Fandom {1x1 || Our Ninja Way || Modern AU Naruto RP}

[Iron Mouse]

There was a stiff awkwardness as Sasuke moved out of Hanaru's bubble, turning his face away to hide the blush that overcame his features. He was desperately trying to stay composed despite having been caught red handed. He could only imagine what the old Sannin thought he was doing. He could imagine it...but he didn't want to as the man had himself quite the reputation.

The raven haired boy didn't say much as Hanaru started voicing her dislike of the idea of the annual formal. He could relate to her dislike of it, though not for the same reasons. It wouldn't have been so bad were it not for every girl in a 5 mile radius trying to convince him to take them. He'd always gone stag over the years, which wasn't so bad. Sasuke wasn't a stranger to formal events, the Uchiha were often either hosting something or being invited to something and being the head of the clan's son meant that attendance was mandatory.
He cast his eyes in her direction as she complained about how noisy these sorts of things could be, those obsidian orbs lingering on her ears for a moment. On one hand he sympathized with her words, but on the other it wasn't something they could get out of even if they tried.

As he mulled over any possible ways to get out of the mandatory dance and coming to the same conclusion each time, he absently watched Hanaru stalk towards the box that the old Sanin had brought. With his mind elsewhere, he didn't catch the amused smile that crept over his features as her neko-like nature crept to the surface.
"I wouldn't touch that with a five foot pole even if you paid me, but I'm sure that blond dope would turn this whole thing into a video for his stupid vlog," he smirked as he watched her pussy foot around the suspicious looking box. "Who knows, maybe it's his 'latest inspiration'?" he almost cringed as the words left his mouth. He had had his fair share of listening to Naruto whining and going on and on over the old writer's 'escapades' and 'sudden spurs of inspiration' -all embodied in the female physique- which could even turn his face red. It was no surprise that the blond was the way he was and it wouldn't be a lie to say that Sasuke was surprised he hadn't turned out worse.

"On second thought, I don't even want to know," Sasuke said as he ran a hand over his face as if to wipe his thoughts of Naruto's tales in the boys' showers from his mind. The blue had caught his attention nonetheless, and he waited for Hanaru to fully reveal whatever it was.
A dress.
A dress that was in rather good taste.
"Huh, not what I was expecting," the raven haired boy said as he walked over to join Hanaru. His eyes roved over the dress, searching for something that was obviously not there, "I have to admit, I am surprised." While a little revealing the dress was nothing short of school dance ready, he'd seen girls wear worse to the event in the previous years. "I wouldn't have pinned Jiraiya-sama as a man with taste," he muttered and a smirk tugged at his lips, "I guess you wouldn't look too terrible in it. You could always find a nice paper bag to put over your head, you might even win the best dressed award with that." There was a playful undertone to his jab. He couldn't out right tell her that he thought the dress suited her. "Who knows though? As they say, you can take the beast from the forest but you can't take the forest out of the beast."

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"Who, me?" Granny Fu asked, looking up at the Nara boy as if she hadn't been standing there the whole time. She might as well have had the word 'suspicious' written in big red letters on her forehead as she pulled Meeko out from behind her back, "I was just looking for this rascal." The kitten looked as confused as ever as it uttered a soft 'Mrrow?' before being placed down on the ground. He quickly climbed the old woman's yukata, pouncing his way up until he finally gave up and dangled from halfway up. The elder Takanashi matriarch linked an arm with the young Nara as they slowly departed Asuna's room. Slow was an understatement though as the old woman shuffled her feet, "It's so nice of you to bring my granddaughter home. Sweet young boys like you are so hard to find these days," she said but the statement felt loaded somehow. "You know, I have been looking for a husband for Asuna, but she and Eiji are so against it. I chose Eiji's wife back in the day and my nana chose my husband for me too..."

The old woman's grip tightened ever so slightly on the boy's arm, the innocently nostalgic look on her face was completely overshadowed by the mischief that danced in her eyes, "Say, now there's a thought! Hmm, yes, I think you would make a good husband for my granddaughter!" As much as she tried to make it sound like a random spur of the moment thought, Granny Fu was a terrible actress and it was even more evident as she produced an old scroll from her yukata.
It was a marriage contract.
By now they had made their way to the stairs, the old woman held the scroll as if they were in the middle of an illegal trade.

"MA! STOP TRYING TO PAWN OFF MY DAUGHTER!!"

The old woman's face fell almost instantly, "Ears like a fox, that one," she muttered, puffing her cheeks up and resembling a scolded child.

Descending the stairs back down to the shop, Eiji was dead set on winning whatever stared own he was having with the Inuzuka boy who was standing outside and glaring at the man. Akamaru had free reign to enter and exit as he pleased and at the sight of Shikamaru and Granny Fu, the pup seemed to grow more energetic. Meeko puffed up, looking more and more like a bristling toilet brush hanging upside down from Granny Fu's yukata as the pup yipped.

