The Unsung Story of the Inconspicuous

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or any of its characters or affiliates. No, not I.


This was both humiliating and inhumane. As if the knowing, somewhat smug look that she just knew would be on Sakura's face – go ahead and laugh, pinky, you're probably going to end up with Naruto- wasn't bad enough, Neji's shoulder was not exactly comfortable and her broken ribs were submitting complaints about its suitability as an environment.

Luckily, he then shifted and her stomach took the brunt of the pain- substantial pain, actually, since she'd done god knows what to her spine and internal organs.

She settled for wheezing indignantly at the Plot currently patting her head sympathetically. Murder wasn't an option.

Yet.

Daisukenojo was, of course, quite content. He was talking to Tenten- actually talking, mind you, instead of the usually incoherent muttering- and she appeared to be enjoying herself. While casting looks at Raiku out of her peripheral, yes, and sometimes at Neji. Raiku reflected on the injustice of using Daisukenojo to make someone jealous, and resolved to quietly and discreetly do what she could for the redhead.

Not for Tenten though. Tenten was for Neji.

Neji's grip on her leg tightened painfully as the gap between the waistband of her pants and the bottom of her bandages grew slightly bigger with the repetitive movement. His damnably clever ears picking up the low, warning crackle of electricity preparing to thoroughly encounter him.

'Well there's not much I can do about it, is there!' she hissed, trying to keep her voice from reaching Daisukenojo and Tenten's ears. She elbowed him, unwisely. Neji visibly tensed. She could actually even feel him tense through the fabric and pain, which was infinitely more alarming. 'It's not like it's my hobby. You knew what you were getting into when you picked me up!'

Against my will, she added sullenly, in what she was relatively sure was the safety of her own mind. The idea of Neji being able to read minds was so incredibly horrifying that she would go missing-nin just to get away.

'But seriously,' she said, after a few moments of terrified reflection. 'I think I'm going to throw up. From fear. Or pain, maybe. But I'm definitely going to-'

Success! She was on the white-tiled ground so quickly she could barely register it had happened at all! And Neji was continuing to move away, down the equally white, sunlit hallway, Daisukenojo and Tenten pausing nearby to look down at her.

'Did you call him a girl again?' her teammate asked, trying valiantly to hide a grin.

She shrugged, as though to imply not only that she didn't know, but that his motives were equally unknown and this situation could be but probably was not her fault.

Wise to her game, Daisukenojo lent her a hand in getting up, chivalrously ignoring her sharp intake of breath and slight wobbling. 'Go ahead,' she wheezed, waving them on. 'I'll catch up.' She braced her hands on her legs, bend over to pretend to catch her breath.

Daisukenojo looked at her.

I know what you're doing, the look told her in no uncertain terms. She was taken aback at the sudden, obvious outlining of body language. But I'm going to let you get away with it because Tenten is so very, very hot.

She boggled as he shrugged and continued on, with nary a second glance from Tenten.

After they'd progressed far enough along the hallway, she walked- slid, really, possibly even oozed- towards the stairwell.

With the eye she was using to keep an eye on them, she saw Neji tense.

She oozed mournfully along after them.


It was clever- she'd grant it that. One of the more clever ones, she'd agree, grudgingly. Downright dastardly wasn't out of the question, but perhaps a bit over the top and somewhat of an affront to her pride. It was not, however, a particularly humble Plot, and was currently gloating at her from behind Neji's left shoulder. This of course, gave her an excuse not to look directly at him- or would have, she reflected glumly, if anyone else knew what it was or could even see it.

It wasn't her fault she hadn't known it was there- how much time, on average, did most people really spend staring at their backs?

At least she'd hoped it had just been on her back. The alternative didn't bear thinking about. But as long as the Plot was keeping out of reach, she wasn't yet nimble enough to catch it and get its hooks out of her. No- she was a character.

For now.

But in the world of reality, Neji was conversing quietly with the nigh-ecstatic Lee, while Daisukenojo attempted awkward conversation with Tenten.

