Anger and Affection

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 06:27 AM

It’s funny, sometimes, how things turn out. There are many words that can describe my current situation – ironic, ridiculous, regrettable. I’d be all too happy if I never had to leave the shield of blankets currently covering me as I lay in bed, bemoaning the sudden turn in my life. Those around me were ignorant about the reason of my despondency, and in fact, I knew they were quite mystified by my sudden seclusion.

I’d spent the majority of my life believing one thing, and then BAM, life smacked me right between the eyes, leaving me dazed and befuddled.

When had it happened?

How had it happened?

And why was I so pissed off? Why did I feel the need to smash my fist into the ground with all my might, and create a crevice the size of the village? Why did I feel the need to clench my teeth when talking? Last week, for the first time in my life, I literally saw red for almost an entire day. I’m well aware that I’m emotional woman, but to say my recent reaction was normal would be stretching the truth.

In the beginning, when I had first noticed my troubling reaction, it hadn’t been too bad. Maybe a little irritating, and slightly surprising, but nothing to overly fret about. When I had snapped my pencil cleanly in two, I’d frowned and mentally shrugged. Then when I had slammed my hand down so hard on the Hokage’s desk that I had broken it, I’d raised not only my eyebrows in distress, but the rest of those who were in the office as well. But, when the small, invisible tie keeping my feelings contained had snapped just yesterday, everything had come flooding out like an explosive tidal wave, blinding and enveloping me in a rage that had been barely controllable. And without a word I had left the crowded room for fear of causing bodily harm to those around me.

Of course the root of my problem would have to be a man. My infuriating, naïve, optimistic, confident, and irksome best friend, in fact. He created some problem every week with his trademark smile curved on his lips, and his eyes twinkling with a hint of mischievous temerity. After years in his presence, I’ve learned to deal with the ridiculous escapades that he always manages to drag me into some way or the other. But what has me so angry is not one of his retarded little plans, but something different entirely. And in truth, he isn’t the main person that my fury is directed at. But I’m still very cross with him, have no doubt.

The first time that I saw her, I knew trouble would be brewing. Bright red hair, legs that went up to her eyeballs, lips so pouty and pink that they could entice even the most eclectic of men. I had come to the conclusion right after meeting her and watching the surrounding men follow her in a stumbling stupor that she sucked out their souls when they stared into her eyes. Women, thankfully, were immune to it. Her clothing wasn’t revealing in a scandalous way, but it was just perfect enough to give an ample view of her charms without showing anything. Her fingernails were even painted the same obnoxious red as her hair. It was damnably annoying how the men salivated.

If she hadn’t been a representative of the Waterfall Village sent to help negotiate a peace treaty, then I would have happily kicked her ass out of the village and then some for good measure.

But most importantly, what I can’t quite understand is why the Rokudaime had to be her own personal tour-guide? Couldn’t Naruto have designated some other dignitary or respected jounin to fulfill the duty? He had more important things to do as the leader of the village that didn’t include the leech-like presence of Fai.

I shuddered unconsciously at the mere thought of her name.

Fai.

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 06:41 AM

With a grimace, I threw back the sheets from my face and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Every time I saw her manicured fingers grip Naruto’s forearm, or come to rest on any part of his anatomy, I felt a vein bulge in my forehead. Her tinkle of laughter sent tremors down my spine. Her voice curdled my blood. It was almost embarrassing how much I disliked the woman. Well, in all honesty, dislike is too kind a word.

There was one thing yesterday, however, that annoyed me the most. For something so apparently simple, it had sure triggered a response that had been beyond imagination for me. I’m still reeling from it.

I closed my eyes, and nibbled absently on my lower lip.

Fai believes herself to be a master at telling jokes. If there was a way to inform her that her jokes fell flat without seeming rude, I would have been happy to point out her failings. But, alas, there had never been an opening. Yesterday’s joke had been just as awful as the ones before it, but for some reason at the end, Naruto had smiled. But it hadn’t been the smile he typically gave Fai after her jokes, the one he presented with his head cocked to side, his lips curved, eyes tinged with a little bemusement. It hadn’t even been the smile he carried on his lips for all occasions – polite and open. It had been the one he only presented to me. The one where his eyes deepened to a slightly deeper hue of blue and bespoke of a secret amusement, and where his lips curved slightly to side, not too shallow, not too deep. I had felt like he might as well have punched me in the gut when the expression crossed his face, and Fai had preened so proudly of herself in response.

I hated knowing that someone else, especially her, was privy to something that had always been exclusively mine, even if it only was something so simple as a smile.

I could feel my turbulent emotions swirling in my chest, making it harder to breathe, harder to think, harder to move. And I just knew that it would be terribly hard to face him when under the grasp of such tangled thoughts. As tangled as they were, I knew that this was deeper than anything I’d felt before. I hated to put a name to it and make it real and touchable. But, who was I trying to fool? Certainty not myself. I’d never be able to go back to being oblivious or ignorant.

Would he be able to see through me? My heart skittered nervously in my chest, and I heaved a heavy breath. It was beyond frightening to deal with emotions that I had been peacefully oblivious of until now. It seemed almost unnatural for them to spill out uncontrollably all at one time and leave me dizzy in the aftermath. It would have been better, more comforting, if there had been something gradual about it – some sort of slow realization that was heart-warming and tender and contented.

As a little girl, I had admired the fastest, the most skilled, the best looking boy there had been. As a teenager, I had become infatuated with said boy to the point I had naively believed myself in love. As a woman, I had come to realize that the feelings I had always felt for Sasuke weren’t as deep, as pure as I had once hoped. I did, and still do love him. But, not in the way I had always thought. I wasn’t in love with him. No. Somehow I’d fallen straight, head-first into love with the blond squirt who had always seemed so annoying and childish. I’m not quite sure how he had laid siege to my heart without me even realizing, and I’m extremely befuddled on how he managed to take over without warning, but the emotions lodged in my chest are very real, very permanent, and very, very annoying.

I suddenly felt the overwhelming need to punch Naruto. Hard.

I sat up in bed, snatched my flattened pillow and had been about to take my frustration out on it when I heard a soft knock at the door of my apartment, followed by a tentative “Sakura?” from my mother. I rolled my eyes heavenward, tumbled unceremoniously out of bed and stalked grumpily out of the bedroom. By the time I reached the front door, my mother’s knock had gotten louder, as had her voice.

