Sunday, July 23rd, 2013.
Finished Steins;Gate this week. I loved it. (I watched it in sub, btw)
I learned J. Michael Tatum dubbed Okabe and saw some Youtube clips of it. JMT, you did fantastic as usual.
Fave line I heard Daru say in the English dub: [referring to Okabe and Kurisu-TINA] "They're the OTP of the fanfic I call my life."
Sure, that replaced the "tsundere" line but it was still pretty funny. I dunno if he says tsundere in the English dub in the times Daru called her that in Japanese, but I don't care enough to look right now.
Can't wait for the movie to come out in the US...
This coming week I'll be more focused on fanfiction and reading manga and shiz instead of watching an anime that week because I'll be busy after like 5pm, (Vacation Bible School for church) and I wanna be ahead in writing chapters. I actually wrote this one last night, and edited it twice today. Not as much as I usually do - I always edit when I update (which is why I take an hour to do so) so that means I only edited it once otherwise.
Anime/Manga Recommendation: "Gakuen Babysitters". It's a shoujo, though with little romance (if something's a shoujo, it just means it's initially target towards girls. It doesn't necessarily mean it has romance) is absolutely loveable. The main characters are a teenager and his toddler little brother who lost their parents recently and are taken in by nice (but tsundere) old lady. I think she runs the school he goes to. To compensate for living in her mansion, the older brother has to volunteer at the school's babysitting club (where he leaves his brother while at school) and the children quickly take a liking to him. He makes friends with the head babysitter (he reminds me of Kakashi for some reason... ), the children, their parents, and close friends with one of the kids' older brother who happens to be his classmate. It's funny, it's cute, shows some kid-logic (because there's a bunch of kids in it) and is all-around loveable. Even guys can easily love this. I love the art, too. It's ongoing, I think it's monthly, and it has 39 chapters so far.
Book Recommendations: Cancelled because the chapter today's nearly 5k words, and these authors notes are already long.
Fun Fact: I have a twin sister. She's older than me by a minute. She may review as a guest, so if you see "Your Twin" that's her. Probably. Usually. Why else would someone have the username "Your Twin"?
Answer to last QotW: I'm just going to tell you the ones I've seen so far: Psycho-Pass, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Steins;Gate, and the movie "5cm Per Second". Favorite of what I've seen: Psycho-Pass and Steins;Gate.
Advertisment Section (I'll do that once in a while I guess, to advertise my friend's stuff, or advertise cool artist, anime reviewers, whatever): My friend's poems on teenink. She's pretty good. She's yeahthatsme if I remember right.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto Karin wouldn't be a fangirl again after acknowledging the Sasuke she liked and the Sasuke that nearly killed her were not the same person and giving up on him. Which. Was. Exactly. What. Kishi. Did. She did give up on him! Check out her quotes on her wiki page! Check her wikia in general! See the episode! Read the chapter! WTF Kishi?!
I originally planned on this being a SaIno chapter, but that part was too short so this is now a SaIno and KibaOC chapter.
If you've read DoOver, you know who the OC is already. I won't go into her backstory yet.
I think the next chapter will be last party preparations, then the party in the chapter after that, a twist after that, and Karin after that. You'll see. I dunno yet.
BTW, please tell me if you liked Kiba's flirting, and if it was well-written.
Word Count Including ANs: 6.6k+. Dayum.
Chapter 14: New, Weird, Feelings
Sai POV
Hm… I wonder…
"Sai-kun! Sai-kun, over here!" I turned to the direction of the feminine voice, breaking out of my thoughts.
Oh. It has been a while since I've seen her last.
I walked over to the girl that was waving me over from the entrance of a Korean BBQ.
"Greetings, Beautiful. Was that a suitable salutation?"
Ino rolled her eyes. "'Greetings' is overly formal and outdated, so no. You can just say 'hello' if 'hi' is too much for you, you know."
I thought about it. "Okay… I'll write that down."
I took out my notebook and wrote her words down. This could come in use to me later.
When I looked back up from the notebook at her, she took my hand and dragged me into the restaurant. "My team was having lunch and I saw you wandering around town from the window and decided to bring you over."
