A special thanks to Akatuki and Ichigo-chan for reviewing!
Good weather, check. Clean office, check. Building constructions complete, check. Did I win the lottery? Yes. Blast, it's going to be a bad day.
"Shizune, my office. Now. Summon Jiraiya too. Where did he run off too?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
The busty blonde kunoichi interlocked her fingers and rested them under chin, choosing to ignore the omitted answer. She thanked whatever heavenly being was watching over her, because the last thing she needed was a continuation of the stress she experienced reconstructing the Academy. Then again, the stress did successfully distract her from Dan's death, and now that it's gone...Shizune burst into the office with a piglet in her arms, chest heaving from all the running. She straightened herself up after a few seconds of catching her breath and begun to report to her employer when a sudden crash and scream filled the hallway. Tsunade rubbed her temples, sighing loudly. I really need a drink right now.
"U-um, Principal Tsunade, I-"
"Sake."
Shizune placed the piglet on the ground and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at her sympathetically. Tsunade winced. She hated that look, that knowing, knowing look. "I'm trying to take care of you, Tsunade, for my uncle." Tsunade ignored her, holding her hand out for liquor instead.
"Please."
"But-"
"Now, darling. Where is that fool of a toad-dweller?" No reply came from her personal assistant.
"Well?"
"He's...gathering information," she answered timidly. A vein popped up on Tsunade's head as she fought to maintain composure. I see. Just then, a tail of spiky white hair appeared, revealing a burly, red man grinning ear to ear at her through the window. He opened the hatch and climbed over the sill, tripping over in the process and landing flat on his face.
Shizune rushed over to help the man up as Tsunade sighed and walked over to him with ominously echoing steps. He looked up, terror evident in his features, and winced with every step she took towards him.
"Gathering information, Jiraiya? You're lucky this school is brand new and I'm on a tight budget, or else you would've had to say goodbye to that pathetic little head of yours."
"Sorry, ma'am."
She gave him one last glare and walked quickly over to her desk, sitting down in her seat while Shizune and Jiraiya made light conversation.
"So, Shizune, brand new, eh? So where did all the Genshos study during that time?"
"We used the training arena in the Hokage building and a few other large areas as a substitute. Principal Tsunade helped redesign the entire Academy and as you can see, it's a lot more advanced in terms of architecture and technology. We're extremely proud of the new gym she designed and of course, the left wing of the Academy which is strictly reserved for those participating in the Tournament." Jiraiya nodded, impressed that they'd so quickly reconstructed twenty years of Konohan history in a meagre two years. The Principal extracted a bottle of sake from the loose floorboard underneath her desk (desperate times called for desperate measures - a good policy) and cleared her throat to catch their attention.
"As you may be aware, the Gensho Tournament is happening in a matter of days," she opened the bottle and took in their blank expressions, "or not."
Jiraiya was the first to speak up, "Already? You sure work fast. What about the accommodations? The arena? And renewing the Alliance?"
His teammate waved off his questions with hurried nods and clipped affirmations. "And the food, location negotiations, contracts, insurance, Forest of Death, you name it."
The two employees stood back in awe at her efficiency, knowing that she'd spent most of the two years drinking, gambling, or stressing over the construction itself. Then again, she remedied that with drinking and gambling as well. She rolled her eyes. "I've been planning this on top of the rebuild period, Jiraiya. We're extremely lucky that Suna's Academy allowed us some time to finish off reconstruction. Thankfully, Baki's more reasonable than his reputation hints at."
"What about the competitors? We can't strengthen any Alliances without anyone competing in the Tournament, Principal." Shizune refrained from glaring at the sake bottle in her boss's hand. Tsunade handed over a manila folder in a frustrated manner, enjoying the fruits of her hard labour - their renewed acknowledgement of her abilities. She didn't miss the way Jiraiya's eyes widened when he came across a particular name.
"Naruto! My boy!" he threw his arms into the elatedly, scattering all the files in the folder around the room. Shizune hissed venomously. "I knew it! You have a soft spot for him! My boy!" The principal held back a gleeful grin, and denied any implied favouritism. He was a remarkable warrior on his own, being proficient in both his own ability and shinobi hand-to-hand combat techniques, not to mention 'keeping his cool in tough situations' (which Jiraiya was evidently inept at, judging by his beet-red face in the hot springs).
