The Story of the Bird and the Flower. (xxplaywithmexx & MiroKitty)

[xxplaywithmexx]

It was still strange to see Kakashi behind the great desk of the Hokage. Neji Hyuga knew the man was capable and had proven as much already, time and time again, but his gaze often showed disinterest at, well, everything. That’s how he knew this mission to be different. The Copycat Shinobi held a stern gaze with him as the briefing came.

“I don’t have to tell you that this stays between us. You wouldn’t be ANBU if you couldn’t be trusted to keep your mouth shut.” Kakashi said as he stood up and walked around to the front of the desk, apparently feeling better to stand as equals before sending his former students on their way to objectives that could very well result in deaths. Every time the Hokage sent ANBU away, it might be the last time he’d see them.

After the war, ANBU was underutilized, all obvious and major threats were eradicated. Konoha and the other hidden villages found a peace. They all stared down ultimate destruction and survived it, there was now a bond between all the current leads that the shinobi world had never seen before. Of course, as always, it wouldn’t last. Varying reports of concern begun to pour out once again and it seemed they were finally reaching the doorstep of the village hidden in leaves. No one expected these to be anywhere near as dire as Madara and the dimension hopping Kaguya, but they were troubling all the same. In this case, it seemed a small village was having trouble and managed to call upon Konoha and its shinobis for help. Neji was one… The other.

“You’re not going alone, however.” Kakashi said as he finished explaining the situation and threat.

“Who then?” Neji questioned, coolly, his arms folded across his chest, his mask to the back of his head.

“Ino Yamanaka will be your partner in this. She should be here any minute. She’s already been briefed. I was biding time to find the right match in abilities and I’ve chosen you.” Kaskashi spoke like this should all make sense, and Neji was already analyzing, thinking up strategies and maneuvers that he and the Yamanaka girl could benefit from.

“My defense and eyesight will ensure her safety if she needs to transfer bodies.” Neji offered, speaking of Byakugun. He remained every bit the stoic, collected, shinobi but inside he felt irritated. Ino was not the person he would have chosen, but it was less to do with her abilities and more to do with her personality. How much it had changed since before, he couldn’t say, but he was already preparing for the inevitable headaches and annoyances.

“Well, that is true. But there’s more to it than that. I’ve deemed the two of you compatible. I've compared your strengths and weaknesses and also, to put it bluntly, she’ll handle herself much better when dealing the locales. You’ve never had much of a knack for diplomacy, Neji. Having influence in battle is different than having influence with people.” Kakashi explained, as if still trying to teach him something. Neji was fully aware that he was hardly the conversationalist.

“Point taken, Hokage.” Neji spoke shortly, though perhaps it sounded more annoyed with the Hokage than he actually was as Kakashi sighed, as if remembering now that Neji was a man grown and had been through much. “Will we set out today?”

“As soon as Ino arrives, you’ll make your preparations for travel together and be off as soon as you can. This matter is urgent.” Neji nodded at Kakashi’s words. All he could do now was wait for the flower girl.

 

[MiroKitty]

The day had started out as any other day; opening the flower shop, putting people to work, and training. However, this day had taken a different turn.
Three years have passed since the war, three years since the lives of many respected and beloved shinobis had been taken. Peace had come over the lands, or so it did for a period of time. A small village was in dire need of help from Konoha and the new Hokage, Hatake Kakashi, had chosen Ino for the task of helping them.

“You’ll be informed later on who your partner will be for the mission. Dismissed for now” Kakashi had informed her in a very uncharacteristically harsh tone. Because of what they had been through under the war even the smallest of rogues were taken serious.

“Yes, Hokage-sama” Ino still couldn’t get used to speaking so formally to him, and most agreed with her on that. She was soon on her way back home to get ready for the mission. Her thoughts were occupied the whole way; who would be her partner? Kakashi had given her the mission as an ANBU which meant the other one would be an ANBU too. It didn’t really matter for now, since she would trust Kakashi’s choice and the fact that she got along with pretty much everyone…

After the death of her father, Ino had moved out of the old house and into an apartment, though still in the area. It had just felt too empty and big, so a change in scenery seemed like the best idea. The months after her move, she had gotten much closer to Shikamaru; since he was one of the few who understood her fully. Luckily all of her friends had survived the war; she had even helped save one of them… the ever joyful Neji Hyuga. Sigh.

Having dressed into her ANBU uniform and covered her face with the animal-inspired mask, she scurried back to the Hokage office. She took the quicker route over the roofs of the village; the sight of the villagers going around and simply living was soothing. Life really was more peaceful, since they didn’t have to fear wars and attacks from the other hidden villages… not like before.

