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(teamwork) more of the sakura's first time thinger
Previous part: http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/170951.html
"Genin, is that good?" Kimi asked, looking at her earnestly.
Sakura stared at her, puzzled that anyone might not know what the ninja levels were, but then reminded herself that these people would probably never come into contact with the world of violence and shady politics ninjas usually moved in. They didn't have to know, really. "No, actually it's the lowest grade. The foot soldiers. Then there's Chuunin, and then Jounin." She was about to launch in a lecture about special Jounin and Hunter-nins and Mednins, but then decided that it would go way over their heads. Besides, she didn't want to be a curiosity; she just wanted to be a girl, who happened to be a ninja.
"Huh. So you're not that good a ninja, then?" Ken asked.
She had a feeling he was a bit of a superior dick, but she had met way worse as far as arrogant guys went. He'd have to keep trying if he wanted to get a rise out of her. "No, not really," she replied with an unconcerned smile.
"She's fifteen," Yumeko snapped back, swinging her leg to kick at the blond. "She's not going to be a General yet."
Kakashi-sensei had been a jounin at her age. But he wasn't called a genius for nothing. She supposed it wasn't that much of a shame, to still be genin at fifteen. Some teams her age hadn't even been presented to the chuunin tests yet. Some teams younger than her had already decided they were never going to try.
"Erm, yes. So... What do you do for fun around here?"
Ken and Junta snorted, and Hiroshi bit his lip to keep from imitating them. Sakura gave them an embarrassed smile.
"That was smooth, girlfriend," Kimi told her between two giggles.
"If you'd stop grilling me, I could be more subtle," she replied, and joined them in their laughter. Finally, it wouldn't be that hard to fit in.
+
She ended up carrying the basket, because Yumeko found it too heavy. It wasn't, not really, but the way her cousin had grinned and told her that she couldn't be expected to be as strong as Sakura had made her forget to protest. She'd been played, of course. In the absence of a male to charm into doing the heavy lifting and other tiring stuff, Yumeko was all disposed to rely on her. Sakura didn't really mind, though. It amused her more than anything else; besides she was going to eat a little more than her share of the food anyway.
The river was about twenty minutes away from the house, nestled in between trees and a bush-covered bump in the ground masquerading as a hill. It wasn't that large, or that fast, which made it just perfect for swimming. Some spots looked deep and dark enough that she couldn't see the bottom, which made her squint her eyes and wonder if anyone was ambushed there -- but then she didn't see why anyone would bother. There was always a slight risk that she would be targeted to put pressure on her teacher or teammates, but rare were the people who even knew where she had gone, and there was a limit to paranoia.
Yumeko's best friend Kimi was already there on the grass, along with black-haired Junta. Yumeko immediately started teasing them, with lots of waggling eyebrows and more dirty language than Sakura had been aware her elegant cousin possessed. Sakura hung back -- she didn't know them enough to join in on the teasing, and beside they hadn't looked that close to her; maybe Yumeko was just poking fun at them because she knew how unlikely a blooming relationship between them was.
Junta helped her spread the tablecloth on the ground as Kimi and Yumeko pretended to argue, giving her a little wincing smile. She grinned, and was about to reassure him that she didn't intend to grill him when she heard people sprinting toward them through the grass. She had her hand on the knife they'd brought to cut the dry sausage in a second.
Ken and Hiroshi burst into the clearing, out of breath, only coming to a stumbling stop when they were almost on top of the girls. Ken wasn't out of breath enough not to smirk and lift his hands in a victorious pose. "I win again!"
Sakura slipped the knife back with the forks and things, glad that their grand entrance had prevented Junta from noticing her gesture, and even gladder that she hadn't gone for the needles she'd slipped in her bun. She didn't need Yumeko nagging her about cheating her way out of the no weapons clause their mothers had imposed for the outing.
"Yo, pink-ninja-babe. Hitting it off with Junta, I see," Ken commented as he strolled toward them casually.
Yumeko snickered. "And not ten minutes ago, he was seducing Kimi. You're turning into a regular ladies' man, Jun-chan."
"... Don't call me that," the boy grumbled as he got on his feet and turned away, embarrassed. Ken didn't lose any time crouching in the spot he'd just vacated, smirking at Sakura.
