Disclaimer: Naruto and pretty much everyone in it belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own my OCs.
Chapter One: Enter! Kunoichi of the Ravens!
"Ren-chan, wake up."
Ren blatantly ignored her brother's painful pokes and rolled over to the other side of her bed. "Okay then, time for Plan B," he sighed in defeat. Ren felt surprised as she heard him walk away. Her heart quickened when he came back as she heard a sloshing noise.
Hiroto tipped his bucket of icy cold water over Ren, she leapt out of bed, shivering from the water and glared at her brother, as payback, she launched one hell of a punch at him. He was thrown off and slammed against the concrete wall, which was ready to collapse from all the hitting Ren did in the morning. Ren squeezed the water out of her bangs and yelled, "What the hell was that for?"
Hiroto peeled himself off the wall, not a single bit harmed as he had applied a layer of chakra over his skin to sustain the pain, "You wouldn't wake up after I poked you for five minutes so I just did my own job," Hiroto shrugged his shoulders but replaced his blank look with a broad grin, "You'd better get ready, my rookie genin little sister." Ren lightly punched him on the shoulder and shooed him away so she could change. She cleansed herself with warm water and changed into her normal clothes, whipping out Ying from her bedside and equipping it on her back, wore her favourite gloves, slipped a pouch over her waist, containing some burn cream, healing herbs just in case she overdid it with training, a fresh roll of bandages and kunais and shurikens placed separately, carefully unwrapped the bandages over her left leg and checked on her scars before wrapping them in new bandages.
Last but not least, she snatched her Konoha headband from her bookshelf and tied it proudly around her neck for two reasons, one, it looked good, two; she wanted to hide a scar on her neck.
She exited her room and jumped off the banisters, landing smoothly on the fresh cedar floor and walking towards the breakfast table, taking in every single detail of the new, beautiful Tsuki Compound.
When the anonymous Tsuki traitor assassinated all their family members, he burnt down the Tsuki Compound before the two siblings could reach it. The Third Hokage ordered it to be rebuilt so Hiroto and Ren had to stay in an apartment for a few months before returning to their blissfully new home, which was much lighter and happier from the gloomy and dark raven-worshipping compound they once feared, thank god they were too young to have ravens for partners since it would haunt them of the Assassination of the Tsuki Clan.
She found a basket of her favourite garlic bread on the table, along with a two mugs of hot cocoa and two apples Hiroto was sitting on the counter munching on his apple with two pieces of garlic bread sitting on his lap. "Smells good," Ren commented, taking a huge bite of bread, gulped down her cocoa and snatched an apple, tucking it inside her pouch. "Wish me luck," Hiroto grinned, "I've got a B-rank mission today."
Ren choked on her bread and needed to be patted on the back. She couldn't believe her brother, a genin, would be taking up a B-rank mission solely reserved for chuunin and jounin, she was highly impressed, since this was only his second year being a genin.
"Good luck," Ren abruptly left the compound, waving her brother good-bye as she sped as fast as she could go towards Ninja Academy. She entered the classroom and found it was empty, great, she thought, I'd be alone.
She walked towards her seat beside Uchiha Sasuke, who was glaring at the board for no reason at all, and didn't even bat an eyelash when she slipped beside him. She practically ignored him all the time anyway, and was hardly offended by his lack of social skills. Heck, that's rich coming from me, Ren mentally grinned at the thought. Sasuke glanced at Ren for a few moments, Ren refused to flinch, even if he was staring very, very intently at her.
"What?" Ren asked, annoyed.
"Hn," Sasuke replied, "You're from that Tsuki clan, right?"
"Is there any other?" Ren smirked slightly, "And you're from that Uchiha clan, right?" she asked mockingly.
"I can see it in your eyes; you're not looking for vengeance, even though the person who destroyed your family was one of you. Why?" Sasuke asked, highly intrigued. Ren's eyes darkened, he just reminded her of that terrible night. "For one thing," she started off, gritting her teeth, "I'm not the type of person who holds grudges, and I'm not freaking stupid enough to fight some joker whose skills rival the Lord Hokage's, anyway, if I start looking for revenge, I'll be just like that traitor, who was definitely hating the clan for some reason. Tell me, Uchiha, what are you going to do after you avenge your family? Nothing, probably, I don't doubt you won't feel satisfied, but how long are you going to be satisfied when an empty feeling will start to corrupt you? And knowing that your one-track mind for revenge has the probability of hurting those who cared for you, will you, or would you; have the courage to face them again?"