She wondered, from her hospital bed, how long this crush of his was going to go on. It was clear that Tenten was for Neji, just as it was becoming increasingly obvious that Ryuu had no intention of getting a girlfriend and was doomed to have some sort of dramatic Plot all of his own (and that Raiku was probably going to have to change teams).

On that note, she was actually starting to wonder if Ryuu was gay-

Ryuu's head snapped towards her, eyes narrowed into malevolent yellow slits. She jerked back reflexively, and ceased wondering about his sexuality immediately, electing instead to think about deliberately non-phallic clouds. Suspicions apparently eased, Ryuu stopped looking at her and resumed watching Daisukenojo and Tenten with barely concealed amusement.

Raiku shook her head slightly, eyeing him. He was certainly one to watch. And if she'd observed correctly, as she sped past in her usual flight of terror, people were watching him. Well, females. Females from their class were watching him. Apparently unfazed by the fact he was barely a teenager and in all likelihood a sadist, girls were actually… interested.

If that wasn't a sad confirmation of the self-destructive nature of man, Raiku didn't know what would be. And as an eluder of narrative, she liked to think she could recognise that sort of tragedy. Given the thought of girl talk made her feel ill, she should try and avoid it at all costs if this were the case: the last thing she wanted to be subjected to was an in depth discussion on Ryuu's… attributes.

She shuddered.

Ryuu's attributes.

That was one conversation no Plot could pull her into… Regardless of whether or not that was true, she felt better for thinking it.

But back to the issue at hand. The Plot waved at her beguilingly, giving her snatches of sound which, coupled with odd contortions, looked highly disturbing, especially when juxtaposed against the statuesque dignity of the Hyuuga. She tried to look at it nonchalantly, found that it was impossible to do out of the corner of her eye, and settled for looking at it with an expression of mild conspicuousness.

Which Sakura couldn't help but notice, of course. Raiku first became aware of that problem when something pointy and painfully indiscreet nudged her in a broken rib. In serious pain and thus seriously contemplating the benefits of suicide, she looked over and down at her new… friend? Was friend the word…? Yes, friend.

Sakura looked gleeful, which was her first clue something was wrong. The second clue was when the pink haired girl leaned in, looking over Raiku's shoulder as she ignored Raiku trying to lean back, desperate to preserve her personal space.

The third and final clue was when Raiku realised, Sakura almost sitting on her and breath fanning across her neck uncomfortably, that the other girl was looking at Neji. It would have been too much to hope Sakura had had a sudden epiphany and was looking at the Plot- it was definitely Neji.

'You're busted,' Sakura half-grinned half-smirked. That was a familiar expression; she must have been spending too much time with the Uchiha.

'Busted?' Raiku hedged, a mantra starting up in her head. Please don't think what I think you think, please don't think what I think you think…

'You like him!' Sakura hissed, pushing her in what was probably a playful way but in this instance was excruciating. Raiku sucked in a sharp breath as black spots danced across her vision, head spinning.

'Toaster?' Daisukenojo asked, breaking away from his fledgling conversation briefly. 'You alright?' His freckled face was concerned. Conversation died as Lee looked over in concern, thus ignoring Neji, who in turn looked over as well, thus giving Ryuu nothing to watch in amusement and making him do the same.

'I'm fine,' she wheezed into the silence. 'Just… Just fine.'

'My fault!' Sakura waved them off. 'It's okay.'

After a few minutes of suspicious quiet, they turned back to their respective conversation partners.

'Is this room crowded?' Raiku wondered to Sakura, desperately trying to change the subject. 'I think I should get some-'

'Don't even try changing the subject, it's not gonna work.'

Evidently Ryuu wasn't the only one who could read minds. Raiku sagged back into her pillows, quietly wanting to die. Sakura, apparently taking this as consent, rested her elbow on the edge of the bed, near Raiku, and proceeded to smile up at her devilishly. 'So,' she began in a whisper. 'You like Neji?'

'No,' Raiku said in equally low tones. She tried to literally force the word into Sakura's mind through sheer force of will. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't working. When did it ever work?

'Why are you staring at him?'

Raiku had no reasonable response to this. 'I think he's mad at me… again,' she attempted.