"You should be careful around him. He doesn't look like it, but he's one smooth guy with the ladies. Wouldn't want him to waylay you. If you need an escort..."
Sakura giggled. He was so blatant. "I'll be sure to ask," she assured him.
"If one day she needs you," Hiroshi added, finishing her thought.
Ken scowled at him and crossed his arms, lifting his chin proudly. "Hey, I'm strong."
Hiroshi glanced at Sakura, and they exchanged an amused look. She smiled at him, glad that he seemed to find the incongruity of the offer as funny as she did. She wasn't about to point it out to Ken, though. The blond was actually amusing with his perpetual boasting, and it wasn't as if anyone else took him seriously.
"Yes, yes, you're strong," Yumeko drawled as she poked him in the side. "And we should go swimming before we eat, so Hiro, stop trying to steal food. Honestly Sakura, you could protect it better than that."
Blinking, Sakura looked down at the basket, and noticed Hiroshi casually munching on a tomato. He blinked and grinned at her innocently, and she was so reminded of Naruto that she only managed to slap his head gentler than intended because he didn't look as manic or proud of himself as Naruto would have.
"Ow! What did I do?"
The innocent look, again. And a well-mastered one. "You -- you're a lot more devious than I gave you credit for," she stated, watching him through narrowed eyes. She tried to keep from smiling, but it wasn't easy.
"Um. I don't see what you mean?"
"He lies," Junta confirmed in a wise, vaguely regretful tone. He'd gotten rid of his t-shirt and tennis shoes at some point. He was scrawny like someone who'd grown up too fast, Sakura noted, all pointy elbows and long bony legs. Hiroshi looked almost pudgy in comparison.
"Stop being dorks. First one in the water--!"
Without much warning, Ken shot off toward the river. Junta took off after him, Hiroshi losing a few precious seconds to dance out of his pants and kick off his sandals. They crashed through a bush noisily, and landed in the water so heavily it splashed right over said bush.
"Boys," Kimi giggled, and turned to look at Sakura. "Did you bring a swimsuit?"
Sakura nodded, and then pulled her swimsuit and Yumeko's from the basket and followed them behind some bushes to get changed.
"So?" Kimi asked, nudging her as she was taking off her top.
"So what?" she blinked back, puzzled.
"I saw you checking the guys out. So?"
Sakura blushed. She supposed she had been, at that. "Well, they were taking their shirts off just under my nose."
Yumeko rolled her eyes. "Bet you the guys she's used to are a lot more -- Sakura!! What happened to you?!"
Pausing in the process of pulling the swimsuit's shoulder straps up her arms, Sakura blinked over her shoulder at the two girls, puzzled. They were staring at her back with wide eyes. "What's the matter?"
"When did you get THAT?" Yumeko demanded, pointing at -- ah, right. She'd almost forgotten. Her first big on-mission injury.
"Uhm, a few months ago?"
"And no one warned us?! You'd think telling your family about grievous bodily harm..."
Sakura winced. Her parents had been so panicked, she was pretty sure it had slipped their mind. "Yumeko, it's really nothing..."
"Nothing? It's so big and the edges are all -- torn and purplish -- how deep was it?" Kimi asked softly, a hand over her mouth to hide her grimace.
Sakura pulled the straps up quickly and turned to face them, hiding the scar from view. "I'm fine, it was only ten days at the hospital and it didn't even nick anything important."
"A few inches to the side and it would have nicked your spine," Yumeko retorted, hands on her hips in a way that was reminiscent of both their mothers, an impression that her burning red hair and outraged glower didn't help.
Sakura sighed. "Give me some credit, I can aim better than that."
"Aim? You mean you chose to take that hit? And what was it anyway?"
"Classified," she snapped back, annoyed to be berated. She was proud of that scar, damn it! It was a scar that meant she could be more than dead weight and would do her duty no matter what, and wouldn't abandon her teammates, ever. "It was only a flesh wound. It happens sometimes. I'm fine now."
"Only a -- Sakura, are you listening to yourself?"
Why did Yumeko have to take on the same stern, disappointed, scared tones her mother used? It wasn't fair! "It was that or letting my teacher die, and if he'd died we would all have been picked off one by one and we'd have failed the mission, okay? Comparatively speaking, some time at the hospital is really nothing at all."
