Disclaimer: I have no legal ownership of Naruto
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Now Konoha 12 have had many arcs before, mostly consisting of ultra-dangerous mission that the thought itself could be fatal. They had risked their lives for too many times that not even all their fingers could count the experiences altogether. They were brave, in fact, they were epic. The whole village adored them, the whole country adored them, the whole world feared them.
Their skills in battle were also second to none. They were trained and honed into perfection, so much that they can go into a suicidal mission and leave the place unscathed, with success pretty much written on their foreheads. Their battle abilities were so unfaltering that not even the SWAT and FBI combined, equipped with their lightning-fast murder machines could harm them.
However, in all those years of training, not once had they ever been placed under a baby sitting training. They didn't need to hide themselves, if to baby sit means to keep them safe, because they could wipe out an entire mafia with a snap of their fingers, and lose them from their tails immediately; which explains why they never resorted into training for 'trivial' matters, as Tsunade put it, because it was just never needed, nor called for. And that alone presented a huge problem on the matter right now.
Ino was apprehensive when she spat out her thoughts, "Excuse me, but did you just say, baby sitting?" she demanded, spewing the words like some poison she accidentally drank. Kakashi stared inquisitively before he demanded why she would ask such a question,
"Is there something wrong about it?" the whole classroom fell silent. For once, they were speechless. There were just a lot of things that were wrong about it, that they actually couldn't decide on what to say first. Even Naruto, who seemed like he never ran out of complaints, was silent, pensive on what he should say next.
Different emotions crossed the teens' features most of the times, though their thoughts were never really vocalized. Kakashi plastered a conniving look; if this was what it would get them silent, then by George he'd gladly take Tsunade's offer every now and then. He smirked through the fabric of his mask then resumed his reading stance, eyes now glued on the book in front of him.
"You know, it's actually fun, once you give it a shot…"his eyes twinkled in amusement as he rejoiced in the silence of the room. Hallelujah and amen to that.
0—0—0
"This suuuuuuuuucks" Tenten sing-sang, her voice voicing out her annoyed and bored thoughts. She heaved her brown Nike bag and held it tighter against her chest, just as Neji, who slung his white Converse bag on his shoulder, rang the doorbell. He sighed impatiently,
"Tenten, you've been singing that same goddamn song for hours now; and I don't even call it a song!" he pointed out exasperatedly. Tenten pouted but chose to remain silent. Just as the golden bars of the mansion gate opened before them, a stout woman in her mid40s appeared with a very jaded expression on her face, apparently not at all pleased at the sight of them. She had short blonde hair that curled at the tip, sparkling ocean-electric blue eyes, and a pale skin with hints of tan. Tenten gave her an equally bored expression, only hers was laced with annoyance.
"Finally!" the woman began with fake enthusiasm, her shrilly voice ringing through the teens' ears, "About time you got here! We could've missed our flight if you had been a second later!" she exaggerated.
"Excuse me ma'am, but you will be the real reason to miss your flight if you don't let us in now and let us do what we came here for!" Tenten screeched, obviously fed up with the woman's overrated stories. Appalled and taken aback, the stout figure stood rigged for a moment before spinning in her heels and leading them curtly,
"Follow me" she said. Once inside, the gates were automatically closed and the two guards resumed their posts. They were guided across the stretch that led to the house from the gate. A water fountain was at the middle, a little cupid perched on top of the marble carvings with water emerging from the tip of its heart-shaped arrow. Ripples formed around where the water landed. Around it were artistically crafted floral patterns out of bushes, embellished with young roses, daffodils, forget-me-nots and other flowers of various colors.
The whole land was covered with grasses, spare the path they walked that was pure cement. Bushes trimmed into perfection accentuated the grand walk like the carpet in a red carpet premier would. Several flowers, trees, and bushes grew altogether around the cement path they walked; they were all placed beautifully on the green canvas, positioned into perfection.
Sprinklers were spinning aimlessly around them, as the dew made the blades of grass, petals of flowers, and leaves of trees and plants, glisten, even under the timid sun. Gardeners were running busily, amidst the wonderful work of human on nature.
But that wasn't the main attraction, though. The landscape simply was just an icing on the cake; and the real glossy-red cherry was standing a hundred feet away from them.
Parallel to where they were standing was the definition of grandeur. An exquisite mansion, white with gold pillars, was elegantly lying on the middle of the landscape. Huge oak doors painted with white were embellished with glasses that revealed a peek of the interior. Windows were made of glass, supported by marble and alabaster. It stood a regal height of 5 floors, top to bottom exquisitely white with golden highlights.
