the stupid missing person’s case. And let him know that any drama isn’t her fault. That lies solely on her father’s stubborn shoulders!

But before she gets to any of that, she takes out her cell and scrolls through her contacts, finding the appropriate name before calling. It rings once, twice, three times.

“Hello?”

“Hey...I’m home.”

“Oh, good. Glad you made it okay. So, uh…?”

“I’ll talk to my landlord tomorrow. It’s g-going to take some doing. I don’t have much, but some should probably go into storage…”

“That’s fine. I think there’s units near my place, so we can just put what you don’t want in there.”

“All right. Um...I think I might have gotten fired…”

“Oh shit, really?”

“I’ll call Kurenai here in a minute, but...for some reason she never bothered with my mobile. And I was just so out of it…”

“Well, hopefully she’ll understand. Anyone else?”

“Family, mostly...my father being r-ridiculous. Hanabi was worried, and Neji. But I’ll talk to them, too. They aren’t going to be happy…”

“Sometimes you have to think about your own happiness, Hinata. This is what you want, right…?”

“It is.”

“...I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“I don’t. I told you they’d react like this. I knew they would...it’s my fault for being so quiet about it, but...I just didn’t want to deal with it after telling him. I needed a few days. Seems even that was enough for them to go ballistic…”

“All the more reason to stick to your decision.”

“I know...thank you, Sasuke.”

“We’ll make this work, with or without them. I love you.”

“...I love you too. I better go, though...I’ve got a l-lot of phone calls to make before I can call it a night.”

“All right. You need anything, just let me know. We’ll get you moved in and settled down. And if the job thing fell through, we’ll find you something new. Maybe even something closer.”

“Yeah...I just really like this job...I feel d-dumb for not calling in, I just…”

“Well, talk to Kurenai. Maybe she can pull some strings for you.”

“Maybe…”

“Hey, it’s gonna be fine. I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay? Get things straightened out, and call me when you’re done. We can plan from there.”

“I will. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Hearing the line go quiet, Hinata ends the call and sighs. Just the first of many...it’s going to be a long night. Glancing to the 0 on her message machine, she makes her way in to her sitting room and dials the next number.

Here we go...

                                                            .oOo.

     This is really random, and uh...I really dunno what it is xD The suspense concept kinda just hit me, and I rolled with it as best I could given how day tired and burnt out I am, lol      But in case it isn't clear: Hinata told her father she's planning on moving in with Sasuke because they're dating. Mister Uptight Jerkface decided to throw a huge tantrum because traditionalism and being a controlling father. Hinata thus just...disappeared for a few days at Sasuke's place, hence missing all the calls (and ignoring texts because she just...did NOT want to deal with that).      I dunno if I really managed to make it as suspenseful as I wanted, with the question of whether or not something had REALLY happened to her. But I tried - I don't write this sort of thing very often xD      Buuut anyway, it's late, and I have yet another looong day ahead of me tomorrow. So just a warning: I might not post tomorrow. I know I'm abysmally behind, but this whole situation is VERY draining, and I'd rather be late than post garbo for these entries.      That said, I'll do my best. But no promises. For now though, I need to get some sleep! Thank you for reading~

[linisen]

Sunshine

For @nhweek , day 3 Music/Sunhine. 

A soulmate AU where the first time you see your soulmate the world burst into colors in a previously colourless world. 

or, a reason to write Naruto shirtless. 

In this, Hanabi have been aged down to around seven, while Naruto and Hinata are nineteen. 

_______________________________________________

Hinata isn't usually the one to pick up her little sister from swim practice. Her father or Neji usually does it, since Hinata usually has a lecture at Thursday afternoon. This morning, however, she had received an email saying the professor was down with the flu and that the lecture was canceled. It’s good timing, since Neji and Tenten has an appointment with their wedding planer and her father an important meeting. Hinata doesn’t mind. She has spent too little time with her sister recently.  

Since starting college her schedule have been full, leaving little to no time to spend with her family. The older ones understand, but Hanabi had very disappointed, almost sad, the last time Hinata turned her down to play. Hopefully the workload will lighten soon. Hinata feels she has started getting a grip on her classes and after being approached by multiple clubs, she had decided to only go with the animal rights club.

She leaves school in a good mood, the sun warm on her skin. She squints as she looks up towards it, wondering if it was true that it’s golden yellow, and that they sunrays can cast rainbow reflections. She have never seen it of course. She have not met her soulmate and thus, the world stayed black and white.

She has seen many people met their soulmate, people in grossery shops dropping their cart in shock as the world went from gray to bursting with colors. Friends gasping as they locked eyes with someone across the street or in line to a movie. Neji stopping completely, then taking of into a run until he was holding a to Hinata unknown woman, Tenten, in his arms. The sight always made her fill with joy, smilie as she watch a pair made for each other bask in the wonderful colorful world.

She wonders if she will ever experience it. Some never met their soulmate, live their whole life in gray and on their deathbed have never known the shades of pink and lilac and orange. Maybe she would be one of them.

She opens the door to the swimhall, looking around until she spots the desk and walks up. A black haired guy, bangs falling into his eyes, about her age with a bubble gum is sitting behind it. As she approaches he looks up, one eyebrow raising.

“Hello. I’m here to pick up Hanabi Hyuga, she’s in the beginners swim class?” Hinata asks, hands folded on the counter. The guy, Sasuke according to the nametag, pops the bubble gum once as he eyes her over.

“She’s iside with the idiot,” he says, nodding backwards, towards a set of doors. “If you want, you can go in.”