When we reached her teammates' table, she ignored their "odd" looks and interrupted their questions about me and introduced me. "Guys, this is Sai-kun. He's Forehead's new teammate and a friend. Sai-kun, this is Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Sarutobi Asuma-sensei."
We both knew she didn't do the introductions for my sake – she did it for show. They do not know me, but I know them.
"Hello." I said, offering them my usual "smile" attempt.
"Uh… hi/hello/nice to meet you," were their responses.
"Scoot over, Shika!"
Shikamaru tried to quickly scoot to the end of the seat against the wall so Ino wouldn't push him there (he wasn't fast enough so she did anyway) while pulling the two of us into this side of the booth. Chouji and Asuma were on the other side.
I heard Chouji mutter something about a "creepy smile" as he resumed eating. Is my smile really "creepy"? Dickless says that all the time…
Shikamaru eyed me warily but continued to eat as well.
Ino prompted me to eat, too, since I joined them.
For a moment, Asuma stared at me, not even bothering to take a bit of his food. Shouldn't he hurry, lest Chouji eat it all?
Until…
"Oh! Now I know why your uniform looks so familiar! You're from ROOT, aren't you?" Shikamaru and Chouji looked up from their food, now curious.
"Actually, you seem all-around familiar, too, not just the uniform. You're that new graduate prodigy, right? Tou-san-…(1) I mean, Hokage-sama was muttering something about a graduate with really pale skin. Are you him?"
I nodded. "Yes, I am."
"Well congrats, then! Er… I guess… well, you know…" It occurred to me that he may know about the final test, which isn't the best of events. The fact of the graduation is usually something to be celebrated, but a fight to the death/killing your teammate is not. That must be why he is conflicted.
I noticed from the corner of my eye that Shikamaru seemed curious. Now that I think about it, Shikamaru's intelligence may be a threat to keeping the secret about our time traveling. We should be careful about him...
"Thank you nonetheless, Sarutobi-sempai."
"Nah, nah. Just call me Asuma."
"Asuma-sempai then."
"I guess that works…"
"What's ROOT?" Shikamaru asked.
This time, Ino answered before Asuma could. "ROOT's an elite organization that's sorta like a private branch of the ANBU. It's run by Danzo."
"And… *chomp* you graduated… from it? You're… *glup* our age, aren't you?" Chouji asked, around the food in his mouth.
I nodded "yes" as Ino scolded Chouji for talking with his mouth full.
When he replied, "yes, Mother", I was confused. Huh?
"What does he mean, 'yes, Mother'? You're not his mother. Is that a 'saying'?" I asked. What an odd saying.
Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma gave me what I would label as "weird" looks. Actually, Asuma seemed more skeptical, like he had an idea of why I act the way I do. He may know more about ROOT than I thought, being so close to our Hokage.
"Yeah, it is. The way I scolded Chouji was a lot like the way a mother would scold her child. So when something like that happens, the 'child' in this case would say, 'yes, Mother' to mock the 'Mother' in the situation. It's usually said in a sarcastic tone."
"Oh." I said, taking a small note about that in my notebook quickly, and then resuming to eat.
"What's going on here?" Shikamaru asked after a moment.
Ino answered "smoothly". At least, I assume you could describe that as "smoothly". I'm not sure. "Sai-kun's emotionally stunted, per say. It's usually up to Forehead and I to explain things to him, since Sasuke-kun wouldn't bother, Naruto gets angry, and Kakashi-sensei wouldn't bother much either. At least, that's what Billboard-Brow said.
"Sai-kun also has nicknames for the people he knows."
"Really?" Chouji asked.
"Yes. My books say they are a good way to quickly make friends."
"Book… make friends…?" Shikamaru muttered.
"Anyway," Chouji interrupted. "Do you have nicknames for us?"
I nodded. I think these are okay. I'm not as… proud (?) of these as I am with my teammates, but they're the best I've got.
"You are 'Teddy', Shikamaru-san is 'Sloth-san', or 'Namake-san'(2), and Asuma-sempai is 'Smoker-san'."