 

[AwkwardSilence]

Hanaru blushed at Sasuke’s insinuation, not wanting to think too deeply about whether or not this dress came from Jiraiya’s latest inspiration. The women the man was known to bring home were hardly ever the most… well, let’s just say desperation had a scent, and Hanaru could definitely smell it through the door. Normally this was not something that would be confirmed as Jiraiya and his date for the evening, but if they were using the apartment, it usually meant Naruto wanted nothing to do with it, and he often ended up in her apartment, bugging her. Voicing her agreement, she shook her head. “Yeah, I’d rather not spare much thought for the crusty old pervert.”
At least she didn’t hate how the dress looked. It could have been made of an uncomfortable material, and lord forbid it had been a gaudy hot pink or something similar—she would have had to kill him. Not that she thought she could evenly fight one of the Sannin in her current skill level, but there was something to be said about her dignity.
When Sasuke followed her to examine the dress itself, Hanaru blinked at him owlishly, never really taking Sasuke for being into fashion. Then again, he was a clan kid. He was probably wearing all brand names, and he dressed like some sort of boy band star, so it made sense retroactively thinking about it. Still. She was going to ask him about it, when he opened his ugly mouth and a sneer curled over her lips. “Yeah if I have to put a paper bag over my head, you have to, too. Imagine you finally getting a moment’s rest from hiding that pretty boy mask of yours away.” The more he teased her, the more she would tease back. He opened the can of worms. “Who am I kidding? Hiding that duckbutt haircut will only make you more attractive.”
She turned back to the dress, whacking him with her tail in faux annoyance. “Trust me, I’d much rather be in a forest than experiencing this. Maybe I can slip away if someone occupies the jonin.” There was only so much they could do about the formal though. It looked as if until they were sent out on another mission that they would be stuck following the school’s protocol and guidelines. After their joking nature died down a bit, Hanaru let out a sigh, her mind wandering. “Hey, Sasuke…” it was rare that she actually used his name, but without even thinking she made to get his attention like that. “Do you think… Mitomori… will be there?” She closed her eyes, the echo of his condescending laughter filling her head, the almost-painful tugging on her ears, the gloved hand on her cheek, gripping tightly. Almost as if shaking off the thought, Hanaru carelessly threw the dress on the table, not caring if it wrinkled.
”Never mind, forget I said anything.” She had shown the Uchiha prodigy enough weakness for a lifetime, she didn’t need to continue portraying it to him openly. Slowly her walls rose again, the teasing nature rising and feeling less like a relaxed banter and more like a forced change of topics. “They’ll be too thick a sea of girls around you to tell. Besides, even if he were, he would have to sort through a shit ton of awkwardly side-stepping teens to do any damage. And there will be jonin there.” She waved off her underlying dread at seeing the man again with that bravado and the sharpened blade of her tongue. She hated how that one, detestable man got under her skin. He knew far too much for his own good. ‘Besides, he’s good friends with a lot of the civilian police, and Sasuke’s dad has to answer to him as well… no use in dragging the kid into something going against his family profession, regardless of what he says.’ Her tail flicked absentmindedly behind her in thought. She would not be afraid… she couldn’t be afraid… Hell, her stepfather was a bloodthirsty warlord on a small island nation (something she wasn't about to announce lest the name be brought up and it got back to him her location), and she’d seen so much shit. It wasn’t like there was much Mitomori could do save from turn her into one of those villain-lap-cats that she hadn’t done before.
”Well with my arm still healing I can only give you a workout regime. The old bat will have my head if I overuse it, so as much as I’d love to beat your ass, you’re safe for the next couple of days,” Hanaru continued on, trying to redirect the topic away from her personal fear of Mitomori. “So an early morning 10k should be a good place to start. It wasn’t hard to catch up to you and Naruto when you were doing chakra fixation, so try implementing that when you go. I use chakra as a boost—I’ve been doing it for so long it’s become second nature to me. Demon chakra works a little differently than human chakra, but it’s not so different that you still can learn from my techniques and adapt them to yourself.” She hummed softly, ears flattening back slowly. “And I’ll uh… work on the next assignment to the best of my abilities…”