“Thank you,” Hinata says, a little uncomfortable as the guy pops his gum again with a cold stare. She walks around the desk, heading towards the doors. The pool area has been renovated since she was last her a child and she takes a moment to look around, take in the new tiles and water slide, a hot pool. There are new floor to ceiling windows next to the big swimming pool, letting the light in. Maybe she and Hanabi could come here just the two of them soon, maybe after the exam Hinata has next week. That could be fun. It had been a long time since Hinata had gone swimming and Hanabi could show off her new skill.

There is some splashing from the swimming pool and Hinata walks around a corner to spot several children Hanabi's age swimming back and forth in the lanes. Hinata can’t spot Hanabi yet, probably one of the many heads in the pool, working on her breast strokes. She can however spot the extremely hot swim teacher who is yelling encouraging phrases from the sideline, big smile on his face.  He’s only in swim shorts, bare torso, displaying very muscular arms and chest. Hinata takes a deep breath, calming herself before walking a little closer. She can do this. She could talk to her little sisters super hot swim teacher who’s lacking clothes without passing out. Probably. Hopefully.

The swim teacher looks up, eyes probably catching the movement of her completely rounding the corner.

He was truly handsome with a delicately sloped nose, sharp jawline, high cheekbones. His hair was short, pointing in all directions, still wet, the same color as the sunshine that shone in through the windows next to him. His eyes were so bright, they were unlike anything she had ever seen before. They looked to be the same color as the water, almost glowing.

The man’s jaw dropped, eye growing wide as he looks at her, gasp escaping his lips before he scrambles forward, almost slipping on the wet surface of the pool side.

“Sasuke!” the man calls and it was only then, as if broken out of a trace of oggleing him, she realised nothing’s grey anymore. Colors burst from everywhere as she looks around, everything so bright, filled with life, pretty. It was overwhelming, taking in all the nuances of this. Her head snapped back to the swim teacher, he’s closer now still rushing forward towards her.

“What!?” Someone yells beside her, making her jump and turn, the man from the front desk pop a bright chewing gum next to her.

“Take the kids!” The swim teacher shouts as he skids to a stop right in front of her.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Sasuke says and the swim teachers squinted at him, mouth pulled into a frown.

“I see colors you idiot. Go take care of them!”

Sasuke mumbles something under his breath but walks away towards the swimming children anyway.

The blond turned back towards her, smile bright as his eyes.

“Hi,” he says and for the first time Hinata has the chance to appreciate how beautiful his voice is. Deep but bright. Perfect.

“Hi.”

“Shit, you’re so pretty,” he breathes, as if more to himself than her. Hinata blushes, just about to tell him that he was the pretty one, before he spoke again.

“How, why are you here?” He asks, stepping a little closer, as if pulled towards her.

“I’m here to pick up my sister.”

“Oh, one of the kids?” he says, turning back towards the pool. “Which one is that?”

“Hanabi.”

He turns back, nose scrunched for a second. Adorable.

“Oh, she take after you?” he asks, rubbing the back of his neck and Hinata giggles, knowing full well how much of a handful her sister can be.

“No. Definitely not.” Hinata can’t contain her smile growing wider and wider. “That’s good to know then.” His eyes widened then, hands patting where pants pockets would be.

“Shit. I have a list. That I carry around. So I know what to ask, but I left it in my jeans.” He looks at her, head tilting apologetically.

“Oh, that’s smart.” She had never thought of something like that, but then again, she hadn’t been sure she would ever get to met her soulmate. Him.

“I just don’t want to make a fool out of myself. I really want to know you.”

They were even closer now. Hinata isn’t sure if she was the one who had moved or if it was him, but they are almost chest to chest now. Her fingers tingle by her side, aching to feel his skin underneath hers. Was it like this for everyone?

“I think you’re doing fine,” she whispers, eyes turned up, locked with his.

“SIS!”

Hanabi’s shout makes the pair rip apart, both of them a little breathless as the seven year old came crashing forward, wrapping wet arms around Hinata’s waist.

“Hanabi!” Hinata says, a little startled, heart in her throat.

“Look Naruto this is my sister, isn’t she pretty?” Hanabi says, bouncing a little in her place. Naruto’s smile turns fond, almost loving as he turned his gaze up to Hinata again.

“The prettiest.”

Hanabi gasps as if completely shocked, the way only children can, before slapping him in the gut.

“Naruto! You can’t say things like that to someone who isn’t your soulmate! It’s taboo!”

Naruto’s eyes are warm, so bright, and glued to her.

“Good thing I didn’t then.”

Hinata smiled too, helpless, breathless, warm under his gaze. Just like the sunshine warmed her skin on the way here.

“You wanna grab some tea?” She asks, desperate to not part yet. Naruto smiles even wider, the color on his cheeks depening.

“Yeah. I would really like that .. uhm?”

“Oh, Hinata.”

“Hinata. Wow.”

[missvgj98]

It’s a Match!  Chapter 1

Confrontation

It’s midnight and I am still up working on a paper for my Anatomy class that’s due tomorrow morning. No, I did not procrastinate. I worked on it throughout the two weeks we were assigned them. I just decided to take on the hardest and most elaborate topic: Cancer. There are multiple types of Cancer and I have to write about every single one making this a ten paged Research Paper.

           Ugh, Kill me.

Hinata is also with me but, not physically. Through facetime. We decided that this semester was gonna take some of the same classes. She’s in school to become a doctor. Following the footsteps of her infamous Father. And I’m in school to become a nurse. We told each other it would be better to do it together even though I’m not going to be in school for the same amount of time.

           “Temari…” Hinata groaned out.

“Yes.” I said keeping my eyes glued to my computer screen.

“I’m dying.”

           “That sucks,” I said still not looking at her.

“Temari.”

           “What.” I looked at her.

           “I’m tired of reading about how Ischaemic heart disease is the number one leading cause of death across a number of countries.”

           “I’m not the one who told you to take that topic.”

