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(naruto) the bird
Half of the next scene, because I'm having problems with Hiashi's characterization so i'm not posting his arrival yet. Then there will be two or three scenes left and the fic will be finished.
>_< I have to finish it today, because tomorrow i'll work, and my connection is getting worse and worse so i'm scared if i wait too long there will be no way to post anything at all. I get kicked every thirty seconds now, it's really pissing me off.
I am also translating Garou and poking at Teamwork and the beach fic, for those who are wondering.
+
"Hey, Nejiiiii, morning!! Didja miss me?"
A kunai imbedded itself in the door with a loud thunk. There was a startled squeak.
"I. Was. Sleeping."
"It's eight am! Since when are you of all people sleeping in?" Naruto asked, laughing, as he strolled inside the room.
Neji eyed the blond ANBU balefully. How did he even dare to show his face here, beaming and bouncing and absolutely not tired after a long assignment, when Neji should have gotten nothing but rest and boredom and had instead run himself ragged caring for his present?
"I sleep in since you saw fit to gift me with a beast that does not sleep more than six hours in a row."
Naruto winced. Neji didn't see fit to mention that he'd twisted the truth ; the bird could now leave him alone up to eight hours in a row, and he'd never needed as much. Sitting up, he found a shirt, and put on his gloves in a gesture that was now as much routine as washing his teeth in the evening.
"Ahh, sorry, didn't think about that," Naruto replied, cringing.
"You didn't think about much," Neji commented, already not that annoyed any longer. He'd gotten used to the beast -- not that he would ever admit it out loud. "I managed to care for it relatively well, but I could have done with more information."
"Yeah, well, I really didn't have the time. Where is it, by the way?"
"It's hunting your feet," Neji informed him blankly, a second before it pounced.
When Naruto yelped and jumped away, Neji smirked. But the bird was still stalking him, flapping its wings and huffing and hissing -- it was angry, very angry. That new man had nothing to do in here -- and as Naruto stumbled and jumped toward Neji to hide behind him, the bird started to get really furious. It leaped on the bedside table, then launched itself at Naruto's face, huge, sharp-as-razors claws first. Neji moved to intercept it -- Naruto stumbled gracelessly on the edge of his bed -- there was a flare of chakra...
The bird's cries of rage diminished slowly as Naruto stood at the other end of the room, as far from Neji and it as he could. The blond's face was covered in blood from five parallel cuts, scoring his forehead, cheek and jaw. One of the cuts was very close to his eye. Neji stared at his bird, at the claws he still held in his gloved hand, at the red stain on the pinfeathers.
"... what the hell..." he muttered as he replayed the chain of events in his mind. The chakra -- for a second he'd thought it was Naruto instinctively attempting a technique... but no. He activated the byakugan, scanning the bird's chakra pathways.
There was still energy gathered at the tip of its wings, rendering the pinfeathers as hard and sharp as a kunai. Neji's eyes immediately went to Naruto's face.
"Care to explain that?" he demanded, fighting to keep his voice calm.
The cuts were shallow enough that they'd already started to heal over with the freakish speed that was Naruto's trademark. Naruto took the time to wipe the blood off before he answered.
"What're you talking about?"
"It's not -- a normal animal."
Naruto gave him a puzzled blink. "Well, 'course not. I got from a ninja from the Hidden Grass I killed. I figured if he had it... He had a big one too, and it was kinda like Kiba's dogs and Shika's deer, you know? They're kinda smart; it would almost have been like abandoning a baby to die."
Now Neji was angry at himself, for not even having envisioned the possibility that his bird wasn't from a natural species, for not even having bothered to check. He put his anger at Naruto under control; one small part of him was feeling the urge to launch the bird at his face and let it peck his eyes out.
"I suppose," he retorted curtly, "that apart from them being "kinda smart", you don't know a thing about the species?"
"... Uhh. No, not really. Hey, I fought the guy, Neji, I didn't stop to chat about how neat his little friend was! That bitch went for my eyes too, I guess it's natural for them. Oh -- yeah, I remember it cut a chain with its beak," he added with a wince.
So their beak and claws were insanely sharp. He'd already seen hints of that. And they could gather chakra in their wings to make the feathers cutting. Neji sighed and sat down on his bed, still holding the bird against his chest to keep it from attacking. It really, really didn't like Naruto.
"How big was the adult one?"
"Mm, not quite twice as big as this one, I think -- it's hard to say, I didn't see it with its wings folded a lot, and they were huge."
The bird beat its wings, as if to show them off.
"How smart, did you get an idea?"
"Well... no. Just -- more than animal-smart, and more than well-trained-smart. Neji... just take care of it like you were doing before. It seems to be fine, right? Don't worry so much."
"I'm not worrying," he snapped back.
"Sure you're not. And you're not white as chalk either. Did you even leave your room once since the last time I saw you?"
"Of course I did--"
"Rrrright. So did you leave the compound?"
"... no."
"Then come on, we're going for a walk. Your leg's better, right?"
"If I tell you it's not...?"
"I'll carry you, of course," Naruto grinned. "So, coming?"
"Fine," he capitulated.
Dropping the animal over the bed, he got up, found a hair band and stepped inside his sandals. His leg still hurt a little, to be truthful, but a hour or so of walk shouldn't make it worse. If he lost too much fitness, it would take ages to make himself ready for missions again.
The bird chirped, looking at him, then glaring suspiciously at Naruto. Neji frowned. He'd never left it alone in his room before, and the crate was now a little too small to lock it in for long periods of time. But he wasn't sure how it would behave outside. It was already aggressive around Naruto...
The bird chirped again, and Neji sighed. He would never know how it behaved outside if he didn't try. He found the bag he'd used a few times to carry it to its "hunting grounds" and reached out for the bird. For once, it didn't struggle too much as he stuffed it inside.
"Let's go."
>_< I have to finish it today, because tomorrow i'll work, and my connection is getting worse and worse so i'm scared if i wait too long there will be no way to post anything at all. I get kicked every thirty seconds now, it's really pissing me off.
I am also translating Garou and poking at Teamwork and the beach fic, for those who are wondering.
+
"Hey, Nejiiiii, morning!! Didja miss me?"
A kunai imbedded itself in the door with a loud thunk. There was a startled squeak.
"I. Was. Sleeping."
"It's eight am! Since when are you of all people sleeping in?" Naruto asked, laughing, as he strolled inside the room.
Neji eyed the blond ANBU balefully. How did he even dare to show his face here, beaming and bouncing and absolutely not tired after a long assignment, when Neji should have gotten nothing but rest and boredom and had instead run himself ragged caring for his present?
"I sleep in since you saw fit to gift me with a beast that does not sleep more than six hours in a row."
Naruto winced. Neji didn't see fit to mention that he'd twisted the truth ; the bird could now leave him alone up to eight hours in a row, and he'd never needed as much. Sitting up, he found a shirt, and put on his gloves in a gesture that was now as much routine as washing his teeth in the evening.
"Ahh, sorry, didn't think about that," Naruto replied, cringing.
"You didn't think about much," Neji commented, already not that annoyed any longer. He'd gotten used to the beast -- not that he would ever admit it out loud. "I managed to care for it relatively well, but I could have done with more information."
"Yeah, well, I really didn't have the time. Where is it, by the way?"
"It's hunting your feet," Neji informed him blankly, a second before it pounced.
When Naruto yelped and jumped away, Neji smirked. But the bird was still stalking him, flapping its wings and huffing and hissing -- it was angry, very angry. That new man had nothing to do in here -- and as Naruto stumbled and jumped toward Neji to hide behind him, the bird started to get really furious. It leaped on the bedside table, then launched itself at Naruto's face, huge, sharp-as-razors claws first. Neji moved to intercept it -- Naruto stumbled gracelessly on the edge of his bed -- there was a flare of chakra...
The bird's cries of rage diminished slowly as Naruto stood at the other end of the room, as far from Neji and it as he could. The blond's face was covered in blood from five parallel cuts, scoring his forehead, cheek and jaw. One of the cuts was very close to his eye. Neji stared at his bird, at the claws he still held in his gloved hand, at the red stain on the pinfeathers.
"... what the hell..." he muttered as he replayed the chain of events in his mind. The chakra -- for a second he'd thought it was Naruto instinctively attempting a technique... but no. He activated the byakugan, scanning the bird's chakra pathways.
There was still energy gathered at the tip of its wings, rendering the pinfeathers as hard and sharp as a kunai. Neji's eyes immediately went to Naruto's face.
"Care to explain that?" he demanded, fighting to keep his voice calm.
The cuts were shallow enough that they'd already started to heal over with the freakish speed that was Naruto's trademark. Naruto took the time to wipe the blood off before he answered.
"What're you talking about?"
"It's not -- a normal animal."
Naruto gave him a puzzled blink. "Well, 'course not. I got from a ninja from the Hidden Grass I killed. I figured if he had it... He had a big one too, and it was kinda like Kiba's dogs and Shika's deer, you know? They're kinda smart; it would almost have been like abandoning a baby to die."
Now Neji was angry at himself, for not even having envisioned the possibility that his bird wasn't from a natural species, for not even having bothered to check. He put his anger at Naruto under control; one small part of him was feeling the urge to launch the bird at his face and let it peck his eyes out.
"I suppose," he retorted curtly, "that apart from them being "kinda smart", you don't know a thing about the species?"
"... Uhh. No, not really. Hey, I fought the guy, Neji, I didn't stop to chat about how neat his little friend was! That bitch went for my eyes too, I guess it's natural for them. Oh -- yeah, I remember it cut a chain with its beak," he added with a wince.
So their beak and claws were insanely sharp. He'd already seen hints of that. And they could gather chakra in their wings to make the feathers cutting. Neji sighed and sat down on his bed, still holding the bird against his chest to keep it from attacking. It really, really didn't like Naruto.
"How big was the adult one?"
"Mm, not quite twice as big as this one, I think -- it's hard to say, I didn't see it with its wings folded a lot, and they were huge."
The bird beat its wings, as if to show them off.
"How smart, did you get an idea?"
"Well... no. Just -- more than animal-smart, and more than well-trained-smart. Neji... just take care of it like you were doing before. It seems to be fine, right? Don't worry so much."
"I'm not worrying," he snapped back.
"Sure you're not. And you're not white as chalk either. Did you even leave your room once since the last time I saw you?"
"Of course I did--"
"Rrrright. So did you leave the compound?"
"... no."
"Then come on, we're going for a walk. Your leg's better, right?"
"If I tell you it's not...?"
"I'll carry you, of course," Naruto grinned. "So, coming?"
"Fine," he capitulated.
Dropping the animal over the bed, he got up, found a hair band and stepped inside his sandals. His leg still hurt a little, to be truthful, but a hour or so of walk shouldn't make it worse. If he lost too much fitness, it would take ages to make himself ready for missions again.
The bird chirped, looking at him, then glaring suspiciously at Naruto. Neji frowned. He'd never left it alone in his room before, and the crate was now a little too small to lock it in for long periods of time. But he wasn't sure how it would behave outside. It was already aggressive around Naruto...
The bird chirped again, and Neji sighed. He would never know how it behaved outside if he didn't try. He found the bag he'd used a few times to carry it to its "hunting grounds" and reached out for the bird. For once, it didn't struggle too much as he stuffed it inside.
"Let's go."
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I'm liking this bird more and more.
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