'Why?' Sakura frowned. 'Is this still about the "girl" thing?'

Raiku started, staring at her. 'How does every-' no, she decided abruptly. She didn't want to know. '…No,' she settled for. The idea of her every mistake being known of by her peers was terrifying. 'When we went looking for them, Daisuke and I fell down the stairs, and… he ended up carrying me back here,' she finished in a grumble. There. She wasn't proud, but there it was. 'He gets annoyed with me whenever I do something stupid. Like Ryuu,' she added in dark afterthought.

'So he was… worried about you?'

Raiku shook her head. 'I bled on his shirt.'

Sakura sighed wearily, resting her chin on her palm. 'Sometimes I wonder if normal boys are like this.'

'They're not,' Raiku deadpanned, spindly fingers absently picking at a stray thread in her blanket, worrying at it until it came free. 'Most of my family's civilians, so I can be pretty sure.'

'Yeah.' Sakura rolled her eyes. 'I bet they're not as interesting, though,' she added, brightening slightly.

'Boring's good,' Raiku sighed wistfully.

'Why?' Daisukenojo asked incredulously. To her credit, Raiku didn't shriek. But it was a testament to her complete lack of commendable abilities that she hadn't noticed the sudden lull in conversation.

'It's… easy to live with?' she offered, eyeing him.

'Easy's boring,' Ryuu said. It… seemed really pointed, actually, did he have two meanings? She may never know, she decided.

'Exactly!' she replied happily. 'You get it!' The corners of her electric eyes crinkled.

'Your family's got some messed up values,' Daisukenojo grimaced, the freckles on his face shifting into strange patterns as the muscles under them creased into the expression.

She watched with something like fascination. 'Sure,' she replied eventually, not bothering to raise her voice despite his stance across the double room. 'But… they're my family.'

Neji just looked at her with his blank eyes that for the first time, weren't saying anything, and she wondered at the illness coiling in her gut while she continued. 'Besides,' she added, bright eyes creasing. 'Shinobi are always really dramatic, right?'

Ryuu snorted, lean form leaning back in his chair as he folded his arms. 'Yes,' he said meaningfully, eyeing her. She flushed correspondingly. 'They are.'

She really had to have that conversation with her father soon, she decided with an uneasy, confused smile as Sakura started to berate Ryuu with surprising ease and familiarity, the twin voices rising in volume with their tempers. She couldn't afford to keep getting trapped in these Plots.

Maybe, she considered with a sigh, she should move.


A/N: So... how's... things? Oh god, there's no point! I'm sorry I was away for so long! But you should've seen that monster, man, it was just... this big! After all, I live where monsters are ... born? Not buying it? Didn't think so...On the bright side, the ugliness me and my family was dealing with is mostly gone, so I can't promise the same rapidity of update that I used to give you, but I will finish this. Eventually.

Review Response:

Blinkin: I want you to know that I am wracked with guilt at how long I left this. Well, I feel awkward with guilt. Emotions are hard. And I know, man, that if anyone could be wise to my game, even as a virtual presence, it would be you. I have faith in you.

Learn Patience: Wow your name is appropriate given myyyyy... I don't even know how long my absence stretched for, so we'll go with 'long departure'. As for Naruto- I actually have to develop his character more as well as a million others, but no, somehow, I think not. Not given Raiku's paralyzing fear of the boy and his need for contact. Humour tends to come and go, I agree. I've got a naturally dry sense of humour, so I have trouble expressing it without people being there to hear my tone... I think I actually got worse at that. But I'll try, yeah?

Kai-Chan94: Why thank you.

Dureth: You're welcome. If it's any consolation or if you guys even care any more, I'm cringing over here with guilt. Feel vindication, friends!

envysXsin: Ah, it's been a while. I have no doubt that your grounded...-ness is over by now, but I'm sorry to have left you guys so long.

srooone: Now, here's the thing: despite yours being a first review from you on this one, the fact that it arrived so long after I last updated gave me a sort of guilt-kick. So thanks, man, you helped me get my ass in gear. SO DID THE OTHERS. DON'T KILL ME.