“Can we take a break?”

“It’s midnight, I don’t think we have room for a break.” I looked back over at her again and watched as she began to massage her temples. I know she’s stressed out because not only is she doing school full time but, also shadowing her Father in the Lab. He’s a big-time Bio-Medical Researcher and a Surgeon. He wants Hinata to take after him and continue on the Empire that is Hyuga. And not only her but, her older cousin Neji as well, and her younger sister too, Hanabi.

“Hinata, you know I’m not going to be easy on you. When we graduated High school, we talked about this.” I said.

           “I know.”

           “I asked you, do you want to become a doctor? And because of your Dad, you said ‘Yes.’ I said to do this only if you want to do this.”

“I know, Tem- “

           “I know you’re overworked. I know you’re stressed. But Hina, the time to change your mind is over. If you back out now, all it’s gonna bring is trouble.”

“I should’ve listened to you. You knew I wanted to follow my own dreams but- “

           “But the fear you have for your Dad is more than the wants you have for your dreams.” I took off my glasses and massaged my neck. “Hinata, you need to get over this fear. Not only for your Dad but, fear over all things that scare you. Cause one day you’re gonna look back at your life and you’re gonna regret not doing this or doing that. And I don’t want that for you.”

“Well, how about you?”

           “Don’t turn this on me. You know why I made my decisions. You have freedom, you just don’t take it. I have to take consideration of my family and the benefits it makes on them.”

“And you’re happiness? When are you going to take that into consideration? You’re becoming a nurse, yes, because it’s gonna make more money for your family. It’s a lot quicker than anything else; you’re gonna be in school for only two to three years and off to work you go. But that’s not what you want to do either. You’re just doing it to make your mom happy. So, you’re in the same boat as me.”

           “Yea, but you had a choice. You have a dream. I didn’t know what to do exactly after high school. This gave me something.” I told her. “Hinata, we can do this. Slowly, over time maybe we’ll start to love it.”

           She took a breath. “Okay…” Her breath was shaky.

“Don’t cry…” I said.

           “I-I’m not…” She wiped her eyes. “Let’s just talk about something-“

*DING*

           A text message had popped up on my phone.

“Hidan?” Hinata guessed with an attitude.

I sighed. “Yeah…”

           Hidan: Hey Babe… U awake?

“This brings up another thing…” Hinata said. “Hidan.”

“Hinata I already know what you’re going to say. We’ve been through this before.” I said while texting him back.

           “Why are you responding?” Hinata complained.

“Why not?” I put her back on the screen. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“A BAD one at that.” She shot back.

           “He’s not bad. You just don’t like him.”

Me: Yea… still studying ☹

           “I have my reasons. A. He associates himself with the wrong crowd. B. He has a bad influence on your brother’s, and you know that. C. He does drugs- “

“Weed is not a serious drug and was made legal.” I defended.

“It’s not like he has a medical reason to be smoking it. D. He-“

“Are you going through the whole entire alphabet?”

           “That’s the problem Temari! I could literally go through the whole entire alphabet listing his problems. And that’s not even enough! I’d have to make up new letters.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

           “Am I?” Hinata crossed her arms.

“You’re just bringing this up so you don’t have to focus on your paper,” I said.

           “I’m bringing this up because I love you and I care about you.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m being so serious right now, Tem. You’re too good for him. He’s just playing you in an act. Keeping an eye out for your brothers, giving you money-“

“He takes care of me!”

           “Yeah, just so he can get the one thing you haven’t given him yet. Sex.”

“That’s not it.” I glared.

“It’s been six months Tem! Since the day I first met him all he’s eyes screamed was LUST after you. He’s trying to get with you! And then he’s going to throw you away like trash. He’s buttering you up for easy access. It’s. An. Act.”

           “Hina…”

“You know I’m right. And it’s not just him who is at fault here, you are too. You’re using him too-“

“Enough!”

“No! You confronted me. Now I’m confronting you. It’s my turn.” I huffed. “I know you’re in a tough situation. Your mom is working two jobs, she’s barely in the house, your brothers are messing with the wrong crowd, getting in trouble with the police and at school, you’re juggling school and work helping your mom pay bills. I know- it’s tough Tem. Ever since your Dad died things have been stressful. And I get it Hidan helps distract you from it all. But there are better ways Temari.”

“It’s not like I’m doing anything bad,” I said.

           “But eventually you could…. Your mingling yourself with people who entertain the lifestyle of drugs, sex, and alcohol. And that’s not gonna keep your brother’s away from them if you’re in stupid love with one of them. They’re gonna think, “Oh, my sisters cool with them so, it’s okay now.” It’s just going to bring them into more violence and more issues. You’re their leader, Tem. They look up to you. If you want them to do good, then love what is good. Right now, you’re loving the wrong side. You may not see it now but, stay there long enough and soon it’s gonna hit you.”

*DING*

           Hidan: Meet me outside.

“He’s there, isn’t he?” She guessed correctly.

“I’ll call you back?” I felt bad…

           “No. I’m just gonna finish this paper then head to bed. I’ll pick you up in the morning.” She said simply.

“Ok…” I paused. She looked at me with a face of slight disappointment. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” She gave me a small smile then hung up.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

           I sat at my desk for a minute before I got up, threw my hair into a messy bun, and made my way outside to meet Hidan.

Hinata’s not wrong…but, I just need him now.

           “Heyyy!” He smiled at the sight of me and threw his arms out before him. “How’s my baby doing?”

“Good.” He embraced for a while as if he was taking every bit of me in.

“Ah, I missed you today. Sorry, I was so busy. We had a delivery today.” He wrapped his arm around my waist keeping me close. “Almost got in a mix up with a couple guys but, I took good care of them.”

