A/N: Okay, I've been reading a bunch of fics today (stayed home sick from work so was playing on here between sleeping wayyyy too much) and decided I have to challenge my buddies BadSakura and o0-Constance-0o to one! I really really hope some of the rest of you want to play, too. Here's the rules–you can either do short chapters, like no more than 500 words, or a paragraph, or a sentence, whatever you like, based on each alphabetic theme. These themes were created in a very scientific way, aka, whatever the first word I thought of was, or whatever was on my desk at the time. (Okay, I admit I cheated on X, but really, y'all–it's freaking X!) :P If anyone else wants to play (and I so hope that you do), please use whatever Naruto character you like. And don't forget to mention it in your comments so I can see what you do with it! WRITE, MY DARLINGS, WRITE!
Here's the list of prompts, my first chapter follows directly after. Have fun!
A--Apples B--Bark C--Crush D--Departure
E--Existence F--Fresh G--Grandiose H--Herd
I--Ignored J--Julienne (the type of thin slicing) K--Kept
L--Lightning M--Mastery N--Nonessential O--Orange Juice
P--Pain vs Pleasure Q--Quirks R--Relaxation S--Stricken
T--Type U--Unveiled V--Virus W--Wield
X--Xenophile (a person who likes foreigners and foreign customs, food, etc)
Y--Yearnings Z--Zealous
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APPLES
Autumn was both the best and most frustrating time of the year in Kakashi's opinion, because the fragrance of apples haunted his every step. Of all the things he loved to eat the most, apples were probably the most difficult to negotiate around his mask.
Ramen, miso soup, dango, those were easy–he could throw up a quick genjutsu, steal a lightning-fast bite, and yank his mask back up with no one the wiser. But apples were big, juicy, crunchy things–a fruit that was impossible to nibble silently, a noisy thing that notified everyone around to look quick, Kakashi's mask's down!, crisp white flesh sending trickles of messy sweetness down his chin, dribbling stickiness onto his mask. In the autumn the fruit was everywhere in Konoha, tempting him, taunting him. They even followed him on missions because his fellow shinobi took advantage of them as the perfect on-the-move mission food–compact, easy to carry, cool and refreshing and full of sugar for quick energy.
And he couldn't have one.
He called a brief halt for his four-man team now–they'd been traveling for hours at speed, and he knew they were all as fatigued as he was–knowing the damn apples would appear again. Gai and Lee were already munching away, some stupid challenge about who could finish first and he'd just better not have to Heimlich one of the idiots yet again. Sakura ate more slowly, but that just gave her more time to savor each crunchy bite, and he scowled behind his mask as he reached into his pack for a cardboard-tasting ration bar and sat a little away from the others to choke it down.
But instead of the expected stack of hard, foil-wrapped bars, his fingers encountered slick plastic. He paused a moment–he hadn't packed anything like that–and withdrew his hand.
Then he just stared at the plastic-wrapped little package of bite-sized apple slices.
The question of just how the hell this had gotten into his pack was immediately answered.
"Eat, my Eternal Rival!" Gai cried from behind him, triumph evident in his voice as Lee started counting rhythmically–clearly doing some form of exercise to make up for his defeat in the apple-eating contest, as if they hadn't stopped to rest. "Regain your Youthful Stamina so that we may Complete our Valiant Mission!"
Kakashi started to roll his eyes, but the cool weight in his hand stopped him. Opening the little package, hands flying through the familiar jutsu as he popped one slice into his mouth… sweet, crunchy bliss exploded over his tongue, and he sighed with pleasure.
Maybe, just this once, he could admit that Gai wasn't always annoying.