Yumeko looked guilty now. "... Sakura... I don't -- okay, maybe... if you knew what you were doing, I guess -- it's just that it's a shock to see something ugly like that on you..."
She hadn't know what she was doing, per se. It had been too frantic and hurried and blurred and confusing, and she'd reacted before thinking it through, and hoped for the best. But... "...It was the first time I was more than a nuisance, more than the backup no one really relies on. Usually it's always Kakashi-sensei who carries the mission, and when it's not him it's Sasuke-kun or Naruto. And I stay on the sidelines and watch, or I get targeted purely to distract them, and I hate that! So, I know it's ugly, but so what? It's here to stay, and that's it. It's better than the alternative."
and i'm still writing, but slowly, so i don't know if i'll post more today, but hey, you know me, i'm a review whore. *stares at inbox* *staaaares*
Please tell me what works or doesn't work (kinda scared that Sakura comes across as pretentious, or that the OCs are hard to understand/picture/stuff), and if there are things you'd like to see or suggestions of scenes (things you'd think kids like that would do or talk about), please give them to me. I actually don't hang around with groups of friends that much, so i'm more or less pulling the interaction here out of my ass and some vague memories of high school years. x_x;;
"Genin, is that good?" Kimi asked, looking at her earnestly.
Sakura stared at her, puzzled that anyone might not know what the ninja levels were, but then reminded herself that these people would probably never come into contact with the world of violence and shady politics ninjas usually moved in. They didn't have to know, really. "No, actually it's the lowest grade. The foot soldiers. Then there's Chuunin, and then Jounin." She was about to launch in a lecture about special Jounin and Hunter-nins and Mednins, but then decided that it would go way over their heads. Besides, she didn't want to be a curiosity; she just wanted to be a girl, who happened to be a ninja.
"Huh. So you're not that good a ninja, then?" Ken asked.
She had a feeling he was a bit of a superior dick, but she had met way worse as far as arrogant guys went. He'd have to keep trying if he wanted to get a rise out of her. "No, not really," she replied with an unconcerned smile.
"She's fifteen," Yumeko snapped back, swinging her leg to kick at the blond. "She's not going to be a General yet."
Kakashi-sensei had been a jounin at her age. But he wasn't called a genius for nothing. She supposed it wasn't that much of a shame, to still be genin at fifteen. Some teams her age hadn't even been presented to the chuunin tests yet. Some teams younger than her had already decided they were never going to try.
"Erm, yes. So... What do you do for fun around here?"
Ken and Junta snorted, and Hiroshi bit his lip to keep from imitating them. Sakura gave them an embarrassed smile.
"That was smooth, girlfriend," Kimi told her between two giggles.
"If you'd stop grilling me, I could be more subtle," she replied, and joined them in their laughter. Finally, it wouldn't be that hard to fit in.
+
She ended up carrying the basket, because Yumeko found it too heavy. It wasn't, not really, but the way her cousin had grinned and told her that she couldn't be expected to be as strong as Sakura had made her forget to protest. She'd been played, of course. In the absence of a male to charm into doing the heavy lifting and other tiring stuff, Yumeko was all disposed to rely on her. Sakura didn't really mind, though. It amused her more than anything else; besides she was going to eat a little more than her share of the food anyway.
The river was about twenty minutes away from the house, nestled in between trees and a bush-covered bump in the ground masquerading as a hill. It wasn't that large, or that fast, which made it just perfect for swimming. Some spots looked deep and dark enough that she couldn't see the bottom, which made her squint her eyes and wonder if anyone was ambushed there -- but then she didn't see why anyone would bother. There was always a slight risk that she would be targeted to put pressure on her teacher or teammates, but rare were the people who even knew where she had gone, and there was a limit to paranoia.
Yumeko's best friend Kimi was already there on the grass, along with black-haired Junta. Yumeko immediately started teasing them, with lots of waggling eyebrows and more dirty language than Sakura had been aware her elegant cousin possessed. Sakura hung back -- she didn't know them enough to join in on the teasing, and beside they hadn't looked that close to her; maybe Yumeko was just poking fun at them because she knew how unlikely a blooming relationship between them was.
Junta helped her spread the tablecloth on the ground as Kimi and Yumeko pretended to argue, giving her a little wincing smile. She grinned, and was about to reassure him that she didn't intend to grill him when she heard people sprinting toward them through the grass. She had her hand on the knife they'd brought to cut the dry sausage in a second.