"'Teddy'? Why 'Teddy'?" Chouji asked.
"You are… plump and soft like a teddy bear. I've been told you are very nice, and do people not seek comfort in teddy bears? I thought it would fit. Is that not right?" I was confused. I thought that would work… and I made sure not to use the "f"-word...
Chouji smiled, to my surprise. "No! It's fine. I like it, actually."
"How'd you know I was lazy?" Shikamaru asked.
I turned to him, a "smile" on my face as usual. "You have this air about you. Also, Beautiful has told me a lot about you all."
"… Who's 'Beautiful'?"
"That would be me, of course!" Ino said, beaming.
Chouji and Shikamaru muttered something under their breaths and I felt and heard Ino kick them under the table. Hm… did she hear and what they said offended her? Ugly does that, too…
"'Smoker', huh? Okay, I guess. I probably smell like cigarettes anyway."
"You just like the name because Smoker is you favorite character in One Piece.(3)"
Asuma laughed. "Got me there."
After eating the last of his food, he slid out of the booth and stood up, stretching. "We're all done, right? So let's go. The bill's here, anyway."
He laid some money on the bill on the table and I laid some of my own on top. Asuma and Ino tried to protest, but I insisted. After all, it was a team gathering and I'm not part of the team.
"Now that I think about it, what were you doing wandering around town, anyway?" Ino asked, as we exited the restaurant.
"Cockat- ah, Sasuke-kun's(4) birthday is coming up and our team is throwing a surprise birthday party. We all need to get presents. I was trying to think of a present for him. Please keep the party a secret – if Ug- I mean, Sakura knew that the secret… um, what do you call it… 'leaked' and got to Sasuke-san(5) because of me, she'd hurt me. And she's quite strong, despite her appearance."
I shivered, remembering the strength of her fist.
"Ooh!" Ino said. "I have an idea!"
She turned to Asuma. "Asuma-sensei, we're basically done for the day, right?"
"Uh, yeah, but-"
"'Kay then! I'm gonna help Sai-kun get Sasuke-kun a present! Bye, guys!" Ino began pulling me into town.
Shikamaru and Chouji waved goodbye slowly as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.
I saw Asuma shrug when I looked over my shoulder, and take the others in another direction.
"When's the party? It's on his birthday, right? The 23rd?" Ino asked me as we walked side-by-side.
"Yes. Today's the 18th." I had forgotten Beautiful was a classmate and fangirl of Sasuke's. It's no wonder she knew his birthday.
"Five days, huh… When did you talk about the surprise party?"
"Ugly told us 2 days ago. She and Sasuke's mother are the planners."
"Hm… Any ideas?"
"Naruto advised me clothes would be 'awkward' from a friend, especially a male one. Ugly said Scarecrow-sempai may probably get him kunai, therefore, unless it's 'special', don't get him weapons. So no."
The two of us sat down at a wooden bench, thinking.
I took the time to look at Ino. Despite my original reasoning for calling her "Beautiful", I think… I think I may believe her to be quite "pretty". After so long, my sense of "beauty" is beginning to return. Though it seems to apply more with nature, inanimate objects, and animals rather than people.
But it seems I'm starting to find people "pretty" or the like as well now. Attractive maybe. Soon, if all goes well, I'll be able to see other people similar to how everyone else does.
That said, and as I said before, I think Ino may be quite pretty in my eyes. I don't know for sure... I like the way she looks, and I could stare at her for a long time. I also get a weird feeling, when I look at her. Like a receptor's going off my brain. Maybe that's what tells me who is good-looking and who isn't. That's how my book described it. "Like a subconscious receptor..."
"Sai-kun?" Ino's voice said.
I had forgotten she was here talking to me.
"Yes? I apologize. I was… um…"
"Spacing out?" Ino finished for me.
I nodded.
"It's alright. I think I have an idea, though."
"What is it?" She has very deep sky-blue eyes… I like looking in them.
Ino seemed to redden a bit –maybe from my gaze– but continued.
"Why not paint something? You are an artist after all."
So simple, but makes a lot of sense. "Of course! I am an artist."
