A/N: Woot, sorry it's been a little while since the last update. It's going to be a couple of days until my next because it's been 18 days since I update mirror.. so ya.. gonna update it a little bit XD
Shinobu POV
"Bring me my tea girl!" Mika growled. Shinobu quickly brought it over, setting it on the table beside her before bowing.
"Anything else, Mika-san?" Shinobu asked. She had persistantly refused to call her "Mika-sama" since it showed a respect the woman didn't deserve. Unfortunately Mika didn't see it this way and Shinobu soon found herself clenching her teeth trying desperately not to fall as the woman pumped chakra through her seal. Over the past three days Mika had taken to doing this. Requesting something or getting Shinobu to do something, then saying she did it wrong and punishing her. Over time Shinobu started to stop herself from screaming, then falling. Now she just stood there whimpering, wishing it would end soon.
"Say my name." Mika growled.
"Mika-san." Shinobu spat.
"That is not my name. I told you what you should call me." Mika shouted.
"I.. will not.. c-call you that. Y-you are not s-someone I respect n-nor are y-you a clan head or Hokage..." Shinobu growled. Before Mika could respond she found the pain vanishing as some appeared behind her. She coughed up a bit of blood but said nothing.
"Mika! What are you doing?" The voice, she quickly recognized as Hiashi's, said.
"Punishing her! She won't say my name correctly." Mika explained as if it were no big deal.
"Shinobu.. what's her name?" Hiashi asked, slightly confused.
"Mika-san." Shinobu stated.
"She said your name perfectly.. I see no problem. Don't let me catch you doing that again." Hiashi growled.
"No.. It's Mika-sama. She is a branch member!" Mika tried to reason.
"No.. she is an special member who will bring us peace and great power. If anything, you should be calling her Shinobu-sama but I know she wouldn't be comfortable with that." Hiashi stated before leaving the room with Shinobu short on his tail, leaving Mika shocked.
"Are you alright?" Hiashi asked, he knew Mika wasn't using it at full power or the girl could have died.. but to stand while it was in use.. no one had done that before.
"I am fine.. I just need to re-bandage it before training so Hinata won't find out." Shinobu stated, already fixing it so it could hide under the new sweater she had started wearing.
"Hinata?" Hiashi asked.
"I don't want her to worry or back out of training.. this can boost her confidence and strength. I like being her partner and this seal won't change that." Shinobu stated.
"You really care for her.. don't you?" Hiashi asked, for once showing a bit of sympathy and emotion. He mentally cursed himself.. but this girl.. she seemed so different than anyone else who had tried to work with their ninja. She was determined beyond belief and she wore her emotions on her sleeve.
"Yes.. in a short amount of time she became part of my make-shift family.. I will do anything for my family. Speaking of which.. I have a question for you." She sighed, finishing up the bandages.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I know I am not allowed to speak of information I've learned about the Hyuuga clan or it's fighting styles.. but will I be able to explain the tattoo to my teammates?" She asked looking up.
"Yes.. as long as you're not explaining it's workings. You can say things like how you stayed with us, that the tattoo is a seal or that you learned our style. But you can't explain things about our workings as a clan, teach our style, or explain what the seal does. I didn't design it.. my brother did. I may try and find a way to change it a bit as time goes on." He explained.
"Okay.. thank you." She bowed before heading to the training field. Hinata was probably waiting for her with Anko.
"You're late maggie!" Anko yelled with a grin when Shinobu came running. For some reason the boys were maggots and the girls were "maggies" it was odd. The two girls had grown accustomed to her being around. It was always quiet without her random cursing and shouting when she left. Hiashi didn't seem too fond of her but allowed her into the compound none the less.
"Sorry! I was serving tea!" Shinobu explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in a clenched smile. She had to make sure she didn't show her pain or Anko would stop the training for the day if not for longer.
"Then why wasn't Hinata with you?" Anko asked curiously.
"B-because we have the in synch part of this d-down." They both grinned at the same time, Shinobu throwing in a stutter to match Hinata. "That and Mika doesn't want Hinata serving her." Shinobu scowled.
