Oh my god HERE IT IS PEOPLE! I LIIIVE!
Grr, here it is finally sorry for the wait. There's more of my input at the end, just read enjoy!
-Taname
Chapter 3:
The Trainee & The Shrew
The next morning Sai woke to the sound of voices emanating from the stairwell. Now his sleep had been disrupted in the same manner just hours ago, but at that time it was merely the voice of one of his comrades and a woman's, it was a casual conversation, and only interesting at best. The conversation taking place somewhere on the stairs, at the moment, were the voices of strangers. He listened, slowly allowing the effects of sleep to fully disperse. The woman's voice-the one that'd accompanied Neji- seemed to take on a different form, stern and guarded rather than taunting and relaxed like it was before.
She's giving out orders…
The thought rushed through his mind too quickly for him to catch and take on a deeper meaning to. So for a long minute, he lied there listening mindlessly…
"—Back to Base and report in… you'll speak details, I got some stuff to attend to… Right then?" The woman's voice was answered by another softer sounding and brighter toned voice,
"Yes, yes… I hope you get whatever it is you need to get done, done, okay? Crud, I forgot my—dangit! Go ahead; I'll catch up and meet you back at the usual spot."
"Don't keep me waiting."
"I'll do my best."
"Uh-huh…"
Sai's concentration wavered dangerously as he had toyed with the tempting notion to fall back asleep. All thoughts of the conversation died along with the echo of the women's footsteps as the women parted ways. Giving up his quest for continuous sleep, Sai sat up and scratched the back of his head, stood up then began to change. Minutes later, as he recounted his inventory, a soft tapping came from his door, looking up from his bag Sai could have sworn he heard a voice,
"Um… Sai?" The voice was Hinata's,
Sai mutely made his way over to the door and opened it, and just as expected, looming uneasily before him was Hinata,
"A-ah-um, I-I'm sorry." She apologized.
"For what?"
"H-have I come at a-a bad time?" She asked glancing at his bag that he was, just then, zipping up. Slipping it on lazily he replied,
"'Course not, I was just making sure I had everything, I was starting to wonder if you or Neji had gotten up… Did you check up on him yet?" Thinking about his question now he'd realized how stupid of a question it was to ask in the first place.
If we're going to have to all live together for this mission I think she should learn to talk to him…Without being such a pushover. He thought wearily, it'd be quite a 'process' to forego but, considering her situation on 'dealing' with her BRUTE of a cousin, It'd be totally worth it… Should she ever decide to grow a backbone.
"Do we even know if he's still sleeping or not?"
"He isn't…"
"How do you know?"
"H-he's waiting for us in the lobby."
"Since when?"
"Since b-before I came to g-get you…I t-think he's angry that w-we made him wait…"
"No I think he's just an angry person in general… He doesn't strike me as a very cheerful individual."
"W-why do you say that?"
They were descending the flight of steps now, Sai turned his head to stare intently at Hinata, she was then reminded of how well Neji and Sai 'got along' when they first met at the manor.
"O-oh, that…" She squeaked suddenly turning a soft pink color. Sai, satisfied that she understood his point, turned his attention towards the lobby where Neji stood waiting.
"Lets get going, we've wasted too much time already." Neji sighed as he made his way to the door, Uka saw the three off as the sky slowly lit up with the coming of dawn.
Mizuma Village… traditionally structured town, it somewhat resembled the Uchiha district in Konoha. The gates were tall and strong, very much like the Konoha gates. Hadn't it been for the rain weathered paint, the people guarding it and the surroundings in general, it could've been taken for a slightly smaller version of Konoha gate. Sai lead the way to the place where they'd board for the next couple of weeks, until their mission was finished.
It was a humble little place, basic structure of a shop and home. The first story was made up of the store, the studio and a storage room.
