one_long_mission | Entries tagged with origin world: alternate universe

Back home, the city's park had a grand total of three trees. They were just for show and were made of cleverly disguised plastic. The city's oxygen was all made by algae pumped above the UV screens as they required far less space and, through genetic engineering, were much more efficient. Itachi understood the concept of trees, but had never seen one alive much less the countless hundreds stretched before him. They were life forms so basic his systems didn't even register them as alive, so there was no way to count.

There were other life forms around, however. Some distant, others very closer. Itachi closed his eyes and directed power to auditory functions. There was someone moving nearby. He turned to face them.

The recent party had been cute, he'd definitely give the boys that, but even he could see that there was a lot of droopy people around the village. So... time to see if the villagers had another of their surprise holidays coming up any time soon, which he was going around asking about at present, talking to anyone he could get his hands on.

If he also happened to be buying a lot of things like firecrackers and colored lights of various types because of it... this too was just par for the course, right?

He'd been tying himself up in the Academy events tightly for the last few weeks, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it was because he'd been failing to 'catch' Sasuke and was just convinced, somehow, that as long as he didn't look too hard, the man would pop up again like he had last time he'd been out of sight for a while.

And then... after the opening... he hadn't.

In fact, he'd managed to pick a time when everyone in the village seemed to be indoors eating or working or otherwise simply busy and it was... oddly unnerving in a quiet sort of way. A bit hollow.

He had no idea what to do with himself, and he wasn't sure he wanted to go home.

Laying low and being unnoticeable is something every shinobi knows how to do. So it wasn't hard for Neji to just sit in dark corners of the village, watching people bustle around. The bad weather, festivals, celebrations, people- it just passed him by.

He had nothing to do with it. When he was in Konoha, he could freely say that he could pack whole his life in one box. Now he can pack it in his palm. And it doesn't bothers him.

What bothers him is that he still has to wake up in the morning, knowing that he's not dead, knowing that he's stuck somewhere for whatever reason, that he can't go on. He wanted to go on, to just disappear from here.

He lived in clustered neighborhood- the houses were not in too good state. The yard was full with metal scraps and junk, the wooden fence didn't really offer much protection, the clothes hanging around, drying. Yet it somehow didn't fall apart no matter what kind of weather came forth. So as long as his place is not in shambles he sees no need to leave the cluster. People didn't bother him, even if it was noisy throughout the day.

This morning was the same. He woke up to the old lady yelling like every other morning. His eyes stared at the wall, listening as she urged her household to wake up and get a move on to work. He knows she sits on porch, leaned on her cane. She was like alarm clock to him.
After rolling up futon and getting dressed, carefully avoiding mirror when doing so- he's still not used to see himself with big scar on his throat, and his clothes didn't really hide it.

When he was finished tidying up his one-room house, he left the house dressed in green sleeveless shirt and white shorts. There were people out already, talking loudly and yelling in the cluster, but... something felt different in the air. As if he missed out on something. He couldn't really place his finger on it.

Deciding that it was probably another of those things related only to this village, he made his way to the training grounds, again avoiding bumping into someone he knew. He wanted to train and meditate in peace. He didn't notice anyone on training grounds when he arrived and he hoped it will stay that way as he climbed on the tree and taking position to meditate. He doesn't really want to have to leave the grounds because of the others.

[There's a very different Naruto peeking up out of a concealed cave just outside the village, a confused scowl on his face. Above definitely didn't look like this the last time he came out this way!

He slides a little further out of the cave, trying to be as subtle as a teenager dressed in blue and purple, with a hip-length fluffy ponytail can be. But he's had good teachers, so that's actually a respectable level of stealth.

Sure as hell isn't Rice Country, this. So for safety's sake, he reaches up and unties the hitai-ate he wears, marked with the musical note, and tucks it safely away inside his vest before he emerges fully from the cave, looking around. The outskirts of the village are close by, and that might be a place to start with figuring out where the hell he is, anyway.]