           I smiled looking longingly into his eyes with my arms around his neck. “Wow, you're sooo strong.”

He grabbed my waist as I planted my lips on his. It felt so good. It made me feel… like I’m alive… like I matter. Hidan saw me when I felt like no one did and even if he’s not the right guy…

           He broke the kiss and looked me in the eye. His eyes looked hungry and before he said a word, I knew what was next.

“You wanna… go to your room?” He smiled.

           I nodded.

I want this.

_______________________________________________

­­­­            When I woke up, it was six o’clock in the morning. The sun was barely up. And Hidan laid with one arm over me, snoring softly. I starred up at the ceiling as I wrapped the sheets around my bare chest and took in a deep breath.

           My family and I moved here to Kohona about six years ago and through our cousin Sasori, my brothers met Hidan and the rest of the gang. Ever since then… it has been hell but, we’ll get into that sometime later. Hidan and I got together about six months ago. I would pick up my brothers from time to time at his place and obviously, he noticed me. Since the beginning, Hidan always had tried to get with me and I always rejected him. Because back then when I still had some sense I knew that he was apart of a gang, does drugs, sells drugs, and has a bunch of women at his disposal anytime he wants. So, to be with him (for the longest time) was ridiculous to me. I would never put myself through that… but then as years passed and my life getting no better… I became vulnerable. I became desperate.

           My parents fought and my dad was in and out of the house. My brothers being disobedient and getting in all types of trouble. And ever since my father’s untimely death I felt as though I had to carry my family. Whenever one of them was down or in a ditch, it was me who was there for them. It was me who heard them out, paid the bills… it’s like I sold my soul for my family. I sacrificed everything for them. And in return, I didn’t get anything back. So, I felt like nothing but, I felt like something when Hidan was around. He noticed me and gave me attention so I… gave in. And I saw that I could get something out of this.

           I turned and looked at him. He was still fast asleep.

It wasn’t love at first sight. Not at all. He didn’t woo me into it. Never really even felt a spark. This isn’t love. Hinata’s very correct. He’s nowhere close to being the one for me. But I am so empty… depressed even… The sex, the alcohol, the occasional drugs that I take from time to time….

I turned back towards the ceiling shedding silent tears. I muffled sobs with my hand.

           It gives me something to live for… and yet… it’s still not enough. I’m just using him. In high school, there was no one really there that peaked my interest. I only talked to Hinata; she was my only friend. No one even tried to mess with me because they knew who my brothers were and their reputation. So, no one bothered. And it wasn’t like I was searching for attention at the time. I was so fixated on taking care of my family that I didn’t have time to enjoy my youth and fool around. I had to grow up pretty quick. And take care of my mom. After my dad died, that’s when I became desperate and loneliness really became a burden to me. And Hidan kept bugging me.

           So, one day, I asked him, “What are you willing to give me?”

“Excuse me?” He smiled.

“What am I gonna get out of this?” I turned to him completely and played with the hem of his shirt.

           “I’ll take care of you,” He said. “Whatever you need baby… I got you.”

And I gave in. I gave into it all. I gave into his whole lifestyle and now I feel worst. I don’t want to tell Hinata because it would just kill her. And I wish I could but, I’m in too deep.

A/N: Please comment, like, share or whatever!

How did you all like the first Chapter? And don’t worry Shikamaru will make his first appearance in the next upcoming chapter. Hope you all enjoyed 😊

~ MissV

[moodforanime]

The Nomad| The Possesions of the Wild series book 1| Naruto fanfic

Chapter 7: An hospital and a visit

Word count: 3.6K

A/N: /

Tags: @insanity-is-always-fun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Good afternoon, Guy-san. How did the mission go?' One of the entrance guards asked, as an group of four teenagers and an adult entered the village.

'It went great, thanks Koutetsu.' Guy answered, with one of his big smiles.

After the incident with Kana and Temon, the mission went quite smoothly. Ignoring his wounds, Lee continued to provoke Neji into his youthful battles, something to which Neji mainly responded with the same coldness as ever.

While Tenten tried to cheer her up, Kaiya preferred to keep her thoughts more to herself, unless necessary to do otherwise, something which Tenten picked up quickly. She didn't mind it though; if she wouldn't like it, Kaiya would just shut her up, right?

'Alright.' Guy turned to his students. 'We have to do an report on this mission and normally, we would have to do this together, but how 'bout this: I go to do that report to the Hokage while you guys go to the hospital to do some checks and later, this evening, I treat you all with some ramen for your most youthful work?'

Generally talking, it was a good sign if Guy added the word youthful in order to describe something.

'Amazing! Thank you, Guy-sensei!' Lee exclaimed as he raised a fist in the air, nearly punching Neji.

'Watch out, idiot.' Neji mumbled.

'Yeah, um, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't think I'll be able to make it. I've got some business to solve.' Kaiya awkwardly excused herself.

It wasn't as she was lying; she did have to meet her landlady and pay her rent, but it didn't happen that day, and it wasn't anything very urgent. In truth, it wasn't that she was busy, it was just that the mission drained her whole body from both energy and motivation and she preferred to use the little energy she still had to get home.

'Oh? Are you sure you can't solve that problem some other time? I mean, Guy-sensei doesn't get to treat us that often. This would be some important team-building...' Lee said.

Kaiya sighed. Putting it that way, maybe it wouldn't break spending some more time with them. Maybe, she could convince them that they could trust her. After all, she thought, its just one evening. It can't kill me.

'I'll see what I can do.' She eventually gave up.

An smile appeared on Lee's face.

'Great!' He smiled. 'Then... I'll see you later, then?'

'Wait, you're not coming to the hospital?' Kaiya asked.

'Hm... no. I just need to train. You see these?' He pointed to some scars on his forehead. 'Next time, they won't be there.'