Tenten stared in trepidation, though Neji didn't even spare it a second glance; the Hyuuga mansion(s) were much more awe-striking than this simple house. He smirked momentarily, before he jadedly turned to the woman who stopped walking ahead of them.
"Excuse me but can we enter now?" the woman mocked with strong disdain. Snapped back to reality, Tenten turned to her sheepishly before murmuring her embarrassed 'sorry'. Rolling her electric blue eyes, the stout woman walked ahead once more, distancing herself for only a few feet so that their conversation could continue.
"Ma'am, I believe we did not catch your name" said Neji, turning to Tenten. She mouthed an 'o' and looked at the advancing stout figure. The woman momentarily stopped and looked back at them, deep ocean eyes glaring at them.
"You dare come here without even knowing who I am!" she bellowed, clearly offended, "That's absolutely rude! Barging into someone's home without—"
"Ma'am;"—whispers—"zip it. We came here unaware of the household's names, anyway. All we know is that your surname is…Utoki, right? That's all there is" Tenten replied, glaring with equal venom. The woman was once again taken aback before she composed herself and turned up her nose.
"Very well, insolent youth," she seethed, "My name is Azumi Utoki; I am the mother of the girl you are babysitting. I'd be out for at least two days and I was informed that—"
"Save the explanation for later," Tenten rudely cut in again, "My feet are tired from all the walking here from the academy. I want to sit down" she wailed. Once again, the woman glared at her but decided to let it pass. When they reached the huge paneled doors, two guards dressed in white suit opened the doors for them and whispered something to their speakers, two guests; one guy, one girl. The guy's a Hyuuga, both teens heard them say.
Tenten rolled her eyes at this. Azumi strutted like a proud peacock and grandly entered the building. The Weapon Mistress felt herself shrink in insecurity as she took in her surroundings. If the outside wasn't good enough, the living room just had to be even more perfect.
Twin staircases stood majestically in front of them. They were made of alabaster, but a red carpet gave it a homely look, contrasting the seemingly sinister glow of the ebony alabaster against the bright fluorescent light coming from the chandelier that hung atop. The Weapon Mistress concealed a gasp and momentarily closed her eyes.
"Can we sit down now?" she complained, masking her amazement. Azumi nodded curtly and led the two of them to the grand guest room connected to the current room by two huge glass doors. The guest room, as it was obvious, had a long, plush couch positioned at the farther south of the room, parallel to the paneled glass-alabaster window that gave a wonderful view of the front garden. On either sides of the couch were two, equally lavish armchairs.
Both the couch and the armchairs were cream white and had a velvet cloth draped over them. Two pillows with golden trimmings were situated on either side of the couch, while two similar pillows were placed carefully on each of the armchairs.
In on the center of the three chairs was a glass coffee table with a vase holding at least five or six daffodils. Beneath the coffee table and the chairs was an equally posh carpet with intricate details embroidered on its thick cloth. It was brown with blue hues that were in perfect contrast with the polished, wooden floor that reflects the lights from the chandelier hanging grandly atop. Parallel to the coffee table was a majestic fireplace, intricate details of swirls and curls were carved perfectly on the marble. Golden bars that barely covered half of the exposed part of the fireplace were illuminated by the light above. A fire was cackling weakly from inside.
"Sit down" Azumi ordered, pointing one stout finger to the sofa. Tenten and Neji sat down, albeit reluctant. A few minutes after scrutinizing the teens, Azumi left, looking quite satisfied.
The clock sang its tick tock endlessly. After a while of deafening silence, a butler entered and gently placed a tray on the table in front of them. He pulled the silver lid and revealed a delicious looking plate of cookies, two glasses of juice beside it. The wafting wind allowed the aroma of the meal to be smelled by the two, quite hungry, teenagers.
"Bon appétit" the butler spoke with a heavy French accent. His goatee and moustache, accentuated by his expensive tux, gave him a regal impression. He bowed once before he politely exited the small room.
"Yeah, bon appétit" Tenten mused, and grinned to herself. She vivaciously picked up at least three cookies in one hand and another three with the other, and quickly started feasting on the scrumptious desert. Neji glared at her as if he was offended. "Wach?" she asked with a mouthful of cookies.
"Don't you have any manners?" Neji teased, raising one brow, though, if Tenten didn't know him better, seemed like an intimidating manner.
"Oh, shut up, Hyuuga; you've seen me at my worse" she countered then continued feasting on the meal. Neji shrugged; true, he already experienced—firsthand—the horrors of Tenten's whiplash-stic mood swings (especially if it's time for that), but he managed to bear with it and still was able to keep a casual face as if just a few hours ago, he had actually considered jumping out the window just to spare him from the wrath of a PMS-ing Weapon Mistress.
"Hn" was all he said after remaining silent for some time. He picked up one cookie and stuffed it in his mouth. It was good, though, he had tasted better. The cookie was like just another 'failed' attempts in his household because the ones serve to guests were truly the mark of perfection (he had tasted the cookies before they are given to the guest though the chef was too scared of him to even tell his uncle about it).
"You know, it's delicious but the ones at your house are even better" it seems that Tenten has outgrown her little habit of calling the Hyuuga household a 'mansion' or a 'palace' and has resorted to calling it a 'house' instead, much to Neji's relief, because she often adds a series of overrated, exaggerated tales about his own house and how she can 'easily get lost even in the comfort room'.
"I know" he smirked slyly. Tenten rolled her chocolate eyes and gulped down some juice.
"You're so full of yourself" she said after she settled the glass once more. Neji mimicked her and nearly emptied the glass in one gulp, "Well someone's thirsty" Tenten giggled.
"Oh shut it"
"Hey, Neji, there's still one last cookie, want it?" Tenten offered though there was hopefulness in her voice that somehow, Neji would decline. He decided to play with her a bit, just to tease her.
"Sure, why not" he said casually so that his plans would not be given away. It did work, actually. When he said those three words, Tenten's hopeful face fell and was replaced with a sullen but longing one. She eyed the cookie one last time and silently bid it farewell, seeing that it will be soon digested inside her best friend's body.
"Neji's ptyalin will do it's works on you now…" she mumbled softly, barely audible for Neji to hear, "Sigh, I wish it were my salivary amylase that would act on your delectable carbohydrate content; then I could have used the disaccharide and have other enzymes convert it into glucose for my body to use…" Tenten continued to mutter.
"You've been reading the wrong books lately, Tenten" Neji commented, stifling a chuckle, "Yes, definitely…" he mused this time. Tenten glared harshly at him, feeling quite offended at his obvious indirect insult.
"Just shut up and eat it" she seethed.
"Actually, I was joking; it's yours" he shrugged apathetically then turned away. Tenten squealed and quickly stuffed the remaining cookie in her mouth. She grinned like a Cheshire cat and giggled uncontrollably,
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Neji!" she began, shaking Neji's hands. Neji mumbled an inaudible, 'your welcome' before he looked away, pretending to not care. Although deep down, he cannot deny it, he was actually…happy with the contact and was actually enjoying every second of it.
"Hn" was his calm reply. Apparently, Tenten has reverted back to her normal, composed, 18-year old self and stopped squealing. She was gulping down some juice when Neji looked at her again. He solemnly studied her features with the corner of his eyes. She was definitely a woman now; he wasn't a pervert but from the looks of it, despite the facts that ultra-baggy clothes were loosely clinging on her, there was still a bulge. He guessed she was about C. Then her skin, oh god, they were the smoothest he had ever laid eyes on! A pale with slight hints of tan (probably from overexposure to sunlight); seriously, who has skin like that!? Neji wondered when he realized he has been staring for too long.
"Hey Neji—" she didn't get to finish her question on why he was oh-so-intently staring at her because just as she was about to spew out her question, a shrill voice rang through the room and the walls reverberated the sound.
"Oh, you're here!" was the high-pitched shriek that broke the friendly silence that enveloped them. A vein visibly popped on Tenten's forehead while Neji managed to stay calm and turned to the intruder with a poker face that could have fooled Tenten less; she knew he was pissed. No, erase that, she felt he was pissed. That alone was enough for her guts to cower and dissipate somewhere in the confusion.
"Yes, we're here" Neji said disdainfully, "And you are?" he probed, clearly uninterested about the girl's identity. He was rather pissed, thank you very much, not only because his eardrums were broken by a voice that could rival Haruno's and Yamanaka's, but also because his precious bonding moment with his "just-my-teammate" teammate was ruined.
"Interested in me now, are we? You sly dog!" The girl giggled. She had long and soft golden tresses that curled at the end. Her eyes were a bright shade of lotus with just enough gold in it to sparkle. Her skin was fair pale complexion, unharmed and so smooth. All in all, she was the epitome of beauty. Except she was a doggone fan girl.
"Don't push it" Tenten mumbled to herself, feeling her blood boil. She didn't know why but it did. Her heart had thumped faster in her chest and she felt herself sweating even more. Obviously, her circulatory system was going berserk…or that was just her hypothalamus taking better control over her cerebrum; not that she minded, though, at least she'll have the valid excuse of her "vision darkening" as she "thoroughly decapitated the bloodied body of this girl in front of her". She smirked at that thought.