When she set eyes on my tousled hair, dark-rimmed eyes, and the thin set of my mouth, she said, “I knew something was wrong. You didn’t sound sick on the phone.” She raised an eyebrow and stared at me for a moment as if waiting for me to contradict her, and reaffirm the lame lie I told her over the phone a few hours ago about food poisoning of some sort. When I remained mute, she continued, “Do you want to talk?”

“Nope,” I replied decisively. I was quite aware of the problem, and though I knew my mother could give me some very good advice at a time like this, I wasn’t willing to share feelings with her that were still so new and foreign.

Rather than be offended by my curt answer, she sighed melodramatically. “Are you sure?”

I leaned against the doorjamb and offered a tight smile that I knew would pacify her for the time being. “Very sure.”

She stood still for a moment, frowned, and cocked her head to the side. “Call me if you change you mind, Sakura.”

“You know I will, Mom.”

I watched as she turned and walked briskly down the hall. I closed the door when she rounded the corner, and I couldn’t see her anymore. It was as I was walking back to my bedroom when my stomach let out a loud, angry growl, and I realized exactly how hungry I was. I tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear as my course changed to the kitchen, and I decided that cereal might shed a brighter light on my current dilemma.

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 06:50 AM

The morning at the hospital had been pure hell. A plague of clumsiness had taken over the village, and it had seemed the whole population had spilled into the waiting room with injuries ranging from a paper cut to broken limbs. I take one day off, and this is what I get the following day. Ridiculous.

By the time I managed to escape for a break, it was mid-afternoon and every part of my body ached including my eyebrows. I was hungry, but I just wasn’t in the mood to go somewhere and wait in line or sit at a table for food, so I decided I’d grab something from the hospital later. I needed to find a place to just relax and let the tension ebb from my body.

I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going, but a short while later, I found myself in a patch of woods not far from my workplace, and heaved a sigh, shoved off my shoes impatiently, and collapsed onto the ground. At first, I closed my eyes and relaxed as the familiar sound of the outdoors filled the humid air – the wind, the trees, the rustle of hidden wildlife. The sun was bright against my closed eyelids despite the peppering of shade provided by the high-reaching leaves.

It was a habit of mine to loose myself in the enveloping presence of nature whenever life became particularly stifling. I was somehow able to blot out my worries, my fears, my expectations, allowing my mind to become wonderfully blank. To not think, to not have the heavy press of everyday life’s nuisances on my shoulders helped to make everything more bearable in the long run. It was unfortunate, however, that my problems didn’t just evaporate into the air.

I opened my eyes and stared at the various rays of sunlight peeking through the crisscross of green leaves. There were days when it was harder to escape and empty my mind, like today, and I always ended up mulling over whatever was causing such an upheaval in my life.

Naruto’s face suddenly materialized in my mind, a picture of carefree lightheartedness, his blue eyes hooded with amusement, his lips slightly curved, his hair tousled as if he’d run his hands through it several times. I was mortified to feel to feel my heart stutter nervously in my chest, and my cheeks burn with an impromptu flush. With a jolt, I sat up, buried my face into my hands, and groaned.

Here I was, sitting in the woods, mooning over some man. But, not just any man. Naruto. Naruto, for heaven’s sake. I grimaced suddenly as I wondered what Ino would say about my newfound feelings for my best friend. For my former teammate. For the Hokage of Konoha. I groaned again, but louder this time.

“You sound like you’re dying. Please tell me it isn’t so, because I’m no good at your medic nin stuff,” I heard over my shoulder.

Slowly, I lifted my head and turned toward the familiar voice, and stared in horror at my petite, blond friend. “Ino,” I choked out. God, I sounded retarded even to my own ears.

She scrunched her nose in confusion and stared down at me with her hands placed on her hips. “Did your cat die or something? You look and sound horrible, Sakura.”

I suddenly thought of my obese orange-haired cat at home and mentally grimaced. Damn. I forgot to feed him this morning. He’s going to use my legs as scratching posts tonight when I get home.

Ino raised her eyebrows at my drawn-out pause, and I managed to find my voice in time to say, “Uh, no. Live. I mean he’s live. Living. He’s still living.” I wondered how many more ways I could tell her that my cat was still alive. By the look on her face, she obviously thought I’d fallen and whacked my head on a rock.

Ino settled down on the grass slowly, her eyes never leaving my face. She frowned for a moment before telling me, “I think we need to talk about whatever’s bothering you.”

I resisted the urge to run off in the other direction, and gave Ino a forced smile. “You shouldn’t worry. Nothing’s wrong. I’m just having a difficult day at the hospital.”

She quirked an eyebrow and leaned back. “So you’re just going to lie to me?” She waited a beat for me to respond, but when I remained mute, she sighed. “You’re too secretive for your own good, you know that? It’s healthy to get troubling issues off your chest and out in the open. Are you afraid I’ll make fun of you?”

It wasn’t that, really. I know she’d be amused, she’d laugh and perhaps crack a joke or two or twenty, and then find every opportunity to shamelessly embarrass me in front of Naruto. But, it really boiled down to the same reason that I hadn’t confided to my mother the previous day. I had barely wrapped my mind around the idea of such a heavy, deep emotion for Naruto. I needed to understand what was going on in my mind before sharing such private, delicate thoughts with others – even those closest to me. I know a time will come when she’ll find out, but it won’t be today. Or tomorrow. Or probably the day after. And what made me suddenly smile as I watched Ino dust dirt off her leg was that she wouldn’t be hurt by my silence. Despite being fully aware that she would badger and make my life hell, I know that she’ll understand. She always has.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” I responded adamantly, my chin upraised as I stared at her.

She raised her eyes heavenward for a moment, and shook her head slightly. “Well, as long as you’re going to remain a stubborn, ridiculous mute,” she started sardonically, “you might as well come with me to get some food. I’m starving.”

I sighed. I would get no more peaceful solitude in this patch of forest for the rest of the day. Might as well do something productive before I had to report back to work. “What do you have in mind?” I replied as I shoved my bare feet into my shoes.

“Not ramen,” she immediately retorted with a shudder. “Maybe some odango.”

I couldn’t help but grin as I stood and walked away from the trees.