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Shikamaru rose an unimpressed eyebrow at Granny Fu, his face set in deadpan as he watched Meeko with a similar amount of confusion as the cat. He had forgotten what it was like to have nosy grandparents—both sets of his had died when he was rather young, hence his father becoming head of the clan. That being said, Shikaku was also too busy in his ninja duties to lead, too, so it only seemed natural that his mom took up a lot of the duties that pertained to clan head status. Granny Fu had been a welcome older presence in his life when he was younger, showing him what it truly meant to be a grandparent. He could only hope he wasn’t as infuriatingly conniving when he got to be that age, but he couldn’t make himself any promises he knew he wasn’t going to keep.
Still, as his thoughts focused back in on Granny Fu’s words as she lead him away from Asuna’s room at a snail’s crawl pace, he slowly felt his emotions warring with his usually-impassive expression, the heat of a blush threating to rise from his neck and toward his cheeks. Marriage?! That definitely was off the table. He couldn’t make Asuna marry him because her grandma wanted to get her a husband. Besides, that practice was rather old-fashioned, and he knew how he’d feel if he was forced into a loveless marriage with a friend or acquaintance. Asuna would not be happy with him.
When she whipped out the marriage contrat, Shikamaru’s eyes widened. “U-Uh, that’s, um…” he was sure his voice cracked, and his face was slowly burning. He’d never felt so much heat in one moment aside from right there. Here she was, just giving up Asuna like she was property! He knew Granny Fu didn’t think of it that way, but Shikamaru couldn’t help but find the whole thing just that much sketchier now than it would have been say… 40 years ago when Granny Fu got married. “A-Asuna’s gonna have to make that decision for herself,” he finally coughed out, placing his free hand on his chest as he tried to fight away his embarrassment before they got down the stairs in front of both Mr. Takanashi and Kiba. The former having literally threatened him over Asuna’s well being and his intentions, and the latter being the type of friend that would never EVER let you outlive an embarrassing moment. Kiba was definitely a good friend, but also the type of good friend that will call you at 3am on a weekday to ask you about that one time you walked into the closed sliding door of a supermarket (in his defense, Kiba had been distracting him then, too).
Thankfully, the two problems people were mostly stuck engaging in a glaring contest, which allowed Shikamaru to calm down after Granny Fu’s bold proposal. He blinked at Akamaru and Meeko’s reaction to each other, and he sighed, deciding someone would have to ease the tension in the room. “Yeah, Asuna would not be happy that we were talking about this. Granny Fu, you’d better hide that contract if you wish to keep it, because I will tell her, and she will attempt to burn it.” Shikamaru moved over toward Kiba, gently beginning to steer him out of the door. “Thank you both for your time, we’ll uh… see you around. I’ll see you at my next shift Mr. Takanashi. Bye Granny Fu,” and with that, the Nara pushed Kiba out of the building.
”Dude, what did I tell you about Takanashi-Wrath?” Shikamaru asked Kiba, raising an eyebrow at his friend. “Eiji is the original, Asuna learned the definition of “waking up choosing violence” from her dad.” There wasn’t much either of them could do about it though. Thankfully Akamaru had listened to Kiba’s orders and not chased after Meeko on pure whim and extinct. If he had been any less trained… well, Shikamaru would rather not spend the rest of his night cleaning up broken pieces of antiques.
As they walked and talked, Shikamaru pulled out his phone to text the sandy haired Takahashi girl, making good on his promise to Granny Fu but only after giving her a bit of a head start (in case Asuna had already woken up. It started off simply. “Hey, hope you slept well.” He cringed at the next sentence. “So uh… while at your house your grandma tried to propose a marriage contract to me—for uh… us. That’s pretty funny.” Yikes, this was worse than he thought. “So uh, I told her I was gonna tell you and that if she wanted to keep her documents she should hide them, because I knew you’d wanna burn em. You’re welcome.”

 

[Iron Mouse]

Asune had been surprised when she'd woken up, not remembering when she'd fallen asleep in the first place. It took everything she had to not fall into routine and start with breakfast and an early morning sweep to make sure everything for the shop would be ready and prepared for the day.
This was not that kind of day.
A queasy pit sat in her stomach, but she brushed it off as she readied herself, checking and double checking over her bag to make sure everything she needed for the mission was in there. She couldn't shake the nervous feeling no matter how many times she checked her bag and if one didn't know better they'd think this was her first ever Shinobi mission.

Along with the queasiness of nerves the morning was also a bit awkward as she'd checked her phone and found the messages that Shikamaru had sent. Apparently her grandmother had struck yet again, trying to get another one of her guy friends into an arranged marriage with her.
Reason two why hardly anyone she knew ever came around to the shop besides Ino and speaking of the Yamanaka girl...
'I'm done. You almost here?' she typed away on her phone before stepping out.
The plan had been for Ino to spend the night and then they'd leave together to the rendezvous point at the school, but given how Asuna had lost several hours, she wasn't sure if the plans had changed.
'Morning to you too. Ugh, why does it have to be so early? Be there soon.'

'Be there soon' more like 'be there in five hours', Asuna thought to herself, it was probably for the best if she went over to make sure Ino hadn't gone back to sleep. Grabbing her gear, she stepped out and knocked on her father's door to let him know that she was going.
Knock-knock.
No answer.
Knock-knock.
Again, no answer...
"Hey dad ar-" the sandy blonde started with the intent to open the door, but the groggy, "Hey, Pumpkin," from behind her almost sent her heart launching through her chest. Whipping around she came face to face with her old man in his pajamas and robe, his hair stuck up in every which way and clinging to his chest was the little shitty furball.
"I just took my son out, didn't think I'd run into you," Eiji said with a yawn, giving the kitten's head a few pats, "But seeing as you're not sneaking out...I can drive you." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He didn't wait for a response knowing that his girl was going to protest but he'd been awake for hours dreading this moment.
"Dad, it's fine. I have to go get Ino anyway..."
"Then we can pick her up, just let me find my keys."

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The drive was quiet, there were no cars for Mr. Takanashi to yell at, which meant that he was almost a decent driver. He didn't pull up directly to the school to drop the girls off, there was a protocol after all...that and he was still in his sleep clothes -fluffy slippers and all.
"Be safe, kids."
"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Takanashi, and don't worry I'll have Asu back in one piece," Ino tried to assure as she waved her goodbyes.
"Asuna..." Eiji called, but the words wouldn't come; he wanted her to stay, he wanted her to be safe, but it was hard. She was growing up and he hated it. "I love you."

"Love you too dad and don't worry, Asuma-sensei is with us," as much as Asuna tried to convince herself that she'd said that for her father's sake, deep down she knew it was for her own comfort. "Thanks for the ride, we'll see you when we're back."
She kept her goodbye short, ducking her head back into the car to peck her old man's cheek, the longer she stayed around him the more his fears fed her own and the more she doubted that she was cut out for this.