Kaiya couldn't help but smile.

'Well, good luck with that.' She answered, before waving at him and navigating Konoha's streets alongside Tenten and Neji.

____________________________________________________________________________

'This doesn't look good.' An young woman in white, hospital clothing said as she looked at an scar that was placed next to Kaiya's right eye. 'If we got to it earlier, we might've treated it just fine, but now, it might affect your eyesight.'

'Affect my eyesight?' Kaiya repeated.

'Maybe. But don't worry, I've been working in this hospital for six years, and I'll fix it.'

The woman walked over to an table nearby, took an bottle with sanitary alcohol and put some on an eye pad.

'Um, I think I can disinfect this scar at home as well, miss.' said Kaiya in a blunt manner.

'If you came here, then don't kill any more of my time and let me do my job.' The woman snapped, as she put the eye pad on Kaiya's forehead, making her flinch in pain for a second. 'Stand still. Believe me, I could be using this time with you for someone more worth of it, but who am I to refuse patients? Maybe I'll get an promotion, even...'

Kaiya gritted her teeth and waited for the nurse to finish adding some bandages around her head.

'Now, if I remember correctly, you also had an scar under your stomach.' The nurse stated, as Kaiya nodded. 'Let's take a look at it.'

Kaiya did as she was asked and let the nurse have an closer look at at an rather ugly scar under the right side of her belly. It didn't take more than a few moments of analysis for the nurse's expression to soften. The nurse sighed.

'Where did you get this from?' The nurse asked, keeping her eyes on the scar while touching the skin around.

'At the entrance of the Sand Village.' Kaiya answered truthfully. 'I might've entered too fast without introducing myself and my intentions, and the guards thought I was an treath. I guess you can imagine what happened next.'

'Indeed. They're nasty, those Sand Villagers, aren't they?'

'I would rather use the word repulsive. Wouldn't blame them, though. From what I heard, they've got a lot of trash on themselves on the past few years.'

'I guess you're right. My brother lives there, actually.'

'Oh?'

'Well, never mind that.' The woman changed the subject. 'I'm afraid that you'll have to stay here for awhile.'

'Why?' Kaiya narrowed her eyebrows. 'I can handle these scars while on a mission. Believe me, I had worse than this.'

The nurse looked at Kaiya in confusion, her eyebrows raised. If She was right to assume, the girl was part of one of those fresh genin teams who started just a few months ago. The Hokage wouldn't put them at any great risks, so what could've this girl experience so bad? She might ask her boss later about It.

'I'm sorry, but as long as I'm not hundred percent sure that you're healed, I'm not allowed to let you leave.'

The woman analysed the long scar from Kaiya's body for a few more moments before turning away to take a few more bandages and eyepads stuffed with sanitary alcohol.

'I had plans today.' Kaiya mumbled.

'So did I, darling, but sometimes, we've got to sacrifice our little wishes for the greater good.'

____________________________________________________________________________

'Lord Hokage.' The woman bowed.

'Good afternoon, Asumi-san. 'The Hokage greeted with his usual smile the masked kuniochi. 'I see that your mission went well.'

Asumi hesitated. While she didn't have to look for the stranger child, she went on an short infiltration mission, and returned just that morning. She gave her report that morning and, in her opinion, her aptitudes in that mission were just fine.

Could it be that the Hokage thinked otherwise? Did he call her to return her mask and leave the ANBU for good? As an fresh ANBU, she felt how she was always on thin ice, needing to comsantly prove herself. If she had to leave, She would be just so ashamed if she would! Not only that, but her parents would give her an huge I told you! but would begin to compare her to her little sister, who already worked in a cosy office from their flower shop.

'It's about the girl, Kaiya.' The Hokage explained, making Asumi internally sigh in relief. 'She just returned from her first missions a few hours ago and it appears that there was an little... incident. I think Neji, Lee and Tenten here can explain you in a more detailed manner than me.'

It was then that, as she moved her gazed around the Hokage desk that Asumi noticed the presence of three teenagers, an boy with long, dark hair and white eyes, another boy with short dark hair, and a girl with her hair done in two buns, each having their arms, legs or head bandaged.

'An Hyuuga?' Asumi murmured, looking at the boy's white eyes.

'Indeed.' The boy responded coldly. 'Any objections?'

'Not at all.' Asumi blinked behind her mask, surprised by the boy's bravery. 'So, tell me, what's this incident?'

The three genin did their best in explaining what they saw a few days before, sometimes contradicting on details, but agreeing on the main story.

'...and then he mentioned something about somebody named Jun,' Tenten finished the story.'but when I asked Kaiya about it, she admitted knowing someone with that name, but Neji decided to act as an complete imbecile and Kaiya refused to say anything else from there off. Literally.'

Neji shifted on his legs, clearly stopping himself from saying something.

'I see.' Asumi nodded. Is there anything else I need to know, Lord Hokage?'

'Does she need to know anything else, kids?' The Hokage turned to the three genin, who shook their heads. 'If so, then you three are free to go.'

Asumi watched as the small group bid a goodbye to the Hokage, before quickly turning and exiting the room.

'So, Asumi,' The Hokage said. 'for now, all I'm asking you to do is, just like before, to try and get close to her. Try to find the reasoning behind her actions.'

'I understand.' Asumi nodded. 'I should be going now.'

'Indeed. If you're going to look for her, you should be going to the hospital tomorrow. Kaiya should be in there for a few days. The report I got claims she got some serious injuries around her lower-stomach, and that she has to get some sort of surgery.'

'Oh?'

'That's all the information I have for now, Asumi. You're off.'