She blurted everything out, her anger, her dying feelings; every single detail she wanted to tell someone who had suffered the same fate as her. A lump hitched up her throat, "You have a bright future, and you'd be throwing it away just for revenge, what are you thinking?" Sasuke looked away, "I'm sorry for asking you that."
"Whatever," she regained her composure, "it's going to haunt me one day anyway when the old fool's going to realize that he hasn't killed the whole family yet."
Sasuke smirked from the shadows, "So you're waiting for him to come to you instead of you going to him?"
"I will make him feel the emotional pain he inflicted on me and my brother, I'm not trying to get revenge, but I'm not going to let the coward get away with it either," she told Sasuke.
"Nice chatting with you, Tsuki, you're not that bad as everyone complains about you," Ren had no idea whether it was a compliment or not, but then she wondered on the second part, "What complaints?"
Sasuke shrugged, "Most of the time it's those idiots Sakura, Ino and the fangirls who say you're evil and heartless and doesn't care a shit for anyone but Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Naruto and Chouji back you up and shuts them up."
Ren raised an eyebrow and laughed self-consciously, "Ha, ha, I can fully imagine Kiba and Naruto doing that but Hinata seems too shy to talk, much less back someone up."
Sasuke looked at her oddly, like she was an idiot, which annoyed her, "Are you freaking serious? That lazy bastard and that eating bastard (Shikamaru & Chouji) treat you like their own sister, Kiba and dobe (idiot) Naruto adore you and Hinata practically worships you."
Ren was absolutely shocked; she had always been acting so indifferent to pretty much everyone for the past couple of years, but she actually gained some true friends along the way. Maybe she did something for them that made her loved by them? The only thing she did to them was acknowledge Naruto's existence and hung out with him sometimes, made everyone shut up when they teased Chouji about his weight, helped Kiba find Akamaru when he was lost, played Shogi with Shikamaru when nobody wanted to since he always won and helped Hinata boost her confidence. She didn't think all of this highly mattered with the relationship she had with them. Her heart lifted, she suddenly felt so grateful to Shikamaru, Kiba, Naruto, Chouji and Hinata.
"So you're my friend now, Uchiha?" Ren gave a shy grin.
"Whatever; just don't start going fangirl on me," Sasuke replied without his usual heavy layer of coldness. Ren and Sasuke continued giving small talk and the rest of the class filed in, Shikamaru telling Naruto that the class was reserved only for the genin, and Naruto bragging in return. They stopped their small talk once Ino and Sakura barged in and arguing who got into the classroom first. "Oh fuck," Ren heard Sasuke mutter under his breath.
Naruto suddenly blushed but was pushed away by Sakura as she sped down the aisles, stopping at Ren's and Sasuke's. Sakura demanded, "Get out, Tsuki! I want to sit with Sasuke-kun!" Oh god, Sakura, you just had to piss Tsuki-san off, Ino thought pityingly.
Naruto and Kiba backed up from their seats; Chouji stopped munching on his chips and Shikamaru and Hinata tensed up, as well as anybody else who knew the meaning of killer intent.
"Shut the hell up, Haruno, before you get me mad," Ren threatened, hissing through her teeth.
Sakura's anger rose and an angered look was plastered on her face as she raised her fist and aimed at Ren. Naruto yelled, "Sakura-chan! Don't!"
There was no use in shouting as Ren caught it in the nick of time, calm and composedly without batting an eyelid, though her eyes darkened, awakening the Raven Eyes as her strength increased and she nearly crushed Sakura's fist effortlessly. But knowing better, she drew back her Raven Eyes, she would be the joke of Konoha if she beat a weakling like Sakura and having to use her kekkei genkai to boot. She released her grip and Sakura went tumbling over, scampering off to a seat. Hopefully, this experience would take her down a few pegs, Ren thought secretly.
"Thanks," Sasuke muttered.
Ren had no time to answer as Iruka walked into the room, strangely, on crutches. Iruka glanced around, surprised at the tense silence.
He started his speech and started calling out the teams. "Team 7 – Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura..." Naruto cheered, Sakura slumped on her seat, depressed.
"– and Uchiha Sasuke," Sakura cheered, Naruto in turn became depressed. Naruto demanded, "Iruka-sensei! Why is a marvellous ninja like me stuck with a loser like Sasuke!"
"Well Naruto, Sasuke had the highest marks in the class, while you were dead last," Iruka said. A babble of laughter broke the tense atmosphere, making Naruto pissed.
Okay, Naru and Uchiha are out...I don't mind being with Hina or Shika.