By the desk that opposed the entry door, leading to the upper level, was a stairwell; ascending it, they soon discovered the place to be quite roomy. It was a two bedroom, two bath, with a kitchen that linked directly to the dining quarters. The door that greeted you once you reached the top of the stairs landing, was the hall closet. Turning to face the rest of their home, all filed into the first door to their left, which ended up being the master bedroom. Entering it one would find a door along the left wall that lead to the connecting bathroom. On the wall that opposed the door they entered, there were high windows, near the roof of the room, there only for ventilation and minor lighting purposes. The left wall was composed of sliding doors, which apparently was the closet. Hinata, opening them to air them out, found two Tatami mats, both on opposite corners of the long closet, she quickly shut the door and set off to inspect the kitchen at the end of the hallway. Sai followed but stopped at the next door to his left that came before the kitchen. He looked in and announced, to nobody in particular,
"Laundry room." Fiddling with the buttons, to check if both machines were functional, he discovered that the drier was faulty, and didn't run at all. "Busted drier." He added shutting the door to the room and walked into the kitchen. Immediately after entering he saw that Hinata was looking inside of the pantry, it was a small little room, filled with little shelves, all along the walls. Sai heard a sliding sound emanating from the door Hinata's small form had disappeared in. The pantry was in the corner on the same wall that the entrance to the kitchen, resided. Not too long after disappearing did Hinata walk up behind him with a big grin on her face.
"How'd—"
"T-there's a little door that leads into the laundry room through the pantry."
"Really? I didn't see anything—"
"W-well, you have to crawl through it, a-and w-when I crawled out, th-there was a hamper I had to push past." Even though she was timid about replying, her expression made her seem… Excited.
Walking past Sai, she went back to the pantry and shut the door, turning around she checked out all of the drawers and cabinets, she made a little discovery in the cabinet just above the sink, smiling she pulled out a dish rack and neatly unfolded it, and set it next to the left of the sink. There was a rag and sponge shelf just to the right of the sink, she quickly brushed her hand over the small wooden structure. She turned around and faced the cutting table, it was a square little counter with cabinets and drawers that stood in the middle of the kitchen. From the looks of it she was wondering what things she would make. Sai had then realized he'd been watching her, and decided to busy himself with something else. On the right side of the room, where the kitchen graduated to the living room, there was a step down. Sai looked to the far left hand corner and saw the little stove/ fireplace, another high window was found on the left wall by the stove, and to the right of the little stove, was the window which lit up the kitchen. The wooden shades were rolled up, tugging the string, Sai allowed them to fall over the window, the shades-when let down- revealed a painted picture of a small flock of heron residing in a water garden. Looking at the string ornament, Sai saw that in the small wooden block, was an engraving of a chrysanthemum on each side. Pulling the string, he allowed the picture to be rolled up once more. Finished investigating the window he faced his right and saw there was another sliding-door closet, and pulling it back, peaked in-empty.
"That's where the heating pad for the table will go." Hinata chirped softly from the step above the dining area. Sai slid the door shut again and faced Hinata, nodding to show he'd heard her.
Sai exited the kitchen and walking down the hallway, stood at the top of the stairs, wondering where Neji went, he heard a clicking sound coming from one of the doors on the right of the hallway, including the hall closet, there were four doors. The one closest to the hall closet, was a room. Simple and meant for one person, he noticed that all of Neji's things had been set in the middle of the room. Another shifting sound drew his attention back to the other two doors. Opening the door next to Neji's room, he saw that it was the second bathroom, and shut the door.
"Knock, knock." Sai stated buoyantly as he opened the door where the sounds were coming from. Neji could be seen opening and shutting the large windows that filtered light into the room. A minute passed and Sai watched Neji repeat his motions over and over. Wanting to end the nonsense Sai remarked,
"Is there a reason as to why your opening and shutting the window, or are you simply attempting to alert our neighbors of our existence via morse code?"
Neji halted his actions for a moment and without turning replied,
"This part of the window needs to be sanded… It gets stuck half-way, every time I open it. Makes too much of a racket." Neji then shut the window and fastening the lock, turned away and walked out the room.