____________________________________________________________________________

Kaiya blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the dim light. Although She felt like She just woke up from a deep sleep, she was horribly tired. She tried to move her head to the right, trying to see her surroundings, but her head, that now felt ten times heavier, just rolled along. Looking around she noticed she was... in an hospital room. She groaned as she put an hand on her face, trying to figure out what happened.

Last thing she knew, she was in the hospital and the nurse told her how she had to remain in the hospital for a few days, and...

'Good evening, Kaiya-san.' An feminine voice said.

Kaiya looked at the door and saw how an young woman stood before it.

'Good...evening?' Kaiya answered, confused.

'Oh no, I think it's better if you would lay down for now.' The nurse said urgently, as Kaiya tried to stand up.

Kaiya groaned in pain, as she was shot by pain in her lower stomach. Even though it didn't last for more than two seconds, the pain was intense enough to make hersel drop back on her back.

'What happened?' Kaiya asked.

'Short... memory... loss.' The woman wrote down on her notepad, before turning her gazed back to Kaiya, with the sweetest smile. 'Don't worry if you can't immediately remember. It happens to the most people. Miss Asuka analysed your wound under your stomach and, along with other very experienced colleagues, decided that you needed an surgery.'

'An surgery?' Kaiya repeated in utter shock and disbelief.

'Yes,'The woman tried to calm her down,'but don't worry, everything went successfully-'

'Did they take blood tests?'

'Y-yes, I believe so.'

'What about DNA's?'

Kaiya felt her heart's beats accelerating by the second. This can't be happening, she thought, not yet.

'You'll have to ask-' The door intrerupted the blonde nurse, as it opened with an quiet creak!, letting an brown-haired woman in official doctor clothes.

'Asuka-sama!' The blonde nurse exclaimed, not sure if she should feel relieved or surprised. 'Are the results out already?'

'Did you expect otherwise, Kenta?' Asuka raised her eyebrows.

Kenta stood there frozen, as she looked at her superior. Kaiya looked at the brown-haired woman with squinted eyes. The woman, Asuka, was the same nurse that checked on her, wasn't she?

'N-no, ma'am.' Kenta shook her head urgently, before exiting the room.

Asuka turned to Kaiya, who was shamelessly glaring at her.

'Good evening to you too, Kaiya.' The woman greeted in the same don't-mess-with-me tone in her voice as always. Nobody could blame her, though. Most kids that go in the hospital were messy.

Kaiya looked at Asuka wide-eyed. There was no disgust, shock or fear in her voice or face. Maybe she should keep quiet and act dumb. This way, people might not suspect anything.

'How do you...?'

'Know your name?' Asuka laughed. 'Your teammates. They dropped out just a few hours ago. You know, you should make an ID card soon. It'll be easier for both you and other people.'

'Wait, what time is it?' Kaiya asked urgently.

'It's...' Asuka looked at an clock placed on one of the white walls. 'nine p.m..'

'Nine?' Kaiya gasped.

'Yeah. Time flies fast, ain't it? Well, moving on!'

'Miss, you can let me go. I can assure you that-' Kaiya attempted sitting up, but gave up on it soon enough, as an thundering pain shrivelled through her lower-stomach, yet again.

'Assure me that you'll have to be stuck here for recovery.' Asuka completed. 'Please bear with me and cope. Moving on, one of our assistants, Kenta, might've mentioned something about an surgery, right?

Kaiya nodded.

'Well, to clear things up for you, after an closer analysis at the scar under your stomach, I noticed how that scar was deep enough to touch your appendix, and got it infected. I asked for the opinions of my colleagues, and we all agreed that, in order to have an perfect health, you needed an surgery.'

'Was it absolutely necessary?' Kaiya asked, her face wrinkling.

'Well, we don't drug people and open their bodies and work on their insides for fun, ya know? Besides, I'm sure that if anybody would've tried that, the Hokage would've dealt with them personally.'

'Fair enough.' Kaiya shrugged as she nodded. 'Well, did any... accidents happen with my body?'

'Everything went successful, although you will have to remain here for a while in order to recover.'

'How long will I have to stay?'

'Depends on your body.' Asuka shrugged.'It may take a week, or a month... Who knows?'

Kaiya puffed as she crossed her arms. She understood the necessity of her recovery, but she didn't enjoy the fact that she not only can stay on her word and was most likely late for that dinner with her team, but she'll also slow them down waiting for her, and later in the mission after she gets out of the hospital, because everyone knows that even if you're out of the hospital, you'll still need a little time to put yourself back on the line.

Knock knock!

'Who is it?' Asuka yelled.

'I-It's me, Asuka-sama.' The quiet voice of Kenta could be heard from behind the door.

'What is it?' Asuka continued to yell.

'Kaiya has an... visitor.' Came the answer, making Kaiya almost see Kenta fidgeting her fingers.

Kaiya's eyebrows got so close to eachother that they could almost form an long, furry line. Visitor? Who in the name of god would visit her? Especially at that ungodly hour!

'It's nine! The visiting hours ended two hours ago.

'Actually... they end at ten.' Kenta squeaked.

'That's only on weekends!'

'But, Asuka-sama, today's the sixteenth of October, it's Saturday.'

Asuka shot an look to the desk calender laying on the nightstand next to Kaiya's bed. It was, indeed, an Saturday. Asuka sighed.

'Fine, then. Let him in.'

The door opened with an creak, making space for an boy in an green latex jumpsuit and an bowl haircut. Kaiya felt how the wish of disappearing through thin air grew inside of her.

'Hey, weren't you here earlier today?' Asuka asked.

'Yeah, I'm in the same team as Kaiya.'

'I see. Well, I'll leave you two to it.' Asuka said looking at Lee, as she walked to the door. 'Don't forget, the visiting hours end in an hour.'