Iruka rattled on to Teams 8, 9 and 10. Ren was genuinely surprised that her name had not been called. "Since there is an unequal amount of passes, it is decided that this year's top female rookie, Tsuki Ren, will join another group of shinobi out of this class."
There were some mutterings, Sasuke looked at me and smirked, "Don't die, Tsuki."
"Thanks," Ren replied, feeling agitated at the unwanted attention. The bell rang and Iruka dismissed them. "Ren, stay here to meet your team," Iruka called out to her, Ren nodded and let Sasuke pass.
Kiba, Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru and Chouji came over; Kiba and Naruto were crying anime tears, Shikamaru was patting her shoulder and inviting her to play Shogi with him later, Chouji gave her the last chip in his bag, which must have been a sacrifice for him, Hinata hugged her and wished her warmly. Surprisingly, Ren didn't brush her off and hugged her back. She watched as the people she listed as precious people who she would protect walked away.
Suddenly, a poof of smoke filled the classroom, Ren and Iruka choking from inhaling some of it.
There was a third and fourth pair of choking voices as the smoke dissasipated quickly, revealing a pair of ninja.
They were both guys, hot guys. Ren found herself blushing pink as she met the eyes of a golden-blonde haired boy with gorgeous forest green eyes with the Konoha headband on his forehead; he was wearing a collared bloody red jacket and an expensive-looking choker around his neck, the shape of a Rosario. He wore brown shorts with bandages wrapped around both legs and standard ninja sandals, he had a kunai pouch on his leg and on his back was a beautiful black-edged katana.
The other guy was less welcoming, he had jet black hair that hung over his eyes and two slightly longer strands framing his face, his eyes were slits, similar to Ren's but were a ocean-blue colour, he wore a black jacket with a ragged dark blue shirt underneath, dark shorts and the standard ninja sandals, he was equipped with a belt with chains hanging off them and a kunai pouch below it, he had two crimson red katanas on his back. Both were slightly toned and muscled and more than a few inches taller than Ren, and both used katanas, she realized.
"Damn you, Kotarou, what freaking possessed you to use that jutsu when you didn't even complete it!" the dark-haired guy yelled at the blonde. The blonde sheepishly scratched his head.
Their attention was diverted to us when Iruka coughed, wanting their attention. "I suspect you two are Ren's new teammates?"
The blonde nodded and said to Ren in a very playboyish manner, "Nice to meet you, Ren-chan. I'm Hideki Kotarou." Kotarou kissed her fingers until Ren whisked them away in embarrassment.
"Natsume," Natsume introduced himself coldly.
"Tsuki Ren," Ren replied equally coldly.
"Alright, Ren, you can go off now," Iruka said. Ren nodded and left with her teammates side by side. They were completely silent as they waited in one of the classrooms for their teacher to arrive.
They sat down, Natsume sitting near the window in the far back, Ren in the second row whilst Kotarou sat beside her. The silence was quite calming, but the silence grew to be more awkward that Ren had to start a conversation.
"Iruka-sensei said that I'll be teaming up with shinobi outside the class, does that mean you guys aren't from Konohagakure?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, I and Natsume-kun used to be citizens from Kusagakure but we went to Kumogakure when the war started in Kusa, we returned back when we heard it was rebuilt and decided to enrol in their ninja academy, we ended up in the top of the class. We were scouted by Konoha themselves to form a new team as an experiment. We agreed since we originally didn't enjoy staying there. Natsume-kun is still sulky for no reason though." Kotarou whispered the last part in my ear.
"Humour me; he's always like this, isn't he?" Ren questioned.
"Not really," Kotarou's cheerful demeanour subsided, his face slightly sad, "Something happened to him a few years back. I'm not really in the position to tell you."
Ren nodded, understanding Kotarou's reasoning. "Gotcha," Ren folded her arms across her chest and gazed at the door, which just opened, startling Kotarou and Natsume.
In her view was a tall, broad-shouldered man with startling green hair covering the left side of his face and catlike red eyes that twinkled under the brightness of the classroom, he was wearing the normal jounin/chuunin vest with a full-length dark grey suit and a kunai pouch on his right leg. He had a twisted smile etched on his face that made the three slightly uncomfortable.
"Yo, this is Team 15, right?" the man asked. "Hai, sensei," Kotarou answered.
"Good, you three meet me at the forest." The jounin disappeared into smoke.
The three watched, agape, the only comment was given by Kotarou, which was: "So cool, I wanna do that."
"Besides that, which part of the forest does he want us to meet?" Ren asked, annoyed but coolly. She was taken by surprise when Natsume said, "Chill. I've got it covered."