"Ugh, the thought of leaving my dad alone with the shop is stressing me out so hard," Asuna lamented as she and Ino entered the school grounds, "There's going to be so many chores when we get back."
"Of course, you're not even gone yet and you're already thinking about everything you need to do when you get back," Ino laughed lightly, "Geeze, 'Suna, you have to learn how to relax or you'll go grey before you hit thirty."

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​

Sasuke left not too long after, partly because he didn't want to overstay his welcome and partly because he didn't want the Ero-Sannin to come around and find him still there. The student body at school was already buzzing over the park incident and him being over at Hanaru's place after school was the last thing he wanted to circulate through the halls.
Naturally, he took the longest detour that he could think of on his way home, wanting to avoid his father for as long as he possibly could and luckily his father was busy when he finally did arrive home.

As he took out clean clothes for the next morning, he went over his revised schedule as he tried to work in a 10k run before he headed to school to take care of his detention. It didn't sound like too challenging a training, psh, what was a 10k run? Hanaru was probably treating him with kiddy gloves on but he'll show her. He'll knock that training out so fast that he'd be in time to not only do his section of cleaning but that blonde slacker's too! They both thought they knew so much but he'll show them he wasn't some push over rich boy.

"Hiding that duckbutt haircut will only make you more attractive..."
He froze and blinked stupidly at the thought that had suddenly popped into his head of what Hanaru had said. He stared down at his folded shirt as he tried to figure out why that of all things had sprung up.
Wait.
Did Hanaru admit that she thought he was attractive? Wait...why is his face feeling all warm?
A loud smack resonated through the room as he slapped a hand over his face at the sheer absurdity that his brain was trying to make him think that Hanaru thought he was attractive. It didn't matter what she thought of him.
She was his rival and nothing more. He was going to learn her techniques in order to kick her ass and get stronger, whether or not he wanted her to think he was attractive was completely irrelevant!

But you want her to find you attractive.
No. Nope. Shut up.
He was getting tired of the little voice in his head that pushed these intrusive and completely false thoughts into his head. It was uncalled for and he certainly did not think that she'd probably look nice in that dress for the school dance.
Shit.

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​

He was ready and waiting, the city was still asleep, but the Uchiha boy was ready and eager to start off his new training regime, all he needed now was for his rival to show up. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago the park had been swarming with police given how peaceful it was. There was a quiet calm over the trees, the crickets were still serenading into the crisp air, it would have been so easy to forget that something tragic had taken place there, but unfortunately for Sasuke, the fact that his clan had been involved -even just to cover up what really happened- still left such a bitter taste in his mouth.

It was upsetting, but he wasn't going to dwell on it now, he needed his mind to be clear and in the present for his training and as he finished off his stretches he finally took notice of Hanaru.
"Oh, you're here," he said nonchalantly and went in for a teasing jab, "Thought you cats slept like 18 hours."

A part of him wanted to ask how her arm was feeling, but he didn't want to feed that voice in the back of his head with anything it could use as fodder against him and cloud his judgement with asinine bullshit thoughts that weren't true and would never be true.
That still didn't stop him from unconsciously stretching out, "Let's see what you've got."

 

[AwkwardSilence]

The morning quiet was something that she welcomed readily. It was a deep breath of respite that she'd needed after the events of the past week. With everything going on, they needed a bit of a break, and so temperate weather and a quiet (or as quiet as the city of Konoha could be) early morning run sounded like a great idea. There was the dance coming up on the weekend, and Hanaru was not looking forward to that. Areas of forced interaction where she wasn’t allowed to leave were some of the worst things ever—which was also why she hated vehicles. Boats in particular, but cars could be just as bad. One glance at the clock and the purplette knew she needed to get moving, considering how she was supposed to oversee Sasuke's training, otherwise she would never hear the end of it. Besides, she wasn’t about to blow him off. Despite her ex-con status (and even when she was knee deep in criminal deeds), Hanaru would have liked to consider herself a person who kept her promises. The nekomanta youkai did her best to get dressed. Instead of the silvers and blue she typically wore, the half neko youkai pulled on a black sleeveless shirt with a high collar, a black and white baggy sweatshirt, and a pair of red leggings. She wasn’t wearing the sling like Tsunade had ordered her to, and while her shoulder still ached from the bullet hole there, she could already feel it healing. There was no reason she’d need to show her weaknesses outwardly by telegraphing it like that. Still… strapping her wakizashi to her back reminded her that she was still recovering. She already missed its weight on her hip.
Tch. Stupid blessed bullets. Hopefully that guy would stay in prison and word wouldn't let word get around that blessed weapons hurt her like hell. There were very few things that Hanaru feared, but water, Mitomori, and perhaps a few others made a very short list...
Making her way swiftly to the meeting point that they had priorly agreed upon, Hanaru rose an eyebrow at Sasuke’s words. “Keyword there, pretty boy, can. I can sleep that long if I wanna, doesn’t mean I’m going to miss an opportunity to kick your ass.” She sniffed nonchalantly, looking him up and down with her honeyed amber gaze, before nodding and motioning with her good hand to th road before him. “I was thinking we’d go through downtown, back and into the forest and curve back into the school.” She looked at the time on her phone’s cracked screen. It was the only reason she ever brought it with her. “That should give you enough time if you wanted to jump in the showers before we do detention. Tch…” she kissed the back of her teeth with her tongue. “… Fuckin’ Naruto.” She would blame him for their involvement in the late-night ghost hunting debacle.
”Alright Sasuke,” Hanaru had her hands on her hips casually. “Go.” No preamble. No more of a forewarning. “Run!”
And that was how her early morning was spent chasing after the Uchiha prodigy. If anyone saw them, they might be slightly concerned by the boy running from the half-nekomanta youkai, but that was why her planned route was along quiet streets with less eyes (and less people for Sasuke to physically run into, as well). The first stretch through the city, Hanaru let him fall into a false sense of security—after all, it would be so fun if the entire experience was one note. It wasn’t until the concrete jungle traded places with a deciduous one that she changed things up. “Kitty gloves are coming off!” She called to him, a smirk on her features as suddenly, she was easily overtaking him. Before she had kept pace or running just behind him, barely panting or breaking a sweat. Now she was passing Sasuke with ease. Those demonic genes, if he wanted something to blame. Leaning toward him as she passed him, Hanaru couldn’t keep the smirk on her lips to herself as she teased him, speaking close to his ear. “Do try to keep up,” before putting on more gas, turning around to stick her tongue out at him.

