"Yatta! Wai! Wai! Ganbatte, Joseibi-chan!"
Joseibi wanted to disappear...
...well...to be honest...she didn't...
...but that was only because that, vanishing from her own graduation day, would be even more embarassing than having her older sister jumping up and down like a three-year old waving around victory flags in each hand.
"I already passed already, what's with the 'ganbatte' cheering?" Joseibi muttered.
"It could be worse," Kuren said under her breath to her friend.
Both twelve year old girls turned to look at Jubei Lee's father.
"Excellent Jubei! You have thoroughly proven the power of your youth within the walls of this honored establishment of Konohagakure. Now you shall, like your father before, go on to prove your worth this much dignified society."
Sakura Lee was putting her face in her palm as she listened to her husband rant, but did not, for the moment stop him.
Jubei, for his part, was beaming with pride, blissfully unaware of his cool value dropping like a rock.
"It could be a lot worse," Kuren's mom said walking behind the two girls. "There could be no family here...or no one at all."
Both blondes flushed and turned about to see Kuren's parents standing there, wondering how the two had gotten into the group of parents and family without attracting the sort of attention the Lees had.
"Hai, Okaasan," Kuren said, flushing scarletly.
Joseibi herself was faced with a desire to defend her stance: being happy for her was one thing, being a dork about it was entirely another. She was smart enough to realize the argument wouldn't be well-received, however, and kept her mouth closed.
Besides which, she didn't get the chance.
Ryoko at that point had cut through the crowd to reach where Joseibi was and before the newly graduated genin could respond had her lifted up into an unintentional variation of the cradle of doom while spinning her around.
"Oh, this such a happy day," Ryoko said setting the mortified Joseibi down. "I have some errands and work to attend to, and then I'm making some egg rolls."
Joseibi's protests died on her lips.
Did her sister just say that she was going to make the one item in her cookbook that surpassed her general competence to the point that they could bring tears to the mountains?
The item which she she rarely cooked because they were "the most nutritious thing" she knew how to cook?
"Make sure to bring your little friends," Ryoko said cheerily, momentarily unaware of the jonin watching the display, as she was too happy for her sister.
Kuren's eyes widened at the little friend comment, even the elder Uzumakis felt a bit embarassed at that one, but Joseibi did not hear that.
Joseibi heard: "I'm making egg rolls and you have to share."
What sort of twisted celebration was that?
"Do you mind if we come?" Naruto asked in a carefully friendly tone. He wanted a further chance to talk to this girl.
Joseibi twisted to look at Naruto, whose healthy appetite she'd heard of in legend, and gawked.
"S...sure," Ryoko said, turning nervous as she noticed the jonin. "I'll make enough for everyone."
There was no such thing as enough.
"That's good," Hinata said. "It would be nice to know more about you."
"H..hai," Ryoko said hesitantly. "Well, I..I guess I'm going to be busy, so..umm, I'll be along. Congratulations, Joseibi-chan."
She smiled, squinty behind her glasses and then stepped quickly out of the area, a look of nervous distraction and calculation on her face.
"Well, that was..." Kuren started to whisper a sarcastic comment, parents or no.
As soon as her sister was gone, Joseibi turned to face Naruto, pointing at him specifically.
"You are not getting my egg rolls," she said firmly.
Everybody looked at her, blinking.
"Okay," Kuren said. "Now I have to see what that's all about."
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(Posted Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:25)
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