Ren twisted her neck slightly to see Natsume making a handsign. He concentrated, his eyes shut. After a few moments, he opened them again. "I found it, follow me," he ordered.
He leapt from his seat, landing gracefully like a cat in front of the classroom. Seeing that there was no choice, Ren followed him, Kotarou not far behind her as Natsume started off running, chakra infused in his feet. Ren and Kotarou did the same, easily keeping pace with Natsume.
While they were reaching the forest, Ren asked Natsume, "What did you mean when you found 'it'?"
Natsume explained; spiky strands whipping across his face, "I sensed his chakra. When he disappeared, he left a chakra trail so I was able to track him down into the forest."
Natsume explained further, "No specific name so far. It's only that I and my sister are extremely sensitive to chakra; both of us have the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. We can track specific individuals through chakra by using my standard concentration pose for moulding chakra, pick up chakra from long distances, notice changes in an individual's chakra, sense if a group is approaching and identify if they are animals and whatsoever as well as how many there are. We can also find out if an enemy is lying or using a clone jutsu or indicating if someone, including ourselves, is under Genjutsu. There's also one more technique we can use..." (Sources: Narutopedia)
Natsume's expression was slightly tense, "We can heal others by letting them bite us and suck on our chakra. We can only do this once a day." Natsume pulled up his jacket sleeve, revealing seven bite marks. Ren's eyes widened as she dodged a tree in the way.
"They're horrendous, I know, but I can't complain since my sister probably has more of these."
Ren's gaze on him softened, not out of pity, but of the fond tone he used to talk about his sister. Ren decided not to ask about his sister's name to save him the sadness.
"Oh, we're here," Natsume's tone changed from sad and caring back to cold and unfriendly. The clearing was large and the dirt on the ground was perfectly dry and hard and there were a few practice dummies stuck onto some poles and jammed onto the ground, a log was placed on the far end of the clearing. Haiku was right beside them and looked surprised.
"You guys are quick, not bad," Haiku noted.
"It's all thanks to Natsume," Ren said. Haiku's gaze inflicted on the stoic Natsume and nodded in approval, "The Mind's Eye of the Kagura?" Natsume didn't speak.
"Alright, let's start with introductions; take a seat on the log."
They followed suit, Natsume sitting on the far left, Kotarou in between and Ren beside him. Haiku walked towards them and said, "Ok, my name is Takumi Haiku and I'm a Jounin. I'm from Konohagakure. I don't like anything much. I hate scum who betray their comrades and people who complain about their lives without knowing true pain, no hobbies in particular, I'm not married and my objective is to make sure none of you die (Sweatdrop from all three genin)." He pointed to Natsume.
"You with the scowl," he said, Natsume growled but cooperated.
"I'm Natsume, Genin. I'm originally from Kusagakure, I like my sister, I dislike Iwagakure shinobi, my hobbies are training and playing the violin (what the...he plays the fucking violin, Ren thought, jaw-slacked, Kotarou laughing good-naturedly at her reaction), single with stupid fangirls, my objective is to find my sister."
He beckoned to Kotarou who didn't hesitate to talk, "My name is Hideki Kotarou, Genin. I used to be a shinobi from Kusagakure, I like my friends and Ren-chan (Ren blushed completely red and aimed a kick at the flamboyant playboy) and chokers, I basically don't hate anything besides the murderer of my clan, my hobbies are reading and sketching, I'm obviously single with annoying fangirls and my objective is to protect my comrades."
There were sweatdrops on Haiku's and Ren's head, typical pretty boy comments from two hot guys, "Okay, you with the ponytail."
Ren hesitated before saying, "My name is Tsuki Ren, Genin. I'm from Konohagakure, I like the people who are dear to me especially my brother, I hate to remember the assassination of my clan, my hobbies are training and spending time with my brother. Single with a few tolerable fanboys and my objective is to make sure that the traitor from my clan gets his punishment, but I'm not going to avenge him for my clan, instead, I'm bloody hell making sure that bastard comes after me."
The three guys stared at her in surprise and amazement at her unexpectedly colourful vocabulary. Haiku rubbed his temples with a sweatdrop, Okay, I've got two pretty boys and a girl from that Tsuki clan, all of them seem to have considerable amounts of chakra, exceptional IQ levels and otherwise pretty bad pasts...I've got my work cut out for me...
"Alright, be here by five for your test and bring all the equipment you need," Haiku announced. They yelled, "FOUR!"
"What test?" Kotarou asked.