Tsunade held up a hand when he looked dangerously close to hugging the life out of her, or her boobs - it was a two-way street with Jiraiya. She calmly collected the files from Shizune and with a few hand seals, they disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"What did you just do?" Jiraiya sent her a confused glance. Weren't those files classified?
"You'll see," she cackled mysteriously, choking when Shizune lunged for her bottle.
Class-time was Neji's favourite part of the day.
He relished in the feeling of being surrounded by theoretical studies, complicated calculations and the rigorous training established by Konoha's finest Gensho Academy. It made him feel productive, accomplished, and he wanted more of it. More of the strenuous work that caused his classmates to groan and moan in agony and helped him rise above the standards that his teachers set. Neji was levels higher than the rest of his age group, and delighted in the fact that he was regarded as a prodigy by the people around him, whether they liked him or not.
He supposed that, looking back, it was inevitable that his younger cousin would be targeted since no one could physically or academically beat him.
Hinata didn't thirst for the acknowledgement that he sought, neither did she possess the same ambition to rise above her station - she was always more content with tending to the gardens of the Hyuga Compound, or drinking tea with Kurenai-sensei after classes ended, despite her falling grades and ridiculously unremarkable fighting prowess. Neji cared little for her as a person, but was honour-bound to protect her, the Hyuga heiress.
It was pure luck that brought him to the scene where two rowdy boys rounded on his cousin. He remembered her eyes widening when he arrived, fuming, with figurative steam blaring from his nostrils, and ignored the beginnings of a smile quirking up at the corner of her lips. He'd pulled the duo back by their collars and slammed them into the nearby lockers. They'd whimpered at the impact, and slumped onto the ground in shock before running away. He recalled turning to the heiress triumphantly before she acted completely uncharacteristically and slapped him across the face. Neji was never one for spontaneity, and reeled back in shock.
"What did you just do!" Hinata yelled at him, momentarily losing her characteristic stutter, "They were my friends! My new friends! I haven't had a friend since- since K-Kana died! Two years ago!" His reply, for her to simply make friends, was shut down with another glower. "I tried, and failed, because you were breathing down my back all the time!"
Neji saw it as a necessary precaution that every friend Hinata made needed to have their backgrounds, socio-economic and elsewise, checked thoroughly by him, his uncle, and the clan. They'd agreed with him, of course.
"Hinata-sama," he started commandingly, "You know that every comerade you make must be-"
Her scowl deepened, so Neji stopped talking altogether. "Nii, I do not need my father with me at all times. And I do not need the clan to constantly make my decisions for me!"
He'd gaped widely, and blinked twice. "Whyever not?"
Needless to say, Neji could not understand social niceties for the life of him, even though he'd undergone and perfected etiquette training from the clan. He looked up from his textbook, continuing to copy down the teacher's notes from the whiteboard, when a crane fluttered into the classroom and landed on his desk. He heard masculine sniggering coming from behind him and turned around to glare at the perpetrators, who were (characteristically) the boys he'd protected Hinata from the other day. They visibly wilted under his gaze. Professor Danzo fixed his attention onto Neji sternly.
"Neji, please show us the message on your lovely crane," he said sarcastically. Neji frowned, opening up the origami bird in front of the entire class, who looked like they were about to fall out of their chairs laughing. He heard whispers floating around at his ears: Neji Hyuga? A crane? If only I had a camera.
What he saw, however, was a far cry from the usual marriage proposal. The paper straightened out as soon as he smoothed out the final crease. He smirked at Danzo, the class, the two idiots.
"Congratulations, you have been selected to participate in the Sunagakure-Konohagakure Gensho Alliance Tournament," he lifted his eyes from the paper and arrogantly drunk in the jealously radiating off his classmates, "Please report to the Principal's office immediately."
Okay, so, Neji's finally here. I absolutely love writing about grade-A assholes. I just think there's a lot of character depth that can be explored into, and that's always a highlight of writing. Let me know how you feel with the review button below!
~misspandalily