雨上がり

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Seeing her looking distressed caused him to pause, confusion crossing the Hyuuga’s face.  She was holding a photo, one of the ones from when they were much younger.  It wasn’t even one of his favorites, greatly preferring the photos of them when they were older and there was more of a bond between them.  “Tenten?”  The quiet word was his only question, pondering if he should pry.  She was once again in a delicate state and if he pushed her further, she may break down again.  

“Good, that means you will rest well this evening.  I’m afraid one hears a great many noises at night in this old house between the old wood and the animals climbing onto the roof.”  Neji found the quiet sounds rather comforting.  In his little home, it was easy to forget that he was in the middle of the city, surrounded by other people.  “When I moved out of the main house, Uncle wanted me to select something  newer and closer to the rest of the clan, but I like the quiet and the large windows in my study.  It’s hard to see now, but the room feels very much outside.  It’s peaceful.”  

He led her back into the kitchen where the hot soup was already set out on the table, still steaming and smelling of revitalizing herbs.  “Sit, please.”  He poured them each a cup of hot chamomile tea, specifically chosen to help his teammate rest.  He wondered if he should try to comfort her further.  It was never his strong suit, the emotional distance between himself and others too great.  “How has your mother been doing, in general?”  Since the war, he meant.  It was a rough thing, even if she did not care for Tenten’s father.  One could still mourn an enemy as much as a friend. 

               some distant part of her mind supplies her with the notion that it’s haunted and she latches onto the idea in an attempt to distract from old memories.  of course, there are bound to be spirits lingering among trees as old as these.  he’d said himself that his aunt is buried out in the garden, perhaps she still walks the compound, watching over her children and nephew.  the thought ought to make her feel anxious, but it leaves her feeling comfortable and safe more than anything.  there’s something about the little house or the room or something that leaves her feeling safer than she has in weeks. 

              she can’t put her finger on what it is, though. 

              ❝ my mom? ❞  she sits when asked, slender fingers wrapping about the new mug of tea placed before her, warmth emanating all the way to her chest.  chamomile.  it’s a delicate aroma.  he’s trying so hard to take care of her and she doesn’t think he knows how much it means.  she wants to tell him.  she ought to tell him.  but the subject matter of his question holds her attention,  ❝ she’s well.  my step-father makes her happy and my little brother will enroll in the academy soon.  he’s quiet talented, from what i’ve been told... ❞  it’s difficult to keep the bitterness out of her voice, staring into her tea like it holds the answers to some unspoken question,  ❝ what more could she ask for? ❞

her parents had a shotgun wedding - they had not been together for very long and were still very much in the honeymoon phase when they got pregnant with tenten.  they were sort of pressured to get married because it was the right thing to do but they went along with it because they both figured they were so in love that nothing could go wrong.  famous last words, of course.  there was no prior discussion of the responsibilities in a relationship and neither of them had ever lived alone, so when they moved in together, things rapidly fell apart. 

her father is a medical-nin - as a result he was almost never home & expected tenten’s mom  (who did not work) to take care of all of the housework and childcare.  it’s also the entire basis for tenten’s hero worship re: tsunade.  because her daddy thought that tsunade-hime was the best, most spectacular ninja of all time & tenten thought if she became like the person her dad idolized, she could get his attention and he would be proud of her.  this obviously doesn’t pan out. 

her mother was... neglectful - her mom didn’t get the attention she expected from her husband and sort of took it out on tenten.  the abuse she suffered ranged from extremely negative and disparaging comments from both her parents to being outright ignored.  tenten took the responsibility of taking are of herself and of the house and occasionally of her mother.  she basically grew up a latchkey kid, bc even tho her mom didn’t work, she spent most of her time out of the house doing anything but being home. 

the only steady adult in her childhood was her grandfather - on her father’s side.  her father came from a family of weapon smiths and had chosen a different career path, which put a rift in his relationship with his dad that didn’t start to mend until tenten was born.  tenten loved and could always rely on her grandddad and he taught her a lot about weapons before she even realized she had a passion for them.  he passed away around the same time the series starts. 

her parents finally divorced when she was 11 - bet you saw that coming. the process starts around the same time she was placed on team gai.  her parents failed marriage is basically why she’s so weird about love, despite being something of a romantic.  she rlly wants to believe that true love exists like it does in stories, but she hasn’t really seen it yet and doesn’t have anything real to model it off of.  as a result, she has sort of a hard time identifying romantic feelings and when she does identify them, they hit her like a truck. 

she splits time with her mom and with her dad - but she prefers to stay with her dad, who actually started to try and put in some work to mend the relationship after the divorce.  her mom eventually remarries and has another kid.  she is... a much better mother to her other children and tends to sort of ignore that tenten even exists, even when she’s around. 

her dad is hyper protective - he doesn’t really like lee or neji.  or rather... he thinks lee is annoying and doesn’t like the hyuugas.  by extension i suppose that means he thinks gai is annoying to, but he’s got a lot of respect for gai, so he probably wouldn’t make it that obvious.  he is obvious about her teammates tho.  nothing extreme, he’s just extremely standoffish with them and makes a point to tell her he doesn’t adore them.  it’s safe to say that he probably doesn’t like whoever she’s shipped w/ either, if he knows about it. 

her dad dies during the 4th war - i’m mean and like to see her suffer.  she doesn’t take his death well because their relationship was finally finally finally on the up and up. 

@scnsei​​ sent: TENTEN. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE EMO CATBOY CLOWN MAN.  /  MAKE MY MUSE TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS

               safety.  and home.  they’re the first words that come to mind whenever she thinks of kankuro and they spring to mind now.  not so much a physical kind of safety, though she knows he wouldn’t ever let anything happen to her, but an emotional sort of safety that she doesn’t really feel with anyone else.  her team, maybe, but she still occasionally feels the pressure to perform when she’s with them.  that pressure isn’t there when she’s with kankuro.  there’s honestly no pressure at all, she’s completely safe to be herself when she’s with him. 

              maybe it’s why she- 

              ❝ he’s easy to be around and easy to talk to.  cute as hell and funny, too.  he told me a joke the other day in one of his letters-  you probably wouldn’t get it though... ❞  she spins a shuriken on the table like a top, watching it twirl rather than giving her attention to the girl sitting across from her who’d asked.  she’s always been useless when it comes to talking about her feelings, easily embarrassed by affection and preferring to ignore anything negative.  she’s embarrassed now, red painted across her cheeks, ❝ he takes care of me, makes sure i’m comfortable and happy.  no one’s ever taken care of me before... ❞

@fightingdreamcrs​ sent: Rin talk about Gai  /  MAKE MY MUSE TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS

               ❝ gai...kun...? ❞  the blush is almost immediate, like a child who’s been caught red handed doing something the know full well they shouldn’t.  she looks down at her hands and then at her feet and then anywhere other than at the person asking, somewhat unfamiliar with the warmth and embarrassment that the question prompts.  it’s not as though having close, friendly relationships with a boy is unfamiliar to her.  indeed, she’s friends with more boys than girls and her closest friends are both boys.  boys that she likes.  boys that she loves, even.  so why is it that being asked about gai makes her face flush and her heart race?  

              ❝ well, he’s... ❞  he’s... nice.  that’s the most straightforward answer to the question.  he’s sweet, kind, and completely self-sacrificing.  the kind of person who gives and gives without expecting anything in return, content to have a smile as their only reward.  they’re a rare breed, people like she and him, and it’s brought her more comfort than she could possibly say to have him in her life.  to have him walk at her side when things are difficult, flashing smiles when she can’t manage her own and promising protection should things go wrong.  ❝ he’s uh... ❞

              fit as hell.  the red in her face darkens to a shade of maroon and she rests her hand over her chest.  she’s noticed.  of course she’s noticed.  he’s built like a fucking brick wall.  she might value a person’s personality more than their physical appearance, but she’s still human and while the jumpsuit might cover obscure things from view, it doesn’t stop things from being felt and god does she want to-  ❝ he’s great!  he’s really, really great!  you ought to get to know him, if you don’t already.  i’ve never met anyone sweeter.  but i’ve-  i’ve got to go.  i’ve really... really got to go.  i’ll- ❞

@amegatari​ asked:  “kakashi~” she’s sloppy. she can’t walk straight. her arms and her head feel heavy. but whatever they’ve given her eases the ache in her stomach. she’s beckoning him over to her hospital bed, giggling, “i wanna tell you a secret,” no time is given to react, but she grabs his shirt once he’s close enough, “i’m very… very in… love with… you!! surprised? don’t… tell anyone, kay?”

There was a brief smile hidden beneath the mask as he was beckoned to the hospital bed, but he moved very easily until he was close enough and she was holding onto him. Kakashi could not refuse her anything, not after what he had done to her, and so he stood there, letting her hold onto him and listened to what she was saying. Her words caught him and his visible eye widened wondering why she felt such things for him, what he had done to deserve her to still care for him. 

“I won’t tell anyone, Rin…” he murmured quietly, reaching his hand up to rest it over hers against him. “I will keep your secret…” His reassuring words might be pointless given that there was no one he’d want to tell of such affections, not when he did not believe he deserved them. Instead he’d hold them close and in the selfish moments he would think of them, would linger on the way she was holding him and the giggled words that spilled from her lips and be glad that even after all he did she could still want him near her. 

               for a second it seems as though her mind’s returned to her.  she stares down at their hands against his chest, brow knitting together in very serious contemplation of the current situation.  or rather... what seems like very serious contemplation.  in truth, it’s much harder to get words out than she’ll let on.  everything is much harder than she’ll let on, but it’s easier when kakashi is with her because it reminds her that someone still cares.  it reminds her that someone still wants her around.  and that’s why she loves him, because despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, there’s a heart beating somewhere in his chest and she wants more than anything to protect it from more pain.  

@daybreakrising​​ sent: hey asahi talk abour ur tree boyfriend  /  MAKE MY MUSE TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS

               yamato. 

              despite the agonizingly sluggish pace at which the young man asking finger-spells the name, asahi already knows he’s being asked about his boyfriend.  he’s memorized the shape of the name, of every single one of tenzo’s names, by heart.  he knows each one the second they fall from someone’s lips and he can hear them in his mind just as clearly as if he’d heard it for real.  he can hear tenzo’s voice, too, memory clinging to the tone and cadence all these years later.  to the way it sounded when he’d call his name, the way it sounded when he said ❛ i love you. ❜  his heart patters a familiar rhythm in his chest, warmth spreading across his cheeks.  to him, tenzo is... 

              tenzo is...

              ❝ he’s everything. ❞  it’s proudly proclaimed, verbally and with sign, a smile that rivals the sun above plastered across his features.  and it’s true - tenzo is everything to him.  he planted roots in asahi’s heart that grew and grew until they consumed everything, until they filled the hole left behind when he’d lost his family and healed every hurt and ache left by time.  he’s incredible and talented, funny and warm.  and he’s someone that asahi doesn’t have to share with anyone else.  he’s his.  he’s his family now.  he’s his home.  

@scnsei​​ sent: “senpai, I-” iruka is nervous, fiddles with his hands before rin. he respects her more than anyone, longs for her approval in all things. but this - it’s especially important ( and exceptionally frightening ). “I’d like your - your blessing. to continue seeing asahi.” it’s so overly formal, it sounds like a goddamn marriage proposal. but he cares about them both so much. he’d never continue things with asa without rin’s explicit permission.

               she’s busying herself with cleaning, putting off more important tasks in favor of something mind numbing after a long day chasing new students about.  her attention is focused so intently on trying to fix a flower arrangement that had been knocked to the ground when iruka approaches her and in truth she doesn’t even notice he’s there until the beast in her mind brings the intrusion to her attention.  rin doesn’t turn until iruka speaks, waiting for him to tell her why he’s there, but even before he says anything she can tell that whatever’s brought him has left him anxious.  it’s the movement out of the corner of her eye, the way his chakra twists and churns, and just... something in the air. 