The three flinched when Haikuthrew his head back and cackled, "You see...only 9 graduates are able to make it to genin – of course since there is one extra cell, the rate has increased to 12 – the failures will have to go back to the academy."
Haiku expected them to yell in horror, to his surprise, they were discussing very calmly about it.
Ren: Good luck you guys.
Natsume: Whatever.
Kotarou: Hm...do you think we'll be able to use our swords?
Ren: As long as I have my kekkei genkai I hardly doubt I won't fail.
Natsume/Kotarou: We definitely want to see it.
Ren: (Sweatdrop) cut out that creepy unison thing.
Natsume/Kotarou: We're not doing it on purpose.
Ren: Ok, I'm already freaked out.
"HEY ARE YOU GUYS LISTENING TO ME!" Haiku shouted at them.
"Yes we are," Ren, Natsume and Kotarou said bluntly in unison.
-_-lll, someone shoot me now...Haiku thought.
"Alright, all of you are dismissed!" Haiku disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three alone. As soon as Natsume confirmed that he left, Kotarou glomped Ren.
"Ren-chaaaan ~, can we go to your house?" Kotarou activated his pretty boy face and pleaded.
Ren blushed entirely red and yelled, "OK! OK! LET GO OF ME, DAMN YOU KOTAROU!"
Kotarou was completely immersed in pressing his soft cheek on hers, and to her surprise, ears popped out of his head out of nowhere. "You have neko (cat) ears!" Ren yelled; mouth agape.
Natsume explained, "Kotarou is from the Hideki clan, his kekkei genkai is total neko transformation. He can turn into leopards, jaguars, street cats and what the shit. First stage, mini-cat transformation which only actually happens when he is either provoked or sexually aroused (Ren blushed red, very, very red), ears and tail, second transformation is full-body transformation, increase sense of smell, speed and near immunity to dying from heights, he can die to about 9 times, same for a cat's."
"Do me a favour, Natsume, get OUR FUCKING TEAMMATE OFF OF ME!" Natsume rubbed Kotarou's ear gently. "Nya," Kotarou had this kitty face on and was mewing for all it was worth as he slowly got off Ren and disturbingly sat in a catlike position and rubbed up to Natsume's leg. "How – nya – mean – mew – of you, Natsu – mew," Kotarou moaned, Ren was blushing and thinking dirty thoughts at the yaoi that explicitly unfolded in front of her. Natsume pointed to Kotarou's ear, "His weak spot. Rub it a little and he becomes like this."
"What the hell? Do you guys do this all the time!" Ren wanted to vomit somewhere, somewhere far away from the yaoi. "No," Kotarou and Natsume said.
Natsume stopped rubbing and Kotarou sighed in relief and collapsed headfast, the tail and ears disappearing. Kotarou explained, "When I become like this Natsume has to stop me, he's the only one because he knows where to touch best." A tint of pink appeared in Natsume's cheeks, Ren just stared in disbelief at them. I'll never look at two boys the same again...
Ren shook her thoughts as she led her teammates out of the forest to Ichiraku Ramen. "My treat," Ren said as they took their seats.
Ren glanced around the restaurant and her eyes lay on three very familiar people.
A blonde looked up (Naruto) and shouted excitedly, "Hey, Ren-chan!"
He immediately glomped Ren, Ren affectionately patted his head as he cried anime tears and hugged her tighter, two people, obviously Sasuke and Sakura, looked up. Sakura shrieked in fear and attempted to cower behind Sasuke, who gave Ren a nod, raising his eyebrows at the two guys beside her. Suddenly, Ren felt two glares burning behind her head, aiming at the overdoing it blonde.
Natsume flicked Naruto's forehead, sending Naruto crashing towards Sasuke, who moved away in time, hitting the wall. Naruto recovered quickly, Sasuke and Sakura sent surprised looks to Natsume, who had a dark aura surrounding him; he hissed harshly, "What do you think you're doing?"
Naruto leapt up, he was now face-to-chin with Natsume. "Hugging my best friend, that's what! What's your problem, teme?" Naruto yelled. Ren flushed at that comment.
Taking charge, Sasuke slid in between them, interfering with their glaring contest. "Shut the fuck up, you two, what the hell's your problem?" Sasuke glared eye-to-eye with Natsume.
Ren quickly explained, fearing for Sasuke's and Natsume's safety.
"This is my teammate, Natsume, and my other teammate is Hideki Kotarou (Kotarou stood up and walked towards them for Natsume's defence), please meet the blonde, Uzumaki Naruto, the dark-haired one Uchiha Sasuke and the pinkie over there Haruno Sakura."
