Disclaimer: Mehz dun pwn teh Narutonezz, mahn.
COLD FLOWER
Chapter 4: Meetings
By Mokora
Kakashi smiled unnoticably at the now more expansive crowd of students. "Listen kiddos," He began, scratching his head a bit. "Be nice to 'em, since they'll be here a while. Introduce yourselves, show them around, and get along, or else this won't be pleasant. Tomorrow, we're doing some special training at about noon, so be ready. The rest of the night is yours." He waved a little and turned to talk with his friends. Midori was chuckling with Kurenai, while Ryo and Asuma enjoyed sodas and old stories.
Sakura broke away from the more sociable students and seeked Sasuke, who was isolating himself, as usual. She took a few steps forward, leaves crackling beneath her feet. Night had fallen now, flecks of heavenly white stars speckling the indigo sky, a few deep lavender clouds streaking across the cradled moon, fading into deeper shades at the edges. Robins swooped from tree to tree, searching for a suitable nook to roost in for the night, huddling along each branch and singing their last songs before sleep. The villagers and Senseis had created a nice atmosphere, with colored paper lanterns that hung from wires strung about wooden posts, to welcome the guests. It was a rather peaceful night, Sakura noted gratefully, wanting nothing more at that moment than to relax.
She moved towards Sasuke more slowly now, a little smile illuminating her shadowed face, as she had turned her back to the celebrative lights to approach her beloved. He was situated away from the lights and cheer, and he merely leaned against a tree, eyes closed. She neared him and looked from right to left. "It's a nice night." She attempted to strike up a conversation, and one eye of his opened.
"Hn." Was his reply, which amazingly was his understandable reply to many things. Though it was so unspecific, she always seemed to know what he meant by it. In this case, he was agreeing with her, in a distant sort of way.
"So... What are you going to do?" She asked, standing beside him, a bit forward. She hugged her arms to her middle, as she did quite frequently, looking out at the bustling people. She saw Tenten talking with Nami, and Shikamaru and Ino talking to Kairi and Kazuri.
"Hgn?" Sasuke asked, lifting his head slightly and looking at her questioningly.
"I mean for the rest of the night." She elaborated. "You can't possibly stand here against this tree all night..." She chuckled quietly, awkwardly.
"Really." He shifted a bit and tilted his head back until it rested against the trunk comfortably.
"C'mon... Come meet some of them." Sakura tried, offering a small smile.
"Feh." He scoffed, sneering now. "Those freaks'll find me sooner or later themselves. I can wait."
Sakura sighed, still smiling. He was so cynical, but she couldn't claim that she didn't want to sit beside him the whole night, by that very tree.
"Don't you want any company?" She asked curiously, looking towards the crowd again. She spotted Konohamaru reaching up difficultly to grab a dumpling from a table.
"Doesn't matter."
"Do you really want to be out here, all by yourself?"
"I was, wasn't I?"
"But did you enjoy it?" She persisted.
He laughed ever so slightly now, and Sakura stopped, looking at him perceptively. He was gorgeous when he laughed. His smile proved very complimenting to his other dashing features, like his deep set eyes and thick coal hair.
"What?" She asked defensively, smiling playfully.
He shook his head. "You're pushy."
"So are you!"
"Hm."
She paused, smiling inside and out as she felt her love glow within her heart again. It was a pleasant feeling, that made her feel more serene and homebound.
"If you're staying here..." She began, pausing and swallowing with difficulty. "Can I... Would you mind if I stayed too?" The last words grew more quiet, and she felt her cheeks flame as her stomach turned over a bit. Would she be rejected again?
He looked at her with his intense stone eyes for a moment and sighed silently. "If you want."
Sakura's heart skipped a beat and she hid her joyous smile as the glow within her burst into thousands of tiny little feathers.
"Okay then."
Gaara was also isolating himself from the crowd, which Temari and Kankurou had joined earlier. He lacked his sand gourd, travelling lightly, as he avoided the crowds by all means.
He walked between spaced trees, within the forest's shadows, eye watching the merriness of everyone. But then, his senses flared. Someone else was near.
The girl known as Kurai stood a distance before him, walking in his direction, avoiding his gaze. He watched her as she neared, and as she passed him, their eyes lingered on each other's. She slipped past him and looked back meekly, expecting to be unnoticed, though he looked back also, their eyes locking once more. This moment seemed to slow in time as they watched the other, observingly. She turned away and continued walking. He looked after her, with sobering sea-green eyes. That girl...
Neji watched Razu with a hint of disgust, wondering what his problem was. Tenten approached him casually, leaning against the table as he did, at his side.
"Some folks." She joked, grinning at the quirky guests.
He snorted, his eyes following the jingling and sparkling Hime. "Yeah."
"At least something's happening. I mean, lately, there hasn't been much going on." She stated, swatting a fly that darted about in front of her face, tickling her when it grazed her.