But wait a moment… "But what should I paint? It can't just be anything right? Something… 'special and meaningful' like my books said… but what?"
Ino thought for a moment. Soon, she snapped her fingers. "I think I've got it!"
Then, she leaned in and whispered into my ear. "How about this…"
"Thank you Beautiful, for today." We stood in front of the Yamanaka flower shop. She lived next to it with her parents. The rest of the clan all live in a little sector, like all the other big clans, nearby.(5)
It was sunset.
She smiled. I got a weird feeling in my stomach.
"Your welcome, I had fun."
After she told me her idea for what to paint for Sasuke's birthday, we went over to the art store to get supplies.
After that, we dropped the things off in my apartment and spent the rest of the day walking around town as she explained modern expressions, mannerisms, and such to me. As well as answer some questions I had.
She was more straight-forward and blunt than Sakura, and unlike her, didn't stutter and get angry with me after a while.
Though I enjoyed company with Sakura (I think) I enjoyed Ino's much more (I think). And not just because she wasn't violent with me.
Well, that was part of it (I believe; I'm not very sure of anything anymore). I don't really know the rest of it, though.
But I do know that I really had fun with her today, and I think I felt a bond growing.
In the future, we didn't spend much time with each other. But now, here we were, spending the whole day together.
I like it. I like it very much.
"Let's spend more time together, okay?" Ino said.
I nodded. "Of course. If you wouldn't mind, could we also meet up more to help me with my… problem?"
"Yeah! We can have session-like-things. That takes care of the spending-time-together thing, too. Here – let's trade phones. I'll give you my number and you give me yours."
We traded numbers. I put myself in her contacts as "Sai-kun" (since she calls me that) and she put herself in as "Beautiful".
"Okay! I'll text you when I have a free afternoon. Then we can meet up at…."
"What about my apartment?" I offered. "You know I live alone."
"Yeah! That'd great! I don't want my parents to be around…"
"Why?" I asked.
She reddened and waved her arms frantically. "S-so they d-d-don't interrupt, y-you know?"
I'm not sure what was odd about the answer, but I just accepted it. "Oh, of course."
I turned to leave. "Well, then, until next time Beautiful."
I was about to walk away when her voice stopped me. "Wait!"
She to me and turned me around to face her. "'Until next time' sounds a bit formal and like we only see each other every couple months. Or even a movie line. 'Bye' is fine, or even 'goodbye' for you."
She leaned close to me. What is she doing?
Her lips lingered on my cheek for a moment, and then pulled away.
"Bye, Sai-kun!"
I waved until she disappeared into her home.
I put a hand to the cheek she kissed, feeling my face warm just a bit for some reason. Am I blushing? I wonder why…
I started walking back to my apartment, as the sun set even lower, the skies getting darker.
I liked it when she kissed me on my cheek. But I wonder what this odd feeling is… I should probably ask the Hag. For some reason, I don't want Beautiful to know about my weird feelings…
Earlier that day, Kiba POV
Damn it all… I don't want to do this shit!
I grumbled angrily to myself as I walked around town, aimlessly. Why the hell should I have to get that Sasuke bastard a present? Who gives a fuck about his birthday? I don't!
"He didn't get me a birthday present on my birthday almost two weeks ago…(6) Why should I be forced to get him one?" I muttered to myself.
Akamaru barked indignantly.
"Sorry. Our birthday."(7)
He barked again, but longer this time. "He did get us a present, remember? Mikoto-san forced him to get you something –shuriken – and Shisui actually got us something legit," I translated.
Okay, that wasn't exactly what he said, but "dog" doesn't translate easily into human speech. Wild dog is much vaguer.
That's the gist of what Akamaru said, sorta. I'm not sure how to explain it to normal people… Did I just call myself abnormal? Well, I'll take it as a compliment, then… a compliment from myself…
"Key word, Akamaru: forced. And yeah… those headphones Shisui got us were cool. Well, the ones he got me, anyway. But the hot, fresh steak he made with Mura for you was good, too, right?"
He barked in agreement.
Maybe I should just get that bastard something shitty. Not too shitty, though… Sis'll kill me. And so will Mom. And Mikoto-san…
I shivered.
