Hello, everyone. :)
This is my first fic; please be nice, haha.
I own nothing but Seina, my OC.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!
Now, on with the show. Enjoy! :D
"Did you mention about when some random guy had to hold you back to keep you from beating the shit out of him?" My friend asks. It's true I almost beat Naruto into a pulp... but, I mean, he ran into my face with his concrete-hard head! He could've broke my nose, so I have rights! I look to Shikamaru, annoyed, and cross my arms, "Well damn, you don't have to be a snitch..."
"You really think she cares, Seina-chan?" He asks while seemingly mimicking me by crossing his own arms. The brunette was right, Ino had no interest in Naruto, even if it was about me beating him into next week. It grows quiet. Running water and the chirping of birds is heard; along with the shuffling and bustling of Ino as she scans and walks back and forth throughout her mother's greenhouse, an extension of her shop, for any abnormalities. Though I honestly don't like Ino much, I have to commend her for be so dedicated to her mom by taking care of the flowers and the shop. I never had a green thumb, but here she is growing vases among vases of various beautiful flowers. Pots of them hang from the ceilings, shelves bare their decoration and small, plastic containers hold soil with seedlings just getting the hang of growth. I smile and watch as Shikamaru sighs and closes his eyes, then look to Ino as she organizes a vase of carnations and many other plants. The white seems to run together, the colored tips of each flower bears a different shade of the spectrum; the color splash borders each flower and determines the outlining like lace. Her expression shows that she's barely listening to my conversation with Shikamaru, she's more interested with her stupid plants...
"True... the only fag bag she cares about is a certain Uchiha," I reply. Shikamaru's eyes widen at my comment with what looks like concern. Ino's azure blue orbs latch onto my own russet ones as she glares with animosity. Well, that corralled her attention. I snicker as she grabs a handful of flowers and chucks them at Shikamaru and I.
"Hey, what the? I didn't say anything, so why're you throwing stuff at me, too?" Shikamaru gapes, "How troublesome..." I'm sure he'd rather be laying in bed, or, better yet, laying on a roof watching clouds. I can't exactly blame him for either though, they both ensnare a good bit of my time, too.
"Sasuke-kun is not a 'fag bag,' Seina-chan!" She vociferates, "Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if you're just jealous because Sasuke wants ME over YOU." I snort and slap my knee, "Oh, suuure, I'm jealous of you 'cause a dude with hair that looks like a chicken's butt 'wants' you. Geez, I'd rather date Naruto."
"Aaannd that's making a big statement," Shikamaru adds, chuckling a bit. I look to him, beam, and nod. I swear, sometimes that Shikamaru can read my mind as if it were a book in front of his face. The blonde haired, blue-eyed, bubbly girl continues on an obsessive rant. I note how she would be a lot more tolerable if she wasn't in Sasuke's stupid band of fangirls. In fact, I'm sure Sasuke would see at least a little change in his outlook on her. She is pretty, but she's pretty damn annoying, too, and that just omits her looks.
"Whatever!" Ino huffs dramatically in conclusion, "Sasuke is better than Naruto in EVERY aspe-" A repetitive, light ding sounds and signifies the overlooked presence of a customer. "One moment, please!" Ino calls then continues, "- Aspect and you can't deny it. Well, I guess it's better that you 'don't'-" she air quotes the word don't "- Like my Sasuke-kun, seeing as how he'd reject you in the end. Now, if you'll excuse me~!" Ino says while moving vases and flowers around before bounding through the threshold. I feel sorry for whoever is standing at the register, they must've heard her whole, super enlightening "speech." Glancing around, I admire the architecture and structure of the greenhouse. It's like a big, warm, clear turtle shell that smells of strong herbs and pretty flowers. It bares rows and rows of plants, of course. If one followed after Ino, through the threshold, it would reveal the front of the flower shop; but that's the boring part of the place, so I always stay in the greenhouse whenever Ino is around.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" She extremely loudly falters, "How long have you been out here?"
"Long enough... Just... never mind," he growls. I look to Shikamaru with a look of disbelief before laughing my ass off obnoxiously. That's what the bitch gets! Ino stomps into my and Shikamaru's view once more with a scrunched nose and expression of displeasure and anger. Her normally pale complexion appears to be a bright, cardinal color.
"Oh yeah, I'm convinced he wants you, Ino-chan- beyond convinced, I certainly don't need anymore convincing," I say and shrug my shoulders, "I never realized that he just loved you so much that it's natural, excuse my stupidity. One more time, just so you know, I definitely do not need anymore convincing."
Ino waters some flowers gingerly, "Shut up, Seina-chan..." I chuckle and sigh as I lean back in my chair. Shikamaru sits beside me, nearly asleep. Seeing as the fact it's a greenhouse, it gets decently warm but not really hot. It's the perfect temperature for a nap, I'm sure Shikamaru would agree.