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 07:01 AM

I shouldn’t have been surprised when he walked into the hospital later that same afternoon, his arm bleeding profusely, a typical smile of sheepishness on his face. I was tempted to duck behind my current patient’s wheelchair, but then I’d look and feel like a complete moron. Instead, I headed quickly to the hallway, pushing the wheelchair, hoping desperately that he’d somehow miss me.

“Sakura-chan!”

It was the hair. The pinkness must be some sort of beacon – unique and obvious. Maybe I should shave it all off. But, would being bald be more conspicuous? I sighed. I’d miss my hair, anyways.

I turned my head and watched over my shoulder as he hurried over to me, his arm tucked close to his stomach, the blood seeping into his tunic.

The elder woman in the wheelchair smiled broadly at the Hokage and tilted her head back to look at me. “Why don’t you take care of him, dear? I’ll just get the nice young woman over there to take me back to my room.”

I bit back a groan and smiled weakly as I handed her over to the floor nurse. Naruto came to a stop beside me as she was taken away.

“I was hoping to catch you,” he said, his lips curved in a bright smile, despite the obviously painful wound.

I glared pointedly at the long gash, and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Dare I ask how this new injury came about?”

He shrugged. “A construction accident downtown.”

“And you were there because you’re such a wonderful carpenter…,” I queried dryly.

“Just helping out,” Naruto said with a quick smile.

I sighed and grabbed his uninjured arm, tugging lightly to get him to follow me. Surprisingly, his skin was cool against my palm despite the warm weather outside. I kept my eyes peeled in front of me, and tried to not think of the close contact for fear that my cheeks would become embarrassingly red. When had I become this bashful? It was absurd.

“I didn’t see you yesterday at the picnic,” he chatted as we made our way down the hallway.

It took me a moment to remember what I’d been using as an excuse for my absence. “I got some bad food poisoning,” I replied hastily, glancing briefly back at him. I bit my lip to keep from smiling when he visibly blanched. The poor thing was probably terrified he would be the next victim, what with his bottomless, food-loving stomach.

“Food poisoning! From where?”

Damn. I hadn’t thought of that. I hesitated slightly, and then said, “I think it was some expired crackers I had in my apartment.”

Naruto made a funny noise that sounded suspiciously like choked laughter. “You eating expired food, Sakura-chan? That’s not something I ever imagined you doing. You’ve gotten onto me constantly for doing just that.”

He was making fun of me! I glared at him and yanked him rather roughly into the empty examination room. That seemed to amuse him even more, but the smart man tried to hide it in an attempt to curb my wrath. He was learning.

I pointed to hospital bed. “Sit.”

He did so, and watched me as I gathered the materials to help close the wound. He was surprisingly silent as I pulled up a chair in front of him and took his injured arm into my hands. I cradled his wrist with one hand and lifted the other to cover the wound. With a deep breath, I relaxed into my flow of chakra and let it cover, mold, and envelop the gash. When I briefly glanced up to his face, I noticed it was slightly whiter than before, but otherwise you couldn’t tell he felt any pain at all. After a few seconds, my healing seemed to take effect, and some of his color returned.

“Are you planning on returning to the construction site?” I asked softly.

His eyes caught mine. “Told ‘em I would.”

“Is that for reassurance the mighty Hokage wasn’t irreparably injured, his future doomed?”

Naruto chuckled, and I felt my lips twitch in response. “A small, splintered beam couldn’t possibly take me out, have no fear.”

My eyes went down to his injury, then back to his face, and I gave him a sardonic glare. “Small?”

“Okay. So, it was big. But, still.”

I stopped the flow of healing chakra, and grabbed for the wet washcloth to clean off bloody residue. There was still a thin slice along the length of his arm, but it had ceased to bleed, and no longer needed invasive stitches.

As I applied ointment, I told him, “You can go, I guess, but try to avoid anything strenuous. I’d hate for you to undo all my healing.”

He grunted as he watched me. I grabbed the bandages and began to wrap his arm. I was acutely aware of his eyes on me as I worked, and it made irrationally nervous. Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to finish.

I heard more than saw him stand up and meander slowly away from me. I busied myself with clearing away some of the mess I had made.

“You busy tonight?”

Surprised, I glanced up at him. He stood across from me in the doorway with his back against the doorjamb, and his arms folded against his chest. His hair tumbled messily over his forehead protector as it always did, and his eyes were innocently inquisitive. I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn’t figure out how to form the words. I sucked in a breath and tried again.

But before a garble of nonsense could spew from my mouth, he continued. “I haven’t eaten ramen in so long. I finally talked Fai into eating something different from the stuff she usually insists on. I can hardly wait.”

He seemed genuinely excited, too. But, at the mention of Fai’s name, I suddenly remembered how to talk. I averted my eyes, and smiled slightly to help soften my decline of his offer. “I have a date with my kitchen, actually. I’m trying to learn how to successfully cook this recipe of mother’s and it hasn’t been going so well. I was planning on taking another stab at it tonight.”

I heard him sigh. When he placed his hand onto my shoulder, I jumped slightly, surprised by his sudden proximity. My gaze flew to his. I had never realized how bottomless his eyes were – how clear a blue they were. You could drown in the crystal clarity of them. My lips parted as they seemed to almost smile at me, though his expression didn’t change and lips remained straight.

“If it works out, promise to make it for me sometime, will you?”

I nodded slowly. “Sure,” I murmured.

His stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble of annoyance. A grin split his lips, and he said, “See! I’m already hungry for your cooking.”

My lips quirked. “It’s just mad about the recent lack of ramen.”

“Nope. I’m positive it’s pining for your culinary delights.”

I rolled my eyes heavenward, reached out and shoved his chest as an act of rebuttal. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Hokage-sama.”

With a step back, he cocked his head to the side and sent me a lighthearted smile. “That I do. Promise to run into me sometime soon, Sakura-chan?”

“I’ll make no such promise.”

He chuckled as he walked backwards. With a parting dip of his head, he turned and headed down the hall towards the exit. I watched as he stopped numerous times to greet patients, visitors, and hospital employees. I shook my head with a smile and returned back inside the room to clean up the mess.

I spent the next week trying to avoid over-analyzing my feelings. Most of my time was spent burying myself elbow-deep in hospital work. Although Tsunade wasn’t the Hokage any longer, she had remained as the temporary head of the medical unit. She had been very specific about the temporary part. I think she fully planned on returning to the wandering life she had been enjoying before being tied to the village years ago.

During the middle of the week, she’d decided to take a small break, and had left most of the responsibilities of keeping the hospital in working order to me.