Sigh.
Okay, I'm sure you're all curious about my obvious hatred for Sasuke, right?
To be honest, I don't hate Sasuke as much as I claim, per say, but my pride won't let me admit that so just forget that first part of the sentence.
Let's say, theoretically, that the first part of that sentence was true.
What did I really hate then? God, I sound like a therapist. Who am I talking to, anyway? Whatever.
Here's the run-down:
Remember how Hana was teammates with Shisui and Itachi as kids, graduating early and all that shiz?
Yeah, well, inevitably, that'd lead to me and Sasuke having to hang out with each other a lot.
We got along pretty well I guess, but we were kids and protective of our older siblings – we didn't like the other's older sibling stealing away our older bro/sis. So we had this underlying dislike for each other, as well as a truce or some sort.
We were little boys. What did we know?
I don't really get it either, though.
Anyhoos, we got along alright, and were friends. Not best friends, but pretty okay friends. That's also how I first met Naruto by the way – when Hana and I came over to the Uchiha Manor and found Naruto there.
Likewise for how Sasuke (and soon Naruto) met Shino.
We got along (Naruto and I) a lot better than I did with Sasuke, obviously, though we fought a lot. We're too alike, according to Sis.
Soon, I acquired Akamaru, too. So Sasuke and Naruto have known him for a while.
Anyway, us Inuzukas and the Uchihas became close-ish.
Then, Itachi killed nearly all of his family and defected from the village.
It.
Broke.
Hana's.
Heart.
Shattered it like a vase.
Tore it into tiny pieces.
Shredded it into tinier pieces.
Burned said pieces.
It hit her so bad, she kinda lost sanity for a couple months – she mumbling to herself, having mood swings, being hysterical majority of the time. It was frightening.
All because Itachi left and Massacred the majority of his clan while he was at it.
I had to stay over at Shino's for 3 months – away from my sister that was suffering so much.
Even though I was just 8 years old,(8) watching her heart break hurt me, too. A lot.
Soon though, my sister calmed down and she was back to her normal self after months of a badly hidden depression. Shisui was a big help, too.
Ever since, the Inuzuka-… no. Mom and Hana are still friends with Mikoto and Fugaku and all that. It was really just the 3 of us that were close to the Uchihas. The rest of the clan didn't care.
It's me that avoids the place.
I have no problem with Mikoto and Shisui, though.
Fugaku's kinda intimidating.
I'm explaining Sasuke to you.
So as you can see, it was really Itachi that I hated for doing what he did to my sister.
Part of my hate is misdirected (my pride says to forget that was ever said) to the clan and mostly Sasuke because they're the closest thing we have to Itachi.
But that's like, barely even 10% of why I have such hatred/extreme dislike towards Sasuke.
But why else do I hate Sasuke?
After the Massacre, he became a total asshole.
He hardly seemed to care that anyone but himself was hurting.
No, it was all "me, me, me"! "I'm hurting the most, and I must take revenge upon him!"
Okay, he didn't say that, but he was probably thinking it. And everyone knows that he has a revenge obsession.
People who love him like Mikoto try to pretend it's not there so he's not lost, too. Mikoto doesn't show it, but she's terrified of losing Sasuke as well. Even Fugaku cares.
And it wasn't just the revenge thing – Sasuke was an all-around jerk. It amazes me that Naruto remained friends with him. The nice part of me says that maybe, deep down, Sasuke's not all that bad, and that's why Naruto stays. And because he understands him.
That same part of me kinda understands him and wants to as well. But I'm so angry with him, I bury that part down.
So, over the years, I grew to hate him as much as I do now.
Understand?
Good, because Akamaru is chewing my pants off.
"Geez, what is it, Akamaru?!"
He let go of my pant leg, and pointed a paw over to the nearby bookstore.
Inside was a girl my age that was trying to reach something on a shelf that was too high for her.
But it wasn't just any girl.
It's her.
I've seen the girl around Konoha just a couple times, which is odd because I know nearly every face in town and see them way more often than I see her. I take Akamaru on walks at least once or twice a day, you know.