"Sorry, Ino-chan, I'll stop." But I'll continue cracking jokes in my head. I laugh to myself and shake the thoughts away, "Hey, have you thought about putting a table back here or something? Shikamaru is gonna lose feeling in his neck if he keeps sleeping in that position." I point to my friend. His arms are still crossed and his head hangs forward, limp like a rag doll, with his mouth hanging wide open. She giggles, "I'll ask my mom about it when I see her next." I nod as she turns to her plants once more. Shikamaru picks his head up slowly only to yawn and blink sleepily, "I'll be fine... God, how troublesome..."
"Well, Seina-chan, this is off-subject, but I was talking to Billboard Brow the other day and she said something about you going back to your village... relate to you any?" Ino asks. Of course she knows. She's, like, the queen of Konoha gossip, along side Sakura. But, compared to Sakura, Ino is my favorite person in the world. I hold a special place in my heart just to absolutely LOATHE Sakura Haruno. This is one reason why I try to tolerate Ino.
"How the hell-"
"Tenten-chan was talking to Hinata-chan, which in turn, Sakura overheard," she explains blatantly. The blonde steals a spot in her own chair and sits in front of me and Shikamaru. I don't care if Tenten, my best friend, tells Hinata, my other decently good friend, about this, but Sakura... I just don't like that she knows about this type of thing, I just... don't.
"Of course, eavesdropping once more..." I mutter and catch Ino's humored expression, "Well, yeah, soon, I'm going to have to head back to Kumogakure to report back to the Raikage... I was only supposed to stay here for a couple of days at the most."
"And you've stayed how long this trip 'round?" Shikamaru questions, eyelids heavy as he glances at me.
"Umm..." I scratch the back of my head, "Almost a week..."
"Good God, woman!" Shikamaru weakly yells, "They probably think you're dead!" I blush in embarrassment, "N-no, I told Shiro-kun to tell them I'd be staying longer than they- and I- previously anticipated, so it's okay!"
"Wait... who's Shiro?" Ino asks in confusion. I blink blankly, then remember, "Oh, he's one of my teammates. I haven't gotten to give a formal introduction because he doesn't like to use his time here, so he simply sees me here and leaves back to Kumo. He's met Shikamaru before, but he left pretty quickly afterward..." I look up to the ceiling reminiscing the first time Shiro and I met Shikamaru. It wasn't anything super big, just that Shiro walked me through the gates and told me to stick with someone. Among a crowd of people, he literally grabbed Shikamaru's wrist and told him to take care of me while he wasn't present. Ta-dah, beautiful story, huh? I chuckle sheepishly and, by his expression, I can tell he's thinking about the same thing.
"Well, be sure to stop by before you leave, m'kay?" She questions. I nod and smile. It's the least I can do, she has been showing large amounts of hospitality, though Shikamaru only introduced us a couple of weeks ago. I stretch until hearing my joints pop and sigh, "Well, Ino-chan, hate to say it, but Shikamaru and I have to hit the road. He's supposed to show me to the library so I can pick up a couple of documents."
"Alright! See you tomorrow?" She asks happily.
"Sure thing!" I stand and lightly tap Shikamaru's shoulder. He yawns before telling his teammate farewell and following me out the door.
"She's not that bad, I'll give her that..." I grumble, "I guess she's growing on me... but, I swear, if I have to listen to one more rant about that douche bag, chicken butt-haired, emo-"
"Yo, Shikamaru," called the "cool and collected" voice of our favorite Uchiha, Sasuke. Holy shit, speak of the devil! I glanced to Shikamaru, gave him a wide eyed look and held my shoulders up tensely to half shrug. I bite my cheek as the raven approaches my friend and me.
"You're at Ino's teammate, right?" He asks lowly. Shikamaru's riposte is a nod of approval. This urges Sasuke to continue, "Do me a favor and grab a single rose from there tomorrow. I overheard... a certain conversation and have decided that it's best I stay away from... her."
"You ain't got the slightest idea, Uchiha," I squeak plainly and cross my arms. His onyx orbs slide to fixate onto my copper gaze. He cocks an eyebrow, "I'd prefer you introduce yourself then make stupid remarks." Son of a bitch! That... that little whore! Well... in his defense, I really... haven't ever met him, or talked to him for that matter, just heard about him through Ino and Shikamaru... Wow, I'm a douche for giving him so much shit...
"Seina of Kumogakure. Should've just said that earlier, I'm much obliged to do so if the fate of my smart ass remarks ride upon a simple introduction," I reply blankly. Sasuke smirks and releases what sounds to be an amused scoff; he rips his view from me to Shikamaru, the smirk disappearing, "Will you?"