What a nightmare.

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 07:12 AM

Admittedly, it had been a nice distraction from reality, but I didn’t hope to repeat my slave labor anytime soon. I had almost kissed the ground at Tsunade’s feet when she had returned earlier this afternoon. But, she had been kind enough to offer a few days break. I had almost been tempted to refuse the free time, because I knew I’d just lay around the house and become a victim to my ever-churning mind, but I knew I needed some kind of down-time from sick and bleeding people.

I was currently in the small cafeteria in the hospital, my feet propped on top of the table, my head leaned back, and a cup of steaming coffee cradled in my hands. I wiggled my toes to ease the ache, and moaned at the heavenliness of the chair, even though it was a hard, plastic thing that wasn’t very comfortable. A chair was a chair, and who was I to look a gift-horse in the mouth?

In hindsight, I guess I shouldn’t have let my guard down, but I was tired.

“Sakura….” I should have run when I heard Ino use that tone with me. It was never good. However, I did keep my eyes closed, and pretended not to hear her. “Sakura, I need a favor.”

I sighed. “You and everyone else in the entire village.”

I heard a chair scrape along the linoleum floor. The table jiggled slightly as she sat down and leaned against it.

“Will you just hear me out?”

I cracked an eye open. “Before details are revealed, what benefit do I get from a plan I know I’ll most likely dislike?”

A funny look crossed her features, and I knew she had nothing to offer. Just great. She started to reply, but instead I cut her off with a wave of my hand, and removed my feet from the table.

“Never mind,” I mumbled. I set the coffee on the table. “What do you need?”

She shifted in her chair. Never a good sign. “Well, it’s not actually for me, per se.”

I quirked an eyebrow, and over the rim of my coffee cup, I replied dryly, “I’m shocked.”

“It’s for Lee, actually.”

Now, I hadn’t expected that. “What does he need? And why are you asking me for him? He’s never had a problem talking to me before.”

Ino sighed. “I need to use him for a mission, his taijutsu skills to be specific, and since he’s currently tied down with his team, I can’t peel him away. I was wondering if you’d agree to watch his team for a couple days, so I can get him agree to go on the mission with me.”

Out of the ninjas our age, only Lee currently had taken on a team of three genin level ninjas. The others had joined the ANBU or participated in only jounin-levels missions and ect., and had artfully excused themselves from the unwanted ”babysitting” duty by arguing they didn’t have the time or patience yet to deal with young ninjas. Lee seemed to be genuinely excited about his charges. I hadn’t really heard much about his ninjas, but the thought of watching over three adolescents didn’t seem like something that would be relaxing on my days off.

“Can you talk about this mission?” I asked with a frown.

Ino shook her head. “No. But, I can guarantee it won’t be longer than two days.”

I was torn between the temptation of having something to occupy my thoughts for the next couple days, and the unwanted prospect of dealing with three pre-teens who thought they were gods of the universe. I glanced at Ino’s expectant expression, and cursed myself for being such a sucker.

“Call me after you talk with Lee, and make sure to get the place and time I’m supposed to rendezvous at with his charges.”

A slow smile spread over Ino’s lips as she visibly slumped against the side of the table. I watched as her eyes caught my coffee cup, and then lifted slowly to mine, expectant and greedy at the same time.

I snorted and took a sip. “Get your own, Ino Pig.”

thegodfather2450 · 01-22-2009, 07:22 AM

They weren’t actually that bad. For the first day, Lee left some odd little manuals for them to read and discuss amongst themselves. Their work ethic was fairly normal for pre-teens – they stared at their assignment for maybe half an hour, and then decided they had better things to do with their time. There had only been maybe five occasions during the day when I’d wanted to give the demons a piece of my mind, but I had contained myself.

To keep their attention for a longer period today (our final day, thank goodness), I planned on ignoring the training regime that Lee had left (by explaining I’d lost the itinerary list), and doing something completely different. Something I thought they would enjoy.

“This is the dumbest thing ever.”

Well, maybe not. I obviously wasn’t psychic.

With a narrow glare, I turned to the short boy with spiky blonde hair. What was with little blonde kids? Why did they always have to be so damn opinionated?

“Well, I apologize you’re not having the time of your life.”

The second boy snorted. “I agree with Kisuke. Couldn’t we do something exciting? Lee-sensei’s manuals were better than this.”

The girl beside me rolled her eyes dramatically and leaned close to me, and whispered loudly, “Boys.”

I felt like snorting and telling her she had no idea, but merely quirked my lips in response.

As if he needed to get his point further across, Kisuke stalked up the roof’s railing where Fuku and I were stooped in front of. “Why in the world would you think we’d want to sit here and admire older men?” He sounded utterly disgusted. Put that way, I did feel slightly sorry for him.

“I didn’t bring you here to ‘admire’ anyone. I figured this would be a good place to get in some actual hands-on practice of all that material you read about yesterday.”

Kisuke leaned against the railing and sighed heavily. “You’re full of crap.”

I bolted up indignantly, a quick retort on my tongue when Fuku snagged my skirt and yanked hard while hissing, “He’s looking Sakura-sensei!”

I gave a startled choke and flattened myself to the roof’s concrete. I clenched my teeth tightly together when I heard him yelling my name from down below. I could tell he was laughing from even so far above. With a soft curse, I stood and dusted off my legs before peering over the banister and smiling weakly down at Naruto.

It had been merely an unfortunate coincidence that he had been assisting in the construction of the adjacent building. I had only realized he was over there about a half-hour after we arrived when I heard his familiar burst of laughter.

I had tried to go through the motions of some basic nin skills, but the knowledge that Naruto was so close ate away at my attention. Finally, when Fuku had perched herself by the banister to observe the “construction”, I’d parked myself down right beside her. Fifteen minutes later, the boys had gotten whiny, Fuku had gotten stars in her eyes, and I had gotten spotted.

I watched as Naruto waved enthusiastically at me; my answering wave was pathetic in comparison, but that was because I felt like a moron.

“I’m coming up!” he shouted.

01-22-2009, 06:27 AM	#1
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Anger and Affection It’s funny, sometimes, how things turn out. There are many words that can describe my current situation – ironic, ridiculous, regrettable. I’d be all too happy if I never had to leave the shield of blankets currently covering me as I lay in bed, bemoaning the sudden turn in my life. Those around me were ignorant about the reason of my despondency, and in fact, I knew they were quite mystified by my sudden seclusion. I’d spent the majority of my life believing one thing, and then BAM, life smacked me right between the eyes, leaving me dazed and befuddled. When had it happened? How had it happened? And why was I so pissed off? Why did I feel the need to smash my fist into the ground with all my might, and create a crevice the size of the village? Why did I feel the need to clench my teeth when talking? Last week, for the first time in my life, I literally saw red for almost an entire day. I’m well aware that I’m emotional woman, but to say my recent reaction was normal would be stretching the truth. In the beginning, when I had first noticed my troubling reaction, it hadn’t been too bad. Maybe a little irritating, and slightly surprising, but nothing to overly fret about. When I had snapped my pencil cleanly in two, I’d frowned and mentally shrugged. Then when I had slammed my hand down so hard on the Hokage’s desk that I had broken it, I’d raised not only my eyebrows in distress, but the rest of those who were in the office as well. But, when the small, invisible tie keeping my feelings contained had snapped just yesterday, everything had come flooding out like an explosive tidal wave, blinding and enveloping me in a rage that had been barely controllable. And without a word I had left the crowded room for fear of causing bodily harm to those around me. Of course the root of my problem would have to be a man. My infuriating, naïve, optimistic, confident, and irksome best friend, in fact. He created some problem every week with his trademark smile curved on his lips, and his eyes twinkling with a hint of mischievous temerity. After years in his presence, I’ve learned to deal with the ridiculous escapades that he always manages to drag me into some way or the other. But what has me so angry is not one of his retarded little plans, but something different entirely. And in truth, he isn’t the main person that my fury is directed at. But I’m still very cross with him, have no doubt. The first time that I saw her, I knew trouble would be brewing. Bright red hair, legs that went up to her eyeballs, lips so pouty and pink that they could entice even the most eclectic of men. I had come to the conclusion right after meeting her and watching the surrounding men follow her in a stumbling stupor that she sucked out their souls when they stared into her eyes. Women, thankfully, were immune to it. Her clothing wasn’t revealing in a scandalous way, but it was just perfect enough to give an ample view of her charms without showing anything. Her fingernails were even painted the same obnoxious red as her hair. It was damnably annoying how the men salivated. If she hadn’t been a representative of the Waterfall Village sent to help negotiate a peace treaty, then I would have happily kicked her ass out of the village and then some for good measure. But most importantly, what I can’t quite understand is why the Rokudaime had to be her own personal tour-guide? Couldn’t Naruto have designated some other dignitary or respected jounin to fulfill the duty? He had more important things to do as the leader of the village that didn’t include the leech-like presence of Fai. I shuddered unconsciously at the mere thought of her name. Fai. __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

01-22-2009, 06:41 AM	#2
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Re: Anger and Affection With a grimace, I threw back the sheets from my face and took a deep breath of fresh air. Every time I saw her manicured fingers grip Naruto’s forearm, or come to rest on any part of his anatomy, I felt a vein bulge in my forehead. Her tinkle of laughter sent tremors down my spine. Her voice curdled my blood. It was almost embarrassing how much I disliked the woman. Well, in all honesty, dislike is too kind a word. There was one thing yesterday, however, that annoyed me the most. For something so apparently simple, it had sure triggered a response that had been beyond imagination for me. I’m still reeling from it. I closed my eyes, and nibbled absently on my lower lip. Fai believes herself to be a master at telling jokes. If there was a way to inform her that her jokes fell flat without seeming rude, I would have been happy to point out her failings. But, alas, there had never been an opening. Yesterday’s joke had been just as awful as the ones before it, but for some reason at the end, Naruto had smiled. But it hadn’t been the smile he typically gave Fai after her jokes, the one he presented with his head cocked to side, his lips curved, eyes tinged with a little bemusement. It hadn’t even been the smile he carried on his lips for all occasions – polite and open. It had been the one he only presented to me. The one where his eyes deepened to a slightly deeper hue of blue and bespoke of a secret amusement, and where his lips curved slightly to side, not too shallow, not too deep. I had felt like he might as well have punched me in the gut when the expression crossed his face, and Fai had preened so proudly of herself in response. I hated knowing that someone else, especially her, was privy to something that had always been exclusively mine, even if it only was something so simple as a smile. I could feel my turbulent emotions swirling in my chest, making it harder to breathe, harder to think, harder to move. And I just knew that it would be terribly hard to face him when under the grasp of such tangled thoughts. As tangled as they were, I knew that this was deeper than anything I’d felt before. I hated to put a name to it and make it real and touchable. But, who was I trying to fool? Certainty not myself. I’d never be able to go back to being oblivious or ignorant. Would he be able to see through me? My heart skittered nervously in my chest, and I heaved a heavy breath. It was beyond frightening to deal with emotions that I had been peacefully oblivious of until now. It seemed almost unnatural for them to spill out uncontrollably all at one time and leave me dizzy in the aftermath. It would have been better, more comforting, if there had been something gradual about it – some sort of slow realization that was heart-warming and tender and contented. As a little girl, I had admired the fastest, the most skilled, the best looking boy there had been. As a teenager, I had become infatuated with said boy to the point I had naively believed myself in love. As a woman, I had come to realize that the feelings I had always felt for Sasuke weren’t as deep, as pure as I had once hoped. I did, and still do love him. But, not in the way I had always thought. I wasn’t in love with him. No. Somehow I’d fallen straight, head-first into love with the blond squirt who had always seemed so annoying and childish. I’m not quite sure how he had laid siege to my heart without me even realizing, and I’m extremely befuddled on how he managed to take over without warning, but the emotions lodged in my chest are very real, very permanent, and very, very annoying. I suddenly felt the overwhelming need to punch Naruto. Hard. I sat up in bed, snatched my flattened pillow and had been about to take my frustration out on it when I heard a soft knock at the door of my apartment, followed by a tentative “Sakura?” from my mother. I rolled my eyes heavenward, tumbled unceremoniously out of bed and stalked grumpily out of the bedroom. By the time I reached the front door, my mother’s knock had gotten louder, as had her voice. When she set eyes on my tousled hair, dark-rimmed eyes, and the thin set of my mouth, she said, “I knew something was wrong. You didn’t sound sick on the phone.” She raised an eyebrow and stared at me for a moment as if waiting for me to contradict her, and reaffirm the lame lie I told her over the phone a few hours ago about food poisoning of some sort. When I remained mute, she continued, “Do you want to talk?” “Nope,” I replied decisively. I was quite aware of the problem, and though I knew my mother could give me some very good advice at a time like this, I wasn’t willing to share feelings with her that were still so new and foreign. Rather than be offended by my curt answer, she sighed melodramatically. “Are you sure?” I leaned against the doorjamb and offered a tight smile that I knew would pacify her for the time being. “Very sure.” She stood still for a moment, frowned, and cocked her head to the side. “Call me if you change you mind, Sakura.” “You know I will, Mom.” I watched as she turned and walked briskly down the hall. I closed the door when she rounded the corner, and I couldn’t see her anymore. It was as I was walking back to my bedroom when my stomach let out a loud, angry growl, and I realized exactly how hungry I was. I tucked an errant strand of hair behind my ear as my course changed to the kitchen, and I decided that cereal might shed a brighter light on my current dilemma. __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

01-22-2009, 06:50 AM	#3
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Re: Anger and Affection The morning at the hospital had been pure hell. A plague of clumsiness had taken over the village, and it had seemed the whole population had spilled into the waiting room with injuries ranging from a paper cut to broken limbs. I take one day off, and this is what I get the following day. Ridiculous. By the time I managed to escape for a break, it was mid-afternoon and every part of my body ached including my eyebrows. I was hungry, but I just wasn’t in the mood to go somewhere and wait in line or sit at a table for food, so I decided I’d grab something from the hospital later. I needed to find a place to just relax and let the tension ebb from my body. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going, but a short while later, I found myself in a patch of woods not far from my workplace, and heaved a sigh, shoved off my shoes impatiently, and collapsed onto the ground. At first, I closed my eyes and relaxed as the familiar sound of the outdoors filled the humid air – the wind, the trees, the rustle of hidden wildlife. The sun was bright against my closed eyelids despite the peppering of shade provided by the high-reaching leaves. It was a habit of mine to loose myself in the enveloping presence of nature whenever life became particularly stifling. I was somehow able to blot out my worries, my fears, my expectations, allowing my mind to become wonderfully blank. To not think, to not have the heavy press of everyday life’s nuisances on my shoulders helped to make everything more bearable in the long run. It was unfortunate, however, that my problems didn’t just evaporate into the air. I opened my eyes and stared at the various rays of sunlight peeking through the crisscross of green leaves. There were days when it was harder to escape and empty my mind, like today, and I always ended up mulling over whatever was causing such an upheaval in my life. Naruto’s face suddenly materialized in my mind, a picture of carefree lightheartedness, his blue eyes hooded with amusement, his lips slightly curved, his hair tousled as if he’d run his hands through it several times. I was mortified to feel to feel my heart stutter nervously in my chest, and my cheeks burn with an impromptu flush. With a jolt, I sat up, buried my face into my hands, and groaned. Here I was, sitting in the woods, mooning over some man. But, not just any man. Naruto. Naruto, for heaven’s sake. I grimaced suddenly as I wondered what Ino would say about my newfound feelings for my best friend. For my former teammate. For the Hokage of Konoha. I groaned again, but louder this time. “You sound like you’re dying. Please tell me it isn’t so, because I’m no good at your medic nin stuff,” I heard over my shoulder. Slowly, I lifted my head and turned toward the familiar voice, and stared in horror at my petite, blond friend. “Ino,” I choked out. God, I sounded retarded even to my own ears. She scrunched her nose in confusion and stared down at me with her hands placed on her hips. “Did your cat die or something? You look and sound horrible, Sakura.” I suddenly thought of my obese orange-haired cat at home and mentally grimaced. Damn. I forgot to feed him this morning. He’s going to use my legs as scratching posts tonight when I get home. Ino raised her eyebrows at my drawn-out pause, and I managed to find my voice in time to say, “Uh, no. Live. I mean he’s live. Living. He’s still living.” I wondered how many more ways I could tell her that my cat was still alive. By the look on her face, she obviously thought I’d fallen and whacked my head on a rock. Ino settled down on the grass slowly, her eyes never leaving my face. She frowned for a moment before telling me, “I think we need to talk about whatever’s bothering you.” I resisted the urge to run off in the other direction, and gave Ino a forced smile. “You shouldn’t worry. Nothing’s wrong. I’m just having a difficult day at the hospital.” She quirked an eyebrow and leaned back. “So you’re just going to lie to me?” She waited a beat for me to respond, but when I remained mute, she sighed. “You’re too secretive for your own good, you know that? It’s healthy to get troubling issues off your chest and out in the open. Are you afraid I’ll make fun of you?” It wasn’t that, really. I know she’d be amused, she’d laugh and perhaps crack a joke or two or twenty, and then find every opportunity to shamelessly embarrass me in front of Naruto. But, it really boiled down to the same reason that I hadn’t confided to my mother the previous day. I had barely wrapped my mind around the idea of such a heavy, deep emotion for Naruto. I needed to understand what was going on in my mind before sharing such private, delicate thoughts with others – even those closest to me. I know a time will come when she’ll find out, but it won’t be today. Or tomorrow. Or probably the day after. And what made me suddenly smile as I watched Ino dust dirt off her leg was that she wouldn’t be hurt by my silence. Despite being fully aware that she would badger and make my life hell, I know that she’ll understand. She always has. “There’s nothing wrong with me,” I responded adamantly, my chin upraised as I stared at her. She raised her eyes heavenward for a moment, and shook her head slightly. “Well, as long as you’re going to remain a stubborn, ridiculous mute,” she started sardonically, “you might as well come with me to get some food. I’m starving.” I sighed. I would get no more peaceful solitude in this patch of forest for the rest of the day. Might as well do something productive before I had to report back to work. “What do you have in mind?” I replied as I shoved my bare feet into my shoes. “Not ramen,” she immediately retorted with a shudder. “Maybe some odango.” I couldn’t help but grin as I stood and walked away from the trees. __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

01-22-2009, 07:01 AM	#4
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Re: Anger and Affection I shouldn’t have been surprised when he walked into the hospital later that same afternoon, his arm bleeding profusely, a typical smile of sheepishness on his face. I was tempted to duck behind my current patient’s wheelchair, but then I’d look and feel like a complete moron. Instead, I headed quickly to the hallway, pushing the wheelchair, hoping desperately that he’d somehow miss me. “Sakura-chan!” It was the hair. The pinkness must be some sort of beacon – unique and obvious. Maybe I should shave it all off. But, would being bald be more conspicuous? I sighed. I’d miss my hair, anyways. I turned my head and watched over my shoulder as he hurried over to me, his arm tucked close to his stomach, the blood seeping into his tunic. The elder woman in the wheelchair smiled broadly at the Hokage and tilted her head back to look at me. “Why don’t you take care of him, dear? I’ll just get the nice young woman over there to take me back to my room.” I bit back a groan and smiled weakly as I handed her over to the floor nurse. Naruto came to a stop beside me as she was taken away. “I was hoping to catch you,” he said, his lips curved in a bright smile, despite the obviously painful wound. I glared pointedly at the long gash, and raised a questioning eyebrow. “Dare I ask how this new injury came about?” He shrugged. “A construction accident downtown.” “And you were there because you’re such a wonderful carpenter…,” I queried dryly. “Just helping out,” Naruto said with a quick smile. I sighed and grabbed his uninjured arm, tugging lightly to get him to follow me. Surprisingly, his skin was cool against my palm despite the warm weather outside. I kept my eyes peeled in front of me, and tried to not think of the close contact for fear that my cheeks would become embarrassingly red. When had I become this bashful? It was absurd. “I didn’t see you yesterday at the picnic,” he chatted as we made our way down the hallway. It took me a moment to remember what I’d been using as an excuse for my absence. “I got some bad food poisoning,” I replied hastily, glancing briefly back at him. I bit my lip to keep from smiling when he visibly blanched. The poor thing was probably terrified he would be the next victim, what with his bottomless, food-loving stomach. “Food poisoning! From where?” Damn. I hadn’t thought of that. I hesitated slightly, and then said, “I think it was some expired crackers I had in my apartment.” Naruto made a funny noise that sounded suspiciously like choked laughter. “You eating expired food, Sakura-chan? That’s not something I ever imagined you doing. You’ve gotten onto me constantly for doing just that.” He was making fun of me! I glared at him and yanked him rather roughly into the empty examination room. That seemed to amuse him even more, but the smart man tried to hide it in an attempt to curb my wrath. He was learning. I pointed to hospital bed. “Sit.” He did so, and watched me as I gathered the materials to help close the wound. He was surprisingly silent as I pulled up a chair in front of him and took his injured arm into my hands. I cradled his wrist with one hand and lifted the other to cover the wound. With a deep breath, I relaxed into my flow of chakra and let it cover, mold, and envelop the gash. When I briefly glanced up to his face, I noticed it was slightly whiter than before, but otherwise you couldn’t tell he felt any pain at all. After a few seconds, my healing seemed to take effect, and some of his color returned. “Are you planning on returning to the construction site?” I asked softly. His eyes caught mine. “Told ‘em I would.” “Is that for reassurance the mighty Hokage wasn’t irreparably injured, his future doomed?” Naruto chuckled, and I felt my lips twitch in response. “A small, splintered beam couldn’t possibly take me out, have no fear.” My eyes went down to his injury, then back to his face, and I gave him a sardonic glare. “Small?” “Okay. So, it was big. But, still.” I stopped the flow of healing chakra, and grabbed for the wet washcloth to clean off bloody residue. There was still a thin slice along the length of his arm, but it had ceased to bleed, and no longer needed invasive stitches. As I applied ointment, I told him, “You can go, I guess, but try to avoid anything strenuous. I’d hate for you to undo all my healing.” He grunted as he watched me. I grabbed the bandages and began to wrap his arm. I was acutely aware of his eyes on me as I worked, and it made irrationally nervous. Thankfully, it didn’t take me long to finish. I heard more than saw him stand up and meander slowly away from me. I busied myself with clearing away some of the mess I had made. “You busy tonight?” Surprised, I glanced up at him. He stood across from me in the doorway with his back against the doorjamb, and his arms folded against his chest. His hair tumbled messily over his forehead protector as it always did, and his eyes were innocently inquisitive. I opened my mouth to reply, but I couldn’t figure out how to form the words. I sucked in a breath and tried again. But before a garble of nonsense could spew from my mouth, he continued. “I haven’t eaten ramen in so long. I finally talked Fai into eating something different from the stuff she usually insists on. I can hardly wait.” He seemed genuinely excited, too. But, at the mention of Fai’s name, I suddenly remembered how to talk. I averted my eyes, and smiled slightly to help soften my decline of his offer. “I have a date with my kitchen, actually. I’m trying to learn how to successfully cook this recipe of mother’s and it hasn’t been going so well. I was planning on taking another stab at it tonight.” I heard him sigh. When he placed his hand onto my shoulder, I jumped slightly, surprised by his sudden proximity. My gaze flew to his. I had never realized how bottomless his eyes were – how clear a blue they were. You could drown in the crystal clarity of them. My lips parted as they seemed to almost smile at me, though his expression didn’t change and lips remained straight. “If it works out, promise to make it for me sometime, will you?” I nodded slowly. “Sure,” I murmured. His stomach suddenly let out a loud rumble of annoyance. A grin split his lips, and he said, “See! I’m already hungry for your cooking.” My lips quirked. “It’s just mad about the recent lack of ramen.” “Nope. I’m positive it’s pining for your culinary delights.” I rolled my eyes heavenward, reached out and shoved his chest as an act of rebuttal. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Hokage-sama.” With a step back, he cocked his head to the side and sent me a lighthearted smile. “That I do. Promise to run into me sometime soon, Sakura-chan?” “I’ll make no such promise.” He chuckled as he walked backwards. With a parting dip of his head, he turned and headed down the hall towards the exit. I watched as he stopped numerous times to greet patients, visitors, and hospital employees. I shook my head with a smile and returned back inside the room to clean up the mess. I spent the next week trying to avoid over-analyzing my feelings. Most of my time was spent burying myself elbow-deep in hospital work. Although Tsunade wasn’t the Hokage any longer, she had remained as the temporary head of the medical unit. She had been very specific about the temporary part. I think she fully planned on returning to the wandering life she had been enjoying before being tied to the village years ago. During the middle of the week, she’d decided to take a small break, and had left most of the responsibilities of keeping the hospital in working order to me. What a nightmare. __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