"Alright.. you too got good fast.." Anko muttered.
"It's because we already knew our fighting styles and the way we acted from past missions. It was just a matter of doing them at the same time." Shinobu smiled.
"And your strength training? It's been roughly two weeks. How are we doing." Anko asked.
"I'm not struggling d-during the push ups a-anymore." Hinata smiled.
"I've been doing fifty of them normally, then twenty five one-handed on each arm." Shinobu grinned. She was already good with strength from all the training with Naruto and the guys.
"Pretty good. Then I'll give you each a goal. Hinata, I want you to make twenty five of your push ups clap push ups. Shinobu, I want you doing clap push ups in place of the ones you have been doing normally, keep the fifty one armed push ups." Anko grinned, both girls sighed.
"Why do we need this much arm muscle?" Shinobu asked, saying what Hinata was thinking.
"Well, for one, it will give you a heads up on most of the teams in simple punches.. including males. You both have been working really hard, you're almost where the guys are. Shinobu, you are about equal with Kiba and Shino is just a bit stronger than you, Hinata." She smiled, letting her sweeter side show as she tried to encourage them. Yes, she does have a sweeter side.
"But.. does it relate to the partner thing we're learning?" She asked.
"Oh shut up maggies. Train and stop questioning." She growled.. apparently her sweet side didn't last for long. She couldn't keep her scowl for long though as she watched the two of them train, quickly zipping through the exercizes even though they had added on difficulty. Not too much time had passed when they were sitting in front of her, waiting for further instruction. They tended to do their normal training when Anko had left and let her tell them what to do when she was there.
"I want to see your normal training today.. Just so I can see how you two are moving along in each other's styles. You can spar after I leave to visit the boys." Anko said, sitting down to eat a dango which she grabbed out of no where. Shinobu was starting to wonder what was in them because she seemed addicted to the things.
"A-alright." Hinata stammered before dropping into a lunge. They always trained in Shinobu's style first because it stretched out their limbs and they both found it easier to practice juuken after they did. Anko watched in mild interest as they went through the usual stretches but soon became more intrigued as they started into some of the more acrobatic moves. They had both gotten walk overs and back flips but you could tell Shinobu had been training for longer when they went into their elbow bridges because while Hinata was an inch away from her ankles, Shinobu's chest hit the ground and she was looking forward through her knees.
"Random note of doom. Hinata doesn't need to learn that much flexibility if she doesn't want to." Anko muttered, not looking away from Shinobu as she rolled her legs back so she was laying down. Hinata did too but had to be a little more careful so she didn't face plant.
When they finish stretching the two of them started doing seperate things they needed to work on. While Hinata worked on speeding up her walk, which was closer to a run, in a bridge along with her flips and handstands. Shinobu was in a handstand with her back bent so her feet were resting on the top of her head. Her arms shook a little as she tried to keep balance, shakily taking a step forward before rolling out into a bridge and repeating. If Anko didn't know any better she would have sworn Shinobu was from the circus or something. It was amazing to watch.
The girls finished up, Shinobu a little earlier than normal as she was trying not to reveal her pain. Anko gestured for them to come over.
"You're improving a lot. I just want you to keep working on your strength, if you don't you'll be in real trouble when we get to the real strength training. I won't be visiting again because I have a mission but I want you to meet up with Shino and Kiba on your last day of the two weeks. You will fight each other side by side. Kurenai will watch you. It should be a duplicate fight, but you won't be allowed to see each other's battle. Good luck." Anko grinned and with a wave, she disappeared, leaving the two dumbfounded genin internally freaking out.
"H-how are we supposed to train for that?" Hinata asked.
"It's what we have been doing I think.. since we got so used to sparring while copying each other.. it's almost second nature. Like, you know how we don't really think about it anymore? We just fight and do the same thing? Well we're going to hope we're still thinking alike when we fight. Half of it will depend on them as well, if they attack differently it will cause us to attack differently and visa versa." Shinobu grinned, she thought they could do it. They'd been spending night and day together for all hours of the day, copying every little thing they did.