"Yeah, whatever," Shikamaru grumbles, "How troublesome..." Sasuke thanks him quietly and looks to me with melanic eyes. He simply stares, doesn't smile or frown or glare, just looks and I look back. It's not awkward, but it's not intense.
It certainly is... odd, though...
He turns away and disappears from vision. I gun Shikamaru a quirky look of disbelief, "That was... weird..."
"You can say that again," he mutters in a whisper and starts walking; I follow behind closely in return. Shikamaru shoves his hands in his pockets and throws his shoulders back with not-so-good posture. Ever since I began visiting here, this has to be my favorite thing to do: follow Shikamaru around town and simply talk while acknowledging the large buildings as they tower above us. It's nothing special, but it's just nice to have a genuine friend that doesn't care about whether you talk a lot or not. Hell, he prefers quiet, it seems. I've never been good at small talk anyways. After a good while of walking, much to both, my and Shikamaru's dismay, we come upon the library of Konoha. It's smaller than I had previously anticipated. Nevertheless, I run inside with Shikamaru waiting for me at the door and show the librarians my registration and identification; they give me three fat envelopes and send me away. I sigh, "Okay, Shikamaru-kun~! Got 'em!" I giggle and literally prance circles around my friend. Raikage is gonna be sooo happy about this!
"Okay good... well, Asuma-sensei said I had to meet him and Choji at some BBQ restaurant or something... I'll just catch you back at home, alright?" He questions lazily. I sigh, "B-but I hate walking around this place alone! Everyone here is weird until you... well, until you talk to them..."
"That's, uhh... Normal, Seina-chan," he replies and laughs while waving, "Sorry, see ya later." It's only seconds before my best friend is consumed in the churning crowd of people. What the hell does he expect me to do now? I pace a bit, then walk the opposite direction he had started to. I hold the envelopes to my chest closely and protectively while searching for something to occupy my time... Well, I could always go exploring! I nod, that's a pretty good idea, seeing as I don't know where anything is in this village is except for Ichiraku's and the Nara compound... The sky is beginning to turn darker; stars are exposed here and there. No clouds are visible, and that's the way I love it. The Leaf Country, surprisingly, doesn't have many lights, unlike Kumo. Out here, in the middle of a gigantic forest, you can see what appears as millions and millions of stars. Meteors aren't uncommon, either. Before I arrived here, I'd actually never seen one!
I put the three envelopes in the backpack I carry around everywhere and pick up my pace to a jog. I pass over a bridge above a roaring river, by Ichiraku's, toward the really, really tall village gates and exit them whilst giving the gate guards a friendly wave and smile. They're used to me running around out here occasionally. I take a sharp right and swiftly jump from boulder to boulder, and turn when needed to; the vegetation is extremely thick- there's no wonder where the Leaf Village found its name.
"Shit!" I jump a bit at the loud curse and stop unsurely to walk to the source.
"Shino, you can be such a fucking pain!" Yells a boy my age. A low bark accompanies him. I watch as a girl holds her hands up before herself in act to try and calm them, "Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, there's no need for fighting... P-please, just talk it out..."
"I am talking it out Hinata-chan, it's the mutt that's trying to pick a fight," the guys in the glasses replies. I falter. Maybe a by-passer like myself is what's needed to distract them from fighting... I'll be the mediator here! I smile and jump into their vision, run nearby them, and flop on the ground.
"Fire! Woe is me, I'm on fire!" I yell dramatically before rolling around on the ground back and forth, "If only a random person would help me, instead of fighting over something unbeknownst to me!"
"Umm..." Kiba mutters, scratching the back of his head. He looks to Shino and Hinata and they shrug, then continue watching.
"A-are you okay, miss...?" The Inuzuka questions in a voice that's barely audible. I suddenly stop and sit up, "Sure am." He blinks blankly and looks to his small dog. I cross my legs, "Don't thank me, it's all in a days work, young... children."
"What... in hell are you talking about...?" Kiba asks. I hop to my feet, "Well, my mediator skills of course! My random... outburst thing stopped the two of you from fighting! I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just heard yelling as I passed by..."
"Aren't you interesting..." Kiba mutters. The white dog at my feet barks, and I coo at him while patting his head. I straighten, "Like I was saying, NO need to thank me!" Kiba and Hinata laugh lightly, and the shy girl speaks up, "Th-thank you, miss."
"Call me..." I throw my hands up in the air, "Drumroll, please... Seina!" I let my hands fall to my sides and I grin.
"I'm Aburame Shino."
"I-I... my name i-is Hyuga Hinata..."
"This is Akamaru, and last, but most definitely not least, I'm Inuzuka Kiba."
"Nice to meet you all!" I beam and look to the three, "Now, would any of you mind showing me around town...?"
Yay, chapter one. This story is kinda like practice, and reviews and criticism are greatly encouraged.
Thanks for reading!
~ Macie-chan! c: