Unsung Story of the Inconspicuous
Aha! Seriously, though, Shana managed to get this back in a split-second even with a pile of things that actually mattered clamouring for attention. Praise, praise!
You clearly know what I do and do not own here.
- you think you're-
Raiku shook her head, hard enough that she could practically feel her brain rattling around, and the thin thread of story being picked up by her annoyingly sensitive narrative awareness drifted off. She shot the Plot that was sliding down the street after them a vile glare, but couldn't really do much else. Not for now, anyway, what with the Main Storyline dragging her feet along.
Goddamn Naruto.
Unable to stop herself from obeying years of programming, she leaned back against the narrative tide as much as she could, but this was gonna happen and she knew it. She was going to meet Naruto and have her development noted for both him and the Main Storyline, along with all his other peers, for ease of narrative flow. The easier this went for the Genematrix, the less likely it would be to take notice of her. And then take revenge.
Well, the less likely it would be to try and involve her any further, anyway. Her father said that massive cosmic story engines couldn't be spiteful, but she was pretty sure that was a lie.
To top it all off, it was a beautiful day. The weather was warm, the sun was shining, the breeze was mild and soothing and she could smell… something pleasant. Random pleasant smells didn't just happen. That, more than anything else, made it clear that Naruto was around. That was the universe's way of saying, "Oh, look at what an idyllic scene we have here! Let's establish some hometown atmosphere!"
'Hey, Ryuunosuke!'
Right on cue.
Raiku inhaled and braced herself. A high, female voice. Almost certainly Sa—
'Yamanaka,' Ryuu replied, voice settling into the lower, calmer register he generally adopted when not yelling at her or Daisuke. 'You three were off training?'
Not Sakura after all? Raiku blinked, surprised, then shook it off and braced herself for the second time in as many minutes. Of course not. That would be far too anticlimactic. There had to be some build up. She couldn't afford to let her guard down! She always did that, no matter how focused she tried to be, and that was when Kakashi got her—
The Genematrix. That was when the Genematrix got her. Raiku stifled the urge to look frantically for Kakashi before he could ambush her; he was back in the Main Plot now, and there would be no more of that.
Ino was beautiful. It was actually a little dazzling to see her and Ryuu stand next to each other, even if Ryuu was just feigning his pleasant expression. She was slender and pale and just so very beautiful already, elegant in purple and obviously utterly self-assured. Even her smug grin didn't make her less attractive, because she and Ryuu had apparently started some sort of contest that Raiku didn't want to know about. Probably something to do with making people suffer.
She transferred her gaze elsewhere and Shikamaru nodded at her, clearly not overly fussed about Ino hijacking another group of Chuunin. 'Gairano.'
'Hey, Nara,' Raiku replied, discreetly scanning him. He was slouching, and he looked dour. He was attractive, in a… scowl-y, grim, minimal way, and his hair really suited him like that, and he was maybe taller than her? The extreme slouch made it hard to tell. It may have been the weight of stereotype dragging him down, but he was…
'How are things?' Raiku asked quickly, desperate to stop that train of thought. Shikamaru was not attractive. Well, he was, but he wasn't. To Gairano. Shikamaru's hotness was not uncomplicated enough in nature to register on the Gairano attractiveness scale because Shikamaru was an important Side Character and she would not have it.
…Goddamn, the studs weren't helping any.
At least they matched Ino's?! That made them… no it didn't, she had to look somewhere else.
Shikamaru hummed noncommittally, a non-answer because he was polite to women, but Raiku didn't really count, so she got to look at Chouji instead.
Of the three, oddly, it was the least significant character that had changed the most. Chouji... Actually looked like a person, rather than a particularly friendly Kabuki stereotype. He in fact looked the oldest, the surplus weight that Akimichi used so effectively having finally settled to fit his frame in an actual, human way, rather than... orbiting it for comic effect. Raiku stared at him, unable to stop herself. Well. At least someone had gotten something good out of the time-skip.
Hold on. Where had that thought come from? Raiku frowned, mulling it over in her head, testing the thought for consistency against her usual internal monologue.
After a moment, she hissed in outrage. This earned her a weird look from Chouji, who was starting to sweat under her bioluminescent scrutiny, but she was used to that, so she could ignore it.
The little bastard. The Genematrix was trying to make everyone be friendly.
Of course it was. It needed them all to know each other, so there was no time wasted on pesky reminders later on! How many others were just conveniently running into each other across town, catching up and being all buddy-buddy!? How dare that… thing! How dare it just… make them be social against their will?!
Raiku paled. Oh no. That meant she'd have to run into the others as well. Probably all in one day. She could feel herself starting to sweat. She couldn't handle that many Characters in one day. She'd only scraped through the Chuunin Exams because of all the Drama messing with her brain. Well, that and Mura's ruthless interference, but still! She couldn't do it!
She knew what she had to do. She would clearly not be able to get out of it completely, because Main Plot was what it was. But she could still achieve the same thing by sneaking around! As long as she could remain separate from Ryuu and Daisuke, the Genematrix would grudgingly take care of them on their own. No fuss, just her on her own bumping into people on the street and maybe waving. No unnecessary bonding.
Perfect.
She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. 'You guys stay and catch up! I've gotta go grab some razor wire anyway.'
Ryuu and Daisuke turned to look at her. 'We're doing that together, stupid,' Daisuke informed her bluntly.
'That's the entire point of this little outing,' Ryuu explained helpfully.
Don't rise to the bait, Raiku, she told herself, keeping her expression mild. 'Yeah, but you guys don't use that and it's only sold at the specialty store! I'll meet up with you later.'
Daisuke shrugged. 'Suit yourself.'
Ryuu watched her for a moment. '…Sure,' he said at last, turning back to Ino.
Raiku managed to walk casually to the end of the street and turn the corner, like everything was totally normal, before breaking into a mad dash towards the other side of town.
Operation: Run Like Hell (or Raiku's Life Goals) was officially in effect.
…It was officially off to a rocky start.
'Yo, Gairano! You need this stuff too?'
Raiku tried to blend in with the nearby display of naginata. While she had the general shape right, she wasn't quite shiny enough and Inuzaka wasn't fooled.
'Hey! You hear me?' he asked from behind her, the sudden force of his voice almost startling her into cutting her fingers off. The razor wire spool she'd been holding sprang free of its clip and she scrambled to catch it, the loops quickly unravelling around her hands in a flash of silver and… black.
Goddamnit.
'…Hey, Inuzaka,' she said weakly, trying to disentangle herself from the Plot-tainted razor wire without losing something that should remain attached, or electrifying anything too conspicuous. 'What stuff?' At least it gave her an excuse not to look at him, she reflected.
The grin was almost audible. 'I've gotta pick up some special equipment to use with Akamaru, so we swung by.'
"We". Of course.
'Where's your team?' he asked, probably looking around. The guy broadcast his every movement so clearly. Maybe it was part of the whole delinquent aesthetic the Genematrix was going for? The wild guy, that whole shtick.
'They don't need anything from here, so we're going to meet at the more general shinobi place later,' she said, gingerly unwrapping wire from around her pinky, eyes watering from her refusal to blink in case this was the last time she ever saw her hand intact. 'Is it just you?'
It wasn't. He'd already said so.
'Nah. Hinata and Shino are around somewhere.'
'I'm here.'
Raiku tensed, wire digging into her gloved fingers dangerously at the sudden, deep voice coming from her left. Kakashi had spent so long sneaking up on her that she hadn't flailed, which would have left her with a bloody stump instead of a hand, but she took a moment to calm herself before speaking.
'Hey, Shino,' she said, slow and even. 'How are Muta and Atsuko? And Tsumi? And Ai? And…' This was getting out of hand. Literally. If she couldn't count the connections on one hand, family tradition said that was too many. Single Gairano shinobi really had to stop beelining for the Aburame.
Ha! Beelining—...not the time for hilarious wordplay!
'…and everyone!' she finished, cutting the list short. She risked a sideways glance, but didn't want to chance moving anything but her eyes, in case she'd somehow gotten herself further wrapped up by mistake. Shino looked at her. Maybe. The round, black glasses made it hard to tell. Wow, he'd really covered up. Not that she was one to talk. But they were close in height! Finally, someone she didn't have to look down at!
'Everyone is doing well,' he replied in that startlingly deep voice, hands stuck in the front pocket of his enormous green hoodie. He was possibly, with the hood up, and the glasses on, and the high collar, the only person ever to show the same amount of skin as Raiku. God, she loved the Aburame. 'How is your family?'
'Oh…' Raiku said slowly, returning her gaze to her hands and tentatively starting to try and slip out again. 'You know. Same old, same old.'
'What the hell's going on around there?' Raiku froze again, at the sudden breath fanning out over her ear, sending shivers down her spine. The mask offered some protection on her neck, but not her ears. Her stupidly vulnerable ears.
'What are you doing?' she hissed, eyes wide and staring blankly forward. She could just make out brown spikes in her peripheral vision, because in true Inuzaka style, Kiba apparently thought personal space was something that happened to other people.
'What? I just wanted to see what was up. What have you done with that? You know it's supposed to come in loops, right?' A tanned hand reached over and pointed helpfully at her trapped digits. Shino leaned closer, turning his attention to her predicament and humming low in thought.
Raiku broke out in a sweat, anxiety making her chest tighten. There were two people within a metre of her who weren't her teammates or her family. This had never happened before. This wasn't something she was used to. This was not okay. This was not okay.
'…Gairano?'
Oh god. There were three now.
Raiku made a high, small sound in response, too tense to actually speak.
'Hey Hinata. Take a look at this, will ya? I'm no good at knots.'
'Raiku? Are you… okay?'
Raiku managed to turn her head enough to see Hinata, the icing on this cake of… personal space violation. The Hyuuga heiress was blushing slightly, like always, but maintaining eye contact, which was new. Her hair was long. It suited her that way. Hyuuga seemed to have a thing for it. Well, that and the round, delicate faces that seemed out of a different era entirely, at least for the women.
Raiku refused to dwell on the male faces. Any of them.
But still, that was another three out of the way. If she could just buy the wire and then—
'She's fine.'
Raiku yelped as long fingers reached into the mess of wire, a fine layer of chakra wrapping around the mass of metal before it could flay her, dragged abruptly off.
Daisukenojo grimaced at the wire tangled around his hand, safely layered in chakra. 'There. Easy.'
Raiku stared at him, hands shaking. 'You… You could have ripped my fingers off!'
'You're fine. She's fine,' he added to Hinata in particular, for seemingly no reason. Except for the fact that she was Hinata and that was a girl's name.
And also she was a lot more obviously female now, god. Raiku stared… No hoodie was hiding those. Had she gotten Raiku's delivery as well as her own? How was that fair?
Wait. Hinata wasn't looking at her anymore. Wait. Why was she so red?
'Like the view, Gairano?' Kiba snickered, drawing away from her shoulder.
'What?' Raiku asked, honestly puzzled, before dragging her eyes up from Hinata's sudden developments to look at Kiba. He was shaggier, the markings on his face just accentuating cheekbones he apparently had now, his eyes a little more wolf-like, because of course. But he'd said something. 'What—oh god!' she yelped, covering her eyes with her hands. 'I swear, I wasn't—no! I mean, not no, but not yes, I wasn't even-,'
Daisukenojo was going red too. He flapped his hands at her, looking a square inch from strangling her. 'Holy shit, shut up! You're making everything worse!'
'I know but I can't stop!' Raiku wailed.
'It… It's not a big deal,' Hinata tried, but the mortified whisper was more traumatic than even Daisukenojo's second-hand embarrassment.
'We're leaving,' Ryuu cut in, and Raiku dropped her hands from her eyes just in time to be yanked backwards by the shirt. 'We're leaving right now. No one will ever speak of this again.'
'What are you both even doing here!?' This hadn't been the plan! None of this had been the plan! She was not supposed to be with her teammates! Raiku choked, the neck of her shirt pulled up to cut off her oxygen from the force of Ryuu's determined drag, arms windmilling at her sides to try and keep her balance.
'Saving us all some embarrassment. Move!'
Raiku's strangled noises drew some attention from the other shop-goers, but not nearly as much as Kiba's raucous laughter, accompanying them all the way to the exit.
- from me can't touch-
'What were you thinking?!' Daisukenojo demanded, hands on hips and looking a lot like his mother. Only shorter. 'This is why we can never go anywhere!'
'You sound like a nagging wife,' Ryuu said, finally released Raiku from her shirt-prison. Raiku gasped, hand coming up to massage her probably bruised neck.
'Why?' she rasped, pulling at her mask a little to help the air get in. 'Why not… grab my arm? Instead of choking me?!'
'It was an emergency, let it go.'
'Great,' Daisukenojo sighed, gesturing at her. 'She probably ended up with a bruised windpipe and now we'll have to get her checked out.'
'No!' Raiku gasped. 'I'm fine! I'm totally fine!' Anywhere they could get medical attention would be a hotbed of shinobi Drama, just guaranteed to get them noticed by another team.
'Is everything alright over here? We heard yelling. And… choking.'
Not Daisukenojo. Not Ryuu. Oh god this was definitely it—Raiku ducked and covered her head with her arms.
'Hey, Tenten!' Daisukenojo's voice had gone up almost an octave. Not exactly hunk material, but nerves were nerves and he couldn't really help it. It wasn't like he had a real shot with Tenten anyway; Daisukenojo wasn't even a recurring character in the Main Plot, and that left Tenten way out of his reach.
Still, she didn't want to open her eyes. This was way too fast. Three teams in such quick succession was killing her. Surely no one thought this was normal?! What were the odds?! The rookie teams would be out as exactly that- groups of three, designed for easy absorption and reintroduction. Which meant Lee and—
Daisukenojo seemed to remember that people outside of the lovely brunette he was crushing on existed. He coughed to try to cover his lapse. '… Lee. Hyuuga,' he added in a gruffer voice.
Neji.
Raiku sighed to herself quietly, then straightened, keeping her arms over her head so that she could pretend she had just been stretching, lengthening out until she released them back to her sides again. 'Oh, hi!' she said, turning and smiling with her eyes as best she could. '…Fancy seeing you here!' Fancy nothing; this was clearly the day everyone had to buddy up to each other.
Rock Lee was the first person she saw, mostly because he was the first person everyone saw when Naruto wasn't around. He was just so… conspicuous. He was so conspicuous that he was actually almost inconspicuous, a phenomenon that the Gairano had studied eagerly, only to ultimately fail to replicate it after a few embarrassing attempts. He looked almost exactly the same, maybe with a little less roundness to his face? Raiku puzzled over what was different for a few seconds, then put her finger on it. Flak vest. He was wearing a flak vest, he was a little taller and his face had lost the puppy fat. Revolutionary stuff.
Poor Rock Lee. He really had no chance with a Main Character like Sakura. He'd changed about as much as Raiku, who wasn't a Character at all.
Actually, she thought sadly, he'd changed exactly the same amount. Even after all the trauma she'd been through, she was the female equivalent of Rock Lee. When she had some time to think about that later, she would really do her best not to Angst.
Unaware of her growing despair, Lee waved. 'Daisukenojo! Raiku! Ryuu!'
'Team Yamada,' Neji greeted in a rather more concise fashion, hands tucked into long white sleeves.
Neji. Something about Neji always made Raiku feel awkward, even more gangly than she actually was. It was probably just by contrast to his natural elegance; much of her eccentricity could be attributed to defensive Gairano behaviors, but there was no denying that her idiosyncrasies were only partially artificial. She tucked her hands into her pockets after she noticed that they'd been hovering awkwardly for a few seconds, showing how unsure she was of what to do. She tried to look at him. In her defense, she really did. But something about it was hard, she just couldn't…
Raiku squinted, feeling uneasily like Neji was blurring at the edges, the thin threads of Plot not blending into him like they should have been. It was as if he were one of those magic eye pictures she'd looked at instead of doing chakra exercises, because Iruka only had so much patience. Her eyes just… kept catching on Plot that she should have been able to ignore, like it was shifting in place. Maybe it wasn't sure what to do with him yet, since he had the strongest connection to Naruto in his team? Either way, the overlay of Plot and person, usually so easy to differentiate, was making her eyes water.
She shook her head and looked at the sky, because her head was starting to hurt. He was wearing white, and long sleeves? He didn't look angry, maybe? All her observations were going to end in question marks, so she decided to just assume he was insanely good-looking and dignified to save herself a migraine.
'It's been a long time, you three,' Tenten greeted with a smile. 'Are you guys on your way to training?'
Daisuke shook his head. 'Restocking for a mission. You?'
This conversation was about to go nowhere at a slow crawl, so Raiku tuned them out and set about continuing to catch up on her peers.
Luckily, she could safely ignore Neji, as he wasn't focused on her in particular. As far as she could make out, he was just regarding the three of them with a mild expression; it was actually slightly reminiscent of her father's, and the thought made her shudder. Moving on from that in a hurry…
Tenten was still very pretty, but like Rock Lee, her changes were not profound. Height. Slight change to overall body shape. White shirt and less terrifyingly bright pants, rather than the pink, which had been almost offensively girly anyway and, frankly, a bit lazy of the Genematrix to start with. She wore her hair the same, but walked with more confidence. That was the main thing everyone seemed to have in common, her own teammates included.
Wait, no. Focusing. There was something exotic in the almond shape of Tenten's eyes, probably just to distinguish her from the other brunette rookies, and she really had become so lovely, even in just a few short years. Maturity suited her, Raiku decided with a quiet huff of what was absolutely not jealousy. But she'd already used her own appearance to gauge the degree of change in Neji and Lee, so she forced herself not to compare herself to Tenten. Not because it would damage her self-esteem. Because that would be silly.
Raiku wondered idly if she too seemed more confident, then dismissed it out of hand as utterly ridiculous. She couldn't take this anymore. She had no idea how to do this. Character descriptions were boring after two minutes and doing it inside her head was going to make her all introspective and… critical. Raiku didn't have self esteem! It wasn't even low, it just wasn't a thing, because her sense of self was fluid at best and no attractive peer was going to ruin that when she had worked so hard to make it that way!
'Well!' she said brightly, cutting off whatever Ryuu had been saying and knowing she'd pay for it later. 'I guess I'll be off then!'
Lee had apparently been saying something, but she had no time for friendship or basic human consideration! Her emotional stability was at risk, and since Raiku couldn't chance turning into a real teenage girl, she had mere minutes to escape, and then she just had to continue escaping for… three more years. She just had to get out as soon as—
'Something wrong, Gairano?'
Goddamn Neji. If she had a hard time looking at him, how was it fair that he could look at her nervous fidgeting?!
Raiku searched frantically for a solution. This had to end. 'Nope! No, I just… have stuff to buy, for the mission!'
'No shit. That's what we're out doing. Together,' Ryuu said, looking suspicious in a very inconvenient way, which was the only way Ryuu knew how to do things. Raiku went red, because of course she did, it was like she was allergic to subterfuge.
But wait, that could be helpful! 'Stuff. Lady stuff. That I… don't want to buy with you,' she hedged, trying to look embarrassed and actually succeeding, probably because she was. It was sort of refreshing to just express as obviously as possible, instead of deliberately.
Lee flushed and looked up at the sky. Who even knew what Neji was doing. Luckily, Daisuke had somehow managed to wrangle Tenten into a conversation about… something that Raiku didn't care about, so at least those were two fewer witnesses to her mortifying escape.
'You don't need "lady stuff". You're not a lady. We went over this while Ichitaka was still alive,' Ryuu retorted.
Raiku gaped. 'E… Excuse me! It has been years since then, and also, that's a bit… I don't know, flippant, given you're talking about someone who,' had likely been murdered by Raiku, '…died on a mission with us!'
Ryuu narrowed his eyes. Always a bad sign. 'Don't change the subject, this isn't about me.'
'Oho, that's a change,' she scoffed, or tried to. It came out a little more fearful than she intended, but she took it in stride. Things usually did. 'I'm leaving! You're being creepy and asking super-personal questions! I don't have to stand for this interrogation!' She threw her arms up, feeling it was as exasperated a gesture as she could make without falling over.
Ryuu hadn't looked away. His expression hadn't changed. He was suspicious. There was only one thing to do.
'Or we could go together. Maybe afterwards we could visit your mother,' Raiku offered, stressing the word meaningfully. 'She'd think it was so cute!'
Ryuu's mother was lovely and Raiku was actually interested in spending a lot more time with her, but the woman's obvious desire for the gangly Gairano and Ryuu to get together was unsettling.
And not just to Raiku.
Ryuu blanched. 'Get out of here.'
Raiku wasted no time complying. 'Well! It was good seeing you, Team, uh, Gai! And you guys, I'll… meet up with later! Tomorrow, maybe!'
Daisukenojo wasn't looking at her, and Ryuu was looking everywhere but at her, so Raiku cut her losses and ran.
- safe from you think-
Raiku rubbed the bridge of her nose, dragging her thoughts back into some semblance of order. She had to stay focused. She had to stay sharp. She had to really think about this, or it would all be a disaster.
'Can I help you with anything—'
'Can't you see I'm on a mission?!' Raiku demanded hysterically, almost startling the store assistant out of her skin. 'These aren't going to agonize over themselves!'
The girl, who couldn't have been more than Raiku's age, immediately fled the feminine hygiene section.
Raiku let herself fall forward until her head hit the metal shelf, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. She could do this. Every month since this whole… oh god, period thing, had started, she'd find a nondescript bag outside her door, with a small variety of supplies, which she was pretty sure her father was getting her aunts to get for her. Kunoichi whose families didn't object were put on birth control that regulated this sort of thing, or at least made it as infrequent as it could be, as soon as they were deemed medically fit for it, so Raiku at least had a stockpile. But it wasn't the sort of thing she could take on missions, so maybe there was a kunoichi section? It sounded ridiculous, but she should play it safe, maybe?
She was just confused beyond understanding at this point. All the packages were different primary colors, and had confusing combinations of words on them. "Safe", "protection" and "hypoallergenic" she understood, but what were "invisible", "party" and "definitely not containing asbestos*" doing there?! That last one was reassuring, unless she thought about it hard, but the asterisk was a little—
'Holy-! She was serious! She's actually here!' Daisukenojo announced from the far side of the aisle, looking honestly surprised. Raiku jerked back away from the shelf, eyes widening with shock.
'You followed me here!?'
'Well,' Ryuu said slowly, ignoring her accusation and taking in the selection with a carefully blank expression. Under the harsh fluorescents, he looked half-dead. Raiku took a petty pleasure from it. 'Fuck me. She was telling the truth.'
Raiku gasped. Because of the profanity. Not because of anything else. It had been a weird day for everybody and this was not about her confused, Drama-influenced brain. 'You can't say that! That's… that is so rude, I'm telling Yamada!'
Ryuu clicked his tongue 'Cool.' He wasn't even bothering to look at her. Like Raiku, he seemed to feel that looking as harmless as possible would stop him from provoking the army of feminine products arranged before them. 'And then you can tell him where we were when I said it.'
Damn. He had her there.
'Stupid Ryuu,' she hissed, unable to even put sanitary pads and Yamada in the same thought without hurting herself.
'So… are you gonna buy something, or just lean against it looking sad?' Daisukenojo asked, sauntering over to stand on her other side. He looked totally comfortable. Probably because of all his… sisters…
'Daisuke! You can help me!' Raiku grabbed his arm. Daisukenojo instinctively tried to worm away, but Raiku had long fingers, a strong grip and the ability to electrocute him, so it wasn't going to happen. 'Are there kunoichi-specific ones?'
Daisukenojo looked horrified. 'Oh, hell no! I am not having this conversation with you!'
'Ryuu doesn't have any sisters, and some of yours are teenagers now! Plus, plus! Your mother is super scary and probably made you buy her some!'
Ryuu appeared to be browsing anyway, now a few feet away. This had the added bonus of making it look like he didn't know them, which was probably why. He had no other reason to be browsing in this section, so that had to be it.
'I don't—this is not my job! Shouldn't your-,' Daisukenojo suddenly cut himself off, dropping his head to stare at the floor fixedly.
Raiku blinked. 'Shouldn't… my…'
He cleared his throat, keeping his eyes averted.
Her what? What should have—
Ah.
Well, it had to be useful at least once in her life. 'My mother is dead, Daisuke!' Raiku reminded him, deliberately loud. He flinched, either from horror or embarrassment. People were turning to stare at the apparently motherless girl. Females were, which was the important thing with Daisukenojo. 'She died, and left me all alone in the scariest part of the supermarket, and now you, my favorite teammate, won't even help me with this one little thing!' She paused. 'Because she's dead,' she emphasized again for good measure. She'd had a long time to come to terms with it. Daisukenojo stood no chance.
'Hey.' Ryuu's complaint drifted over from the far side of the aisle.
'You don't get to be everyone's favorite! Or anyone's! Daisuke, please?' Raiku whined, trying to make herself look as pathetic as possible. Sure, it was low. Daisukenojo had a very strong connection to his own mother. But they emotionally blackmailed her all the time, and she never got to do it back, and also it was entirely true anyway. Fair was fair!
Daisukenojo sighed. 'Fine. I'll ask my mother. Later today!' he added, when Raiku let out a little cheer. 'Not now! Now I want to leave and not think about this, and…' he made an awkward gesture that seemed to be at both her and everything in front of her, 'all that!'
Raiku fist-pumped. 'Yesss!'
Daisukenojo started shoving her towards the exit. 'Yes, yes, I'm an amazing guy, now move!'
- because I there is no-
It was only once the three had once again ended up on the main street, when she had to shove meandering Plot out of her mind, that she realized she'd been had.
'Oh, screw you,' she hissed, just about ready to drown in narrative… smugness.
Daisukenojo looked offended, then looked around her to Ryuu and relaxed. He'd probably assumed she meant Ryuu. Always a safe assumption.
She stifled a sigh. Tricked again. She really was not very good at this. Still, it had gone pretty well so far, that horrifying moment in the specialty store aside. Aside forever, she had decided, because it wasn't something she ever wanted to think about again. It was easier said than done, though, running through her brain over and over like it always had on the rare occasions in the past when she'd come close like that. It would take a while to shake loose, she knew, because it always stuck with her; the way other people ran cold, cooling the charged air around her so quickly.
- because you think I-
Raiku ground her teeth together, the dull ache forcing the Plot snippets out of her mind. She didn't know where that tiny, but oddly audacious, Plot was, but it was really getting on her nerves. Dealing with that little asshole and the Main Story was giving her a headache. Oh god. The Genematrix was probably using it to distract her.
When the hell had it gotten so sneaky?
No, she could ask her dad about that later. She just had to get through the day. Okay. Okay. They were together again. That meant they had another team to go. They'd met Teams Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, which left—
Daisukenojo grabbed her shoulder abruptly, cursing. 'Ryuu! Hurry!'
Raiku jerked back and looked down at him, only for Ryuu to grab the other shoulder. 'What the hell are you-' she broke off into a squawk, suddenly being shoved out of the main street and into a narrow pathway between houses, almost falling when they released her just as quickly.
'When the hell did he get back?!' Daisukenojo demanded in what he probably thought was a whisper, peering around the mouth of the alley at something she hadn't seen in the first place.
'You think I keep track of this stuff?' Ryuu replied, distinctly snippy, oddly tense.
'Well since you keep track of everything, you paranoid weirdo? Yes!'
'What are we keeping track of?!' Raiku exclaimed, only for Ryuuu to clap a hand over her masked mouth.
'You want him to find us?!'
Raiku made a muffled sound of questioning, and Ryuu yanked his hand back with a hiss. 'She shocked me!'
'Who cares?!'
'Who are we hiding from?!'
'Uzumaki!' the two of them chorused, before they both ducked out of sight and hid next to her along the wall.
Raiku stared, trapped between her two teammates.
…Wait, why were they avoiding Naruto?
- you think I can't safe-
Raiku tapped her fingers against her thigh, little bursts of energy sparking at the contact beneath the fabric of her pants, the stimulation effectively interrupting the tiny Plot's interruptions. The last thing she needed when she was trying to stay alert for Naruto Plot was some hack, side-story villain monologuing in her head.
That's it. She was going to have to ask.
'Why… are we hiding?' she asked, shuffling around Daisuke so she could peer out from around the wall to sneak a quick look at Naruto while his back was turned. He seemed taller. Stupid Raiku, that was obvious. Less orange? More black was involved. It made his hair seem super bright. After a few seconds of examination, she ducked back into the alley. 'Wait, do you not like Naruto?'
'It's not that we don't like him,' Daisukenojo said, very pointedly looking at the sky rather than at her.
'Everybody likes him,' Ryuu said rather more directly and with a great deal more distaste. 'Everyone who has met Uzumaki ends up liking him somehow, even when they hated him beforehand, and I refuse to make another friend.'
Raiku squinted at him. There was something wrong with that sentence. She had a feeling it was, as always, Ryuu's priorities. '…Uzumaki was pretty much universally avoided right up until we graduated,' she pointed out, every word of her counter-argument feeling like she was pulling teeth, because Naruto. But also because the stupid bastards had gone and done something clever. They weren't supposed to notice that! They weren't supposed to take note of Naruto's odd magnetism, and they especially weren't supposed to avoid him because of it!
'Yep. And now he has a bajillion friends and I have enough trouble with just you two,' Daisukenojo pointed out.
'But. He's… already seen us,' Raiku protested weakly. 'What are we supposed to do? Admit we're avoiding him?'
The two boys exchanged glances. 'You're right. One of us will have to stay and make excuses for the other two,' Ryuu said after a moment. Daisukenojo seemed to be doing something complicated with his eyebrows, but Ryuu obviously disagreed with whatever curiously elaborate message he was receiving. He frowned. 'If you think for one second that I'm sticking around here to learn about the power of friendship, Hatori, you're as stupid as you are malformed.'
Daisukenojo shrugged. 'Well, then we only have one option, don't we?'
The two of them turned to look at her simultaneously, and Raiku flinched more from reaction to the cliché than to their imminent betrayal.
- there is no you think you're-
She couldn't blame them for staring. Not really. If someone had rolled onto the street to land at her feet, she'd probably stare too. Still, the impact had jolted her back to herself, so there was a plus.
'Hey?' Naruto more asked than said.
'Oh. Heeeey, Uzumaki,' Raiku said slowly, eyes darting from side to side to avoid focusing on him. No use; her back-up had fled like the wretched cowards they were. Probably retreated to the perfect distance to watch her suffering from.
Naruto beamed at her. In a very literal fashion. The sheer force of his cheer was like a blinding ray of light. Raiku fought the urge to squint. 'Raiku! Long time no see!' He held out a hand and she forced herself to take it, dusting herself off the second he let go.
She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck and refusing to think about who she'd picked that up from. Time to interact with Naruto in a normal way, like his narrative sway wasn't acting like a black hole in the back of her mind, sucking in all of her concentration. She could do it. All she had to do was get through this, and the Genematrix would drag Daisukenojo and Ryuu into his path later, in some other weird way. Just be normal. Say something normal. 'Yeah, it has been! And definitely not on purpose, because that…' Damnit, Raiku, you had one job, you had one job, backtrack, backtrack, 'wouldn't be a thing, even! How are you!? I'm good,' stop talking like a letter, you don't write letters anymore—
'Good! Why are you all twitch-,' Naruto's face was abruptly shoved out of Raiku's vision. Not that she'd been looking directly at it, not yet emotionally ready for that ordeal.
'Hey Raiku,' Sakura said, rolling her eyes. 'Ignore him, you're not twitchy.'
Raiku winced. 'Oh, I am a bit. It's good to see you guys again! Does this mean you're back in Konoha for good now, Uzumaki?'
It was annoying, having to go through the motions. Of course he was. Of course their team was back together, of course things were moving on now. But these things had to play out, no matter how frustrating it was to ask questions she already knew the answer to. Still, it would be much worse for her dad, who knew far more, who had to interact with so many more people on a daily basis. So she could put up with it, just for a day.
Oh, crap. He was answering.
'Yeah! Sakura and I are working together again!' he said with that radiant smile, slinging an arm around Sakura's shoulders, even as Sakura crossed her arms and pretended to be annoyed by him. The effect was ruined by the smile trying to work its way across her face.
Her… lovely face.
Goddamn, Raiku, not again. Maybe she was going to like girls. Raiku suppressed a sigh and squared her shoulders. She could do it. She could… not rank people based on attractiveness. Sakura was a Main Character. She was always going to end up on the extreme end of the lovely spectrum, and she was certainly on her way there. Her hair was longer, her clothes suited her more, she seemed more comfortable in her skin, and…
She was also much shorter than Raiku.
'That must be good! After so long!' Even as she automatically made small-talk, Raiku tried to keep the mournful look off her face. She was never going be a normal girl. If she'd been short and pretty, no one would even notice she existed. It would have been perfect. But she was tall and had to dress all weird and her face looked like god only knew, so she stuck out like a sore thumb. That had leprosy. And a fancy manicure.
Still, it could have been worse. Sakura may have been short, but she was also a Main Character, so Raiku could only envy her so much.
She bit the bullet and looked at Naruto, at long last.
It was, as always, like looking into the sun. He radiated goodness, and significance. It was impossible for any Gairano, let alone one as terrible as Raiku, to really focus on him without a tension headache spreading through them. His haircut was the same, the actual hair still that impossibly bright blond, his eyes still almost as blue as hers. But his features were more defined, maybe because he was wearing black, or maybe because he was just growing into his Protagonist good looks at his own pace. He was around her height, too, because heaven forbid the main male lead be dwarfed by a nobody, and overall… it was surprisingly painless.
Well. For Naruto. But still, he'd taken in her appearance too, so at last! Raiku opened her mouth, ready to make her excuses to leave, when it happened. The universe finally threw her a bone. Maybe her father hadn't been lying after all. It finally went her way.
'What the hell?!'
In the form of her teammates, being chased into view by a flock of homicidal magpies, dozens of wings enmeshed firmly in a net of Main Plot.
'What did you do to these goddamn birds, you son of a bitch!?' Daisukenojo shouted, covering his head with his arms and running towards Raiku and, more importantly narrative-wise, Naruto.
'Me?! What about you, they're probably attracted to your clownishly bright hair, idiot!' Ryuu snarled, successfully batting away one crazed, feathery harbinger of doom, sending it almost directly into Raiku's face.
Raiku screamed. She wasn't proud, but she did. She was also not proud of how her shinobi training flew out the window, leaving her flailing at the air to keep the bird away from her.
'Get it off!'
'Save yourself!'
'There's more! They're coming back around!'
Oh god. The Genematrix had overdone it. It had probably noticed she was avoiding it and put some extra oomph into it and now they were all going to die by over-excited flying rats because she couldn't keep her shit on lockdown.
Like hell it couldn't be spiteful!
'What the hell is going on?!'
'My eyes!'
'It was all a lie! I knew my dad was lying!' Raiku screeched, sprinting in the other direction and away from the whirlwind of beaks and narrative, but more importantly… away from Naruto and Sakura.
It wasn't a pretty out, but she'd take it. Besides, Raiku decided, fending off another feathery Plot-bomb; she'd been in a group of three in Naruto's presence. That surely had to count?
Right?
Right. She'd done the right thing. The only Gairano thing to do! She was right and correct and she'd gotten off to a good start with this new chapter of their lives.
Well, that was certainly what she told herself when she was walking home. It was such a weight off her mind, knowing that the day was finally over. The sun had even finally gotten narrative permission to set, casting Konoha in orange light and creating an appropriately "end of a milestone" ambience.
Speaking of which… she still had one last thing to do.
God, she wanted to groan and bitch and throw her lanky limbs around in an appropriately teen fashion, because she hated homework. Not for any real reason, since she almost never had any; just because she was a teenager and some things transcend physical realities. But still… she had to do it.
Raiku gritted her teeth and pushed past the layers of Drama and… Character magnetism, dragging the day into the safe, Genematrix-neutral section of the brain that all Gairano maintained so vigilantly.
What she'd learnt. What she'd learnt…
She banged her forehead against the nearby fence, the shock appropriately dulled by her forehead protector, but enough to focus her a little. She had to get it all organized and tied off; no loose ends this time!
So! She'd learnt a lot that day. She'd learned that everyone except her and Rock Lee was going to be good-looking, and the Genematrix was something she'd have to get used to.
…Again.
God, she really was so out of practice. Really, magpies? Who could have predicted those? Raiku huffed, shaking her head hard enough to ruffle her own hair, just to feel like some air was moving in the heat. Now that Naruto had presumably done what he was supposed to, the warm weather had returned and it was like walking through soup. For all that the day was mostly over, well into late afternoon, it seemed to be making up for lost time.
At least she was done for the day.
-you because think you -
The loose end she'd forgotten about wiggled in her peripheral vision, sliding along the road in the pale light of early evening, taunting her.
That little bastard had been mocking her all day, distracting her, just because it knew it was safe! But now? Now she was alone. Now she could actually do something about it.
Raiku, after looking around to make sure no one important could see her, made a quick lunge for the Plot, hand slapping down hard. It ducked backwards just in time and she hissed, skin of her palm stinging from the impact, and surged forward again. Her fingers grazed it on the way down and
You think you're safe,
a rush of sensation, pouring down her spine like icy water. Raiku gasped and shuddered, clutching at her chest to reassure herself that her heart wasn't trying to squirm free of her body, waiting for the flashes of story to settle into nothing again.
because I can't touch you.
Goddamn Naruto. Waste of a perfectly beautiful day with Plot and, and atmosphere. She was choosing to ignore that the day had been caused for that atmosphere, because she was exhausted and facts were for the weak. Raiku huffed, frustrated when she saw that the Plot had successfully escaped, and clambered to her feet. She brushed herself off and tried to shrug it off; no minor-league villain spouting nonsense was going to bother her when she had an actual mission to prepare for. So it was wilier than usual, no big deal. So now that Naruto had levelled up, the Genematrix had stepped up its game too. At least its ploys were obvious. Still, she'd have to tell her dad.
She pushed it out of her mind; the feeling, like the imprint of teeth on skin, and the words, so cliché but sticking so strangely firm.
There is no safe from me.
A/N: So many adjectives, so little time. So AO3 or tumblr it's looking like, and when I have time to actually narrow it down further, you guys will be informed! Plus! Fanart! lover-of-books1 has coloured a picture of Raiku, which can be found under that name at dA, which is also awesome because fanart seriously guys you don't even know how excited I get.