---

Shikamaru slept like a rock. Not to say that the thought of a potentially-dangerous mission wasn’t worth losing sleep over, more like the events of the past week were catching up to him and he needed an outlet. Sleep was that outlet, sometimes. Sometimes, the backward way that sleep worked was even when you got a full sleep, you didn’t feel like it. Or you felt like you didn’t sleep at all. Unfortunately, it was one of those mornings. He felt like a zombie, trudging downstairs to greet his mom who had breakfast waiting for him and his dad. The clan head had business in town so it was somewhat convenient for him to take his work truck and drop Shikamaru off at the school where everyone was going to meet. From the school they’d take one of the school’s buses with Asuma-sensei further into the the forest, traveling east toward the rumored Dark Forest.
There were a lot of rumors surrounding the area, and the Civilians and shinobi who weren’t allowed access to the truth knew it only as a dangerous place, full of wild forests and lots of deadly wildlife. According to Asuma, and their briefing, and the little bit that his father felt good enough to tell him, it was all a front for the dangerous rifts that existed between their world and the demonic plane. There wasn’t a whole lot known about the demonic plane, but just that people—dangerous people—knew they could summon demons and create temporary rifts all over the place. The older Nara had said that only jonins or ANBU were called to deal with summoning’s… especially considering how it usually involved a lot of sacrifices, which was never a pleasant sight. That being said, the veil between the demonic and the mortal planes was thin, and tears were opening and closing all the time.
They would get more of a briefing in the bus on the way there, but granted it was a lot more sensitive material than their group of genin were used to dealing with.
Shikamaru was a little nervous, but they wouldn’t have been sent if Lord Third didn’t think that they were remotely prepared.
”So… how has working over at the Shuffle of Things been…?” Shikamaru hadn’t been expecting much conversation on the drive over, and yet even as Shikaku’s dark eyes stayed on the road, he spoke up. “I know ‘Nashi’s got you working with his daughter. You and Asuna used to be pretty close, huh?”
Shikamaru felt his eyebrow twitch. This was not the conversation he wanted to have before a potentially-dangerous mission. “Y-yeah, it’s been going good,” he mumbled, avoiding any and all eye contact when he could tell that his dad’s eyes slid up to look at him in the review mirror for a moment before refocusing on the road. “I work, and then I come home. Hell, I’ve only worked there for a day or so, dad.””Language,” the older Nara chided, but the scolding lacked bite. He’d heard his dad say far worse, so there really wasn’t a point. “Nothing about Asuna? Nothing at all?”
Shikamaru’s lip only got tighter as he rolled his eyes. ‘Thank god we’re almost at the academy,’ he couldn’t help but sigh internally. “We’re pretty focused on school. Squad’s good. Everyone has potential. I do wish Ino would stop obsessing over Sasuke. It’d make her stronger just to empty out her headspace of that dork. It’s such a drag to hear her go on and on ad nauseum. Asuna doesn’t do that so she’s easier to tolerate.”
”Those Uchiha boys are usually highly sought after,” Shikaku laughed heartily. “Back in my day I was so glad your mother had no interest in Fugaku.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes but he couldn’t stop the smile that appeared on his lips.
”Great,” sarcasm dripped from his voice, “I’m so glad that’s a generational trait.”
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, considering Shikaku thankfully dropped the topic about Asuna. There were no other parting words from his father besides a firm hand on his shoulder, and a sincere nod from the usually pretty carefree nin. Shikamaru hopped out and walked toward the school, nodding to Choji who already happened to be there. Surprisingly his best friend was without his trademark snacks, and Shikamaru rose an eyebrow at the sight. It was rare but not unheard of. Still, it must have meant that Choji was either nervous or getting ready for their serious mission in his own way. Either of which he deemed as reasonable responses, given their responsibility.

The bus that they had received from the school had its own driver—a chunin who had apparently made the route before, leaving Asuma and the four genin to sit in the back and do their briefing on the way there. “I don’t foresee this taking us more than just a couple of days. That being said, I hope you packed accordingly.” They all had bags, and camping gear was provided for them. Shikamaru was situated in his usual thinking pose, fingers pressed together as he leaned over. To his right was Asuna, and across from them Asuma-sensei, Choji, and Ino. “I can’t lie to you, this could very well be a very difficult mission.”
That was to be expected.
”So let me start with what we know about the demonic planes, since we’re going to be investigating a potential demon that’s broken out through one of the rifts.” Shikamaru nodded—he’d told them as much before. He was interested in knowing more. Of course, information was powerful, and a nagging voice in the back of his head told him that this information might be of use to him regarding their classmates that had ties to demonic entities… like Naruto’s sealed fox demon. “No human has ever crossed through to the demon planes and returned, that’s to be certain. Some of you may have heard of the Circles of Hell, and as far as our research has gone into the youkai, that appears to be the truth.” Interesting.
”Sensei?” Ino spoke up, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “Isn’t that like Dante’s Inferno?”
Asuma nodded. “There are nine levels, true, although the book’s descriptions of them are purely fictitious. The outer circles host weaker demons, more monsters and mindless beasts that seek blood and death. The deeper in you get, the more intelligent and capable of speech. So don’t go thinking each circle has a cardinal sin or anything. It’s just how we’re able to classify different demonic entities in terms of power.”
”So what would, say… the Nine Tailed Fox demon be?” Shikamaru’s question cut the tension with a knife, and Asuma looked to him with a concentrated look. It was hard to keep the adult’s mouths shut about Naruto. Most of the kids were aware of what was said in the rumors. It shouldn’t be a shock that they all knew despite keeping quiet about it. And if not the average shinobi student, then at least the clan children where more hushed talk occurred behind closed-doors than not.
”We don’t actually know,” Asuma breathed deeply, suddenly feeling the need for a cigarette itching under his skin. Sometimes his students were far too clever for their own good. Shikamaru was eyeing him intently. It could have been a lie but it was hard to tell. “But the Nine Tails was certainly a lower level circle.”
Shikamaru nodded, he hadn’t been expecting a straight answer but was happy for the information they got none-the-less. “Remember, the veil between our plane and theirs is thin in the forest. Be on your guard for anything,” Asuma continued along the task at hand. “There have been reports of a disturbance on the borders of the forest. It could be animals, as they sometimes flock to the forest on their migration routes, but it could also be something from one of the lower circles. If it's low enough leveled, I have permission to go ahead and take it out. However! Our goal in the beginning is just to observe. If it appears to be a lower ranked circle, you are to retreat by all means necessary. Do not engage, understand me?” Asuma’s gaze was like steel, and Choji nodded firmly, while Ino did the same but with more fear in her stiffened shoulders and clenched fists. Shikamaru didn’t respond, but rather stared at his sensei.
”If this mission is completed with a demon slain, I will personally recommend you all to take the chunin exams when next they come.” Oh? That was interesting indeed.

 

[Iron Mouse]

"Well, isn't that a great motivator for insubordination," Asuna muttered sarcastically, face turned to watch the landscape fly by in an attempt to distract herself. Nothing seemed out of place, everything was still quiet. The outskirts of the dreaded forest didn't look nearly as threatening as the rumors foretold. In fact, it looked like just about any group of trees.
"It's not an invitation to go looking for trouble," Asuma said sternly, "I said 'if', but the odds are never zero out there. Things can change in a blink, so observe, learn and plan accordingly, as you've been taught."

There was a heavy weight in the bus, the air stuffy and suffocating, a manifestation of a group of genin taking on their first real mission with real consequences.

"This team was chosen for a reason, remember that. Lord Sarutobi doesn't easily make mistakes."

Despite their sensei's motivational words, Asuna couldn't help the direction her mind was running in. Lord Third doesn't make mistakes, but what if he had? What if this was all wrong? What if she wasn't meant to be there, she missed more classes and training excersises than any in her year, skimming by only by the skin of her teeth. Sometimes she wondered why she was still enrolled- what if she dropped out and dedicated her full attention to The Shuffle of Things? It sounded like a nightmare being tied down to the old shop but what else was there? She couldn't leave it to her old man, he'd run the place into the ground.

Asuna hadn't realized she'd been chewing on her lip until an elbow to the side brought her from her spiraling thoughts. Right, right, focus. She'd be useless to her team if she allowed her thoughts to drift into the abyss and distract her from the task at hand.

"So...just putting this out there but, the forest doesn't look all that...forboding to me," she said with a raised brow when the bus eventually came to a stop. "I don't know, it looks plenty scary to me," Choji shrugged, "like something could come out at us any second."
"Like what, a tree?"
"Exactly. What if a tree suddenly got up and started walking. I heard a rumor that they do that."
Just as Asuna wanted to retort at the sheer ridiculousness of that suggestion, she caught the look on the Akamichi's face, he was teasing her.
"Oh hah-hah, are we in King of The Rings now? We walking into the battle of Isengrad?"

"Alright kids, have everything? If you don't there's no turning back," the serious tone of Asuma wavered slightly, happy to see his students were keeping each other in check in their own way. From one of his many pockets he produced a map that looked almost as old as the forest itself, "We'll be moving East along the border, see what we can find until we hit Yaeba ridge. From there we'll venture deeper and hopefully make it to the old Kodama tree before sundown. We'll make camp there for the night."