              when he does speak she straightens, turning to look at him with a flower still in her hand.  the stem spins idly in her hand as she waits for him to finish his thought, smiling gently.  she understands how difficult it can be to put words to these kinds of feelings and from what she’s seen of iruka and her brother, she’s gathered that it’s something of a delicate situation.  and besides, her patience for iruka is absolutely endless.  vast and unyielding.  she would stand there for hours, nothing spoken but gentle encouragement, if it was what he needed but he comes to the point relatively quickly. 

              and the point is asking for her blessing. 

              oh.  she is asahi’s oldest living relative now, isn’t she?  she reaches to tuck the daisy behind iruka’s ear, grinning.  it’s sweet of him to ask, but she’s honestly okay with anything as long as the both of them are happy and she’s relatively certain the fact that iruka’s come out and decided he wants to be with asahi properly has left her little brother elated.  ❝ of course you have my blessing!  you don’t need to ask for it.  honestly, it should be asa-chan here asking to continue seeing you.  but he thinks he can get away with whatever he wants, doesn’t he? ❞

              did she just imply she likes iruka more than she likes her own brother?  probably.  but she seems to like most people more than she likes her own brother.  an act, probably.  asahi knows how important he is to her and she knows how important she is to him.  ❝ all i can ask is that you two make each other happy, and it seems like you do, so... ❞  she leans up, pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose,  ❝ welcome to the family, iruka-chan.  we have dinner together at my place every saturday.  it’ll be nice to have you there instead of just listening to asa-chan talk about you. ❞  

@daybreakrising​ asked: what was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? [for Kikue!]

i remember... kikue was originally designed for a fic i was writing at the time.  i needed a filler character for a mission that team gai went on and that’s where she sort of came in as this very sheltered girl who still lived with her family, had a very rare kekkei genkai, and was always followed by an attendant.  i decided pretty soon after that i wanted her to have a very strong tie in with plants, herbs, and healing and the original idea for her was formed:  a young, sheltered and extremely talented healer with an incredibly cheerful personality who was desperate to see the rest of the world.  it wasn’t until i brought her to tumblr that i changed her bg from being sheltered by a life lived with an overbearing family to having been sold off to the konoha government at a young age.  and it wasn’t until recently that i set her age to around iruka / asahi / yamato’s age because i wanted more muses in that age group ( i’m p sure when i did so, i only had asa and rin ).  but everything about her is still pretty much the same.  i also remember trying to come up with a name for her and i went through about a million before i landed on kikue, which means chrysanthemum branch and in japanese culture chrysanthemums are symbolic of longevity and rejuvenation, which i felt fitting.  her last name, chiharu, is made up the kanji for ‘chi’ meaning i think one thousand or one hundred ( p sure it’s one thousand ) and ‘haru’ for spring.  so roughly, one thousand springs.  which obviously ties in to her being floral / plant themed. 

what is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? [for Asahi!]

up until very recently i’ve written that asahi’s outward persona, as an adult, was much more quiet and solemn.  i always kinda pictured him as having based himself and his personality off kakashi.  but in a recent reply i wrote, it’s more of a... less quiet and serious and more he projects this outward air of someone who can push thru pretty much anything.  everything seems to roll off his back, despite the fact that it really doesn’t.  it seems like he’s the kind of guy who can take a million hits and just keep getting up, keep pushing forward w/o lingering on the negative, but in truth he’s constantly thinking about that sort of thing.  basically, i always knew he was a very emotional, soft boy at heart but he recently kinda showed to me i guess that his outward persona isn’t not soft so much as just not as blindingly emotional and passionate.  basically, he’s not an ass to people like i thought he was, he’s just kind of put together, professional, and generally unfazed. 

how did you choose their name? [for Miya!]