Ken and Hiroshi burst into the clearing, out of breath, only coming to a stumbling stop when they were almost on top of the girls. Ken wasn't out of breath enough not to smirk and lift his hands in a victorious pose. "I win again!"
Sakura slipped the knife back with the forks and things, glad that their grand entrance had prevented Junta from noticing her gesture, and even gladder that she hadn't gone for the needles she'd slipped in her bun. She didn't need Yumeko nagging her about cheating her way out of the no weapons clause their mothers had imposed for the outing.
"Yo, pink-ninja-babe. Hitting it off with Junta, I see," Ken commented as he strolled toward them casually.
Yumeko snickered. "And not ten minutes ago, he was seducing Kimi. You're turning into a regular ladies' man, Jun-chan."
"... Don't call me that," the boy grumbled as he got on his feet and turned away, embarrassed. Ken didn't lose any time crouching in the spot he'd just vacated, smirking at Sakura.
"You should be careful around him. He doesn't look like it, but he's one smooth guy with the ladies. Wouldn't want him to waylay you. If you need an escort..."
Sakura giggled. He was so blatant. "I'll be sure to ask," she assured him.
"If one day she needs you," Hiroshi added, finishing her thought.
Ken scowled at him and crossed his arms, lifting his chin proudly. "Hey, I'm strong."
Hiroshi glanced at Sakura, and they exchanged an amused look. She smiled at him, glad that he seemed to find the incongruity of the offer as funny as she did. She wasn't about to point it out to Ken, though. The blond was actually amusing with his perpetual boasting, and it wasn't as if anyone else took him seriously.
"Yes, yes, you're strong," Yumeko drawled as she poked him in the side. "And we should go swimming before we eat, so Hiro, stop trying to steal food. Honestly Sakura, you could protect it better than that."
Blinking, Sakura looked down at the basket, and noticed Hiroshi casually munching on a tomato. He blinked and grinned at her innocently, and she was so reminded of Naruto that she only managed to slap his head gentler than intended because he didn't look as manic or proud of himself as Naruto would have.
"Ow! What did I do?"
The innocent look, again. And a well-mastered one. "You -- you're a lot more devious than I gave you credit for," she stated, watching him through narrowed eyes. She tried to keep from smiling, but it wasn't easy.
"Um. I don't see what you mean?"
"He lies," Junta confirmed in a wise, vaguely regretful tone. He'd gotten rid of his t-shirt and tennis shoes at some point. He was scrawny like someone who'd grown up too fast, Sakura noted, all pointy elbows and long bony legs. Hiroshi looked almost pudgy in comparison.
"Stop being dorks. First one in the water--!"
Without much warning, Ken shot off toward the river. Junta took off after him, Hiroshi losing a few precious seconds to dance out of his pants and kick off his sandals. They crashed through a bush noisily, and landed in the water so heavily it splashed right over said bush.
"Boys," Kimi giggled, and turned to look at Sakura. "Did you bring a swimsuit?"
Sakura nodded, and then pulled her swimsuit and Yumeko's from the basket and followed them behind some bushes to get changed.
"So?" Kimi asked, nudging her as she was taking off her top.
"So what?" she blinked back, puzzled.
"I saw you checking the guys out. So?"
Sakura blushed. She supposed she had been, at that. "Well, they were taking their shirts off just under my nose."
Yumeko rolled her eyes. "Bet you the guys she's used to are a lot more -- Sakura!! What happened to you?!"
Pausing in the process of pulling the swimsuit's shoulder straps up her arms, Sakura blinked over her shoulder at the two girls, puzzled. They were staring at her back with wide eyes. "What's the matter?"
"When did you get THAT?" Yumeko demanded, pointing at -- ah, right. She'd almost forgotten. Her first big on-mission injury.
"Uhm, a few months ago?"
"And no one warned us?! You'd think telling your family about grievous bodily harm..."
Sakura winced. Her parents had been so panicked, she was pretty sure it had slipped their mind. "Yumeko, it's really nothing..."
"Nothing? It's so big and the edges are all -- torn and purplish -- how deep was it?" Kimi asked softly, a hand over her mouth to hide her grimace.