Does she stay at home a lot? Does she leave the village a lot or something?
She's usually around a guy at least 4 years older than her, too. Once, he was pushing her around in a wheelchair. Her brother? I doubt that's her boyfriend.
For some reason, my eyes were easily drawn to her.
Just yesterday, I saw her staring at some puppies from outside the pet store. You know how sometimes there's a platform or something at the window, so people can look in and see the cute animals?
Yeah. She was looking at that.
Anyway, I was so distracted staring at her while she stared at the puppies that I walked right into a telephone pole.
I saw her giggle, and I blushed.
Then, Akamaru barked something, and turned to him whilst rubbing my face.
But when I turned back after defending myself from his comment (which was, "Watch where you're going Lover Boy.") she was already gone.
But now...
I walked over to her in the bookstore, reaching above her to get the book she wanted.
"This the one?" I asked, looking down to her.
"Y-yeah…" she said, taking the book from me. "Thanks."
It was pretty obvious why I was distracted by her yesterday – the girl was really pretty. And really cute.
She had jet black hair that reach just past her shoulders that looked like they wanted desperately to curl like a princess's but couldn't, and settled with just slight curliness.
She had a cute, heart-shaped face. Or is it more round-ish? I dunno… that's what girls are for. Knowing shit like this.
She had pale-ish skin, just a bit more color than Hinata's skin color. Just a smidgen of more color.
A smidgen.
Um… anyway.
She had the cutest mole below her right eye, resting on the top of her cheekbone.
Her eyes… they were the most unique eyes I've ever seen, I'll give you that much. They were ever-changing blue-green eyes.
Seriously.
One minute, they're a vivid, deep, electric blue; then they change into a softer teal, like the ocean; then into a vibrant emerald green; then a lighter peridot shade; and then into a soft, baby blue, starting the cycle over again.
She was also shorter than me. Her eyes were level with the top of my neck. Quite the petite girl, in general, reminding me of Hinata.
"You're welcome," I said.
"Would you like to get something?" she asked me, giving me a sweet smile.
To hide my blush, I turned away. "Nah, I'm not much of a reader." She has cute dimples… and her smile's pretty, too.
"Oh. 'Kay, then."
Just then, Akamaru whimpered, begging for attention. Attention whore… he likes girls more than I do! Well-… maybe…
"Ooh! A puppy!"
She picked the attention-seeker up, and petted him behind the ears.
He ate it right up, loving it, that little mutt…
"What's his name?" She asked.
"Akamaru."
Outside the store, a couple moments later.
"So does the pretty girl have a name?" I asked, when we took a seat on a bench near the bookstore. So that line doesn't only work in movies… I didn't sound like some desperate douche. At least, I don't think so.
She blushed cutely (I've been using that word a lot; what's wrong with me?!) and turned away, obviously embarrassed. Yup. The line worked. No desperate-douchey-ness there.
"You think I'm pretty?" She asked. Hm… interesting. She's modest.
"Dunno, do you have a name?" Smooth, Kiba. Good job!
"Yes."
"Then there's your answer."
She blushed harder and I smirked. I am so good!
"I'll give you mine if you give me yours. Name, I mean." She said. Not bad, cutie!
I smirked again. "Inuzuka Kiba, at your service. You're already holding Akamaru, my best bud. He's my ninken.(9)"
"Kanazawa Mitsuki. 'Mitsu' meaning 'honey'.(10) My dad loved honey, so he named me after it."
"Nice to meet you, Mitsu. You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"
She smiled. "No, not at all, Kiba-kun. So you're a ninja?"
I nodded. "My teammates are, luckily, my childhood friends, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. And Akamaru, of course."
"Cool! I'm just a civilian, obviously… but now that I think about it, what were you doing walking around town today, anyway?"
I frowned remembering my predicament.
I decided to explain it to her.
"Oh, I see…" she said, nodding quietly, all the while petting Akamaru.
"Yeah…"
"So you guys were friends when you were kids, right?"
"Yeah."
"Does any part of you want to rekindle that friendship?"