Shocked was not the word to describe Ino’s reaction as she was greeted by the form of Neji Hyuga standing in the middle of the office. She had to remind herself how she had promised to trust Kakashi, but was he really the best? It wasn’t that she didn’t like Neji, she just couldn’t communicate properly with him… could anyone really? He was indeed a great shinobi whom Ino would gladly trust with her life, but having to go on a long mission only the two of them… well it would be very… quiet.

“Let’s get packed and meet at the gate in an hour, sound good?” Ino asked Neji politely, though her annoyance with the situation was not easily hidden in her voice.

 

[xxplaywithmexx]

The Hyuuga noticed the tone of annoyance in Ino’s voice right away, as if he was any more pleased with her accompaniment. His grimace, in return, was obvious, but he said nothing. “Sounds good.” He agreed with a nod. Well, this was off to a fantastic start. Neji made his exit, taking to the rooftops himself. His ANBU mask was tugged around his face, the shape was that of indistinct bird. A short, protruding beak and no obvious showing of ears. The mask was rounded and white, as tended to be, a design of red swirls just above the eye. Neji took pride in the position, enough so that he cared not that only the highest ranking shinobi knew of his status. This, of course, included nearly all of his longtime peers, each having grown greatly into powerful protectors of the village.

This had his mind drifting toward Yamanaka Ino, his partner. Neji was as guilty as any young man in harboring feelings of attraction toward the flower girl. The beauty had only blossomed further with age. He first took notice of this as teenagers. It took so long before his interests had even fluctuated toward women, so much else was going on. He had been mostly ignorant of Ten-Ten’s advances back then, though aware now and they still often mingled, Neji had made no move to foster any sort of love. Perhaps it was losing so many friends and peers in the war that left him feeling guilty toward any such emotion, perhaps it was time to move on. But love in the world of shinobi was a dangerous thing. It was so easy to lose a life. So many widowed…

His feet landed deftly atop the storehouse of the Hyuuga clan. He leapt down and moved the mask away. The clan of fellow ninjas already knew of his involvement with ANBU. They were raised to be of the elite to begin with, such a ranking was their ultimate goal. No one would say it, but the curse seal upon his forehead was still the perfect hindrance to any would-be captors Neji might encounter. His Byakugun wouldn’t fall into the hands of any enemy, to be sure, one way or another.

As he stocked his pack of essentials and holstered freshly sharpened kunai and other such tools, his thoughts went back to Ino, this time to her growth, specifically. As kids, it was often hard to take the lovelorn girl seriously, but she had proven herself capable time and time again. She survived the war, participated in key battles and assisted with many victories. She had since moved up the ranks at an impressive rate, joining Neji amongst the ANBU eventually. After his recovery, he had worked as hard as ever strengthen everything about himself. By some miracle he had survived when serving as shield for his friend, Uzumaki Naruto. He had no expectations of living, and he would have died content even, giving Naruto and Hinata the defense they needed, the time they needed, the chance they needed.

He remembered waking in the all-white room of the hospital, nearly blinded by the light. How he ended up there, he couldn’t say, but he owed someone his life.

Once packed and ready, Neji set out once more. ANBU mask resting over his face once more, keeping his identity from villagers and lesser shinobi, though plenty suspected who the ANBU operatives were. The masks weren’t so much to hide identity, Neji figured, but to invoke a certain sense of safety from the civilians, while earning a paralyzing fear from enemies or, in some cases, a desire to duel. Some rogues wondered the forests of Konoha to specifically test their strength against the infamous ANBU. It wasn’t often these vagabonds prevailed. In fact, terrorizing villages was even used as ploys to draw them out, searching for renown or even bounties in some cases, as hidden persons with money would recruit mercenary men to strike down the ANBU responsible for a loved one or ally’s death.

Neji halted at the gate, pulling up the straps on his pack, awaiting/looking for Ino. Once outside of the village, maybe, they could talk and form something better than annoyance with each other’s company. Though it might prove harder than the mission itself for them to find mutual ground through talking.

 

[MiroKitty]

Ino glanced at the disappearing form of Neji Hyuga before returning her attention to the hokage, who was sitting in the chair with a bored look adorning his face. Kakashi seemed to have noticed the annoyance both had towards each other, but her simply didn’t care enough to begin and dig further into it. Ino’s icy blue eyes begged him for reconsideration, but of course he wouldn’t show any agreement with a possible shift in partners. In the end a loud sigh escaped the blonde woman, and she quickly made her way back home to fetch the needed supplies for the mission.

The thought of a long mission with the ever so talkative Neji sounded almost as fun as trying to convince Kiba of the greatness of cats. Ino chuckled slightly from the thought as she adjusted the cat inspired mask; the small hint of ears were carved out of the top, a midnight blue color surrounded the eyes, and a distinctive golden color were mixed in with the white of the mask. Of course Ino would be the owner of a mask as extravagant, or so she thought of it.

