His attention, however, was commanded by a girl whom he'd recently been locked in a room with before he'd spent a year (his time) adventuring with mages, and then returned to. A girl he'd learned he was engaged to. Not that he couldn't get out of it. Sasuke's Uncle Genma had NO legal authority over him, neither did Hinata's father.
That said, he also didn't have a particular reason to get rid of it. Yeah, she was a weird girl who hadn't been able to meet his gaze.
"So-" said Naruto, trying not to stare as that wasn't polite and just made her fidget a lot. "Uhm. We're engaged, eh?"
"Mff," agreed Hinata, blushing and staring at her twiddling fingers.
"Uhm, so, do you have any idea why?" asked Naruto, who thought it sounded odd. "Sasuke's Uncle bet your dad?"
"Hnnn," said Hinata, getting increasingly nervous.
"So you can get out of it if you decide you don't like me, right?" asked Naruto, thinking that if Hinata was being FORCED into this - it wasn't right.
"Wh-why wouldn't I li-like, I mean, ano-"
Seeing Hinata swaying back and forth like she was about to pass out, Naruto tried to figure this out. There were those in TSAB who'd looked at Hinata, overheard his comments about her, and had come to the conclusion that she LIKED him. Could they be right? After all, wouldn't a girl know more about the subject of girls?
Naruto shrugged as Hinata continued to play with her fingers and look nervous. What should I do? Hey, I know! "So, erm, Hinata-chan, when we get to Mid-Childa, how about we go out on a date or something?"
"Eeep!" squeaked Hinata.
Well, she didn't say 'no' but she's just kind of frozen in place. Naruto scratched his head. Maybe she doesn't like me but there's some sort of family honor thing? It wouldn't be the first time someone's given me bad advice.
"O-okay," stuttered Hinata, a little smile showing up on her face.
Tenten wasn't sure what to make of all this. Over there was her sensei, plus two other jonin and the Hokage. Plus a woman in odd clothing.
She glanced around and there was Naruto talking to Hinata. So this was a joint mission with people between teams?
As she approached her sensei, he reacted with his usual over-the-top theatrical gestures - including shooting her a thumb's up.
"Now that Tenten is here, shall we get our mission underway?" asked Gai.
"Captain Harlaown? I leave my shinobi in your care for the duration of this mission," said the Hokage, tipping his hat slightly before retreating a good distance away.
Tenten frowned. 'Captain'? So she owns a ship or something? She isn't dressed like a fisherman.
"Asura," said the woman, holding an odd device up. "This is Captain Harlaown. Transport. Four adults including myself. Three children."
At which point Tenten suddenly found her surroundings fading out and...
She was somewhere else?
"Naruto, you already know me, but for you two, I'll introduce myself," said the woman with a slight bow. "I'm Captain Lindy Harlaown. Welcome to my ship, the Asura - a battleship of the Time/Space Administration Bureau. We'll be arriving at Mid-Childa in about a half hour."
Tenten felt a flash of embarassment, followed by a stirring of interest. Not a fisher after all, but the Captain of a warship?
"Tenten," said Gai-sensei. "We are on a diplomatic mission. Be on your best behavior."
"'Diplomatic'?" asked Tenten, her eyes going to Naruto again. His reputation was well known, though she never HAD quite figured out why so many adults hated him. Not taken him seriously, sure - plenty of things to have THAT kind of reputation. Still, he was loud and what she'd seen - he had about as much diplomacy in him as she had testosterone.
"By the way, TSAB will not paying for more than one team," said the Captain.
"Not a problem," the older jonin assured the captain. "We're just here as observers. Kurenai is in charge of the genin team."
"Ah, so you decided which of you was in charge of the genin by some sort of consensus?" asked Captain Harlaown.
"Rock, paper, scissors," said the female jonin.
"A diplomatic mission?" asked Naruto. "Oh, is this the treaty with the dragons?"
"'dragons'?" asked Tenten skeptically. What's he going on about now?
"oooh yessss, right there Sasuke!"
Sasuke Uchiha slowly opened one eye. He was still in the hospital. Still sharing a room with Sakura.
"Oh, I spilled cherry syrup on you, let me lick it off," said a giggling Sakura.
With the one eye visible, Sasuke glanced over at the other bed. There was a good seven feet seperating the two beds. In his opinion, that wasn't enough.
"Oh, yes, just like that Sasuke-kun!"
Slowly and deliberately, Sasuke got up out of bed. He gathered his crutches, and went to the nurse's desk. Screw this, he could heal faster at home.
With three limbs in casts (her left arm having avoided injury so far), her head half-covered in bandages, wearing a neck brace, lying on her front while the skin grafts on her back healed, and heavily medicated, Sakura continued to dream her little dreams.
Lacquered and begemmed nails tapped lightly on the armrests of her palanquin.
She was dressed as befitted her station. The most talented and beautiful princess, a powerful sorceress, a fashionista extraordinaire, and the most skilled alchemist in her entire nation. Well, this last since her Aunt got kicked out of the country and fell to her death with her henchman into a minefield which abruptly started blowing up. Nobody Could Have Survived That.
Ahem. Yes, Most skilled and beautiful alchemist.
She was Kodako Naga, the Princess of Najirea.
"Is everything prepared?" said the thirteen-year-old. "There must be no mistakes."
"Everything is as you ordered, Princess," said one of the magical golems.
The Princess snapped open a fan so that she could commence one of the scariest laughs in the multiverse.
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(Posted Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:35)
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