"I guess this is either a guest bedroom or an office—"
"I doubt we'll be entertaining or housing anyone, so it's more likely to be the latter." Neji declared,
"Right then." Sai agreed, seeing no reason, nor opening for debate.
Neji had set his things on the floor in the middle of the room he decided he'd reside. Stepping into the same room after exiting the office room, he looked around. There was a small closet to the left, sliding doors just like every other room closet, and inside was a single tatami mat. Before he'd shut the closet door, Sai had entered and carelessly placed his bags next to Neji's.
Turning to Sai, an expression of peculiarity formed his features, Sai returned this expression with a pseudo smile. Their silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity before Neji decided that the foolishness had to end,
"Your not sleeping here…"
"Of course not! It's the middle of the room in case you hadn't noticed, I plan on sleeping in the corner by the window." Sai replied as-a-matter-of-factly.
"No, you won't."
"So YOU'LL be sleeping by the window then?"
"Where I'll sleep, is where I'll sleep, but you're not going to reside in this room if I have anything to say about it."
"And why is that?"
"Because your sleeping in the master bedroom with Hinata!" Awkward seconds ticked away long enough for him to fix his minor error, "On SEPARATE mats!"
"I don't think so."
"You're not supposed to think at all, because I just told you what to do."
"And I refused to comply."
"You have no choice but TO comply."
"As a person I DO have the right to do and not do what I want."
"Why are you making this so difficult?--What is Hinata doing?—Hinata!" Storming away from Sai, Neji made it across the hall to the shut door of Hinata's room to be.
Hinata was sorting out her things when Neji burst into her room, she turned around to face him and Sai,
"Hinata you and Sai are sleeping in this room for as long as this mission takes to complete, understood?" Neji stated finitely, Hinata, confused and seeing no open window to argue, tried to spit out a simple, 'Yes Neji' but her insistent stammering forced her to simply nod her head in obedience.
Hinata watched as Neji and Sai left the room and allowed herself to think for a moment. Moments ago she'd left the kitchen and entered the master bedroom. Not willing to sleep in the same room with any one of the two, she thought that the lone room across the hallway seemed to be deemed fit, but as she passed by, she'd noticed that Neji had already claimed it with his things.
That's when she began to sort through her things, Maybe I can sleep in one of the rooms down stairs. Hinata pondered, but just as she turned to check the conditions of the down stairs rooms, Sai had entered and grabbed his things, they looked at each other for a brief moment before she tried to explain what she planned on doing about her sleeping location. Sai shook his head before she could finish and stated,
'Sleep here, I'll try to work something out.'
Now Neji went back to his room, and as Hinata looked up at Sai he shrugged and shook his head,
"I tried, sorry."
"It's alright." She replied softly, happy that he'd at least attempted to consider her feelings on sharing a room at all.
A couple seconds later Sai had placed his things in the maser bedroom. Both tatami mats were rolled up next to each other in the middle of the room under the high set window. They'd be separated; they'd be kept far from each other. Residing on opposite ends of the room as if they were separately quarantined, neither of them was fully aware of it, but it was silently agreed upon the second they'd both been left alone to settle in.
Hinata felt the color in her cheeks rise as Sai's eyes lingered on her a minute. After Neji had left and Sai apologised for being unsuccessful in giving her, her own room, Hinata turned away. Pretending to continue what she was doing no matter what happened all around her. Sai knew it was unfair to compare, but he couldn't help but think,
Had Naruto done to Sakura what Neji did to Hinata, Sakura would have done to Naruto's face what Godzilla did to Tokyo…If not worse.
"Hinata—"
"Hey anybody up there?" A voice called up from the bottom of the stairs,
"Anybody up there?" Echoed a younger and softer voice.
Neji could be heard stepping lightly down the stairs, "Who wants to know?"