"I think there's a flaw in this jutsu." Shinobu whispered.
"Ya.. I agree... I-it brings all skill levels to match your partners.. r-right? So if Shino is really good at staying calm and thinking things through, either Kiba needs to learn q-quick or Shino will have t-to start rushing i-into f-fights and dumb h-himself down. N-not saying Kiba is dumb." Hinata stuttered.
"We're kind of lucky with this.. we're evening out pretty quickly." Shinobu smiled.
"Shinobu.. you were supposed to come straight to me after you finished your training with Hinata-sama.." Mika scolded with icy eyes. Shinobu tried not to shiver as she bowed in apology before nodding to Hinata and following Mika.
"How has she been doing in training..?" Mika asked, absent-mindedly as they walked through the halls.
"She's doing good. We're almost completely in synch.. I can almost imagine what she's thinking. We both need more practice but I am sure we'll get there." Shinobu explained, trying not to say anything offensive or say too much that could get her in trouble.
"I see.. that's good. You will be helping another branch member clean the kitchens today, you two seem to be the most disobedient so it only seemed fitting to give our good people a small break in reward.
"Alright.. may I ask who the other person will be?" Shinobu asked warily.
"You'll see when you get there. I expect the entire place clean by morning. I will go retrieve your help." Mika growled before pushing her into a large kitchen area. "This will be the punishment for continually disobeying me." Mika smiled. There was flour coating the walls and table along with extra dough on the tables. There was a mountain of dirty dishes in three sinks off to the side. There was something brown crusted on to the stove. She hadn't expected it to be this messy.. wouldn't they have gotten in trouble for this? It was probably Mika's doing.. they were told to be messy or something along those lines.
"I am not a branch member.. simply a friend who wishes to protect Hinata and defend her village. I won't obey you like they do because we are not the same." Shinobu spat.
"You are a branch member here! You ungrateful brat! You should be happy you were accepted in at all.. if it weren't for your power I would have killed you long ago.. learn your place.. or I will crush you until you can't move out of it." She growled.
"The head of the clan himself addressed me as a special trumph card for the clan who is to be treated as a higher up to you. I obey what little I do out of respect for the clan.. not you. Do not think I don't know my place in this clan. I do.. and it will go up.. I will prove myself farther.. I am already trusted." Shinobu finished before letting out a squeak.
"You will not take over our clan.. you will not change things!" Mika screeched in laughter watching the girl squirm helplessly on the floor. Shinobu bit straight through her lip as she tried to avoid crying out. She was not weak.. this woman.. would not make her weak. After what seemed like a lifetime, the pain subsided and she found herself clinging to the cool floor. I wonder if this will end up scarring.. She sighed.. trying to get her headache to leave along with the burn in her movements. She had to get cleaning and fix herself up before someone walked in.
Shakily, she stood up, using the table in the center of the room for balance. She smiled and pumped a little bit of chakra through her system, just enough to numb her nerve endings until she finished this. She quickly sighed pulling her hair back.. she hated her long hair.. it felt odd. There was an apron sitting on the side of the stove so she picked it up and put it on before working on scrubbing everything from the ceiling down. That way if anything fell it would hit things that hadn't been cleaned yet. Instead of starting with the floor and having everything from the ceiling re-dirty the floor. She was hanging upside down off the wall, scrubbing the flour of the ceiling, when the door creaked open.
"What are you doing..." a familiar voice asked and Shinobu could almost picture a raised eyebrow and judgemental smirk. What's with my luck.. seriously.. does some higher being hate me or something? She sighed.. this was going to be a long night.