Sakura pulled the straps up quickly and turned to face them, hiding the scar from view. "I'm fine, it was only ten days at the hospital and it didn't even nick anything important."
"A few inches to the side and it would have nicked your spine," Yumeko retorted, hands on her hips in a way that was reminiscent of both their mothers, an impression that her burning red hair and outraged glower didn't help.
Sakura sighed. "Give me some credit, I can aim better than that."
"Aim? You mean you chose to take that hit? And what was it anyway?"
"Classified," she snapped back, annoyed to be berated. She was proud of that scar, damn it! It was a scar that meant she could be more than dead weight and would do her duty no matter what, and wouldn't abandon her teammates, ever. "It was only a flesh wound. It happens sometimes. I'm fine now."
"Only a -- Sakura, are you listening to yourself?"
Why did Yumeko have to take on the same stern, disappointed, scared tones her mother used? It wasn't fair! "It was that or letting my teacher die, and if he'd died we would all have been picked off one by one and we'd have failed the mission, okay? Comparatively speaking, some time at the hospital is really nothing at all."
Yumeko looked guilty now. "... Sakura... I don't -- okay, maybe... if you knew what you were doing, I guess -- it's just that it's a shock to see something ugly like that on you..."
She hadn't know what she was doing, per se. It had been too frantic and hurried and blurred and confusing, and she'd reacted before thinking it through, and hoped for the best. But... "...It was the first time I was more than a nuisance, more than the backup no one really relies on. Usually it's always Kakashi-sensei who carries the mission, and when it's not him it's Sasuke-kun or Naruto. And I stay on the sidelines and watch, or I get targeted purely to distract them, and I hate that! So, I know it's ugly, but so what? It's here to stay, and that's it. It's better than the alternative."
and i'm still writing, but slowly, so i don't know if i'll post more today, but hey, you know me, i'm a review whore. *stares at inbox* *staaaares*
Please tell me what works or doesn't work (kinda scared that Sakura comes across as pretentious, or that the OCs are hard to understand/picture/stuff), and if there are things you'd like to see or suggestions of scenes (things you'd think kids like that would do or talk about), please give them to me. I actually don't hang around with groups of friends that much, so i'm more or less pulling the interaction here out of my ass and some vague memories of high school years. x_x;;
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I like how Sakura seemed to fit, yet not. She keeps getting reminders that she's not normal in terms of common people. And I liked all these little bits of her teammates that she seemed to see in the others.
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ah, boys. XD
I like the way she just brushes off Ken. I need to learn to do that sort of thing.
~Sam
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I wonder, will there be a chance for her to use her "mad ninja skillz" on this trip (as the almost seemslike forshadowing esp knowing the evilness of your mind ;))
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Love it. **licks the fic** Chuuuu...
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Et j'aime les garçons :3 je le répète, t'as le don de créer des personnalités ^____^
"pink-ninja-babe" X3 teh nickname.
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The only thing that bugged me a bit, maybe (not much mind you) is that I don't know if Sakura would have told her cousins the bit at the end, explaining why she's almost proud of that scar. I think that would be rather hard to say something like that even to her teammates, and Sakura, in the series, is actually a very closed person most times; she seems expressive to us because of her 'inner monologue', but she doesn't actually talk about her doubts and such to many people. That being said, we, the readers, need that information, and it's VERY important for Sakura. I'd have maybe put it in a 'thought bubble' of hers, rather than have her say it out loud...but that's all I have to nitpick about, I really liked it ^__^
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Her pride in her injury, and the way she doesn't quite understand why non-ninja think it's such a big deal, are great. I also like the way she notices that Yumeko's conned her into doing the heavy lifting, but she doesn't really mind. And, of course, the way she has to pull her punch when slapping Hiroshi for stealing food -- naturally he's not as tough as Naruto! (It's definitely interesting that it takes her a moment to remind herself of that.)
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The rest of your OCs are fun, but do not come across very vividly; they more or less became interchangable to me as I read on. It is harder with OCs to get the personality from scratch than elaborate from a minor character.
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. . . and I'd even say that she has a right to be annoyed. She's been through more and seen more and done more than "normal" people three times her age. Plus, she's used to a setting where she doesn't have to justify who she is or what she is to anyone.
YAY!!
(Anonymous) 2005-07-16 05:10 pm (UTC)(link)