"Ah great, so somebody IS here, hey there, I'm Chuski, your land-lady, and this is your Neighbor's-well one of your neighbors- kid Ianko, Say 'hello there', short stack." The little girl looked up at Neji, wide brown eyes and messy brown hair she flashed a simple-minded smile,
"Hello there, shor--" The land woman touched a finger to the girl's mouth, silencing her last few words.
"Don't finish that Ianko."
"Okay."
"Land lady?" Neji looked at the woman before him, Petite and stout with short and thin black hair and soft blue eyes; she seemed to be a woman who was leaning towards her late thirties and fit to run a kinder care facility, rather than take part in real-estate.
"Fine, fine then, Landlord then. Geeze. I came here so's to check up on who exactly's takin' up my space offer, before I just hand it over. Are you all that there is, I could've sworn there was something written here about a couple—"
"They're upstairs. Hinata, Sai--"
"Oh leave them be, they're newlyweds, I'm guessing alone time is JUST what they NEED." The suggestive remark would've been fine hadn't she winked and smiled jokingly as she did.
Sai would have gone down there already, but seeing as it was in order to keep an appearance, he thought better on it. He and Hinata could hear every word from their room, when Hinata had heard what the woman said she covered her face with her hands and inaudibly begged,
"Don't say that!"
"Don't say that." Neji mumbled flatly, feeling somehow pained and unsettled at the thought of Sai somehow snaking his way into the family line.
"So let's see, you're the brother, Neji, correct?"
"Yes."
"Right, so I'll fill you in on everything around here, and you can tell the lovebirds later."
Luckily, Chuski had turned around when she did, if she hadn't she'd have seen Neji shake his head wearily at the prospect.
By noon all three had settled in, Chuski and Ianko had left, and Neji had filled Sai and Hinata in about whatever their, somewhat 'off' landlord had told him.
"You get how to work this now, right?" Neji asked, as he gave his disguise another once-over.
"We're all set here." Sai verified, sitting at the desk, attempting to paint a simple something to at least give the store a 'look'.
"A-are you going to t-try qualifying f-for their A-anbu n-now, Ne-Neji?" Hinata asked sheepishly from the storage room, where she'd found a couple of leftover decorative things the last owners had left.
"Yes, why?" Neji asked somewhat snappily. He hated this disguise, tying up his hair into a tighter pony-tail and wearing the green vest was no big deal, but the all-black ensemble felt kind of alien, considering that he'd have to wear this getup every day for the remainder of his time spent in Mizuma.
(His attire consists of a High collar mesh shirt, overed with a black V-collar shirt, the signature green vest & then the ninja pouch, black Capri's, and to top it all off, black ninja sandals , -Not to mention he also wears bandages covering his forehead still to cover his branch marking, the forehead protector with the rain village insignia embedded into the metal plate was all that was missing. four vertical lines' J.I.C you don't recall.)
"G-good luck."
Neji had half the mind to say, 'I don't need it' or 'Try not to mess up while I'm gone' but, in a hurry, and not in the mood, "Alright, take care." Was his only reply.
His somewhat, kind remark left Hinata dumbstruck as he walked out the door.
"It's raining v-very hard now… it didn't seem this windy before, d-did it?" Hinata asked as she attempted to make conversation while wiping down the dusty windows of the first story.
"It was barely drizzling this morning, must gain momentum with time." Sai surmised from behind the desk as he continued to paint mindlessly onto the canvas before him.
"Wh-When do you think N-Neji will get back?" Hinata asked gripping her cleaning rag tighter as she attempted to rub of one particularly stubborn stain. When Sai didn't reply, she stopped trying and turned around, Sai wasn't frowning at her, on the contrary he seemed a bit confused, "W-what is it?"
"I don't know weather to decide if your scared of him or if your just honestly worried about him." Sai stated tilting his head, staring at her blankly,
"Wh-why do you think I-I'm scared of h-him?" Hinata never heard such nonsense, she acted the same way towards Neji just as she acted towards her father.