A/N: Different day now. So my count of regular reviewers is going up :) So I am really thankful for that and I hope you are all enjoying the story. lol... now just wait for the day that the review replies are shorter than the chapter itself. LOL. Oh and uhm.. please don't hate me for the cliffy? O.o
Note: The song is hell is for children by pat benatar. It's about child abuse and I felt it fit Shinobu and what's going on right now perfectly. It's an amazing song (then again I think most of the songs I've been using are amazing) but I would suggest listening to it if you normally don't listen to the songs. :D
Alli ate Sora-Sorry Roxas: Well have you heard of Fall out boy? Sort of like them with a swing of post-hardcore like black veil brides, falling in reverse or escape the fate. Then my own style mixed in :D Mainly post-hardcore lol. Thanks so much XD World tour.. that would make my life XD I don't know if there is a business for that but their is a business for getting them removed :D Along with cucumbers, shampoo bottles, eggs. LOL. and ew,, =/ XD P.S koodo's for being my 69th reviewer :D
DutchyPuppy: Haha :P Sorry about that XD Chicken. Lol. I updated fairly quickly and yuuummm *mind still on chicken*
CatCutthroat: Glad you do! :D
Hanible666: Haha, sorry for freaking you out :D I'm not sure how your time zone is compared to mine but ya, I update fairly quickly. I used to update quicker but school and moving is slowing me down. YES! I get to live longer :D I may or may not in the next little while. I confront almost everything I bring up. Especially with canon characters so it's just a matter of when XD Uh oh O.o I hope your mind isn't burning too much O.o Have a good sleep :D ~Random escaped mental patient from Canada. :D
ThePhoenixOfTears: Haha I wrote a response to your entire first paragraph and then I realize it only consisted of "yup" and "ya" and "That's what I thought" so I condensed it into this sentence LOL. haha, it's there to read for the people who want to :D You've never heard? Well some good examples are Falling in Reverse and Black Veil Brides :P Haha, I plan to start with covers :) but I am currently working on honing my own skills instead of finding other people so I can be a valuable member of the band when there is one XD I've worried about the same thing.. especially since the lyrics I write are always personal to me. I don't want to upload something and have it stolen. :/ Thanks for the heads up :D lol. Haha, I appreciate the thought put into it though :D It's fine :P We all have our days.I like that they're doing good, I think it's because they're more similar than people would think. They're both trying to prove themselves and get stronger. They want positive attention and re-enforcement from their family and they're both self-conscious. They both love Naruto (though in different ways) and they both have exceptional taijutsu skills :D I hope I can get this Kiba Shino pair to work. I'm still in debating mode. lol. Yes! People get the training XD The order of the seals is partially random but I made sure that tiger was the seal used twice because it's used in most if not all fire jutsu's. Which will be explained later (a.k.a above) *burning feeling* haha, I'm not sure if this will make it into the story or not but Hiashi gave his permission for multiple reasons. One, after watching Hinata and her team for a while along with a small amount of personal meeting he quickly realized how good her influence was on Hinata, who appeared happier. On top of that it would bring power to the clan because of her eyes. Then, for icing on the cake, it was a request from the Hokage himself after Anko and Kurenai brought it up with him. Haha :)Ya, their similarity definitely helps :D Girls have wider hips and most (not all) walk straighter. Look at the males in naruto compared to the females. Take away the ones with odd objects shoved up their rears and they walk and fight closer to the ground. I think the seal should be changed too but who knows.. Shinobu may change that XD Hanabi definitely comes off a bit cruel. She was raised a deal by other main house members, Mika being one of them. It shows in her personality. Hiashi is harsh, but he cares. I didn't want him making a jab at Hinata during that. I have reasons which also got shown above lol. Hinata is loyal and sweet XD She's one of my favourite characters and I hope I do her justice. I haven't forgotten about the pup ;D lol. She definitely doesn't want to show people she's vulnerable because she's afraid of losing people because of it. She lost her family because she was exiled for being weak, she doesn't want to lose anyone else and she associates the two. Weakness is loss to her. Are you a poet? You created that? It's phenominal! :D No sorry? You didn't do anything to be sorry for lol :P Chunin exams are VERY.. VERY.. soon xD I'll remember your advice and update fairly soon :D There is no such thing as too long :D lol. and yup :D Thanks for the review XD and yup! Or eventually the famous reviewer? lol. I think no matter what happens I'll share my success with a few reviewers and other than that, earn my views on this story from the story and not from my music lol. Thanks XD