"Nice to meet you," Kotarou said cheerfully.
Naruto's mood changed as he waved to Kotarou, "Yo! At least you're nicer than this guy here!"
Sasuke and Natsume turned to him, thinking whether it referred to either one of them. Ren glanced at Sakura, looking lovey-dovey-eyed at Natsume, whose looks resembled slightly of Sasuke's.
"We're going to Ren-chan's house," Kotarou stated their business.
"Hey! Can I come along?" Naruto asked excitedly. Ren replied with a, "Sure. Uchiha and Haruno, you can come along if you want."
Sasuke shrugged, indicating that it was a 'yes', Sakura immediately agreed even though she was still scared shitless of Ren. They ordered their ramen. Naruto, Kotarou and Ren had miso, Sasuke had chicken and Sakura and Natsume ordered charshu ramen.
After they finished (Naruto finishing five bowls before either of them could finish their one), they walked towards the direction of Ren's house, Natsume beside Ren, Ren beside Kotarou, who was talking with Naruto, with Sasuke and Sakura beside him. Ren decided that Natsume was still wary of the three other genin.
They came up to the Tsuki Compound, Natsume's eyes were staring at it widely, Kotarou looked highly impressed, Naruto was exclaiming and shouting how cool it was, Sasuke just 'Hn'ned and Sakura agreed with everything he said.
Opening the door, all six genin walked in, admiring the order of the house, how magnificent and tidy and welcoming it was. Ren let them wander about, Sakura deciding to stick smack dab by Sasuke's side as Naruto looked around the kitchen for some ramen.
Natsume, Kotarou and unexpectedly Sasuke had apparently tried to sneak into Ren's room, but Ren stopped them with killer intent and they quietly went to the living room, which was as expected – huge.
There was a 1 to 2 meter tall television, three coffee tables, around 7 pretty big sofas with pull-out beds underneath, gorgeous chandeliers and etcetera. Sasuke found a see-through cabinet with rows of CDs inside. He opened it and took one out. He flinched when he saw the cover and the back of it. Sakura leaned over and looked faint at the sight of it. Natsume and Kotarou, wanting to know what was going on, looked over. Natsume glared at it with disgust, Kotarou looked like he could hurl right there and now.
Meanwhile, Ren was making some snacks for her guests with Naruto helping. Though, anyone with a sane mind would never let Naruto step into a kitchen.
It went pretty smoothly, with minor accidents like Naruto toppling over some unbreakable glass jars and using his Kage Bunshin (Shadow Doppelganger) to speed up the process of the tea-making and the cookies, which officially made Ren think about a new rule for no jutsus in the kitchen. In the end, she was fully relieved to get out of there alive carrying her treats.
She decided on jasmine tea and some smooth and crunchy chocolate-chip cookies, the only things she could make that were EXCEPTIONALLY EDIBLE. Naruto jogged beside her as they entered the living room and finding their teammates face-palming over one of her brother's horror CDs.
She calmly laid the tray down the table and snatched the CD out of Sasuke's grip. Sasuke complained, "Why the heck do you have PG-18 horror CDs?"
"They're not mine; they're Hiro-nii's. Jeez, it's not really that scary," Ren said. Naruto cheered, "Of course! I won't get scared by that dumb movie! Dattebayo!"
Suddenly, a light bulb flickered in Ren's head as she announced, "You know, why don't you guys stay over? We have guest rooms so you can stay and we can spend the night watching the movies."
"I'm fine with it," Sasuke said coolly, not wanting to be outmatched with the dead last knucklehead ninja.
"Whatever," Natsume said.
"Uh...ok?" Kotarou said hesitantly.
"We can't, I and Sasuke-kun have a test tomorrow," Sakura protested.
"Oh," Ren looked crestfallen. The mood changed a little when Sasuke announced, "We can meet up on Friday after missions and we can ask out Team 8 and 10 to join in this (they WILL pass of course, Team 8 and 10's battle strength was above normal genins'). All of us can stay until Sunday."
"That'll be awesome!" Naruto said, liking the very idea. "We can use the pull-out beds and mattresses and we have lots of extra blankets," Ren said, agreeing with finality.
Ren felt warm all over, she knew all four of them would come and Sakura would go wherever Sasuke went. Shikamaru wouldn't be all for it to go, but with a little Shogi, he wouldn't mind. She made sure she had extra snacks, and prayed that Kiba and Hinata would come, as well as Shino and Ino. But she wouldn't tell Hinata that Naruto would be coming and made a note to prepare a bed for Akamaru.