"You don't stand up to him, you don't even attempt to have a normal conversation with him… You act more like his slave than his cousin."
"I-I am n-n-no one's s-slave!" Hinata objected standing, the color in her face rising. Holding the rag to her chest as if it were a sacred shield or something, it was actually quite humorous.
"You don't have to hold the title, but you still obey his every whim like you're trained to do it." Sai stated calmly, a smile threatening to form his features.
"Th-that's not t-true!" Teasing her was entertaining, she looked so cute when she was being defensive. But giving her another long glance, she took on an indignant stance and began to nervously twiddle her thumbs under Sai's expressionless stare. "W-well it isn't." It became awkwardly quiet as Hinata continuously failed to look confident, and Sai looked her up and down before giving up on picking on her.
Sighing he took up his paintbrush again and shook his head, "Whatever you say, Hinata."
He doubted her words, and she disagreed, making it clear to him that she honestly didn't understand how unnaturally obedient she was to Neji. So with that conclusion he'd discontinued his daunting and continued his 'job'.
Hinata watched him for a moment longer before abandoning her cleaning to stand behind him to watch what he was doing, she'd been wondering what he was working on for quite some time.
A mesh of orange, yellow, red and soft green's and browns reminded her of the cool breath of autumn. It was a flurry of colors that'd been transferred unto the canvas. Tilting her head Hinata smiled calmly, it was a relaxing mix of colors. It had to be the mix of yellow and orange that she liked the most… Naruto's signature colors.
This made her smile level up slightly, in time for the door to open. Sai and Hinata looked up from the canvas towards the person in the doorway.
"Has it really been just a couple of hours?" Neji asked hoarsely as Hinata applied several disinfectants to Neji's upper back.
"Yeah, only… Six to be exact." Looking at Neji's clenched left hand, he sighed. A black ninja headband with the proud rain village plate, caught in the iron grip of the older Hyuuga.
(Let's reflect slightly.)
Neji had stumbled back into the shop no more than six hours after he'd left. Three cuts had grazed the bandages covering Neji's marking. There was another cut just above his right eye, and a minor bruise on his left cheek. Glass shards were caught in his ruffled and now impossibly tangled hair, while small cuts and scratches expanded all along his upper back and shoulders. His knuckles were red with rawness and the knees of his pants were so marked up, one couldn't possibly guess what'd happened to him. When Hinata had run up to him asking what'd happened, all he said was,
"I was thrown out a window." Shrugging as if that was all his day had consisted of.
(Back to the now.)
All three had settled in the upstairs kitchen, sitting at the traditional table, which was now covered in first aid supplies and a congratulatory scroll announcing Neji as a certifiable rain ninja. Neji was forced to slump foreword, cross-legged, as Hinata rubbed anti-boitics into the cuts on his shoulders, Sai had taken up a temporary sewing duty, seeing as there were so many rips in his vest.
"Not to pry Neji, but I doubt that all this was caused JUST by being thrown out a window." Neji looked to his left, across the table, at Sai.
Hinata acted as if she didn't notice they were talking, like the wounds on Neji's back were all that existed in her universe. Choosing his words carefully Neji never broke eye contact with Sai,
"They'd read the file that Tsunade sent containing my 'information'. Very few aspecs were altered, like the sender's identity and the personal matters."
"So that they can't track you back to Konoha, right?"
"Yes-oh and by the way, we bring greetings from the sand."
"Thoughtful of Tsunade, using her silent little connections to help us squeak by their detection." Sai remarked, pressing his thumb to his mouth as to catch the red liquid ball.
"They don't suspect me, as far as I know. But under protocol they have to put all new recruits through training."
"For ANBU?"
"Not a chance, this is just applying for a position as a rain ninja, PERIOD. ANBU comes after flying through Chuunin and Jounin training and exams. This will be a long week."
"A week? Shouldn't that take about a couple of months?"