"Yeah."
"Any of them look like competition?" She smashed the pesky insect between her palms abruptly, letting its remains float to the ground, then turning her gaze to the beautiful calm boy beside her.
"Not exaclty." He said, scanning the newcomers once more with his violet eyes, to be sure. "But appearances tell lies."
"True." She said, nodding. "Lee's found a new friend in Kairi, it seems, and Shikamaru has taken to Kazuri." She gestured towards the two similar bums drinking sodas, seating upon the ground beside the crowd, laughing until they rolled over and tilted dangerously.
Neji laughed dryly.
"Ino and Hime seem to get along. But, I swear..." She stopped, scrunching her brow angrily. "That Hime is way too conceited. The first time she saw me, she told me I looked average, which 'isn't a bad thing'." She did little quotation motions to the last words, speaking in a mocking voice. Neji looked over at her with a little smirk, amused.
"Hm..." Tenten smiled, rubbing her left forearm, wondering if she was indeed average. "Nami's sweet though. She loves Kira a whole lot. It's really cute."
Neji said nothing, resuming his minute smirk.
"I was going to look for a Sakura a while ago, but I saw her talking with Sasuke by a tree over there. I decided not to bother them." She giggled a little, then retained her calm. "He's really as strong as he claims to be?"
Neji nodded.
"So... He's stronger than you?"
He nodded again.
"Well, we'll hafta fix that!" Her volume rose, and she lifted a determined fist, grinning.
Neji smiled at her antics, considering her words. He'd like to train with her soon.
Naruto marched over to the tall intimidating boy with long brunette hair and cold ice-blue eyes, known as Jouri.
"What's your name, opponent?" He folded his arms, poking his bottom lip out. This attempt to look intimidating himself failed, seeing as he was a foot shorter than the other.
The boy stared at him coldly, but said nothing.
Naruto waited, getting frustrated.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" He waved an arm dramatically. "What's your name?"
Still nothing. The taller boy returned his gaze to the forest, angering the blonde hothead further.
"What? You think you're too good to talk to me? Well I oughtta--"
Kairi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, silencing him. He laughed achingly, as Naruto reddened.
"This, my little friend, is a mute. My brother doesn't speak. Don't take it personally." He continued to laugh between words, Naruto feeling foolish.
"Well... He should learn how to talk!" Naruto snapped indignantly, shooting an acidic leer towards the mute boy, then marching off. Kairi laughed heartily, always rather tickled when people tried to speak to his brother. Jouri shook his head a bit, annoyed.
Midori crossed her arms casually and looked at the many pupils, horsing around. Kakashi stood beside her, watching also. He couldn't help but feel a little prideful, seeing as none of them had died yet. He'd found that amusing, actually.
Midori pointed to Hime. "That's one of my students. Tsukino Hime, daughter of the lead clan in Sozori. She has quite an attitude, but it keeps her alive. She's powerful too, since her clan carries feline blood. She can choose to be temporarily posessed by this feline demon and she can pack quite the punch. It proves its purpose, I suppose. And there's Yoshie." She directed Kakashi eyes to the boy, surrounded by curious village girls. "He's such a shy boy. But he's powerful also. The worst thing you could do in a battle with that boy is underestimate him." She squinted to look for her last student, seeing him sitting with one of the Konoha boys. "Ah. There's Kazuri. He's as lazy as they come, really. He likes to finish fights as quickly as possible, so that he can watch from the sidelines or sleep." She chuckled. "But he shines on the battlefield. Ironically, his speed is superb."
Kakashi grinned beneath the navy mask. "Quite a handful."
She laughed. "And what about you? The last Uchiha? That's a handful."
He nodded. "Guess you're right."
She looked at him with a little smirk, memories of his pokey silver hair coming back. She'd loved every moment he'd glanced at her, though she never said a word. She'd outgrown this childish shyness, of course, but she still admired him as she had many years before. He still had that heroic aura she'd invisioned as a young girl. She felt her girlish attraction surface, and she shook her head ever so slightly, smiling. He was more gorgeous than ever.
But she couldn't help but wonder what he looked like without that mask. Though everyone did, she was sure. This amused her greatly, and she couldn't help but release a grin.
Shorter chapter here, but it has more description! Yeah! xD
Okay, yes. There's SasuSaku in there, as well as NejiTen. And I guess that's because I'm biased. Because those are my two favorite Naruto couples. xD;; NaruHina and ShikaIno later?
And... A lot of foreshadowing in this chapter. See if you can pick it up. It all wound in there, where you hafta think about it, but alas, it exists.
Ehm... Yes. OC flood, but I promise it will mellow out soon.
Reviews! x3
Hao'sAnjul - I know. Too many decriptions. oo Not as fun, but when they're out of the way, the rest is plenty of fun. xD Thanks for reading!