All of them sat around on the sofas, Naruto and Ren on the armrests, Kotarou sitting beside Sakura, who was sitting next to Sasuke, and Natsume standing behind Kotarou, chattering on the events they would prepare for the particular night. Naruto wanted to have ramen, Sakura decided for a girls' session for she, Ino, Hinata and Ren only, Ren surprised that she included her in, Sasuke wanted a few horror movies for everyone to watch, Kotarou wanted to make sure that there were private bathrooms and Natsume, giving up on being cold, said that it would be cool for the guys to have their session as well.
Soon, the cookies and the tea were devoured (Sasuke and Naruto winced when they tried the cookies, Kotarou threw up in a dustbin whilst drinking his tea, Sakura turned green after taking the cookies AND the tea at the same time and Natsume just spat his food out of the window) and everybody left one by one at somewhat middle of the afternoon, first Sasuke, then Sakura and Naruto. Kotarou bid Ren good-bye as he left as well; it was just Natsume and Ren alone. Natsume was slowly drinking his tea and Ren was busy looking for something to do. Ren decided to ask about Natsume's sister.
"Hey...Natsume," Ren started off, "Who's your sister?"
Natsume choked on his tea as he put his cup down on the coffee table carefully. "There's not much about her," Natsume said, "only that she looks completely different from me. She's got my mother's looks while I have my dad's. Her name's Karin."
"Oh," Ren looked down on her lap and thought if Hiroto was still living but out of her reach...would she end up the same way Natsume did? She couldn't believe that Natsume was still stable, she was, of course, but the thought of knowing that one of your closest family members was alive but you had no idea where to start finding them would make anyone insane.
Natsume stood up abruptly and walked towards the entrance, Ren followed him and led him out, the silence was pretty tense until Natsume looked over his shoulder and met Ren's eyes; electricity met water, complete opposites. "I consider you my comrade since Kotarou trusts you," Natsume finally said.
Ren nodded in acknowledgement as Natsume walked away from the Compound, the air seeming to follow him.
Ren shut the door and felt her whole face burn, literally. She went to the washroom and cleansed herself before leaping out of her bedroom window to meet with Shikamaru. She focused the chakra on her feet as she sped towards Shikamaru's house, deftly landing on the grass where she found Shikamaru lying in front of her. "Yo," Shikamaru gave a nonchalant wave, removing his arm that was blocking the light that was entering his half-opened eyelids. "Yo, Shika," Ren said, lying beside him. They lay there staring at the clouds in peace, feeling relaxed and calm.
"Let's go play Shogi," Shikamaru proposed.
Ren agreed as they went to the patio (?) and Shikamaru set up a Shogi set as they started playing with Shikamaru almost winning, Ren asked, "Hey, do you want to come to my house on Friday? My team, Team 15, Team 7 and hopefully Team 8 will be joining for the sleepover, and...I don't mind if Ino comes."
"Don't worry," Shikamaru said lazily, as he knocked off Ren's black knight, "Ino respects you better after you gave Sakura the punishment she needs. I'll go ask her and Chouji and if we meet Kiba's we'll ask them."
"So you'll come?" Ren asked, "There'll be horror movies so I don't think you'll sleep well after watching."
"Meh, I'll just sleep through it." Ren sweatdropped, typical Shikamaru answer, "But I'll come, that's for sure." Before she knew it, Shikamaru won. "Oh crap," Ren cursed.
"Heh, heh, looks like you've got to do me a favour," Shikamaru smirked (in his lazy manner, of course). Ren sighed in regret but was actually a little excited that one of her best friends was going to join in her sleepover, "What is it?"
Shikamaru suddenly looked serious, his eyes turning slightly dark as he stood up and moved slowly towards her. Ren suddenly became nervous and fidgeted, wanting whatever Shikamaru wanted to do to her to end. He knelt down in front of her, his face just a few inches away from hers. "Meh, I've always wanted to try this and to prove to Ino that I am man enough to do this so..." Ren's face heated up as he pressed his lips against her cheek and pulled back almost instantly. She could feel herself touching the place where Shikamaru kissed her and her thumping heartbeat. "...Shika?"
Shikamaru turned his back to her, but she knew that he was blushing almost as much as her, "Sorry. Don't hold a grudge on me or anything..." he was unexpectedly cut off by the blushing brunette.
"It's alright, Shika," Ren said calmly, standing up and grinning, wiping away the blush from her face, "I kinda liked it. See you soon."