"Luckily abilities to react when there's a tough situation, is considered an ace in the hole. One of the superiors saw that and sorted out a way to cut down my time into a couple of days rather than a couple of months."
"Yes, very lucky."
"So training happened… The exam flew on by. And I was then given the opportunity to meet up with my potential team."
"I thought the rain village turned out the highest percentage of one-man-operational ANBU squads in this region?"
"Well they represent part of the percentage that still operates as a group figure."
"Were they just giving you a 'warm welcome' or was it—"
"Intentional. My team captain apparently doesn't like the idea of a new member, but got landed with me regardless."
"W-was it h-h-him who th-threw y-you out th-the w-window?" Hinata asked timidly, now patting down Neji's shoulders of any excess ointment that hadn't been absorbed into his wounds. For some time now, Neji had finished bandaging his hands, and now was going on with picking glass out of his hair. Annoyed that it'd happened to begin with, he replied with just a nod.
The rain had chilled him to the bone, so he stood up and walked off, stopping at the kitchen entrance, only to slightly turn his head and say,
"For the record, the captain isn't a he…. I just thought you should know that." Neji corrected as he made his way to his room, then to the bathroom.
About a half an hour later Neji had rolled out his tatami mat and allowed his aching body to collapse on it. (not much padding, but his body already hurts, what's a couple seconds of discomfort gonna do?)
Lying on his side, he surrendered to sleep, not caring how early it was, not caring if he'd had nothing to eat, not caring if the house collapsed right now. He shut his eyes, his surrender leading to a realm of thought, recognized only as dreaming.
'Because you're an idiot… and I hate idiots...' These words rang through his head, rearing the ugly head of the not so glorious happenings that'd taken place today. Now how DID I end up getting thrown out a window to begin with? Neji thought.
(Begin Flashback)
"Well if they're not on the training grounds NOW, then they've probably retreated to the library, want me to show you? You can be properly introduced to your team before you head on home." Pressed the very same proctor who'd suggested that Neji's time for training be shorter than most.
"I'll be fine on my own." Neji recalled the day's final events played out before him. He remembered leaving the office to go to the library where his 'soon-to-be' team was.
Opening the double doors that lead into library, he heard the talking before he'd entered at all.
A deep and soft toned voice agreed with the cheerful voice whenever she remarked about something that had to do with their previous mission. He assumed it was a man and a woman speaking, but the man's voice just seemed dark rather than baritone, unnatural for any average male. Walking down one aisle of books and turning right to face the benched window where the voices were coming from, he saw why that voice, seemed so off.
Two women, one sitting on the benched sill of the window and the other leaning in a chair next to the other, were to blame for the slight lack of peace in the library.
The woman in the chair sat facing the window, book in hand she looked up at Neji, blinking several times before giving him a quick once-over. Eyes of the deepest green, and her smile never seemed too much nor appeared to be fake. Her hair was a deep dark red tone, it could almost be passed off for cherry black. Her skin tone indicated that she did indeed spent a lot of time outdoors. Smiling at him sweetly, she tilted her head and asked,
"And who're you?"
"The new guy who Toshi was going on about earlier." The other woman stated. Neji glanced at the lady who sat facing him from the window sill. Her appearence was much less inviting.
Black hair spiking out from under the bandanna she'd secured over her head. (Triangular fashion.) Her ninja headband keeping the bandana in place, and keeping her hair from too much exposure so it seems. He never saw her eyes, she wore black sunglasses, and nothing like Shino's either. Rather than black and rounded, this lady's glasses were rectangular, and kept every inch of light from grazing her eyes. Dark red lipstick and skin so pale, it'd seem only logical to guess that she'd never seen a speck of sunlight in her entire life. The look she bestowed upon Neji was scathing and critical, like she doubted his abilities more than anybody ever did, could and ever will.