"My name is Yuki Utoki." She began, gracefully taking long strides towards them. She sat down on one of the armchairs and allowed her golden locks to bounce as she did so. Tenten mentally rolled her eyes heavenwards. She noticed that the girl was dressed in a red sleeveless with excessive frills on the middle part, a good amount of cleavage exposed, but leaves a lot to the imagination. Some sequence resembling a butterfly was sewed on the bodice, down to the hem. She wore fitting jeans and a pair of red, 3-inched pumps.
"Yuki-san," Tenten began in mocked sweetness, "Would you care to enlighten us on a few details about our job here? See, all we've met is you and your mother, and your butler, if he counts, and there wasn't much of a conversation between us and your mom, so if you could kindly introduce us to who we will be babysitting then all the better" the kunoichi finished it with a sweet, sarcastic smile that clearly showed her intentions of not wanting to make conversation with the girl in the first place.
Yuki huffed quietly before proceeding to glared at Tenten with piercing lotus orbs; something that the auburn-haired kunoichi did not even flinch. The former shifted uncomfortably in her seat as if contemplating on what to say next. She finally decided on the simplest explanation, "It's my youngest sister, Iori Utoki, she's three and won't be four anytime soon" Yuki explained.
"Gonna be tough, huh…" Tenten mused; eyes were searching something far form the room they were in. Neji, though subtle, was also in deep thought and thinking about possible strategies to get them (or at least, him) out alive of this hellhole for two whole days. He almost groaned when he couldn't rake his mind for anything.
"Well!" Yuki began, clapping her hands eagerly, "the baby's not gonna change itself! It's about time for you to barge in that room and give it your best shot" she cheered. The teens animatedly sweat-dropped but nonetheless let her childishly weird actions slip.
"Oh, about time you guys start your job here!" an all-too-familiar shrill voice bellowed from the previous room. Azumi Utoki came, entering the grand living room wearing a sequenced-red dress that revealed some of her stout cleavage, stopping by her knees, a pair of 2-inch red stilettos, and a red French hat that was perched on her blonde head. She had little makeup on and wore a fake-relieved look.
"Yes, and we'll see to it that nothing interrupts again" Neji said calmly, subtle anger hidden with the well choice of words. Azumi didn't seem like she saw through Neji's façade and gave a nod in approval. Yuki muttered her 'goodbye', kissed her mom on the cheek and escorted the woman outside.
When she came back about 10 seconds later, she squealed excitedly then quickly led them to the flight of stairs and onto the second floor. She ran to the left corridor then stopped at the middle-most door. Tenten and Neji caught up with her with ease for she was quite slowed down by the high heels she had on.
Panting in front of the wooden door, Yuki brought one hand up and silently twisted the doorknob. Creeping up noiselessly, she motioned for the other two to follow. With graceful balance and ease, both ninjas manage to make it in the room without breaking a sweat. Stealth was, after all, the most important factor of their profession.
"Alright, here she is" Yuki peeked carefully through the crib's bars, kneeling gently in front of the small bed with pink-painted bars. A smile tugged on her lips as her lotus eyes kept on viewing the small, frail figure snoring quietly on the soft, lush covers, "This is my little sister Iori"
"She's three, right? Why is she still in a crib?" Tenten wondered, also taking a peek of the baby. She had a round, cherubic face that was the embodiment of all cuteness. She had curl dark hairs and freckles on her nearly-ashen face. Her small fists were curled into balls as she sucked on the thumb of her right hand. She was clad in a pink baby suit with duck prints all over.
"You don't know Iori; once, she nearly fell out the window. I left her alone by the window seat for one second, she goes hopping off it" Yuki sighed then stood up, "I'll leave the rest to you now, Neji-kun" she giggled and winked at Neji who stood there unfazed by her flirting attempts. With a curt nod, he ignored the rest of her attempts (and her presence) and dropped his bag. Slightly offended by his lack of interest, Yuki exited the room.
"Ah, so standoffish" Tenten teased, eyeing the aloof Hyuuga boy a few feet away from her, who decided that sitting down the plush carpet was the best idea of relaxing. He glared at her through one eye then muttered,
"Shut up, Tenten" he said before he closed his eyes and allowed himself to lower his guard.
0—0—0
Me: If I must say… I sucked at the details of the landscapes and such
Shino: This is awe fully long; and the last part is true
Me: I KNOW, RIGHT!?! Ah well, I'll let it go. It's Christmas Vacation! Finally!!! WHOOOO!!!! I'll just pretend I didn't hear the last part…
Shino: Quit your yapping, you noisy brat.
Me: NOT UNLESS THEY REVIEW!!! NEW RHYMES, I LOVE YOUUUUU, ESPECIALLY YOU JAYCEL!!!! XDDDDD Lolz
Shino: Child abuse…
Me: oh shut up. He's only a year younger :D
Shino: pedophile
Me: oh, whatever!