They were all given a chance to study the map, it looked straightforward enough. "The trees are still pretty thin for now, but as we move deeper the more dangerous it will get. I don't need to tell you to keep on your toes." On cue, a loud and long yowl of some unknown thing echoed from somewhere deep in the forest, like a deer bellowing in pain if the deer was the size of a house. Whatever it was, really hit the point home.

═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════ ≪ °❈° ≫ ═══════

The Uchiha didn't need to be reminded of detention, he hated the idea of it, what's worse was knowing that slacker was probably going to be there with that stupid smug look on her face. He was not looking forward to it and very much echoed Hanaru's sentiment: "Fucking Natuto."

The run went about as well as he thought, he was in the lead for most of it and while he was taking it seriously, he couldn't help but feel a little insultes at first that of all the things this is the kind of training the half demon had chosen. He got plenty of cardio in a day to day basis, it was standard. Glancing over his shoulder he couldn't help feeling irritated by this...basic starter. "What, too tired to give me proper training?" he called back, "I thought you wanted to kick my ass, not ride it!"

Things were going smoothly, Sasuke kept up his form and regulated his breathing, grabbing a dip from his water bottle to stay hydrated. It was honestly too easy. The city outskirts thinned out and they were approaching the stretch of forest, but that's when things took a turn. The moment the tarmac gave way to dirt and loose rocks, the half nekomanta suddenly was right by him, whispering tauntingly into his ear and the next he was eating her dust. Literally.
"Kiddy gloves?!" he yelled in outrage as he picked up the pace to try and keep up, "You weren't taking me seriously this whole time?!"

The faster he ran, the faster Hanaru ran, leaving him to kick up pebbles and leaves on the uneven terrain. He had to pay more attention now, the route they were taking wasn't as leveled as the city streets and they weren't on a well worn trail either. On one hand, it pleased Sasuke now that things were more challenging, but on the other he hated that he was drenched in sweat and his lungs were burning but his rival was skipping along like this was some leisure Sunday stroll.

"I'm not, usually the one chasing..." he panted, the trail was becoming rougher, "...chasing after girls." The Uchiha prodigy channeled Chakra to his feet to keep himself more steady as he willed his legs to move faster, determined to surpass the woman.
"You should get back to where you belong."
From the light change in angle, he could tell they were curving back towards the school. He'd rather die than have someone see him losing to one of his rivals.

The one thing he didn't expect, a lack of insight on his part, was the wildlife they might disturb so early with their run.
It was a rabbit that had bested him in the end, darting out in terror to get away from them, only to dart out right in front of the ravenette.
He missteped and stumbled.
He hit the ground and rolled through the brush.
The rabbit escaped and aside from a deviatingly bruised ego, Sasuke lived to tell the tale.

He picked himself up, ignoring the burning in his chest and the dull ache in his knee, dusted himself off and completed the run.

"I demand a retry," he panted, glaring at Hanaru, through his sweat slick hair, "I almost caught up to you, if it wasn't for that stupid rabbit. It was conspiring against me!" He pulled at his shirt, bringing the hem up and finding the cleanest part of it to wipe his face.

 

[AwkwardSilence]

The second the bus slowed down was the second that Shikamaru knew that this was really happening. After all... it was the start of their very real careers as shinobis. This was the kind of thing they trained for. No more doing garbage pickup down by the river, no more babysitting bratty kids or other works of community service not-so-cleverly disguised as genin-ranked missions. This was easily their hardest challenge yet, and he refused to back down from it. And he wouldn't let Asuna try and step away, either. He looked to the sandy blonde haired teen as Choji teased her, allowing a small smile to appear on his lips as she rolled her eyes. They would get through this by working together, and hopefully... by the end of it all, Asuna would have a bit more confidence in her abilities as a shinobi.
He studied the map, committing it to memory (as if he already hadn't, his father had gotten out his personal map of the forest and Shikamaru had learned about it as much as he could before they'd disembarked). "Alright, I'm entrusting Shikamaru as the point leader of the squad," Asuma started, quickly jumping in as Ino looked about ready to protest at that fact. "His talents are best suited for coming up with strategies, even you can't fault his attack plans, Ino." She closed her mouth, huffing and nodding. He was thankful for that, at least. Even if he appeared to be a sleepy slacker in class, all of his teammates typically respected his ability to plan out their every moves in ways that best utilized everyone's skills. "Remember, we're here for surveillance first and foremost. If the demon is from a lower-ranking circle, then we're required to take it out. However, the more intelligent the demon, our goal is to track it's movements as a squad while I run for reinforcements. You'll get no sort of cell-service out here, the rifts mess with any electronics you might try to bring in order to communicate with your teammates."
"Right, we need to start in diamond formation," Shikamaru started, running through multiple scenarios in his head. "Ino, you take point, Asuna left and Choji right, and I'll take the rear." Choji snorted at his phrasing and he sighed, "don't be a drag, man, just do it."
"Excellent," Asuma nodded, smiling softly at his students. "Now, make sure you have everything, we'll be camping tonight, so I hope at least one of you remembers how to start a fire." He looked at their surroundings before nodding to the rest of them. "This first leg into the woods shouldn't be too bad, so I'll leave you to make it to our campsite. It'll act as a base of operations during our mission--it's point B on your map. I'll see you there in about an hour or so." And with a smile and a two-finger salute from his forehead, Asuma was dashing ahead of them.
And so began their first real mission. When Asuma had said that the woods would begin to become denser the further in they walked, he wasn't lying. When they started their hike into the woods, it was easy to see the sky between the branches, but the more they walked, the more shade they found themselves in. The trees grew denser and bigger, to the point where they reached well above their heads by at least 30ft. Shikamaru was on high alert, though Ino and Choji spoke quietly amongst themselves. Every once and awhile the dark haired Nara boy would glance over at Asuna to see how she was doing. She looked a little... tense, for lack of a better word. Shikamaru wished he had some sort of words of encouragement or something to say to her, but in reality, he didn't. He was never the best at speaking... everything was more clearly communicated in his actions.
"Hey... wanna piece of gum?" he ended up asking, Choji eagerly taking him up on it, and even Ino turned back from her position at the front of their formation to take a piece. He held out the pack to Asuna, shrugging to aid his air of indifference. "Your lip needs a break, figured gum was a good replacement for it."