"Oooohh… Wowwie wow, he's gotta be something if To-to-kun is willing to vouch for him." The red-head cooed (I'll allow the characters to address each other using post-name mannerisms. But only when talking to each other-rarely- so when they mention names and such, we get an idea of how that person thinks of the one they're talking about.)
"Interesting," The brunette gave Neji another once over before she crossed her arms and leaned her back against the windowsill. "Doesn't seem so outstanding in person."
"Haru-chan, you shouldn't be so rude to him—"
"Ease up May, If he plans to be in ANBU, he should be able to take a little bit of his Senior's creative criticism. Right?"
Neji didn't particularly appreciate how 'right' had been used towards him, it sounded more like a threat to agree rather than a verification. He honestly didn't like this 'Haru' woman, and she made it blatantly obvious that she didn't like him either. He could've accepted it, could've humbled himself to his future team-mate… And then be assumed later on as a doormat, and be treated like a pushover like Hinata. But years of blunt remarks and sharp tongued whit had bubbled up and did something that he subconsciously knew he'd regret.
"Creative criticism, sure, embittered retorts and glares, not so much." Neji made many somewhat snide remarks before towards his own team-mates and on a couple occasions towards Hinata, and a select few oppositionists before. Quick to snap back- should any cold acts be committed against him-this was a skill that sometimes acted on it's own when he was annoyed. And although his annoyance towards this woman was very justified, it was not the wisest of decisions.
"And the message your trying to submit?" The woman questioned icily, posture turning ramrod straight.
"Weather I'm outstanding or not shouldn't matter, what should matter the most to you, should be if I'm absolutely qualified to be an ANBU." She didn't seem mad, she actually seemed interested in what he had stated.
Haru stood up, a faint smile playing on her lips, "I guess your right… Rather than uselessly throwing out my thoughts, I should be testing your abilities." May went from looking eased and warm, to nervous and apprehensive.
"Haru-Chan?—" Two shuriken flew towards Neji, aiming for each eye, reacting he stepped back and deflected both shuriken with one of his own, lowering the hand he'd held the shuriken with, he looked up to realize Haru standing right in front of him. She grabbed his hair and taking a bracing leap backward, used her other hand to grip the sternum of his vest. Thrusting her weight into lifting him, she expertly hurled Neji through the glass window. It was about a 143ft drop.
Quite new to this being-hurled-out-a-window feeling, he didn't quite know how to react to this. But being thrown around in fights from time to time taught him a basic lesson everyone in a tussle should learn. 'If you're going down, take your enemy down with you.' Shooting his arms out, he allowed his left hand to grab the hand attempting to release itself from the tangle of his hair, and the right to latch onto the very same arm. Just as he began to close in on the ground, she had no choice but to follow in suit.
Mere feet from the ground, both landed, but due to the odd positioning of each one's stance, Neji was forced to land flat on his back and Haru fell on her side.
Windblown and momentarily stunned, both remained stationary. Their speechlessness didn't last long, the silence was broken by Neji.
"Maintaining composure is somewhat of an issue with you, isn't it?" Neji coughed agitatedly.
"Shut up, the more you talk the more obvious it is to everyone that you're a hopeless idiot." Haru hissed in return.
"Or maybe it's your severe inferiority complex that had driven you to pull such a stupid stunt."
"Or maybe I just wanted you out of my sight."
"What I can't believe is your really DID throw me out a window…"
"And what I can't believe is that you dragged me down with YOUR sorry ass."
"Because you threw me out a window."
"So?"
"Why'd you throw me out the window?!" Neji barked agitatedly.
Haru didn't answer right away, in fact she allowed a dramatic pause to take over while she released Neji's hair and slowly sat up. Neji, free of her restraint, released his death grip on her arm, allowing her to attempt standing. He sat up, it was when they were both standing did she look at him and reply,
"Because you're an idiot… and I hate idiots…" Her reply was something that someone would expect from a haughty preteen, it didn't set well with the livid Hyuuga.
"I fail to see where that gives relevance to your reasoning."