The two genin watched how Asuka exited the room and said something to Kenta as she closed the door. Lee turned his head to Kaiya, who moved her gaze somewhere else. A few moments pass in total silence.

'Hey.' Lee greeted, still unsure how to handle the awkward situation.

'Hey.' Kaiya answered simply. She didn't expect anyone to ever visit her. Especially when she was in such an pathetic position.

'M-May I sit down?' Lee asked, pointing at Kaiya's bed.

Kaiya shot an look to where Lee pointed.

'Hn.' Kaiya said, pulling her legs closer to her, giving Lee an rather generous place to sit.

Lee nodded shortly, as he sat himself down.

'So, I heard you got to stay in here for awhile?'

'Yeah.' Kaiya's cheek twitched. 'Pathetic, isn't it?'

'What?' Lee furrowed his eyebrows, that now looked like a long, hairu caterpillar. 'It's not pathetic.'

'Not for now, but think about it: I'll slow you guys down in the next mission. You three will have to wait for me like I'm some sort of granny.'

'I'm sure we won't. I mean,' Lee added quickly, after Kaiya shot him an questioning look,'one time something similar happened to me as well, and I had to sit in the hospital for an full month.'

'No way.' Kaiya said with an drop of amusement in her voice.

'Oh, you should've seen Guy-sensei!' Lee continued, feeling encouraged by Kaiya's reaction. 'He didn't let it show, but he was distressing over the fact that he slowly ran out of money.'

Kaiya snorted and even looked amused for a second, but her face turned ice-hard and serious.

'Did something happen, Kaiya-san?' Lee asked, confused by Kaiya's sudden change of attitude.

'Why did you come all the way here at this late hour? Aren't your parents worried?'

'They won't.' Lee said, doing his best in smiling. 'They won't worry for someone they don't know.'

The colour faded from Kaiya's cheeks. That did not just happen. If she didn't look at him before out of stubbborness, now she couldn't do that because of shame. She remained quiet, trying to figure out what to say, without sounding pitiful or harsh.

'It's ok, I Don't dwell much on it.' Lee brushed it off, before looking down. 'I came here because, well... I brought you something.'

For a second, she forgot about her stubbornness and looked at Lee. He searched through an plastic bag for a second, until he scooped out an kunai and handed it to Kaiya.

Kaiya took it in her hand and analised it. It was as sharp as it could be, shiny and without a single scratch. She looked at Lee, not sure how to thank him. The two locked eye contact for a couple second.

'Is it the right one?' Lee asked anoxious. 'I didn't know which brand you preferred, so I-'

'No,' Kaiya said. 'it's perfect.'

Lee sighed in relief as Kaiya felt something she didn't feel in a long time. She didn't feel anxious or angry around her anymore, and felt something she would've nearly sold her soul for. She felt happy.

'I also brought you dinner.' Lee said more confidently. 'I thought you might be hungry.'

If there was a thing that always captured Kaiya's attention, it was food. Her eyes followed intensely Lee, who was picking up two small, red carton boxes on which was written something from a plastic bag.

'Thanks.' Kaiya said as Lee handed her one of the boxes, along with an pair of chopsticks.

They separated each the two chopsticks, opened the boxes and it wasn't until the smell of noodles hit her that Kaiya realised how hungry she actually was.

'This is amazing.' She preached, with her mouth full of noodles.

'So... you had to do an surgery?' Lee asked, as they were eating.

'Yeah. Turned out I had some sort of-' Kaiya stopped.'We're eating. I don't want to kill your appetite.'

'Don't worry, Kaiya-san! I'm resistant.' Lee laughed.

'Good.' Kaiya puffed in amusement. 'Well, It turns out that I had some sort of infection under my stomach and Asuka, along with other-'

'Who's Asuka?' Lee narrowed his eyebrows, which now looked like a long, furry caterpillar.

'The lady with brown hair you saw earlier.'

'Ah. Sorry, go on.'

'So, Asuka and other doctors decided that it was for the best if I got an surgery to take my appendix out, and here I am.'

'I see.' He said.

After a few minutes of thoughts and ramen, Lee decided that even though he didn't really liked doing it, he should take all his bravery and prideness he got and say it.

'So, um, while we were on the mission...' he began, unable to keep his gaze on Kaiya more than a second.

'Hm?' Kaiya answered, just as excited for the subject as Lee was.

Lee took a big breath in.

'Sorry for butting in on your life. I don't know what was in my head.'

Before Kaiya got to say anything, Lee got up.

'It's getting late. I should go.' He said, as he walked to the door.

He put his hand on the doorknob and, before he would leave, he turned at Kaiya one last time.

'See you tomorrow.' He said in a breath. 'Good night.'

And he fleed.

(Next)

To be continued

[raendown]

My dear anon, I would do many things for a fudge sundae with sprinkles. You can hold the whip cream though. 

Pairing: NejiTenTen Word count: 1392 Summary: Just another morning full of softness and surprises.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

Blueberry Pancakes

The soft chirping of morning birdsong was drifting in through the open window when Neji shuffled in to the kitchen, exhaustion leaking from every pore in his body. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d bothered to keep up with his endurance training and he truly should have known better than to let himself fall behind on that sort of thing before accepting Lee as his mission partner.

Quiet humming and the scent of pancakes brought him out of his stupor and Neji blinked rapidly to clear his vision so he could inspect the room around him. TenTen stood at the stove in one of the plain yukatas she had preferred to wear throughout the middle stages of her pregnancy. A quick glance to one side showed the result of that pregnancy, their three year old daughter, enthusiastically coloring at the kitchen table with her tongue sticking out between her teeth in concentration. Neji didn’t realize he had released a soft, contented noise until TenTen heard him and turned around to offer him a smile.