---

She had hoped that his anger at being outmatched would make for more of a challenge, and she certainly wasn’t disappointed. As far as she was aware, Sasuke was good at most things he attempted for two reasons. 1.) he didn’t half ass anything so long as he deemed it worthy of his attention, and 2.) he was already naturally gifted before mixing in his hard work and personal drive. If someone didn’t have the capability of becoming a shinobi, they simply didn’t become a shinobi. That’s just how the world worked. You either could manipulate chakra or you couldn’t, there really wasn’t a learning curve with that. She’d heard rumors of a guy in the year above them who had 0 control of his chakra, but supposedly was wicked at hand-to-hand, but she knew that it would be rare for him to win a fight against a fully realized ninja. Their existences were based on the balance of chakra, physical, and mental abilities. Forsaking one wouldn’t end well, ability or no. That’s where Sakura suffered, in her opinion. She didn’t have any power or physical presence, and she didn’t try to build any either.
Hanaru, of course, wasn’t like that at all. She worked hard to get her abilities to where they were, but with Naruto and Sasuke nipping at her heels, it made her work harder than she had before. So of course she was going to lure Sasuke into a false sense of security before ramping things up. Something about taking the wind out of his sails was so… fun. He was fun. They argued and squabbled like children on the playground but he fought back against her. His will wasn’t weak. She growled at Naruto and he folded immediately, crying crocodile tears and asking what he did to deserve her ire but Sasuke bit back. If she was a mountain lion then he was a rattle snake, every bit as dangerous and worthy of her time as an opponent.
The run had been fun, but the rabbit had been funny. As Sasuke bit the dust, she tried her damndest not to laugh, turning her head to the side to stifle genuine giggles that threatened to roll out of her throat. Coughing, she heard his denial and smirked, looking down at him as he slowly picked himself up. “Please, I heard that rabbit from 30 feet back,” her ears flicked to emphasize her point. “Half of our jobs as shinobi is how we react to suddenly-introduced variables. Next time, expect the rabbit.” She snickered, her eyebrows narrowing dangerously. She’d just barely broken a sweat, running through the trees reminding her of her younger days, living out in the woods like a hermit with her mother.
Except here she had an angry little duckling tailing behind her. “Come along duckling, stop quacking. Tomorrow we'll spar in the woods.” Her shoulder was still healing — he might have a slight advantage, not that she’d tell him that. A sigh left her lips. “I don’t want any ANBU tailing me thinking I’m going to kill you, so I had to ask for someone to observe our duel…” Kakashi might object to such a thing… or maybe he wouldn’t, but she’d already taken the liberty of leaving a letter in the mailbox that Naruto never checked. It was still chicken scratch, but even after Sasuke’s first lesson it was far more legible than her writing had been previously. “… that ero-sannin Jiraiya will be overseeing to keep the other officials off my back.”
Really he was there to make sure no one killed the other, and with his position as Sannin he wouldn’t be argued with if he was present for their duel. Also he'd said something about taking the opportunity as inspiration for his newest novel, and as creepy as she found that, at least it meant he was willing to babysit them so the government didn't get cranky.
"You might want to shower before class," her nose wrinkled as she stepped forward, using her good arm to wipe away some dirt from his shirt that he'd missed when he was dusting himself off. As she did so, the half-demon noticed that he'd scraped his knee when he fell. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, the nekomanta demon got down on a knee, fiddling with some medical wrap she'd started carrying on her person (hey, it was meant for Sasuke, not her), and quickly wrapping his knee. After tying it off, Hanaru paused in her motions, realizing that she'd done all of that without thinking, and her honeyed-amber gaze rose to meet his onyx eyes. Her ears pinned forward on her the top of her head--embarrassment, and a movement she couldn't control. Her tail flicked as she quickly got up, turning away from him. "I'll beat you to the academy. Y'know," she turned her head to look him up and down from over her shoulder. "If you want me where you think I belong... you'd better be ready to prove you're worthy of it." She stuck her tongue out at him for good measure--a childish move, but she hardly cared--just to rile him up further before she began sprinting again, back in the direction of the academy.