I was shocked and sputtered. "W-wh-what? N-no way! Of c-course not!"
She gave me a look. And the weird thing is, that look was penetrating.
To me at least.
So, I caved, shoving my pride to the side slightly, for once.
I scratched my head, embarrassed, pulling my hood down. "Well… maybe. I don't miss it all that much, but still..."
"Then why not get him something meaningful then?"
"He's Sasuke. I highly doubt he wants to rekindle our friendship. And if in some alternate universe he did, then it'd definitely buried much deeper in his pride than my desire was. His pride is the size of Paris, I swear. And like I said – we weren't all that close."
"Then…" She thought for a second, tapping her forefinger against her chin.
I can't believe I'm saying this word again, but it was cute. WHAT is wrong with me?
"How about just taking a small step then? Just a hint, using the present; assuming you had some sort of item that was precious to you both as children and would make him remember the instant he saw it."
I shook my head. "No such object."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Okay then… um… judging by the way you described him, I bet there doesn't seem to be much that he likes and he has quite a few other people getting him presents… Wait, ooh! What about…"
She whispered the idea into my ear.
"It's not super special and meaningful and stuff like that, but it shows you made an effort to get something for him. And maybe, you guys could talk it out or something sometime."
"I highly doubt the latter's going to happen but your idea sounds good. I think I'm gonna do it. Sasuke's pretty perceptive, so maybe that could give him a clue about… you know… wanting to become friends again... I wouldn't have given him a present that took some sort of effort without caring about him at least a little bit, despite my sister and mother pushing me to, and he knows it."
I took a look at the sky. The sun's setting already?
I stood up and stretched. "I better get home, I've been out for a while."
"Wait a sec!" Mitsuki said, standing up as well.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I… I want your number!" Her face was red, and she was looking at the ground. I refuse to say the word "cute" again… Shit, I said it!
My eyes widened. "Oh! We can just trade phones, then."
We traded and entered in our numbers.
"There you go," handing hers back. When her hand grazed mine when I gave hers back, it felt like my hand was on fire and I pulled away the moment she had a firm grip on her phone.
An eyebrow rose but she didn't say anything.
"How about I walk you home?" I asked, wanting to spend more time with her for some unidentifiable reason.
Okay, it's pretty easy to tell what it is, but I'm not ready to admit that yet. Pride, remember?
"What? Y-you don't have to d-do that!"
She said, trying to protest whilst blushing.
"I insist. So which way to your place?"
Realizing I wasn't going to give up, she sighed and started walking. "This way."
Here we stood outside her apartment door, on first floor of the building. "Thanks for bringing me home, Kiba-kun."
"Your welcome, Mitsu-chan."
Before either of us could say anything else, her door burst open and there stood the guy I'd occasionally seen her with before.
"Who's this, Mitsuki?"
"Oh! Nii-chan!" Called it.
Now that I saw them both up close, I could see the resemblance.
However, instead, he had tanner skin (sun, maybe? Or natural?), chestnut brown that hair lighter than mine, and forest green eyes. And his mole was just slightly lower, about a centimeter lower, on his left cheekbone instead of his right and resting on top of it like Mitsuki's.
"Nii-chan, this is Inuzuka Kiba and that's Akamaru. They're friends I made today. Kiba-kun, this is my brother, Kazuo. 'Kazu' meaning harmony.(11) Nii-chan, Kiba's a ninja, too!"
His stare stayed hard. "You are, huh?"
"Yes, Kazuo-san. Genin." Let's face it – he had the "touch-even-a-hair-on-my-little-girl-and-I'll-kill -you!" stare that older brother and fathers have. It was intimidating! And kinda scary! Though it's kinda flattering that he was using it on me... sorta... in a way... it's complicated. You know... shit like that.
"Hmph. I'm a jounin."
After a moment of staring at me, his expression softened slightly and he turned to his sister. "I'll be inside, 'kay?"
Then, he re-entered his apartment.
"Sorry about that," Mitsu said. "My brother's pretty over-protective. He means well, though! Judging by his reaction, I guess he decided you weren't dangerous. He's a good guy once you get to know him, though. Honest."