“I didn’t think you would wake so early,” she said. “When you got in last night you looked as though you were ready to sleep for a week.”

“Yes and I rather wish I had,” he replied dryly. TenTen chuckled at his misery and turned back to flip her pancakes.

Sniffing the air, Neji asked, “Blueberry?”

“Mhm. If I knew you were awake I would have set aside some batter to make a few plain ones for you – I know you prefer them without fruit – but I’ve already mixed them in to the bowl. Sorry, babe.”

“No, that’s fine. Anything at all sounds heavenly at the moment.”

“Lee really ran you in the ground, huh?”

“He always does.”

Outright laughing now, TenTen didn’t even pretend to have any sympathy for him. She had grown up on the same genin team as he had and she was more than familiar with the crazy levels to which their mutual friend pushed both himself and those around him – but that didn’t mean she felt sorry for him. All it meant was that her laughter had an edge of knowing behind it.

At the table a small crunch drew his attention just before quiet whimpering came from the table. Neji looked over to see his daughter holding the remains of a yellow crayon, snapped clean in half. Her bottom lip was wobbling dangerously while he shuffled over to wind his hands under her shoulders and haul her up in to his aching arms, bouncing her on one hip.

“My goodness,” he said solemnly. “Whatever happened here?”

“D-daddy it brokeded!”

“Ah, yes, I see that now. But do you know what that means?” He waited until she was staring up at him with shimmering eyes before gently pressing his nose to hers. “That means that you have two yellow crayons now. Isn’t that wonderful?”

She took a moment to consider his words with all the concentration her toddler mind could muster. After a few moments she broke out in to a smile and Neji relaxed while she began to giggle, squirming a couple of fingers against her belly to make her squeal before depositing her back on her chair. Because of the fact that she was only half descended from the Hyuga bloodline she would never wield the Byakugan but Neji found that he was just as happy to see her gazing up at him with her mother’s eyes instead.

When he turned around to face his wife again she was only just turning her head away from him as though trying not to get caught watching.

Narrowing his eyes, Neji harrumphed delicately and perched himself on the chair across from his daughter, embarrassed to have been caught in such a soft moment. It didn’t matter how much time passed since he was allowed to move away from the influence of his clan, open displays of affection were still an issue he had difficulty with. Raising a child confronted him with that difficulty on a regular basis yet he couldn’t bring himself to regret even a single moment of it all.

“Alright,” TenTen chirped. “Who’s ready for breakfast?”

“Me! Me mommy! Please!”

“Here we are!”

Three plates hit the table at the same time TenTen’s bottom hit her chair, already licking her lips in anticipation of one of her favorite foods. Neji watched the motion surreptitiously for a moment then tucked that thought away for later and peered down at his meal.

She’d been right that he would have preferred to have nothing added in to his pancakes but considering the depleted state he found himself in after getting home from his mission he wasn’t about to turn his nose up when TenTen had actually been kind enough to cook. His wife hated cooking, only doing so when it was her turn to stay home with their child. Neji reached for the butter and syrup without saying anything about the menu.

“Hinata asked me to go with her and Kiba on that run to Kiri next week,” TenTen mumbled around a mouthful of fluffy pancake. Neji lifted one eyebrow at her, prompting her to swallow and flash an unrepentant grin.

“I was supposed to help Shino with a demonstration for his class sometime next week.” He paused at her downcast look. “But I’m sure Gai-sensei would be more than willing to babysit while I do that. Please do tell Hinata-hime to be on her guard, love. She will be travelling with…precious cargo, as it were.”

“Awww, babe!”

Neji raised his fork in aggressive protection when TenTen attempted to reach over and pinch his cheeks, glaring until she laughed and returned her hands to where they should be.

“Well, you got one thing right. I suppose I am carrying precious cargo – again.”

“Hm?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“You wha–!?” His eyes widened as he tried to gasp and instead inhaled a mouthful of pancakes, coughing and choking until batter had been sprayed across the table in a disgusting sweep. Neji took no notice, pounding on his chest until he was able to breathe again and blinking his watering eyes at the woman beside him. “You’re pregnant!?”

Calmly wiping food off her face and delicately pushing her plate away from herself, TenTen nodded. “Yep. Baby number two! I thought one last mission before I get all fat again would be good.”

“I…we’re…having another child.”

“Uh-huh!”

“Two of them.”

“For certain. I got Sakura to do the tests twice.”

“Oh.” Neji went still, his eyes wide and unseeing as he tried to picture it.

He’d never really imagined himself with any children when he was younger, knowing that they would suffer the Caged Bird Seal as he did and not wanting to be responsible for putting another child through that. But then he’d fallen in love and gotten married, Hinata and her sister had started a revolution within the Hyuga clan which culminated in several days of celebration after they convinced their father to abolish the practice of the Caged Bird Seal, and Neji had somehow found himself holding a little baby girl in his arms.

Suddenly that small human being had become his entire world. Now he stared across the table at his daughter and imagined another child sitting beside her with his hair and TenTen’s chin, giggling with that hint of mischief always hidden behind his wife’s smile.

“I don’t know if I’ll survive another,” he breathed at last. TenTen patted him consolingly on the wrist.

“No choice now,” she said. “They’re already on their way.”

Neji caught her hand and turned to her with an earnest expression. “I love you.” There were no other words he knew of which could express the combination of utter terror and uncontrollable joy rushing through him at the moment.

“I love you too,” she replied simply.

“And me!” Their daughter piped up.

TenTen laughed and leaned over to bop their first-born on the nose while Neji stared at the both of them in awe. After a while he slowly reached out to pick up his fork, blindly shoving another bite of pancakes in to his mouth. There didn’t seem to be much else for him to do at the moment but to eat his breakfast, watch over his family, and look forward to the future.