Her thoughts returned to the stoic Hyuga and the fact that they would be very much alone together, on a mission for how long? Many girls would trade places with her in a heartbeat, since Neji was one of the desired men in Konoha. Ino couldn’t ignore his good looks, and the way he had grown into the role as a man perfectly either, but they were just too different. He was silent, calculating and a big mystery for anyone trying to get to know him, and Ino was talkative, social and fun-loving. Had Neji even heard of the word ‘fun’?

She entered her apartment through the half opened bedroom window; the neatly made bed with purple sheets was, at the moment, filled with weapons she had recently cleaned. Grabbing a bag she quickly packed a couple of kunais, shurikans and other essentials when in battle, she packed some food which would be able to hold for a longer period of time, and of course her sleeping bag. No way was she sleeping on the bare ground.
The last thing before exiting her apartment was taking on her two swords and short medical apron. A year or so ago, she had begun to study the art of sword fighting. Because of the jutsus she would normally use, Ino had felt the need to learn more about close range fighting. Swords were a perfect weapon for her, since it could give her chance to fight within meters of an enemy, and possibly push him far away for her to use the jutsus. She had indeed grown strong, and this was the mission to really prove it to people like Neji.

After about a good half an hour Ino approached the grand gate; spotting Neji, Ino quickly made her way over to him with a smile plastered on her face.
“I hope you’re ready ‘cause I’m not slowing down for you” Ino said playfully, as to try and lighten the mood even if just a bit. And so without a single moment of waiting she jumped towards the forest. Her speed had gradually increased in the last couple of years, but she couldn’t deny that Neji might still be faster than her. His way of fighting did need more in speed than hers.

 

[xxplaywithmexx]

Neji might have or have not been faster, but he didn’t see any reason to find out. Instead, he kept pace with Yamanaka. They were in this together, after all. He caught up quickly enough, however.

“Thanks for waiting.” It was a complaint of sarcasm, his face emotionless when speaking it, his eyes only glancing to the blonde for a moment. “You might want to pace yourself, we have a ways to travel. He launched from branch to branch with ease. They had been traveling like this since they were children. The dense forest of Konoha gave a blanket from the sun overhead, only small beams slicing through and spotting the leaves and ground. It was a truly beautiful place.

The Hyuuga could probably have remained silent from that point on, but he already felt he made a bad first impression. He remembered what Kakashi had said to him, pointing out his lack of diplomacy when, really, he lacked social skills altogether. So finally he begun to acknowledge Ino, giving her attention that he had never once gave before. “How have you been doing?” Had he really not spoken to her once since the war’s end? “Since the war.” He added, supposing that he wouldn’t. He didn’t exactly talk to her before the war either.

The trees were alive with the chirps of birds and buzzing and calling of insects. The day was warm, but the night promised cold, and the leaves were beginning their change of color. Autumn was finding Konoha. The winter was short in these lands, but when the leaves fell, it made for a tremendously bleak sight. It had a chill suddenly invade his body. An uneasiness. He was now traveling slightly closer to Ino and his eyes would drift over her features. Really, she was gorgeous specimen. He couldn’t even imagine approaching her. No, and he must remain focused for this mission.

 

[MiroKitty]

Buzzkill, she thought to herself. Give it to Neji Hyuga to destroy what little fun you could have with him. Ino simply snorted in reply to his words, her eyes rolling behind the mask. She slowed down, though only slightly, just to show that she actually had acknowledged his complaints. After that it became quiet and Ino figured it would be silent for the rest of their journey; it would be too much to expect a real conversation with the seemingly emotionless Hyuga.

“Huh?” the noise escaped her; his question had her entirely shocked. Did he try to make conversation? Ino glanced at him with eyes growing wide while she fought the almost paralyzing shock. Yes, Ino was well-known for her minor overreactions, but Neji had managed to surprise her and that gave her a good reason for the reaction.
“Well, I’ve been doing quite alright, all in all. I moved out of the house and into my own apartment, and I have taken over the flowershop” she explained, having finally returned to her normal cheery self. Her tone was calmer and more genuine than it had been in the Hokage’s office; the annoyance was kept in check. If he was going to try then so would she.

“How have you been doing? How has it been at the compound?” she politely asked him. Ino could clearly remember the many days he had been unconscious and how many days she had been comforting Hinata with the rest of the girls. Ino knew how hard it had been for Hinata, but she actually had no idea how Neji had been doing. It still felt very awkward, bordering uncomfortable, having a conversation with Neji without sarcasm and annoyance ruling it all. Out of the corner of her eyes she followed Neji - an attempt to read whatever emotion or reaction he would show.