I gave her a smile. "I bet. I'm the same way with my sister sometimes." It's true. Worst part for them is that I could actually growl like a dog. And she has 3 large dogs to growl with me. Scary, much?
She smiled back. What a pretty smile…
Trying to hide my blush, I coughed. "So I'll be seeing you then?"
She nodded. "See you Kiba-kun! I'll text you sometime. Or call you. Whichever."
"I'd like that." We waved good bye, and I left.
On the way home, Akamaru snickered and made fun of me. "Someone's got a crush~!"
"Shut up, you stupid mutt!" Maybe I do like her, but I won't give Akamaru the satisfaction.
I "hmph"-ed.
Soon after, my stomach growled.
"I wonder what Mom made for dinner…" I muttered.
(1): Asuma's one of the Third's sons. I believe he has 3. One's dead and has been for a while, I think, and another is Konohamaru's dad. We know nothing about any of the others, though. I could be wrong about the first brother.
(2): "Namake"="lazy" in Japanese. I tried to get "sloth" in romaji but I couldn't find it, so I settled for "lazy". Sorry for the lame nicknames, guys. I should've just asked you for some.
(3): He's pretty epic, too, btw. He's made of smoke, he smokes, and his name's really Smoker. And yet, the 4kids dub changed his name to Chaser. WTF? Sure, he chased Luffy a lot, but that's his job!
(4): I remember in the manga that Sai has referred to Sasuke as "Sasuke-kun" when he used his name. In the anime, too, I think. Some guys use it, and they're... I don't want to say more "feminine" guys, but it doesn't surprise me a guy like Sai would use "-kun". Not that I'm calling him gay or anything. I'm going to throw around both "-san" and "-kun" on Sasuke's name when Sai actually says it, though, okay? He's experimenting on which he should use.
(5): I figured all the big clans lived together, like the Hyuuga and Uchiha. I know for sure the Uchiha have individual houses for each individual family within their property, so that's probably the same for the other clans, but less isolated. (the Uchiha clan was isolated, remember?) Except maybe their manors aren't as huge and it isn't as blatant that that small section of the village is there.
(6): Kiba's birthday is July 7th. (Important date... Japanese holiday, and important in FT) Remember, it's July 18th.
(7): Kiba and Akamaru have the same birthday. I'm not kidding.
(8): I figured Sasuke was 8 at the time of the Massacre by weighing the circumstances, how old they looked, and stuff like that. Or no older than 9 at least, and Itachi had to at least of been 13: that's when he became ANBU captain. So Sasuke can't be any younger than 8 for that to be true. But I figure he was 8. And since Kiba's about 2 weeks older than Sasuke, he was 8, too, when it happened.
(9): "Ninken"=Ninja dog(s).
(10): Mitsuki has a backstory, but I don't want to go into that now. It also explains why Kiba doesn't see her often and why she was once in a wheelchair. If you've read DoOver, you know why.
(11): Obviously, their dad is a pretty big influence to them. Not a single mention of their mom, right? I found Kazuo's name when I looked up male Japanese names. I didn't give him one in DoOver. Nor did I describe how he looked.
I hope Kiba's POV was entertaining for you, and the flirting was okay. I tried my best...
REMEMBER! FUGAKU IS ALIVE! HE'S JUST BEEN ON A BUSINESS TRIP! I CHANGED MY MIND A WHILE BACK!
YOU CAN STILL GIVE ME PRESENT IDEAS FOR KAKASH AND SAKURA!
YOU CAN GIVE ME NICKNAMES THAT SAI CAN USE FOR CHARACTERS THAT AREN'T IN TEAM 10 OR 7!
I'M A LAME, SO I WANT YOUR GUYS' GENIUS!
Don't forget that the 75th and 100th reviewer gets a one-shot of their choice out of the couples I support or stuff like that. Kay?
I also need to write the one-shots I promised other reviewers...
Love y'all!
-Cherry
PS: So Miami Heat won, huh? Man - I watched like zero pro basketball this season! I only watched college from the Sweet 16 to the finals... (I lost a bet then). American football season... get here, already!