01-22-2009, 07:12 AM	#5
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Re: Anger and Affection Admittedly, it had been a nice distraction from reality, but I didn’t hope to repeat my slave labor anytime soon. I had almost kissed the ground at Tsunade’s feet when she had returned earlier this afternoon. But, she had been kind enough to offer a few days break. I had almost been tempted to refuse the free time, because I knew I’d just lay around the house and become a victim to my ever-churning mind, but I knew I needed some kind of down-time from sick and bleeding people. I was currently in the small cafeteria in the hospital, my feet propped on top of the table, my head leaned back, and a cup of steaming coffee cradled in my hands. I wiggled my toes to ease the ache, and moaned at the heavenliness of the chair, even though it was a hard, plastic thing that wasn’t very comfortable. A chair was a chair, and who was I to look a gift-horse in the mouth? In hindsight, I guess I shouldn’t have let my guard down, but I was tired. “Sakura….” I should have run when I heard Ino use that tone with me. It was never good. However, I did keep my eyes closed, and pretended not to hear her. “Sakura, I need a favor.” I sighed. “You and everyone else in the entire village.” I heard a chair scrape along the linoleum floor. The table jiggled slightly as she sat down and leaned against it. “Will you just hear me out?” I cracked an eye open. “Before details are revealed, what benefit do I get from a plan I know I’ll most likely dislike?” A funny look crossed her features, and I knew she had nothing to offer. Just great. She started to reply, but instead I cut her off with a wave of my hand, and removed my feet from the table. “Never mind,” I mumbled. I set the coffee on the table. “What do you need?” She shifted in her chair. Never a good sign. “Well, it’s not actually for me, per se.” I quirked an eyebrow, and over the rim of my coffee cup, I replied dryly, “I’m shocked.” “It’s for Lee, actually.” Now, I hadn’t expected that. “What does he need? And why are you asking me for him? He’s never had a problem talking to me before.” Ino sighed. “I need to use him for a mission, his taijutsu skills to be specific, and since he’s currently tied down with his team, I can’t peel him away. I was wondering if you’d agree to watch his team for a couple days, so I can get him agree to go on the mission with me.” Out of the ninjas our age, only Lee currently had taken on a team of three genin level ninjas. The others had joined the ANBU or participated in only jounin-levels missions and ect., and had artfully excused themselves from the unwanted ”babysitting” duty by arguing they didn’t have the time or patience yet to deal with young ninjas. Lee seemed to be genuinely excited about his charges. I hadn’t really heard much about his ninjas, but the thought of watching over three adolescents didn’t seem like something that would be relaxing on my days off. “Can you talk about this mission?” I asked with a frown. Ino shook her head. “No. But, I can guarantee it won’t be longer than two days.” I was torn between the temptation of having something to occupy my thoughts for the next couple days, and the unwanted prospect of dealing with three pre-teens who thought they were gods of the universe. I glanced at Ino’s expectant expression, and cursed myself for being such a sucker. “Call me after you talk with Lee, and make sure to get the place and time I’m supposed to rendezvous at with his charges.” A slow smile spread over Ino’s lips as she visibly slumped against the side of the table. I watched as her eyes caught my coffee cup, and then lifted slowly to mine, expectant and greedy at the same time. I snorted and took a sip. “Get your own, Ino Pig.” __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

01-22-2009, 07:22 AM	#6
thegodfather2450 tale of galant jiraiya Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1,249 Thanks: 663 Thanked 108 Times in 63 Posts	Re: Anger and Affection They weren’t actually that bad. For the first day, Lee left some odd little manuals for them to read and discuss amongst themselves. Their work ethic was fairly normal for pre-teens – they stared at their assignment for maybe half an hour, and then decided they had better things to do with their time. There had only been maybe five occasions during the day when I’d wanted to give the demons a piece of my mind, but I had contained myself. To keep their attention for a longer period today (our final day, thank goodness), I planned on ignoring the training regime that Lee had left (by explaining I’d lost the itinerary list), and doing something completely different. Something I thought they would enjoy. “This is the dumbest thing ever.” Well, maybe not. I obviously wasn’t psychic. With a narrow glare, I turned to the short boy with spiky blonde hair. What was with little blonde kids? Why did they always have to be so damn opinionated? “Well, I apologize you’re not having the time of your life.” The second boy snorted. “I agree with Kisuke. Couldn’t we do something exciting? Lee-sensei’s manuals were better than this.” The girl beside me rolled her eyes dramatically and leaned close to me, and whispered loudly, “Boys.” I felt like snorting and telling her she had no idea, but merely quirked my lips in response. As if he needed to get his point further across, Kisuke stalked up the roof’s railing where Fuku and I were stooped in front of. “Why in the world would you think we’d want to sit here and admire older men?” He sounded utterly disgusted. Put that way, I did feel slightly sorry for him. “I didn’t bring you here to ‘admire’ anyone. I figured this would be a good place to get in some actual hands-on practice of all that material you read about yesterday.” Kisuke leaned against the railing and sighed heavily. “You’re full of crap.” I bolted up indignantly, a quick retort on my tongue when Fuku snagged my skirt and yanked hard while hissing, “He’s looking Sakura-sensei!” I gave a startled choke and flattened myself to the roof’s concrete. I clenched my teeth tightly together when I heard him yelling my name from down below. I could tell he was laughing from even so far above. With a soft curse, I stood and dusted off my legs before peering over the banister and smiling weakly down at Naruto. It had been merely an unfortunate coincidence that he had been assisting in the construction of the adjacent building. I had only realized he was over there about a half-hour after we arrived when I heard his familiar burst of laughter. I had tried to go through the motions of some basic nin skills, but the knowledge that Naruto was so close ate away at my attention. Finally, when Fuku had perched herself by the banister to observe the “construction”, I’d parked myself down right beside her. Fifteen minutes later, the boys had gotten whiny, Fuku had gotten stars in her eyes, and I had gotten spotted. I watched as Naruto waved enthusiastically at me; my answering wave was pathetic in comparison, but that was because I felt like a moron. “I’m coming up!” he shouted. __________________ Failures must be seen as amusements,they are trials which hone your skills. The frog in the well drifts into the great ocean. Feel pain,conteplate pain,accept pain and know pain. Proud member of The Three Legandary Sannin Fanclub. Proud member of the Jiraiya Fanclub. proud to be a member of uzumaki narutu. proud to be member of the yondaime fc. proud to be a kage member fc. proud to be a sage naruto member.

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