She started to leave, butterflies invading her stomach as she could almost sense Shikamaru stopping in his tracks to tell her something but left it at that. She was actually pretty impressed that Shikamaru had the guts to do something like this. Well, well, well, her friend was maturing quite quickly.
She ran as fast as she could, out of sight from the Nara Compound and settled down comfortably on the grass, watching the clouds pass by, forming into shapes like circles and cats...which made Ren nosebleed at the thought of Natsume doing 'that' to Kotarou again.
After a couple of minutes, the sun began to set and she decided to go home, only to buck up when a kunai whisked across her face. She dodged it in a hurry, which left a scratch on her right cheek. Wincing, she wiped off the blood and went into the normal Academy stance.
"Who's there?" she demanded.
She faced towards the trees, where a particularly attractive boy stood on a branch with confidence that 'hell he would not fall'. His eyes were lavender, like Hinata's, and he had gorgeous long hair which irked Ren. He jumped off the branch and landed with a soft thud on the grass beside her.
"You do know you are on my training grounds?" he asked with seriousness. "Sorry," Ren apologized half-heartedly. She relaxed, spotting the Konoha hitai-ate on the boy's forehead.
They glared at each other for awhile. Neji tilted his head slightly and widened his eyes once he recognized her, "You are the top female rookie Tsuki Ren, am I correct?"
"Y-You could say that," Ren said uncertainly, not liking where this was going. The boy's frown was replaced by a smirk and took out his hand for a shake, "My name is Hyuuga Neji from the Hyuuga Clan."
Oh, so this is the famous protégé of the Hyuuga, Ren thought, her stare still fixated on Neji's. "I am your brother Hiroto's friend," he added quickly, "we spar a lot as well."
"Oh! So you're the guy Hiro-nii talks about!" Ren cried, recognizing the cocky, arrogant face that always 'clung' onto her brother. "This is the first time we've personally met," Neji admitted, "you always hid when your brother brought visitors home."
"Eh, heh, heh," she blushed pink as she slumped onto the grass after standing for so long, Neji sat beside her, his eyes kind and warm, the ones Hiroto had. "He changed me," he said quietly, making Ren perk up. "He was a failure like my teammate Lee, and I always looked at him in disdain, thinking that once a failure was always a failure."
"He grew stronger, always fighting and always smiling even though I still defeated him over and over again," his breathing was brittle as he continued, "one day, he defeated me and told me that if a failure could change his fate, a genius like me could as well." (A/N: I'm making Hiroto a little like Naruto) Neji's face looked stoic as he continued, "I swore never to talk about destiny again and to underestimate failures. But I myself am unable to change my own fate because of the Branch Family's curse."
His gaze hardened and trying to be helpful, Ren stroked his hand gently as a friendly gesture and his cheeks tinged with pink. Ren could not help giggle at his cuteness. "As you know, Lady Hinata is from the Main Family and will become the leader of the Hyuuga Clan when she grows up. The Main Family put the curse mark: Caged Bird on every single one of the Branch Family members. We were sworn to the Main Family to act as their barrier and their servants. We will never be set free."
"My father, Hizashi, being the younger brother to Lord Hiashi, suffered the same fate and the Main Family decided to sacrifice him to take Lord Hiashi's place when the shinobi of another country decided war against Konoha because they kidnapped Hinata-sama, Hinata-sama's captors being one, their leader. From this day on, my grudge against the Main Family still stands," he finished.
After his story, Ren mentally felt sorry for him but thought it was unfair for him to dislike the Main Family, where Hinata was not the one responsible for Neji's father's death. It was certain that despite him being her brother's friend, she would not invite him to her sleepover for security reasons surrounding Hinata.
"I'm sorry," Ren said, "but you should know, Hina is not to blame for your father's death. If you really want to pinpoint the blame on someone, do it other than the members not involved in the sacrifice of Hizashi."
None of them saying another word, both immediately parted to different directions. My first day as an unaccomplished Genin and it's been so eventful, Ren thought as she changed into her pyjamas and fixed up her scratch before heading off to bed.
A/N: I'm really sorry there aren't any fighting scenes...I'm pretty terrible at them and I'm normally focused on the romance and the arcs -_-. Yes, Neji has changed but still holds a grudge and an urge to kill pretty much anyone in the Main Family and Shikamaru apparently finds Ren 'non-troublesome'. P.S. PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR PLACING NATSUME AS KARIN'S BROTHER AND MAKING SASUKE AND INO OOC! IT'S JUST FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY! Anyway, please Rate and Review! :D