Evening falls. The business of Michi begins to die down, people return to their homes, their loved ones, their well deserved rest. Gold light pools from windows, paints small suns in the dark. There is a warmth to the village, like a warm fire glow at the end of a chilly day.

Even fire has shadows though.

One of its shadows has come home.

He comes from the graveyard, striding down the pale path leading away from it as if the night belongs to him, a lean figure in ANBU white and black, painted, unseeing fox mask in place. A hood hides the hair but the steady assured pace, neither rushed nor slow, should be familiar to anyone that knows him. He's not going anywhere, just walking after the end of a long mission, walking because it means not stopping. Walking because he's still able to. Walking because he never stops, not really. There's too much following behind that might catch up.

ooc: I give you ANBU Minato. He's in his early 20s and slightly AU. Details are in his journal but it's safe to assume that all his canon close relationships are non-existent for this AU. ...unless of course it suits your character for this AU post! So! Come find him, have him come find you, assume any relationship you'd like for the course of this thread. For shippy stuff, he's het.

He quickly moved to intercept the youngest of his charges when the boy decided it would be a good idea to try the same jutsu again when he was already exhausted, grabbing his hands and smiling down at the boy as he shook his head. "Nope, I think we're done here chibi. Go home. Your mom will kill me if you go home passed out from trying too hard, okay?"

In spite of the pout he got in return, he ruffled the child's hair and released him, nudging him once between the shoulders. "I mean it. Go home, no more training, or I'll sic your sister on you! Sensei knows best!"

Finally, the boy seemed willing to concede and left the training field, much to Sakumo's relief. He really had no idea how his twin ever handled her own students when his were so stubborn.

Then again, what kind of healers would they have for the next generation if the lot weren't as stubborn as a dragon? Smiling to himself, he shook his head, giving a lazy stretch before starting for the edge of himself.

Lunch was definitely in order.

If this, then, was home, then for some, it was the only thing they knew.

For one teen girl, the life of a shinobi was all she truly knew. Her mother had died not long after giving birth to her, and her uncle and rest of family did not exactly approve of her suddenly being thrust upon them. Neji was somehow less than their own flesh and blood, and chafed under her reduced station.

If there were a way out, she would take it. As long as she did not dishonor her mother's name, she would take it.

Today was an uncharacteristically peaceful day as she sat atop one of the many tree branches around Michi no Sato. Border guarding was vital, if uninteresting. At the sound of approaching footsteps, she tilted her head; the direction was from the village itself. Likely no threat.

If they wanted her attention, they would request it; if they continued walking, she would have them halt to learn their purpose.

She was reluctant to leave her room. It wasn't, actually, because she didn't like her birthday or didn't realize, no. It was more that she was aware that of the Itachi in the house, she was the one that people noticed least, and she honestly wasn't certain that she wanted to deal with the possibility that people had forgotten she was here because of it.

It would be her own fault if that were so, of course, but...

It was a silly concern, and hiding from it was very much not the way to approach it and she finally, after much debate, opened her good to head out into the house proper.

Itachi was going about his day... more or less as he usually did. He'd gone through morning practice, then had wandered off to go poke through paperwork, as per a typical day.

True, he was a bit bewildered that things seemed to have been a bit more aggressively tidied than usual, but he didn't think anything too strange about it, and settled in, content to pick his way through the collection of papers for a while.

How unfortunate that his birthday present seemed to be in part the errant jutsu.

"There must be a leader, Hinata. If something were to happen to my honored father and myself, who would be the strongest voice in opposition to a more distantly-related member of the Main Family becoming heir?"

Neji clasped his hands behind his back and sighed through his nose, a carefully measured sound as he stared straight ahead. This spot, their favored training field, was so far undiscovered by other members of their family. One of the places where they might speak freely without fear of the rest of their clan.

"If it is a group, who is the loudest voice?" A moment as he paused his steps, eyes falling closed for a moment in thought. If they did find the leader to the opposition within the Branch, what would they do? Report it, yes, but then what...?

But when he reopened his eyes, he went still. Before the two Hyuuga was anything but their training ground. In fact, it wasn't Konoha at all. Genjutsu?

[Replies will come from both Neji (

fatedtolead) and Hinata (

borntofollow) from an AU where Hizashi was born to the Main Family.]

Practicing with the new weather... issue was an interesting thing to try to do. Especially given the water formations seemed especially prevalent on the outdoor training fields.

She didn't, however, hesitate to work with her elements, since if nothing else, she'd long since learned how to deal with Naruto, and it would be fun to finally be able to spring an appropriate reaction on him when he did a dousing jutsu to try to shortcut in their spars.

Unfortunately, it also meant that when she decided to take a break she was sopping wet, her clothes were half falling off, and she'd had to chase her sword across the field when one of the spouts had landed on her.

It was days like today that he wished, with all his heart, that he had even a drop of skill with the art of flirting seriously. Unfortunately, that would require a receptive audience first, and he definitely didn't have one of those recently, which was the current source of his temper.

No, all he had was the dubious joy of bouncing admittedly terrible attempts off someone who couldn't be less interested. And who retaliated by threatening to lock him out of the building. Yay. Just like he always wanted.

Still, it was his own fault that he was verbally falling on his face. After all, he could flirt just fine with girls, if he didn't actually have any kind of emotional investment that was, so just... aggggggh. He was so far beyond done it wasn't even funny, and he made his way out to one of the training fields to blow off some steam.

It was stupid to get upset over it, it really was, and maybe if he just... punched something that wasn't his teammate he'd feel better. Hopefully. Maybe.

Though either way, he wasn't expecting potential punching targets to be made of human, and he blinked at the other teen moving around the field when he reached it. After all, this was Minato-sensei's preferred field, and because of that, others rarely hijacked it for their own.

Especially not this guy. "Today clearly hates me."

[ Whoops-a-daisy. Looks like someone suddenly cannot hear. He's in a restaurant, trying to figure out where he can order a burger and fries, talking way too loud at the manager. ]

I'M SORRY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! I NEED TO KNOW WHERE I CAN GET A BURGER AND FRIES. LIKE AT MCDONALD'S! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS? YOU GOTTA KNOW! IT WAS HERE BEFORE THE SECOND WORLD WAR-- IN THE 1940'S. IT'S BIG AND RED WITH A BIG YELLOW M! SIMPLE M! IT LOOKS LIKE THIS!

[ He draws said 'm' in the air with his finger, but good grief, he can't hear a thing! He can't even hear himself! He doesn't even know if he's speaking English anymore. Oh no; that reminds him of something. ]

DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?! HELLOOO! I NEED. TO FIND. BURGERS. HAMBURGERS. IT'S-- IT'S A MEAT PATTY BETWEEN TWO BUNS AND SOMETIMES YOU GET CHEESE IN IT. AND POTATOES. DEEP FRIED POTATO CHIPS.

[ Apparently one of the employees recognizes potatoes and happens to hold up a few for Shisui to see. At that, Shisui nods excitedly, beaming because somebody understands! ]

YES! YES, POTATOES!

[ Except the manager is now telling his employee to bag a few potatoes and put it on Shisui's bill. He takes it back. Nobody gets it! ]

NO, NO I DON'T WANT YOUR POTATOES! NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!

DO YOU KNOW COCA-COLA??

[ Halp |: ]

[Because these two are adorable in every world.]

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One Long Mission, the Naruto dressing room.

January 2014

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One Long Mission

A Naruto Dressing Room

Entries tagged with origin world: alternate universe

[OPEN] Rewind

[Open] A walk.

[Open] So it wasn't a dream.

[open] Life in a box

[Open] Another New Arrival

and this is home...

[Open] A teacher for the list

[open]

[Open] Birthdays.

[Open] Ah yes, the date...

[open] A New Intrigue

[Open] Oh really now?

[Closed] Frustrating didn't even begin to cover this.

(no subject)

[closed] Multi-Purpose AU Post for Neji and Flirtsuke

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January 2014

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