Neji Hyuuga was whipping through the Konoha forest at a wonderfully reckless pace. He had his Byakugan activated, and therefore felt the there was no need for caution. He was schedule to meet Tenten and Rock Lee for training. He had purposefully scheduled training time with his old genin team, ever since realizing how blind he had been with regards to Shikamaru and Ino. An afternoon's training with the taijutsu specialist and the weapons master would be sufficient punishment, he thought.
He sent his sight up ahead, scanning the area. He had told his teammates to meet in Sector 3 after lunch, and he was, of course, right on time. Sometimes, Tenten and Lee were early, and if that was the case, then he wanted to sneak up on them unawares. He spotted movement ahead and to the right, underneath a tree, and he focused on it…
…only to come crashing down hard, his eyes shut tight with his hands over them, unable to believe what he had seen, and feeling slightly nauseous. His thoughts, for once, were largely incoherent, but they seemed to run along the lines of ewwwwwwwwww.
Slowly and shakily he stood up, brushing dirt from his clothes with the air of a man desperately searching for some sane thing to do. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the meaning of what he had inadvertently witnessed, when he heard and exuberant voice from behind.
"NEJII! How wonderful to see you here on this glorious day! Are you here for training?" his old sensei, Maito Gai, hollered from two feet behind him. Neji turned to see the Green Beast of Konoha in one of his nice guy poses, complete with gleaming white teeth that pinged at him. Neji blinked, unable to speak just yet.
"Lee informed me that you and Tenten were going to meet him for some extra training, and I thought I'd join you. It'll be just like the old days! It is good to remember our glorious youthful past!" Gai exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye and looking properly nostalgic.
This speech gave Neji enough time to gather his wits. He blinked as he took in what his old sensei had just said. That, coupled with what he had just seen, inspired something akin to panic in Neji.
"Gai-sensei, I am glad that I ran into you. You see, something has come up that I need your help with," he said calmly, frantically trying to think of something that would enable him to get Gai away from the forest as quickly as possible. They absolutely must not meet with Tenten and Lee at the moment, bad things would happen if they did.
Gai dropped the nostalgic face and put on his serious face.
"Yes, Neji, what is it?" he asked.
Outwardly, Neji was calm. Inwardly, he was panicking. What on earth could he say to get Gai-sensei away? His mind lit on something, and he sighed mentally.
"I have challenged my rival Uchiha Sasuke to a two man team challenge. He has chosen his former sensei, Kakashi, to be his partner, and I thought it fitting to ask you to be mine," Neji said quickly. Gai was quiet for a moment, and Neji held his breath.
"OF COURSE! I must defeat my eternal rival, KAKASHI! What must we do?" he asked, and Neji relaxed before assuming a very serious face, which really wasn't all that different from his regular one.
"Hide and Seek. Sasuke and Kakashi have hidden themselves, and we must locate them. I believe they are in Sector 11. We must leave immediately."
Gai-sensei agreed using a great deal of words. Neji just tuned him out, silently cursing his teammates. Now he was stuck with Gai for an afternoon, and what was he going to do when Gai-sensei didn't find Sasuke and Kakashi at Sector 11? He pushed those thoughts aside. He would just deal with that when it was necessary, and not before.
Tenten and Lee owed him big time for this.
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Yamanaka Ino looked up from the magazine she was reading as the bell on the door jingled cheerfully. She was surprised to see Maito Gai bounding inside, followed by a reluctant Hyuuga Neji.
"Hello!" she greeted, putting the thousand watt smile on her face, "Welcome to Yamanaka's flower shop. What can I do for you?"
Gai answered by putting his finger to his lips, signaling silence. Ino stared at him, baffled, before turning to Neji for an explanation. He looked…exhausted.
"Don't ask," he muttered, before hurrying after Gai, who had just dived into a large plant display with a triumphant "AHA!"
Ino was momentarily distracted from their antics as the shop door jingled again, signaling another customer. This time, she really hoped it was an actual customer. Her hopes fled when she saw Shikamaru.
"Hey, Shika, what are you doing here?" she asked, "Come to keep me company?"
"Tch. The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Ino," he drawled, walking over to a display. Ino narrowed her eyes at him, but was unable to reply as Gai shouted "BLAST! He isn't here! Where could he be?" Both she and Shikamaru turned to watch Gai as he struck a thoughtful pose, one hand on his hip, the other on his chin. Shikamaru caught Ino's eye and raised his eyebrow. She just shrugged at him and turned back to her magazine. Shikamaru looked back at Gai, and noticed Hyuuga Neji standing behind him, his white eyes focused on...Ino. Shikamaru blinked, and looked between the two. Ino was oblivious to the gaze, idly flipping the pages of her magazine. He looked back at Neji, only to see that the Hyuuga was now looking at him. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably under that white gaze, and he walked over to Ino.
"Hey, what's up with these two?" he asked quietly. She looked up at him, and he weathered his usual shock at how blue her eyes were. He'd known her all his life and he still wasn't used to the colour. He probably should be, though, because they were a bright blue, like the sky…
"…just came in here and started sneaking around. I don't know what their problem is," she said. Shikamaru tuned in suddenly, and blinked. This had been happening a lot lately. Ino would start talking, and he'd get distracted by something. Usually it was the sky, or the clouds, or her eyes, or her hair, her mouth…he blinked again to push that thought out of his head.
"Troublesome," he muttered, but whether he meant the two ninja currently in the store, or the fact that he was beginning to find Ino distracting, he wasn't sure.
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