Once again she had the lightning quick move that took him by surprise, and this time he hadn't focused on her closely enough to see it coming. She threw out her left arm, and grabbed the front of his vest. When she pulled him close he realized he was taller than her, he should've noticed earlier, but by how she carried herself, anything that made her seem, more frail was unnoticeable unless you looked at her closely. Furious for more reasons than he was aware, she allowed every dark note of calm malice to enter her tone. Her words were so full of black promise, the subject of bloodlust was even put to shame.
"Let's get something straight now, you imbecilic little neophyte. I'm out to KILL someone- ONE person and ONE person only… That mission-above ALL others- is more important than anything in my mind… And if your abilities aren't up to par when it comes to backing me up on that goal… Then your not even worthy of being admitted into ANBU, EVEN as the lowest rank- shoe licking servant, sure- but never as an actual warrior. Whatever ideals you hold in your empty little head, are null and void as of this moment, till you prove to me that your worth my time or consideration as a trainee… I'll cut you no slack, I'll show no mercy… you'll live and persevere by my standards and my standards only. So until your admittance is finalized… You. Do. As. I. Say." Her face was only inches from his, and still he didn't see her eyes through her black spectacles. She scrunched her expression in distaste and shoved him away from her,
"And my first demand is that you drop the attitude. Because if it's like this daily, I suspect that the time you have remaining to live will be severely shortened." He barely stumbled when she pushed him back and she turned and walked away.
Neji watched his ranking superior stride through the rain, and couldn't hush the nagging voice in the back of his head, repeating what she'd just said. Never in his life had he'd been seriously believed to be an idiot, and never had he'd been talked down to in such a manner… It was true that in order to attain a rank in the Rain Village's ANBU forces some changes would have to be made, but at how this woman acted… the changes would have to be a step much farther than he'd previously anticipated.
Neji had to admit, he WAS trying her patience… But she was on edge to begin with, yawning he pressed his palm to his forehead and thought, Definitely not wise.
(End Flashback)
Slowly slipping into actual of slumber Neji dozed off with his final thoughts being.
This woman… Is my new captain.
My fate in ANBU lies in the hands of my Captain.
I imagine that this will not go smoothly.
Not smoothly at all.
Okay folks, here's the skinny, I'M SOOOO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG!! TAKE MY ADVICE, NEVER EVER WORK FOR SAFEWAY WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO HOLD UP A STORY! It is near IMPOSSIBLE!! You cannot win!
But hey, I'll be serious now. Sorry for taking so long, but I have to cut this short then lengthen it, then write, rewrite, and edit, I just want you all to understand what's going on without thinking, 'God this story sucks, screw this!' I really like that you guys review me, and such, it gives me a look into your thoughts on my writing. And I like that a lot.
So thank you very much!
Okay, so here's what the post-name mannerisms mean, for those of you who might not know,
Kun- when used it's meant to address a small boy, or is used for the sake of giving a guy a nickname when you're a close friend. When used for a girl it's to indicate a condescending nature.
San- it's like using Mr. or Mrs, indicates respect.
Kempai- Lowerclassmen
Sempai- Upperclassmen
Chan- mannerism used between girls when addressing each other as friends
Sama-a looot of respectitude here folks, this is like saying god pretty much.
Sensei- Writer, Dr, teacher.
Chi- HAS NO REAL MEANING, I USE IT B/C IT'S LIKE GIVING SOMEONE A PET NAME, without using any real mannerism. DO NOT KILL ME, I DON'T USE IT PROFESSIONALLY.
There's more on these mannerism's somewhere, but that's as much as I can remember right now without going Sherlock on the internet.
So yesm, I'll try typing the fourth one asap. Not asap like what I did for this one, no really A.S.A.P I'll do my best.
(p.s I'm trying to quit my job for a new one mmkay? So if there is any delay, I apologize in advance)
(p.s.s I'm now I'm rushing!)
Bye for now!
Loving and writing,
-Taname
